Dark exoplanet discovered by blocking starlight
A Romanian telescope to be launched into space in 2027
coronagraph (round object at the top of the picture) on a crane. Provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)”/>
NASA engineers are carrying the coronagraph (round object at the top of the picture) on a crane. Provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Work has been underway to assemble the ‘Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope‘, which is being prepared for launch by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to explore unknown worlds outside the solar system. to see, hastened. The body of the telescope is equipped with a ‘coronagraph’, a key device capable of clearly capturing exoplanets. The Romanian space telescope is expected to start an observation mission in space 1.5 million km away from Earth in 2027.
On the 10th (local time), the American science magazine Space.com reported that the work of compiling the corona graph on the Roman space telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was completed at end of last month. The Romanian space telescope, produced by NASA, is scheduled to be launched in May 2027. We intend to observe the outer solar system from space, 1.5 million km away from Earth. It is mainly made to detect infrared rays.
The corona graph posted by NASA on the Romanian space telescope is, in a word, a ‘light shadow’. It is round and 1.7m wide, about the size of a grand piano. Inside is a steel structure that looks like a honeycomb. Through a corona graph, the presence of planets orbiting a star can be detected by blocking starlight from entering the Roman space telescope. This is like how, on a dark night, an observer standing next to the headlight of a bright car would have to block the light from the headlight with the palm of his hand to recognize a candle. The corona graph plays the role of the palm.
In addition to the corona graph, the Roman space telescope has other advantages. The field of view is 100 times wider than the field of the Hubble Space Telescope which was launched in 1990. This means that you can quickly scan the vast universe. That is why the number of exoplanet discoveries is expected to increase significantly after 2027, when the Romanian space telescope will be sent to the front line. NASA explained, “The basic life of the Romanian space telescope is 5 years, and if possible, it will be extended to a total of 10 years.”
On the 4th, Korea and NASA launched a coronagraph specifically for solar observation on a spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The corona graph created by Korean and American researchers helps monitor the ‘corona’, the sun’s darkest peak, by blocking bright light. which comes from the surface of the sun. Although its purpose is different from the corona graph of the Roman space telescope, which aimed to find exoplanets, the basic principle is the same.
NASA explained, “The coronagraph installed on the Rome Space Telescope will allow us to distinguish exoplanets that are 100 million times smaller than stars,” and added, “We expect about 2,600 exoplanets to search.”
