The scientists expect to soon receive new evidence about the evolution of the universe, or as they call it - "fossil records" of the big bang, which occurred about 12 billion years ago
The scientists expect to soon receive new evidence about the evolution of the universe, or as they call it - "fossil records" of the big bang, which happened about 12 billion years ago. Next week, on the 23rd of the month, NASA will launch the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic FUSE (Explorer) spacecraft or - telescope. in the far range of ultraviolet light). The spacecraft will observe both the neighboring planets and the most distant objects in the observable universe, and should provide a detailed picture of the Milky Way.
In order to trace the history of the universe, the spacecraft will precisely measure the concentrations in space of hydrogen and deuterium (a heavier type of hydrogen), which were created immediately after the big bang. Information should allow scientists to look back in time, to the young universe.
After cooling from the Big Bang, the early universe was composed mostly of hydrogen of its kind. Later, when the first stars were formed, the hydrogen atoms fused and helium was formed. This process is known from the formation of stars today: stars the size of the Sun produce helium, and when most of the hydrogen is consumed - their atmosphere is released into space and they turn into "white dwarf" type stars (a star with a small mass in the last stage of its life). However, larger stars explode when they finish turning most of the hydrogen into helium. As a result, helium turns into carbon, carbon into oxygen, and so on, until iron is formed. Elements heavier than iron are created only during the final explosion of giant stars, in the fractions of a second before they collapse in on themselves and become neutron stars or black holes (depending on their mass). In this short period of time, so much energy is released that heavy elements such as gold and uranium are formed.
These heavy elements eventually end up in the clouds of dust and gas, from which the suns and planets are formed. The minor planets, like Earth, are composed mostly of heavy elements because the light hydrogen has escaped their gravity. In contrast, the large planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, contain mostly hydrogen and helium. By observing the factor associated with the birth of the universe, scientists hope to better understand the processes that led to the formation and evolution of stars, including our own solar system. In the end, they hope, the data that Fuze will collect will allow them to take a big step towards understanding how the elements we know were formed, and how they were distributed
since the beginning of time.
"We also intend to examine the amount of free deuterium found in the Milky Way, because within the stars the deuterium is destroyed," says Dr. George Sonnenborn of the Gordon Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the project's chief scientist. "Mapping the deuterium along the entire Milky Way will give us a better understanding of how the elements are mixed, spread and destroyed."
"The big questions are, if we understand the origin of the universe, and if we understand how the galaxies developed?" says Dr. Kenneth Sambach, a member of the spacecraft team and a scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. "Since Fusion will be able to observe in the ultraviolet light ranges, which other telescopes cannot, we will be able to examine in unique ways how deuterium and other elements are processed within galaxies. This will test the limits of the big bang theory."
The Fuse spacecraft is supposed to provide answers to some questions that are troubling scientists: what were the conditions in the first minutes after the big bang; how the elements were distributed and changed within the galaxies, and how this affects the way the galaxies were formed; What are the amounts of gas in the interstellar gas clouds, from which the stars and planets are formed. Fusion should also confirm the existence of huge "springs" of gases in the Milky Way, which allow the formation of new stars.
Fuse was developed by NASA and Johns Hopkins University, which is primarily responsible for all aspects of the project. NASA is only responsible for the launch. This is the first project of its kind by NASA, which is developed and operated entirely by a university.
The weight of the fuse satellite is about 1,600 kg, and it contains two parts - the spacecraft itself, and the research instruments, including telescope mirrors, a spectrograph that breaks down the ultraviolet light into its components, and an electronically adjustable camera. The satellite's control center will be on the Johns Hopkins campus in Baltimore.
Fuze will be launched from Cape Canaveral on a Boeing Delta II rocket, and it will be brought into a circular orbit at an altitude of 768 km, where the duration of the Earth's orbit is 100 minutes. Most of the operations will be carried out by the satellite without direction from the Earth, as it moves from target to target, identifies the star fields, focuses on desired objects and makes the observations. The mission will cost $204 million and last three years.
* The news was published in Haaretz newspaper. The author of the article worked at Haaretz between 1994 and 2000. The knowledge site continued to be part of the IOL portal until the end of 2002.
