OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond
International audience We address three major questions in astronomy, namely the detection of biosignatures on habitable exoplanets, the geophysics of exoplanets and cosmology. To achieve this goal, two requirements are needed: (i) a very large aperture to detect spectro-polarimetric and spatial fea...
Published in: | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://insu.hal.science/insu-03748225 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 |
id |
ftsorbonneuniv:oai:HAL:insu-03748225v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftsorbonneuniv:oai:HAL:insu-03748225v1 2024-09-15T18:36:42+00:00 OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond Schneider, Jean Silk, Joseph Vakili, Farrokh Observatoire de Paris Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2021 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03748225 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 en eng HAL CCSD Royal Society, The info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 insu-03748225 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03748225 BIBCODE: 2021RSPTA.37900187S doi:10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 ISSN: 0080-4614 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (1934–1990) https://insu.hal.science/insu-03748225 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (1934–1990), 2021, 379, ⟨10.1098/rsta.2020.0187⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2021 ftsorbonneuniv https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 2024-07-25T23:47:48Z International audience We address three major questions in astronomy, namely the detection of biosignatures on habitable exoplanets, the geophysics of exoplanets and cosmology. To achieve this goal, two requirements are needed: (i) a very large aperture to detect spectro-polarimetric and spatial features of faint objects such as exoplanets, (ii) continuous monitoring to characterize the temporal behaviour of exoplanets such as rotation period, meteorology and seasons. An Earth-based telescope is not suited for continuous monitoring and the atmosphere limits the ultimate angular resolution and spectro-polarimetrical domain. Moreover, a space telescope in orbit is limited in aperture, to perhaps 15 m over many decades. This is why we propose an OWL-class lunar telescope with a 50-100 m aperture for visible and IR astronomy, based on ESO's Overwhelmingly Large Telescope concept, unachievable on Earth for technical issues such as wind stress that are not relevant for a lunar platform. It will be installed near the south pole of the Moon to allow continuous target monitoring. The low gravity of the Moon will facilitate its building and manoeuvring, compared to Earth-based telescopes. We introduce a new original idea: such a large lunar telescope will allow Intensity Interferometric measurements when coupled with large Earth-based telescopes, leading to picosecond angular resolution. Rather than going into all details, our objective is essentially to inject new ideas and give a kind of roadmap. In particular, the choice of a final location will have to find a compromise between the cool temperature of craters at the Moon South Pole and the visibility of Earth for some science objectives. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades'. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole HAL Sorbonne Université Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 379 2188 20200187 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HAL Sorbonne Université |
op_collection_id |
ftsorbonneuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Schneider, Jean Silk, Joseph Vakili, Farrokh OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
International audience We address three major questions in astronomy, namely the detection of biosignatures on habitable exoplanets, the geophysics of exoplanets and cosmology. To achieve this goal, two requirements are needed: (i) a very large aperture to detect spectro-polarimetric and spatial features of faint objects such as exoplanets, (ii) continuous monitoring to characterize the temporal behaviour of exoplanets such as rotation period, meteorology and seasons. An Earth-based telescope is not suited for continuous monitoring and the atmosphere limits the ultimate angular resolution and spectro-polarimetrical domain. Moreover, a space telescope in orbit is limited in aperture, to perhaps 15 m over many decades. This is why we propose an OWL-class lunar telescope with a 50-100 m aperture for visible and IR astronomy, based on ESO's Overwhelmingly Large Telescope concept, unachievable on Earth for technical issues such as wind stress that are not relevant for a lunar platform. It will be installed near the south pole of the Moon to allow continuous target monitoring. The low gravity of the Moon will facilitate its building and manoeuvring, compared to Earth-based telescopes. We introduce a new original idea: such a large lunar telescope will allow Intensity Interferometric measurements when coupled with large Earth-based telescopes, leading to picosecond angular resolution. Rather than going into all details, our objective is essentially to inject new ideas and give a kind of roadmap. In particular, the choice of a final location will have to find a compromise between the cool temperature of craters at the Moon South Pole and the visibility of Earth for some science objectives. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades'. |
author2 |
Observatoire de Paris Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur (OCA) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schneider, Jean Silk, Joseph Vakili, Farrokh |
author_facet |
Schneider, Jean Silk, Joseph Vakili, Farrokh |
author_sort |
Schneider, Jean |
title |
OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond |
title_short |
OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond |
title_full |
OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond |
title_fullStr |
OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond |
title_full_unstemmed |
OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond |
title_sort |
owl-moon in 2050 and beyond |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://insu.hal.science/insu-03748225 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_source |
ISSN: 0080-4614 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (1934–1990) https://insu.hal.science/insu-03748225 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences (1934–1990), 2021, 379, ⟨10.1098/rsta.2020.0187⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 insu-03748225 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03748225 BIBCODE: 2021RSPTA.37900187S doi:10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2020.0187 |
container_title |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
container_volume |
379 |
container_issue |
2188 |
container_start_page |
20200187 |
_version_ |
1810480404701904896 |