MOON BASED TELESCOPE
GS PAPER 3
(SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)
THE HINDU EDITORIAL ANALYSIS
.png)
Challenges for Earth-based Telescopes:
- Atmospheric Interference: Optical and radio telescopes face obstacles due to Earth's atmosphere, hindering their ability to observe cosmic phenomena clearly.
- Pollution and Haze: Optical instruments struggle with increasingly polluted skies, diminishing visibility and clarity.
- Electromagnetic Interference: Radio telescopes encounter interference from various sources such as radio and TV signals, as well as signals from radar systems, aircraft, and satellites, creating electromagnetic 'hiss'.
- Ionospheric Blockage: The Earth's ionosphere obstructs radio waves from outer space, further complicating observations from ground-based radio telescopes.
- Reduced Interference: Placing telescopes on the far side of the moon shields them from radio noise originating from Earth, providing a pristine environment for observations.
- Crystal-Clear Seeing Conditions: The moon's airless desolation offers optical telescopes exceptional clarity during the lunar night, lasting two weeks.
- Protection from Radio Interference: A thick lunar wall effectively blocks radio transmissions from Earth and electrically charged plasma winds from the Sun, enhancing the capabilities of radio telescopes.
- Renewed Interest and Potential: Despite past cost barriers, the renewed interest among spacefaring nations in lunar exploration promises to make lunar telescopes feasible, potentially offering astronomers access to the most radio-quiet location in the solar system.
Upcoming Moon-bound Instruments:
- NASA's Long-Baseline Optical Imaging Interferometer: Planned for launch before the end of the decade, it will study magnetic activity on stars and active galaxy centers using visible and ultraviolet wavelengths.
- ESA's Argonaut Mission: Scheduled for 2030, it includes a radio telescope intended for the moon's far side.
- European Projects: Include detectors for gravitational waves and an infrared telescope in a shadowed crater near the lunar south pole.
China's Initiatives:
- Moon-orbiting Radio Telescope: Scheduled for launch in 2026, China aims to be at the forefront of lunar exploration.
- Queqiao-2 Satellite: Recently entered lunar orbit on March 24, equipped with a 4.2-meter antenna serving as a radio telescope among other functions.
PRATUSH Radio Telescope:
- Project Overview: PRATUSH (Probing ReionizATion of the Universe using Signal from Hydrogen) is a radio telescope designed by the Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bengaluru, India, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- Orbit Strategy: Rather than landing on the moon's surface, PRATUSH will be placed into orbit around the moon to study the universe from its far side.
- Initial placement in Earth orbit allows for fine-tuning before being launched towards the moon.
Advantages of Lunar Orbit:
- Operating Environment: Lunar orbit provides ideal observing conditions, with minimal radio frequency interference (RFI) and no ionosphere.
- Instrumentation: PRATUSH will carry a wideband frequency-independent antenna, a self-calibrating analog receiver, and a digital correlator to capture radio noise from the Dark Ages.
- Potential Discoveries: As astronomers explore the universe from the moon, they anticipate uncovering insights into various cosmic mysteries, including dark energy, primordial black holes, and the fundamental nature of the cosmos.