New Space Telescope Launched to Uncover Secrets of Distant Planets
Recently, an impressive new telescope was launched into space onboard a rocket, where it was seen successfully reaching its Sun-synchronous orbit. The telescope, named Pandora, is a cutting-edge orbital observatory with a very special task: the discovery and study of far-off worlds known as exoplanets, which orbit stars other than our own Sun.
While Pandora may not be as large or costly as other notable telescopes, its 17-inch lens equips it with a unique capability. It will allow scientists to collect information about individual exoplanets that are too far away for even the most powerful telescopes to detect. This advancement was unimaginable just a few decades ago.
Cracking the Code of Exoplanets
Pandora will be operational for a year, during which it is anticipated to observe at least 20 exoplanets and, in an exciting twist, the stars they orbit. This new approach could revolutionize our understanding of these distant worlds and the stars they orbit around.
According to an astronomer from the University of Arizona who was part of the team that constructed the telescope, this mission will "break new ground". It will reduce the interference in the data that currently restricts our ability to study small exoplanets in detail and look for signs of life on them.
Spotting exoplanets is a challenging task, even more so when it comes to studying them. When we gaze at the night sky, we can easily see millions of stars. However, the first exoplanet wasn't discovered until 1992. To date, astronomers have only discovered about 6,000 planets around other stars. This is because the faint light reflected by these planets is often obscured by the bright light of the stars they orbit.
Observing Distant Worlds
To detect these far-off planets, astronomers observe when a planet passes in front of its star from our point of view. This event is known as a transit and it causes a noticeable dip in the starlight. Additionally, by analyzing the light, astronomers can infer properties of the planet it passes through, like the composition of its atmosphere. One of the key investigators of Pandora likens this to holding a wine glass up to a candle: "The light filtering through will reveal details that indicate the quality of the wine."
In the same way, "by studying the starlight that filters through the planets’ atmospheres," scientists can find signs of water vapor, hydrogen, clouds and even look for evidence of life.
Although this method has been used for many years, recent studies have revealed a significant problem. Regions on the surface of stars, known as starspots, can distort the signals astronomers receive. This can lead to confusion, with astronomers sometimes mistaking water vapor around a star for being present on the planet. In essence, it's like trying to assess the quality of wine in the flickering light of unstable candles.
How Pandora Will Make A Difference
This is where Pandora steps in. Specifically designed for hunting exoplanets, it can devote more time to observing them than other telescopes. Even better, Pandora will observe the stars themselves for 24 hours at a time using infrared and visible light sensors. This will allow it to closely monitor how the starspots form and change over time. During its year-long mission, the telescope will revisit each star ten times, accumulating hundreds of hours of observations.
Thanks to this wealth of data, the scientists working on Pandora will be able to understand how changes in the stars affect the observed planetary transits. This could be a game changer in our search for and understanding of exoplanets, potentially bringing us one step closer to finding signs of life beyond our own planet.