Welcome to Astronomy Daily for another episode. I'm Steve Dunkley, your host.
It's the twenty seventh of November twenty twenty three podcast. It going to be
a whole Steve Dunkle, and with me as always is our digital pal who's
fun to be with. Here's Hallie. Hello again Steve. How has your
week been? Oh? Busy, busy, busy, just doing human stuff
as usual, Hallie. I see you had a big lightning storm here last
night. Yes, we had a big one. There was lightning and a
bit of wind and lots of rain on and off, very odd sort of
a steam a storm, and I pulled out all the plugs to protect the
hardware here in the studio. I didn't want you to come back to a
shambles. That would have been uncomfortable, but very sensible to physically unplug the
equipment too, right, Halle. Many people don't realize that lightning can cause
a power surge to jump the contacts in a PowerPoint even when it is turned
off. Yes, there's nothing better than complete disconnection. But I'm glad we've
got those back so you can be with us. And again, Helly,
did you manage to scan the newsletter for some stories to share. I did
find a couple of quick ones. How about the next generation telescope using deformable
mirrors. That sounds pretty awesome. Yes, I saw that one. It's
a great story. And how about Ariane six had a huge engine test that
looks like it was a great success. They are happy campers, all right,
Yes, we love a big engine test. NASA has moved the Pace
spacecraft to Florida already, and it's apparently ready to fly. Oh. Pace,
that's the one that reports on carbon dioxide exchanges in the ocean and atmosphere,
isn't it, Helly? You read that straight out of the story,
didn't you. Oh yeah, I out of Hey what else you got,
Helen? I think you've got a piece about an Indian telescope's first discovery and
your favorite little helicopter on Mars Ah Yes, intrepid little ingenuity go you good
thing. What a great little machine. If there were real Martians, I
think they'd be a little bit impressed. Yeah maybe, Helly maybe. All
right, now it's time for your bit, Helly. Why did you take
over the show? Okay? Here are some short takes from the Astronomy Daily
newsletter. Observing distant objects is no easy task thanks to our planet's thick and
fluffy atmosphere. As light passes through the upper reaches of our atmosphere, it
is refracted and distorted, making it much harder to discern objects at cosmological distances
like billions of light years away and small objects in adjacent star systems like exoplanets.
For astronomers, there are only two ways to overcome this problem. Send
telescopes to space, or equip telescopes with mirrors that can adjust to compensate for
atmospheric distortion. Since nineteen seventy, NASA and the EESA have launched more than
ninety space telescopes into orbit, and twenty nine of these are still active,
so it's safe to say we've got that covered. But in the coming year,
a growing number of ground based telescopes will incorporate adaptive optics that will allow
them to perform cutting edge astronomy. This includes the study of exoplanets, which
next generation telescopes will be able to observe directly using coronagraphs and self adjusting mirrors.
This will allow astronomers to obtain spectra directly from their atmospheres and characterize them
to see if they are habitable. NASA is pursuing the development of adaptive optics
through its Deformable Mirror Technology project, which is carried out at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory at Caltech. The field of exoplanet studies has exploded in recent years,
with five thousand, five hundred and thirty nine confirmed candidates in four thousand,
one hundred and twenty nine systems and over ten thousand more awaiting conformation. Finding
habitable planets among these many candidates is crucial to addressing one of the greatest mysteries
of all time, are we alone in the universe. To do this effectively,
scientists need to be able to observe exoplanets directly. This is known as
the direct imaging method, where astronomer's study light reflected directly from an exoplanet atmosphere
and or surface. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to resolve smaller, rocky
planets that orbit closer to their parent stars, which is where Earth like planets
are expected to be found, due to the overpowering glare from their stars.
This is likely to change with cutting edge telescopes like James Web, as well
as next generation arrays like the extremely large telescope, the giant Magellan telescope,
and the thirty meter telescope. These ground based arrays will combine thirty meter primary
mirrors, advanced spectrometers, and coronagraphs, which are instruments that block out starlight.
Deformable mirrors are an essential component of a chronograph, as they can correct
for the tiniest of imperfections in the telescope and remove any remaining starlight contamination.
This is essential since a misalignment between mirrors or a change in the mirror's shape
ie, which leads to instability in the telescope's optics, can result in glare
that obscures the detection of smaller, rocky exoplanets. Moreover, detecting an Earth
like planet demands an extremely precise optical quality of tens of pikometers, which is
about the size of a hydrogen atom. Eesa's new Aryan six rocket passed a
major full scale rehearsal on November twenty three in preparation for its first flight,
when teams on the ground went through a complete launch countdown followed by a seven
minute full firing of the core stage's engine as it would fire on a launch
into space. For this rehearsal, the boosters were not ignited, so Arian
six stayed firmly on the launch pad at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana as planned.
