Prof. Eli Waxman, the chief scientist of the Ultrasat project, says in a conversation with the science website that Ultrasat will look at the sky in the ultraviolet range and with a wide field of view, and will be the first of its kind * The field of studying transient events is going to lead astronomy in the coming decade and the Israeli group that came up with the idea will also be ready way before the others
The Weizmann Institute and the Space Agency announce the Ultrasat space telescope that will be used to detect violent events in the universe and will help answer basic questions in the field of astrophysics and our knowledge of the universe in general.
The telescope, whose weight will be about 160 kg, will be built in Israel in the next four years. According to the plan, it will be launched into space in 2023 with a space telescope on top of it that will make it possible to see the universe as never seen before: it will operate in the field of light that is normally not visible to the eye (ultraviolet) with an extremely wide field of view.
Recently, the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Space Agency in the Ministry of Science and Technology agreed to start the works this September, at the same time as investing efforts to secure the budget for the entire project. The DESY research center of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers also recently promised its support and participation in the construction of the satellite. Also, negotiations are underway with major international space agencies for their participation in the project, whose cost over four years of planning, construction and launch is expected to reach approximately 70 million dollars.
Prof. Eli Waxman from the Weizmann Institute, the chief scientist and initiator of the Ultrasat project, says in a conversation with the Hidan site that Ultrasat will look at the sky in the ultraviolet range and with a wide field of view, and will be the first of its kind. "This is Israel's first scientific observatory, i.e. the first satellite that is not an Earth observation satellite, and it has two unique features - a very wide field of view, and the ability to observe in the ultraviolet (ultraviolet) range that cannot be observed from Earth.
The violent astrophysical events such as stellar explosions, stellar collisions, tearing apart of stars by black holes are very hot events at the beginning and therefore emit a lot of violet radiation. There is an advantage to research in the ultraviolet field. In the first phase of the event, a lot of light is released in the ultraviolet range and they appear bright in instruments tuned to these frequencies. And the ultraviolet measurement gives us a lot of information that cannot be obtained from the measurements made from the ground from observations in the visible light range.
The much wider field of view than conventional telescopes will allow us to discover transient events: explosions that appear and disappear. To catch them you need a wide field of vision, when you look at the sky with a straw the probability that you will look at the right place at the right time when an explosion occurs is extremely small. Therefore a wide field of view is required.
"The phenomenon known as Transient Astronomy, astronomy of passing events is becoming a very central element in astrophysics and astronomy for two reasons. The first reason is the desire to answer the most basic scientific questions such as how black holes are formed and grow and how they affect their environment, where in the universe the very heavy elements above iron, gold, uranium, etc. were formed, how stars explode and what is the current rate of expansion of the universe."
"These questions have been with us for a long time. But now technological developments have been completed that make it possible to build telescopes with very wide fields of view that must be used to have a chance of finding these transient phenomena in the sky." Prof. Waxman says. "All over the world, efforts are being made to build survey telescopes with a wide field of view that will detect passing objects, but the majority use ground-based telescopes that can see in visible and infrared light. We will be able to lead the field thanks to the fact that our observatory is in space, which has a very wide field of view, and is a ultraviolet observer. It will be able to observe a volume of space a hundred times greater than any other observatory of its kind that exists today, and will be similar to the largest project planned in the USA in 2022, but it will operate in the optical field."
Our goal is to discover the event, measure the radiation from it and provide its location with high enough accuracy so that we know in which galaxy it occurred and that we can distribute its location to astronomers all over the world who will look at other wavelengths and measure the scatterial composition and more.
To these is added the Israeli aspect: "Historically, we were the first to realize that from a scientific point of view there are many advantages to looking in ultraviolet light, and that this is technologically possible. We proposed to build a small satellite that could realize this with Israeli technologies. The ability of the aerospace industry to build small satellites on the order of a hundred million dollars instead of a billion. We show that it is possible to lead the research in this field using a relatively cheap, relatively small and ground-breaking satellite based on the capabilities of the Israeli industries that know how to build small satellites, in particular the aerospace industry. "
In conclusion, Prof. Waxman says that Ultrasat will operate at the forefront of global research in the field and will place Israel in a leading position in the most important field of astrophysics in the coming decade and will provide answers to the most interesting and troubling basic questions. Beyond the scientific aspect, he will expose the Israeli industry in a very strong way to the world, especially its experience in building relatively small satellites. "Ultrasat greatly strengthens Israel's status from several aspects - the scientific profile of a mission will be very high, the whole world will hear about its findings which will immediately motivate researchers all over the world. It will also help create collaborations with the world's leading industries and the world's leading agencies such as the European Space Agency, with which they have been trying for a long time to create cooperation. Also, the exposure of the scientific results and the ability of Israeli technologies will, in my opinion, attract many young Israelis to scientific and technological education. This is an important goal in itself."
In a conversation with the science website, the director of the space agency, Avi Blasberger, answers the question of what will happen to Israel and space telescopes: "Interest in astrophysics has always been part of the interest of space agencies, this is a groundbreaking project in the field of astrophysics led by the Weizmann Institute. There is already an initial design that has been worked on for years, the Aerospace Industry will lead the process and the telescope will be developed and manufactured by the El Op company."
It should be noted that for twenty years Tel Aviv University and the Israel Space Agency worked to advance the construction of a satellite that would observe in the ultraviolet Tauvex range. Later it was reduced to a telescope that would be placed on an Indian satellite, but due to weight reasons the telescope was removed from the satellite before launch. The launch failed, the launcher and the satellites on it disintegrated in the atmosphere Although the Towax telescope was saved, no other satellite was found that could be attached to it and the project was canceled.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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They will make two, the second will serve as a reserve in case of a malfunction in the launch of the first, as happened in the launch of Amos-6. After all, the main costs are the planning and development, the cost of the materials from which the satellite is made is marginal. With an additional budget of about 20%-25%, a spare satellite can be produced that will ensure the success of the launch, in the original planned schedule.
They will make two, the second will serve as a reserve in case of a malfunction in the launch of the first, as happened in the launch of Amos-6. After all, the main costs are the planning and development, the cost of the materials from which the satellite is made is marginal. With an additional budget of about 20%-25%, a spare satellite can be produced that will ensure the success of the launch, in the original planned schedule.