{"id":789039,"date":"2024-09-15T17:16:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-15T22:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=789039"},"modified":"2024-09-15T17:16:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T22:16:50","slug":"studying-stars-from-the-lunar-surface-with-moonlite-courtesy-of-nasas-commercial-lunar-payload-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=789039","title":{"rendered":"Studying Stars from the Lunar Surface with MoonLITE, Courtesy of NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Optical interferometry has been a long-proven science method that involves using several separate telescopes to act as one big telescope, thus achieving more accurate data as opposed to each telescope working individually. However, the Earth\u2019s chaotic atmosphere often makes achieving ground-based science difficult, but what if we could do it on the Moon? This is what a recent study presented at the <em>SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2024<\/em> hopes to address as a team of researchers propose MoonLITE (Lunar InTerferometry Explorer) as part of the NASA Astrophysics Pioneers program. This also comes after this same team of researchers recently proposed the Big Fringe Telescope (BFT), which is a 2.2-kilometer interferometer telescope to be built on the Earth with the goal of observing bright stars.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-168541\"\/><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Interferometers | Introductory Astronomy Course 3.05\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Mmslhiu8SuQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Here, <em>Universe Today<\/em> discusses MoonLITE with Dr. Gerard van Belle, who is an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, regarding the motivation behind proposing MoonLITE, the science they hope to achieve, lunar surface location preference, the cost of MoonLITE, and next steps to make MoonLITE a reality. Therefore, what is the motivation behind proposing MoonLITE?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe real barrier to doing super sensitive high resolution optical interferometry is the Earth\u2019s atmosphere,\u201d Dr. van Belle tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a boiling, turbulent medium that means the exposure time of your telescope is ultimately limited to less than a millisecond or so. Telescopes that expose longer than that can achieve greater sensitivity,\u00a0<em>but<\/em>\u00a0at the expense of angular resolution \u2013 things smear out. MoonLITE, with two-inch (50mm) apertures, would be more than a thousand times more sensitive than terrestrial apertures is 8-meter collecting apertures, because it can stare for many minutes at a time.\u00a0In comparison to millisecond exposure\u00a0times on the Earth, the amount of light grabbed by these tiny dime-store sized telescopes exceeds giant industrial facility telescopes within the first second of having the shutter open.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The effect of atmospheric turbulence on planetary astrophotography\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cs52PU8yx7w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Much like with the recently proposed BFT, MoonLITE has a number of scientific objectives it hopes to accomplish, as the study notes three science cases, including studying the radii of low-mass stars (M-dwarfs) and brown dwarfs, young stellar objects (YSOs), and active galactic nuclei (AGN). For the M-dwarfs and brown dwarfs, the team aspires to obtain long-sought data regarding their sizes and temperatures since observing them from ground-based telescopes has proven difficult.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Trouble with M Dwarf Stars ft. Dr. Anna Childs\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lniK54fgBFY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>For YSOs, the researchers hope to gain greater understanding of the formation and evolution of habitable exoplanets within the protoplanetary disks of pre-main sequence stars, with MoonLITE being capable of ascertaining the inner regions of these stars and the star sizes, as well. For AGNs, the researchers aspire to learn more about supermassive black holes, and specifically the jets that emanate from them, with MoonLITE being able to observe these objects in optical wavelengths for the first time. But what else can we learn from these three science cases?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Young Stellar Object (YSO)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WYjSRjJoFOM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B-N2SEdP-e0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cSo, we actually have more science cases than that \u2013 so many, in fact, that we realized the new capabilities of MoonLITE were beyond our collective imagination for covering all the bases,\u201d Dr. van Belle tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>.\u00a0\u201cSo, we built into the program a 20% slice of the overall observing time to put up for competitive selection by the community \u2013 you know, crowdsource for the\u00a0<em>really<\/em>\u00a0creative ideas. The three we wrote up were just what we felt highlighted what one could do with greater sensitivity from the Earth\u2019s surface. For example, the stars that are the smallest \u2013 10% the size of our sun \u2013 are also the faintest.\u00a0And measuring the sizes of those is out of reach of terrestrial interferometers.\u00a0Same for YSOs and AGNs \u2013 there\u2019s a few that can be done from Earth, but for more general samples \u2013 ones that represent the more typical objects, not the super-bright oddballs \u2013 you need lots of sensitivity.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Diagram conveying the setup for MoonLITE on the lunar surface, beginning with a lander being delivered by NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (1), which unrolls a fiber umbilical over 100 meters (328 feet) (2), concluding with deploying the siderostat station (3). Science operations begin once instrument calibration is performed. (Credit: van Belle et al. (2024))<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>One of the unique aspects of MoonLITE is it could be brought to the lunar surface via NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), which is a collaboration with the private sector to deliver scientific and technical payloads to the Moon to test technologies that can help with both human missions as part of the Artemis Program, and scientific missions to further our understanding of the universe, like MoonLITE. Examples of companies participating in upcoming CLPS missions include Intuitive Machines, Astrobiotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Draper, all of which are delivering payloads to various locations on the lunar surface. But is there a specific location where MoonLITE would work best?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Exploring the Moon with NASA&#039;s Commercial Lunar Payload Services\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/470HQVrJiJU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe designed MoonLITE to be entirely site agnostic,\u201d Dr. van Belle tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>.