There is a blind spot in the area of far-Infrared Radiation. A telescope can only use its full sensitivity with a cooled mirror. There isn't much worldwide investment in the development of corresponding detectors for such a telescope.
SRON decided to invest in the development of kids. Researchers from SRON and TU Delft were able to feel the warmth of a candle on the moon. Their study appears in a journal.
We have been spoiled with the most beautiful pictures from telescopes that work with visible and visible light. The black hole in M87, the Hubble Extreme Deep Field and the baby picture of a planetary system are some of the images that have been released. In one wavelength area, astronomy is mostly blind.
The Earth's atmosphere blocks most of this radiation for ground-based telescopes, while space telescopes often have a temperature that makes them blind their detectors. With so much noise, there isn't much incentive to spend a lot of money on detectors. Governments won't allocate funds for noiseless telescopes because they don't have sensitive detectors.
There is a breakthrough.
SRON decided to invest in the development of KIDs at the beginning of this century. The decision is starting to bear fruit. SRON researchers have made it possible to see the permanent background radiation of the universe.
An even higher sensitivity wouldn't be used. You will be limited by the noise of the universe. NASA and the European Space Agency have far-infrared detectors that are sensitive. Two proposals have been submitted to NASA. Our KIDs make it worth it, even though those are more expensive.
The gap between the Terahertz andhertz frequencies.
The terahertz gap is named after the frequencies of far-IR light. The lack of light produced by stars in the far-away, young universe has left a gap in our knowledge of stellar evolution. The terahertz gap is a great place for explorers to go.
You don't know what you're missing. The Hubble telescope pointed at a piece of the sky that was seemingly empty. There were thousands of galaxies that emerged from a small area.
A candle on the moon can be used to describe the sensitivity of the researchers' KIDs. Imagine standing on Earth and holding a candle in your hand. It seems like a waste of time. It's not for a kid. It is much more sensitive than that. A KID can detect as little as 10 watt with an integration time of less than a second.
More information: J.J.A. Baselmans et al, Ultra-sensitive Super-THz Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors for future space telescopes, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2022). arxiv.org/abs/2207.08647 Journal information: Astronomy & Astrophysics
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