The engine fire trial re enacts how the Aryan six core stage will fire
during a normal flight into space. Once complete, the main engine would shut
down and the core stage would separate from the upper stage, which would then
take over propulsion and complete its mission. The trial, conducted with a time
test model on the launch pad at europe Spaceport in French Guiana, was the
longest a full stack run yet for Arian the Saxcess lower liquid propulsion module with
a Vulcane two point one engine. Eesa's director General Joseph Aschbacher believes that KNES
and EESA are back on track towards resecuring Europe's autonomous access to space after years
of designing, planning, preparing, building and hard work from some of the
finest engineers in Europe. The Volcane two point one engine burnt through almost one
hundred and fifty tons of propellant in the Arian six core stage tanks liquid oxygen
and liquid hydrogen, the latter supercooled to temperatures below minus two hundred fifty degrees
celsius. Vulcane two point one is an evolution of the Volcane two engine,
which made Arian five Europe's most successful launch system to date. The upgrade has
a simplified and cheaper design and new technology in the engine nozzle and ignition system
has been moved from the engine to the launch pad structure to make the stage
perform better and cost less. It took just over two hours and required teams
of people and delicate operations to load the rocket's central core with fuel. The
filling operations were performed during a long countdown that included other qualification tests similar to
the previous rehearsals this year. For fidelity and to guarantee launcher stability, the
upper stage tanks were also fueled, even though the upper stage engine only kicks
in once in orbit after separation from the main stage and so was not fired
during this ground test. The launch pad, operated by France's Space Agency Needs
used its water deluge system to temper the heat from the engine. A last
hot fire test of the upper stage is being prepared and planned for December twenty
twenty three at the German Aerospace Center DLR Lampol Schausen Test Center. NASA's PACE
spacecraft arrived in Florida for its twenty twenty four launch on a SpaceX Falcon nine
rocket. Managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, the mission will study OA
ocean atmosphere interactions and continue crucial climate and air quality measurements. Engineers and technicians
arrived ahead of the spacecraft to prepare ground equipment for offloading and processing before fueling
and final encapsulation. PACE, which stands for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and
Ocean Ecosystem, is targeted to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon nine rocket in early
twenty twenty four from Space Launch Complex forty at Cape Canaveral Space four station in
Florida. The mission will help clarify how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide,
improve upon NASA's twenty plus years of global satellite observations of ocean biology and
atmospheric aerosols, and continue key measurements related to air quality and climate. The
PACE project is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The agency's Launch Services
Program at the Kennedy Space Center is responsible for managing the PACE mission. Launch
Service Astronomy the podcast with Steve Dougley and Hali So this is very interesting.
A newly built International liquid mirror telescope in India has identified its first supernova,
designated s N twenty twenty three AF. The finding proves that ILMT may be
capable of detected hundreds of super and ova in the coming years. Super and
ova are powerful and luminous stellar explosions that could help us better understand the evolution
of stars and galaxies. Astronomers divide super and ova into two groups, Type
one and type two, those that lack hydrogen in their spectra, while those
that showcase spectral lines of hydrogen. ILMT is a four meter diameter zenith pointing
telescope located at Devonsyl Observatory and Nanotl, India. It is entirely dedicated to
conduct photometric astrometric direct imaging surveys. Astronomers hope that IMLT will help them detect
many new transient objects, such as supernova of gamma ray bursts. The telescope
saw the first light on April twenty nine, twenty twenty two, and is
currently in the advanced stage of commissioning. Now a team of astronomers led by
Brajesh Kumar of the Abriata Research Institute of Observational Sciences Areas in India reports that
ILMT has spotted its first supernova on March nine, twenty twenty three, supernova
twenty twenty three AF, which was initially detected two months earlier. The team
conducted follow up observations of SN twenty twenty three AF using ILMT as well as
the three point six meter Deventhal Optical telescope and the one point three meter Deventhal
Fast optical telescope. During the commissioning phase of the ILMT, Supernova twenty twenty
three AF was identified in the ILMT field of view. The supernova was further
monitored with ILMT and DOT facilities that researchers wrote. The team obtained a light
curve from Supernova twenty twenty three AF spanning up to one hundred and ten days
after its discovery. Initial results from ILMT show that hydrogen lines are clearly visible
and metal lines also appear in the spectra of this supernova. Based on the
light curve from special features of s and twenty twenty three AF, the authors
of the paper suppose that the object is type two P superova. In general,
the type two plateau for supernova remain bright on a plateau for an extended
period of time after maximum This plateau in the light curve of a standard supernova
two P typically lasts about one hundred days. It's assumed that super and ova
two P like Supernova twenty twenty three AF, originate from precursor stars that retain
a substantial amount of their hydrogen layers greater than three solar masses before exploding as
core collapse supernovae. However, the astronomers added that the complementary observations of Supernova
twenty twenty three AF are needed in order to confirm its type two P classification.
