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With the recent observation of a supermassive prominence that is over 100 times the size of the sun, attention has been focused on the latest solar observation satellite to be launched next year. Coronas, huge explosions on the surface of celestial bodies such as the Sun, and the resulting prominences, can create powerful stellar winds that can cause catastrophe on nearby planets.

Therefore, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) mission ‘PROBA (PProject for On-Board Automy)-3’ is attracting more attention. The mission aims to closely observe solar activity by launching small satellites ‘OSC (Occulter Spacecraft)’ and ‘CSC (Coronagraph spacecraft)’ next year.

The OSC, which was assembled on March 27, is 1.4m wide, 1.1m long, 1.2m high, and weighs 250kg. CSC is 1m wide, 1.5m long, 1.2m high, and weighs 350kg. Like NASA’s planetary probes ‘Voyager 1 and 2’, the two are operated as a pair. Unlike the ‘Voyager’ probes that are flying at different speeds, the satellites of the ‘Prova-3’ mission focus on formation flight in which position and attitude are harmonized.

ESA said, “The two satellites will fly while maintaining a distance of about 144 m.” “The geocentric orbit will rotate once in about 19.5 hours to observe the sun’s activity moment by moment, collect information, and transmit it to Earth.” he explained.

Both satellites essentially monitor the sun using a coronagraph. It is easy to understand if you think of it as a device that artificially creates a situation like a solar eclipse with a disk-shaped shade. The sun’s photosphere is so dazzling that the corona or prominence cannot be observed in detail by conventional methods.

A light shield with a diameter of about 1.4 m was mounted on the OSC. Through this, when the light of the sun is blocked, the observation device ‘ASPIICS’ mounted on the CSC captures the solar corona. Just as the Sun-Moon-Earth line is in a straight line when a total solar eclipse occurs, it flies in the order of the Sun-OSC-CSC.

If two satellites fly together like the ‘Proba-3’ mission, missions that cannot be solved by one satellite can be divided and executed. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s ‘Kiku 7 (ETS-VII)’ satellite or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s ‘GRACE’ satellite operated since 2002 to examine the effects of Earth’s gravity Representative. As all of these equipment were medium and large, the academic world is paying attention to the ‘Proba-3’ mission, which is the first formation flight of small satellites.

ESA said, “If there is no change, the two satellites are scheduled to be launched in India in 2024, and will collect more than 1,000 hours of solar corona data for about two years.” You will be able to find out the secrets of

Reporter Jeong Ian anglee@sputnik.kr

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As the next-generation space telescope ‘Roman’ made by mankind was scheduled for launch in about four years, attention was focused on its outstanding performance.

On the 8th, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the space exploration method and amazing specifications of the Roman Space Telescope, which is scheduled to be launched in May 2027, through an official channel.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has devised a so-called “method of reversing cosmic time” to uncover the mysteries of the evolution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. It is a method of tracing back the process of cosmic evolution with high-performance equipment, as if turning the actual time, and the subject is the Roman Space Telescope.

A NASA official said, “The vast structure of the universe is a filamentary structure in which regions where galaxies or galaxy clusters are dense and supercavities (voids) where galaxies rarely exist are intertwined.” I think it is because it attracts galaxies or clusters of galaxies.”

The most influential standard model of the universe is ‘Lambda-CDM’. It is a model in which materials that are accelerating expansion, including dark matter and dark energy, are the main subjects. It is believed that quantum tremors occurred in the gas in the plasma state that filled the early universe, attracting dark matter particles.

Later, as the quantum tremors expanded due to the expansion of the universe, there was a difference in the density of dark matter in outer space, and the gravity of the ‘Dark Halo’, in which dark matter particles were accumulated, pulled the gas and dust that are the materials of stars. It is the theory that the current universe is the result of the creation and coalescence of stars and galaxies.