\u00a0\u201cFor a small experiment like this, it\u2019s going to catch a ride on board a NASA CLPS lander as a minor guest \u2013 and putting a minimal number of requirements on your ride improves one\u2019s chances of getting a ride assignment. So polar or equatorial\u00a0latitudes both work, as well as nearside versus farside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As noted, this same team of researchers recently proposed the Big Fringe Telescope, which is slated to be a 2.2-kilometer interferometer telescope comprised of 16 smaller telescopes that are 0.5-meters in diameter. Along with conducting cutting-edge science, including observing binary star systems and making exoplanet transit \u201cmovies\u201d, one of the most notable features of the BFT is its extremely low cost compared to current optical interferometers around the world, coming with an approximate price tag of $28,496,000.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"x1,000 Resolution of JWST But x1,000 Cheaper\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wcR6gs0Up6k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In contrast, the cost of the European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), which is comprised of four 8.2-meter telescopes and four movable 1.8-meter telescopes, has been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Therefore, what is the potential cost for MoonLITE compared to other Earth-based interferometers?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoonLITE was designed to work within the cost box for the NASA Pioneers call for proposals,\u201d Dr. van Belle tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>. \u201cThis CfP [Call for Projects] stipulates a couple of things: a $20M cost cap, including a 25% uncommitted reserve, so the actual budgeted level of activities and hardware was $15M.\u00a0The CfP does let you request some things \u2013 first off, a CLPS ride, though you have to then fit within the CLPS mass cap of 50kg.\u00a0The notional CLPS lander\u00a0in the CfP was to provide\u00a0some other things as well \u2013 power, communications, mobility with a rover.\u00a0So, there\u2019s actually quite a bit of in-kind support wrapped up in that CLPS ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CLPS Overview | NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YKDKzSiS_R8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Submitting a proposal to NASA is a very in-depth process involving several steps, also known as phases, resulting in a very small acceptance rate, often with several rejections and improvements before being accepted. These proposals range from CubeSats to full-blown, multi-billion-dollar space missions, with most taking years to become real-world missions even after selection, if at all. For example, of the four proposals selected for further development in January 2021 Astrophysics Pioneers Program, (Aspera, Pandora, StarBurst, and PUEO), only two of them have definitive launch dates (StarBurst in 2027 and PUEO in 2025). Therefore, if MoonLITE is to be selected for advancement, it could be years, or even decades, before it officially lands on the lunar surface to conduct science. Unfortunately, while Dr. van Bells says the 2024 Pioneers proposal term was canceled due to federal budget issues, what are the next steps to make MoonLITE a reality?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe submitted for the 2023 NASA Pioneers call and got turned down,\u201d Dr. van Belle tells <em>Universe Today<\/em>. \u201cBut we got a good review and have been encouraged to improve things, address perceived issues, and resubmit.\u00a0We\u2019re trying to reduce risk by doing some lab and ground-based tests. This is another nice element of MoonLITE \u2013 we can just build a representative system on the ground and test it straight up here.\u00a0We don\u2019t get the exquisite sensitivity like we would on the moon, but otherwise it\u2019ll work just the same \u2013 we just need to look at bright things here from Earth.\u00a0So, we\u2019re keen to address some of these issues from the review panel and resubmit for 2025.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Podcast Episode 54: Astrophysics Pioneers Program\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tBxiORYUmbI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As NASA prepares to send humans back to the Moon with the Artemis Program for the first time since 1972, the level of science that can be achieved on the lunar surface is unprecedented. This is specifically evident given the lack of a Moon\u2019s atmosphere, allowing for more accurate data to be obtained and potentially providing scientists with a greater understanding of our universe, and our place in it. With MoonLITE, scientists hope to gain insight into low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, young stellar objects, and active galactic nuclei from potentially anywhere on the lunar surface, allowing for greater diversity is site selection and what celestial objects can be observed.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. van Belle concludes by telling <em>Universe Today<\/em>, \u201cMoonLITE is super exciting, not just because it\u2019s a really high-impact experiment in a remarkably affordable package \u2013 but because it will show\u00a0the whole approach works and can be taken much, much further. As an example, high precision astrometry from a lunar interferometer could characterize\u00a0the masses of terrestrial-scale extrasolar\u00a0planets.\u00a0Mass measures are needed in advance of the Habitable Worlds Observatory of the 2040\u2019s, to understand\u00a0the spectral HWO will get, and disentangle those spectra for signs of life.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What is the Habitable Worlds Observatory? | Exoplanet Radio ep 33\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/66dDK8epDC8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>How will MoonLITE contribute to optical interferometry on the lunar surface in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!<\/p>\n<p><em>As always, keep doing science &amp; keep looking up!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-168541-66e759de69398\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=13.2#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=168541&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-168541-66e759de69398&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-168541-66e759de69398\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/168541\/studying-stars-from-the-lunar-surface-with-moonlite-courtesy-of-nasas-commercial-lunar-payload-services\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Optical interferometry has been a long-proven science method that involves using several separate telescopes to act as one big telescope, thus achieving more accurate data as opposed to each telescope&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":789040,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-789039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=789039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/789040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=789039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=789039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=789039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}