The field of exoplanet study has changed a lot over the years. More than 5,000 exoplanets have been confirmed in 3,794 systems beyond our own. Tens of thousands of planets are expected to be found in the next few years thanks to next- generation observatories. The goal of this search is to find planets that are Earth-like and have a chance of supporting life. rocky planets are hard to see because they are located within their parent star's HZs.
NASA is designing a hybrid observatory that will block out a star's light so that a ground-based telescope can see planets around it. NASA is looking for public input on the idea of a hybrid observatory for Earth-like exoplanets. They have launched the Ultralight Starshade Structural Design Challenge, where participants are asked to develop a design for a lightweight starshade structure that could be used as part of the HOEE concept.
GrabCAD is a Massachusetts-based startup that hosts a free cloud-based platform that helps engineering teams collaborate and manage, view, and share Computer-Aided Design files. The HOEE concept is being studied by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts. NASA has a program called Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourced.
Most known exoplanets have been confirmed. The transit method is also included. The use of transit photometry is to detect the presence of one or more planets in front of a star. The radial velocity method is one of the others. The star's movement relative to the observer is used to determine the influence of the planets on the star.
TheTransitMethod and theradialvelocityMethod are very effective at constraining the size and orbital period of exoplanets. Calculating the size of exoplanets can be done with next- generation instruments. Light from distant exoplanets is captured and analyzed. Data on a planet's surface minerals and the presence of oceans, continents, weather systems, vegetation, and the gases that make up its atmosphere can be obtained by using the spectrum obtained.
Astronomers will be able to determine whether a planet ishabitable or not with this data. The coronagraph, an instrument that blocks out the glare of parent stars, is an important part of this method. Dr. John Mather is a senior project scientist at the JWST.
“The hybrid observatory might help us answer some of the most pressing questions about extraterrestrial life. Observing many systems would help answer the question of why configurations like our own are rare and why none is quite like home. It is truly exciting that the public can be part of this revolutionary effort. I can’t wait to see what ideas they bring to the table.”
The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) at NASA JPL has a concept called the "Starshade" that is the key to the HOEE. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) was thought to be the only space telescope that could benefit from a starshade-type spaceship. With the HOEE concept, ground-based telescopes that fall into the 30-meter-class ( 100 ft) range could be used to conduct direct image surveys. Next- generation telescopes include the ELT, Giant Magellan Telescope, and the Thirty Meter Telescope.
NASA is looking for ideas for a lightweight starshade that can do the Ultralight Starshade Structural Design Challenge. NASA wants to develop an innovative low-mass starshade structure that could meet the mass, shape, strength, and rigidity requirements. There are four suggested designs that participants are free to pick from.
This is the first thing. The current JPL HabEx concept is ultra light. The umbrella has petals. There is a rigid inflated structure. There are structures based on tussles.
They claim that the ideal design will allow for successful deployment once in Earth's orbit. It must be able to collapse and fold up so that it can fit inside the rocket's payload area. This is similar to what engineers did with James Webb. They stress that it must have the lowest possible mass to be easier to launch, and that it can change its trajectory to see different targets.
On the challenge page, these and other details are listed.
“An orbiting starshade (170,000 km away) could cast a shadow of the central star without blocking the reflected light from its planets. So that it can be used with the largest ground-based telescopes, the starshade needs to be 100 m in diameter. This large structure must be tightly packaged so that it can fit inside the fairing of a large rocket (e.g., Falcon Heavy or Starship).
“It must also have the lowest possible mass so that chemical thrusters can keep it aligned during observations and solar electric propulsion system can change its orbit to observe many targets. NASA seeks breakthrough mechanical/structural concepts for a deployable, low mass, high stability, and high stiffness starshade structure.”
To be eligible for the challenge, participants need to be US citizens or from an eligible country. There will be a prize purse of $7,000. The full list of the competition requirements can be found on the challenge page.
There is further reading on NASA.
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