We observe stars and black holes in space to try to better understand the universe in which we live
said Laurent Loinard, researcher at the Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics (IRyA) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), specialized in the formation and youth of stars, the chemistry of the interstellar medium, and the environment of supermassive black holes. .
In interview with The ConferenceThe scientist did not leave aside that all basic science of today is applied science of tomorrow
and therefore, what appears to be the contemplation of the stars to know their characteristics and their behavior today, in the future can be translated into advances that improve people’s lives.
A couple of weeks ago, Loinard was selected to be the Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, United States, for the school term that begins in the fall of 2024. During his stay, which includes One year starting in September, in addition to teaching students, he will work with colleagues in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration.
It is an honor to be invited as a professor at Harvard University and to teach astrophysics students at that institution.
he said upon hearing the news.
Loinard studied for a bachelor’s degree in physics and a PhD in astrophysics from the Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France, and is a member of the EHT consortium that published the first images of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy in 2019.
When asked what the relevance of following the stars is, he states: “observing the stars is part of the basic sciences, where the goal is to better understand the universe in which we live. Here we are not trying to develop new technologies and applications for direct purposes, but to improve knowledge of the world in which we live.
People are interested in what happens in space, I remember when we showed the first image of a black hole in 2019, people approached me on the street and shared their interest. Among young people, children and students there is a very primitive curiosity to try to understand this universe in which we live.
The scientist distinguishes himself by doing research in astrophysics with the use of radio-interferometry, a technique that allows him to observe the celestial bodies not with the optical light that the eyes can perceive, but with electromagnetic radiation, and instead of using a single telescope, uses several simultaneously, located in different parts of the world. Then, with the information recorded at each site and later gathered, he forms a very sharp image.
10 years ago, using this technique, he observed a hundred young stars to know in an ultra-precise way how they move in the vault and determine how far away they are. and that is very important because without specifying its distance, nothing can be established, you cannot know its luminosity, its mass, its age, because all the important parameters are derived from the distance.
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Regarding his experience collaborating at the EHT, Loinard said that If our eyes were as sharp as this telescope, we could see individual atoms on our finger.
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Next, he explained that the theoretical models describe that the material that rotates around a black hole is turbulent, which would imply that if an image is made, and repeated a year later, some differences would be reflected, The observations made by the EHT between 2017 and 2018 confirm these theoretical models
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He said that after the observations made in recent years, the purpose for the future is to add a dozen telescopes to those that already make up the EHT, to form what will be the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT), to more than images, movies of black holes are obtained
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Loinard pointed out that the leadership in the creation of the ngEHT lies with Harvard University, and the reason for this invitation to spend an academic year as a guest professor is to work on that project, because one of those 12 telescopes that we want to incorporate will be located in Baja California at the national astrological observatory that is near Ensenada, in San Pedro Martyr
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It is estimated that in a first stage, by 2027 there will be four, Mexico, Chile, the Canary Islands and the United States. They hope that by 2028 at least half will be ready, and with this they will have the first films of black holes.
Regarding the scope of this work, the scientist said that in addition to having a better knowledge of the universe we inhabit, We must not forget that all basic science of today is applied science of tomorrow.
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As an example, he mentioned Einstein’s theory of relativity, which is tested with the observation of black holes. We use it every day without realizing it, because the geolocators on our cell phones use triangulation with several satellites that are orbiting the Earth, and follow this principle, which establishes that time passes differently on satellites than on the surface of the Earth. , and if this were not taken into account, the GPS would give us wrong positions
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Another example is quantum mechanics, which describes the universe at a microscopic level, When it emerged in the 1920s, it did not have any visible application, but today each of us has 10 devices at home that use that theory, because transistors are the basis of all modern electronics, it is based on microelectronics, which work under the principles of that theory
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– 2024-04-22 07:30:51