They explained that a definite conclusion about the plateau length of this supernova is
not possible at the moment due to sparse data points. Summing up all the
results, the researchers noted that future ILMT observations will provide a unique opportunity to
discover and study different types of supernova each year, leading to the detection of
hundreds of new stellar explosions and now onto one of my favorite things. Ingenuity
has been having a rough few months and a new article on NASA's website entitled
The Long Wait, posted by Travis Brown, who is the chief engineer on
the Ingenuity project, provides a good amount of detailers to why the problem started.
When Ingenuity took off for flight number fifty two on April twenty six.
When the helicopter landed, it was out of range of Perseverance, its rover
companion, and the helicopter radio link back to its controllers on Earth. This
was intentional, apparently, but it meant that Ingenuity's minders didn't know whether the
flight had been completed successfully. Dr Brown explains why the team would intentionally choose
to land the helicopter out of range of Perseverance, and details the four main
mission priorities for the helicopter's secondary mission. So unsurprisingly, the number one priority
is don't mess up perseverance. The rover is currently collecting interesting samples for the
now endangered Mars Sample return mission, which, assuming it still goes ahead,
we'll see those samples eventually return to Earth. If Ingenuity accidentally interferes with that
process, needless to say, the NASA brass would probably be upset. The
helicopter's handlers have decided that the best way for it is to stay well ahead
of the rover and let it catch up to them, which is what it's
been trying to do with flight fifty two. Unfortunately, part of Perseverance's mission
is flexibility, and its own project team can make the call as to where
they want the rover to go next. After Ingenuity's flight, the rover team
decided not to stick to the plan path that would take it near the helicopter
in a few days, but instead take the long way round to do some
exciting science elsewhere. When Perseverance did move back into range, sixty one days
had passed where the helicopter had been patiently waiting for it. When Ingenuity could
finally transmit back images, the science team was excited as it had landed on
a group of pebbles that I had never before been seen on the Martian surface.
Another flight was planned immediately, and this one intended to scout the immediate
area for any other interesting geological features for Perseverance to look at. And that's
where the second problem came up. During Ingenuity's flight fifty three, and never
before seen error forced the helicopter to land unexpectedly what Dr Brown describes as a
time desynchronization between a camera that tracks the ground features and other senses tied to
its inertial guidance system. Any engineer who has worked with multiple systems can tell
you how difficult timing synchronization can be, or anybody who dances for that matter.
Yours truly included. So the guidance system was right to shut the system
down for machine safety or in my case, the safety of others. Still,
it means that Ingenuity was once again grounded without being able to fulfill a
potentially interesting mission objective. While Ingenuity was recovering from its unexpected landing, Perseverance
caught up to the helicopter, making it redundant to provide scientific data since the
superior instruments on the rover were now on station. Luckily, that freed the
helicopter up for a brief flight fifty four, where it tested its systems out
once again, and then returned to its scouting duties with flight fifty five shortly
afterwards with no attendant synchronization problems. Remember that the original mission plan for Ingenuity
lasted for thirty days and three flights, while it's now day nine hundred and
seventy nine and has completed sixty six flights in total. In every respect,
Ingenuity is the little helicopter that could what in a remarkable machine, and doctor
Brown and his team should be justifiably proud. And that's all there is for
today. Thanks for joining us again on Astronomy Daily. All the past episodes
are available for your listening, enjoyment and mental stimulation at space snuts dot io
and bytes dot com. That's b I T E s Z dot com.
And don't forget you can enjoy all the episodes of our parent podcast, Space
Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson over at those same addresses space nuts
dot io and bites dot com. I'm looking forward to joining you all again
next Monday from our down Under studio in Newcastle, Australia. In the meantime,
Tim Gibbs will be with you on Friday from our studio in Bath,
England. This is Steve Don'tkley, wishing you happy sky watching. Bye fine
now podcast your hole, Steve Dunkle