The Roman Space Telescope is a device that examines how the distribution of galaxies and clusters of galaxies evolves and checks whether the standard model of the universe is correct. In the formation and evolution of galaxies, numerous physical processes such as interstellar gas cooling, star formation, and supernova explosions are complexly repeated, and there are many parts that are not yet understood only with theory and simulation, so expectations are high for the Roman Telescope.

A NASA official said, “The role of looking into the history of the evolution of the universe and how galaxies were formed was the responsibility of space telescopes such as Hubble.” It will be easily overpowered.”

The telescope is equipped with a primary mirror with a diameter of 2.4 m, the same as that of Hubble, and two state-of-the-art observation equipment. One is the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), a wide-field near-infrared camera. WFI has a wide field of view 100 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope and has a 300-million-pixel imaging device.

A NASA official said, “Thanks to the field of view and orbital speed of the Roman Space Telescope, it will be possible to map outer space at about 1,000 times faster than the Hubble Space Telescope.”

Scholars believe that if the Roman Space Telescope is launched and collects data, it will be possible to understand in detail the formation of galaxies and dark matter, which have been dependent on hypotheses and simulation results.

The Roman Telescope is named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, Nancy Grace Roman. It is scheduled to launch in May 2027 from point 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Afterwards, observations are made around L2 (distance of about 1.5 million km from the Earth), one of the Lagrangian points of the Sun and Earth. The expected operating period is a total of 10 years, plus 5 years of re-extension.

Reporter Jeong Ian anglee@sputnik.kr

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The most massive black hole ever observed with a mass of 32.7 billion times that of the sun has been observed by gravitational lensing.

A research team at Durham University in England announced on the 1st that an ultramassive black hole was identified for the first time in outer space about 2.7 billion light years away from Earth through an official channel.

This monster black hole, which was also revealed through the journal ‘Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society’ on the 29th of last month, boasts an enormous presence with a mass more than 30 billion times that of the sun.

This black hole is located in the galaxy cluster ‘Abell 1201’. The research team used gravitational lensing to identify this monster black hole, which is considered to be the limit in theory.

A celestial black hole, where infinite contraction takes place, cannot escape even light because of its enormous gravity. Black holes, which even people who are not interested in the universe must have heard of at least once, lead to a mystery in their very existence.

First of all, black holes do not emit light, and they are very far away and are mainly observed through indirect methods. Since the process is not simple, the discovery of a black hole is of great interest, and the research team emphasized that this supermassive black hole has two special meanings.

“This black hole is about 32.7 billion times the mass of the sun, and is the largest among those confirmed so far,” said an official of the investigation.

“It is also noteworthy that a monstrous black hole of this magnitude was first discovered by gravitational lensing,” he said. told

Gravitational lensing, predicted in Einstein’s general theory of relativity, is a phenomenon in which space-time is distorted by the enormous mass of a celestial body, distorting the direction of the light propagation of the opposite celestial body. The light is distorted like a lens, hence the name gravitational lens.

An official of the investigation said, “The gravitational lensing effect is a natural telescope that allows us to identify celestial bodies that are too far away or too dark to observe by conventional methods.” In fact, a celestial body that appears to be a single star about 12.9 billion light years in front was discovered using gravitational lensing recently. “he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQJnCrKhII
A video showing the process of identifying a monster black hole through gravitational lensing

In the case of a very heavy object, such as a galaxy or a cluster of galaxies, the space-time around it can be distorted by its mass. Clusters of galaxies usually contain the brightest galaxies (BCG) within them. In the case of ‘Abell 1201’, BCG created a gravitational lens.

In the process of analyzing the light passing through this gravitational lens, the research team calculated the mass of the celestial body behind it, and the existence of a monster black hole 32.7 billion times that of the sun was revealed. An official from the investigation said, “Observation of very distant objects using gravitational lensing has been active recently, and the identification of the largest black hole ever demonstrated the infinite possibilities of gravitational lensing.”

The research team expected to use gravitational lensing to find inert black holes, that is, celestial bodies that are difficult to detect by conventional methods because there is no material that can be swallowed and no radiation is emitted.

Reporter Jeong Ian anglee@sputnik.kr

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