Astronomer: Earth’s Atmosphere Could Become the Lens of a Massiv
The conventional wisdom is that if you want to look at more distant objects in the universe, you need a bigger telescope. What if you didn’t have to build one, though? A new analysis claims it may be possible to use the Earth’s atmosphere as a giant lens to observe far-away stars and galaxies on the cheap. The process may even work in reverse to send signals to distant locales.
Earth’s atmosphere has traditionally been seen as an impediment to astronomy. The thick envelope of gas that keeps us alive also obscures space. That’s why the most powerful telescopes are the ones we launch into orbit like Hubble and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. And then there are massive ground-based telescopes like the 25-meter Giant Magellan Telescope under construction in Chile.
These projects are expensive and deviously complex. The Giant Magellan Telescope will cost around $1 billion, and the Webb Telescope is closing in on $10 billion after years of delays. The “terrascope” proposed by Columbia University astronomer David Kipping could be vastly easier. Using the Earth’s atmosphere as a lens to focus light has been proposed in the past, but Kipping’s new calculations demonstrate how powerful such a setup could be.
As light from distant objects passes through Earth’s atmosphere, some of it passes through the upper atmosphere and refracts into a cone-like shape. If you were to place a small satellite in orbit around the moon, it could use a small mirror to collect that light, essentially magnifying distant objects. According to Kipping, a 1-meter terrascope could potentially amplify light by 22,500 times. That’s far, far beyond the capabilities of any telescope we could manufacture with current technology.
Kipping also points out you could equip a terrascope with a radio transmitter rather than a mirror. By bouncing signals off the Earth’s atmosphere, you could potentially improve communication with other planets in the solar system. Some of them have atmospheres, so you could bounce the signal onward creating an “Internet across the solar system.”
That all sounds great, but there are a few potential pitfalls. For one, you can’t point the terrascope anyplace you like. Your lens is the Earth itself, so you can only spy on things that are behind the planet. That’s just a tiny fraction of the sky. Kipping’s calculations also use simplified atmospheric models that don’t take into account conditions like high-altitude clouds. Light contamination from Earth could also make terrascope signals too noisy to be useful. Kipping agrees there’s a lot of work to be done, but it’s a fascinating idea.
Continue reading
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Is Leaking into Space
NASA reports the probe grabbed so much regolith from the asteroid that it's leaking out of the collector. The team is now working to determine how best to keep the precious cargo from escaping.
AMD’s New Radeon RX 6000 Series Is Optimized to Battle Ampere
AMD unveiled its RX 6000 series today. For the first time since it bought ATI in 2006, there will be some specific advantages to running AMD GPUs in AMD platforms.
NASA Created a Collection of Spooky Space Sounds for Halloween
NASA's latest data release turns signals from beyond Earth into spooky sounds that are sure to send a chill up your spine.
NASA Discovers Vital Organic Molecule on Titan
In the latest analysis, researchers from NASA have identified an important, highly reactive organic molecule in Titan's atmosphere. Its presence suggests the moon could support chemical processes that we usually associate with life.