The world's most powerful and most expensive space telescope, James Webb, has barely settled into its
natural habitat in the halo orbit, and NASA is already preparing to roll out a more advanced
spyglass called LUVOIR or Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor. At an estimated
cost of $18 billion, this telescope will be even more expensive than the Webb, and of course,
it will be more sophisticated as well. Scientists predict that it will become operational within
the next decade, which is a fast delivery timeline in terms of space inventions.
But why is there a sudden rush to launch another space telescope?
What exactly did the James Webb telescope find in the world beyond?
And why are scientists hiding it from us? Let's find out together!
Launched on the 25th of December 2021, the James Webb space telescope has only just begun its
life cycle. In fact, it took 30 days for this expensive spyglass to reach the Lagrange point,
which is considered to be its new home. Scientists needed another 120 days to set it up,
meaning the James Webb telescope had only been in operation for roughly two months.
But it was definitely worth the wait because in terms of performance,
the James Webb Telescope is by far the most advanced space telescope in the world today.
And we might be wrong, but we don't expect that to change for the next five to ten years.
Located about 1.5 million away from the Earth, the Webb is about half the size
of a Boeing 737 aircraft. Its sun shield is about the size of an average tennis court.
The diameter of the primary mirror of the James Webb telescope is 6.5 meters big. In comparison,
the diameter of the next best space telescope, the Hubble Space, is only 2.4 meters. For perspective,
the Hubble space telescope can sight objects at least 60,000 times fainter than the human eye.
However, the superior James Webb telescope can see objects about nine times fainter than the Hubble
Space, which ultimately means scientists will be able to peep deeper into space.
With the help of this gigantic telescope, researchers estimate that we’ll be able to cover
100 percent of the sky in one year. No other space observatory probe can match this feat
Yet, scientists are hard at work trying to loft another satellite into space.
This is quite confusing if you consider the heavy investment that
went into the production of the James Webb telescope. But NASA, as we know,
barely makes illogical decisions. The mere fact that considerations are ongoing to launch
another telescope gives us enough reason to assume that something has either gone wrong with Webb
or probably there's some mystery that's beyond its capacity. These suspicions have been fueled
by the recent news that emerged about a micrometeoroid striking the primary mirror
of the powerful spyglass. However, NASA insists that the telescope is not damaged and continues
to work at full capacity. So, what could be the reason for developing another telescope?
Well, there are quite a number of reasons why this is happening.
One of them could be that the James Webb space telescope has encountered a puzzle
it cannot solve, and since it's virtually impossible to upgrade a telescope in space,
the only solution would be to launch another one. But what could be this puzzle,
and how will the incoming LUVOIR telescope solve it?
Some sources suggest that the James Webb telescope could have stumbled on some unnatural activity
of one of the exoplanets. But it is widely believed that the engineers that built it didn't
contemplate that the glow of stars could eclipse the observation. Due to its sophisticated camera
and 18 different mirrors, the James Webb telescope is able to observe and capture a range of
fascinating clusters. However, most of the images appear as ambiguous spots. But thankfully, that's
one of the things that a multi-wavelength space telescope like the LUVOIR telescope will look to
correct. Rumors suggest it will be equipped with an extra sensitive eclipse coronagraph, which will
ultimately help to reduce the beam from starlight. The coronagraph has 40 times the light-gathering
power of the Hubble Space telescope, meaning it would be able to capture images more
quickly. The coronagraph will also contain an intricate imaging camera and a spectrograph.
Deep space exploration has become a priority for scientists who are trying to unravel
several mysteries, including the possibility of finding other creatures.
This resolve has led us to find around 5,000 exoplanets, and you never know;
some aliens or even humans might be hiding in one of them as you watch this video.
Currently, the James Webb telescope can only identify the chemical composition of
space elements by how they look. But scientists want more. They want to be able to investigate
the chemical composition of planets and their atmosphere to determine if they support life.
And coincidentally, that's the main goal of the LUVOIR telescope. Reports suggest it will
be designed with an advanced feature known as Multi-Object-Spectroscopy (MOS), which would
enable scientists to measure and explore a large number of stars and galaxies in search of the
presence of life. The fact sheet also suggests that the LUVOIR would potentially be able to
study 54 Earth-like planets and hundreds of other large planets within a five-year observing period.
According to a 426-page report, the LUVOIR telescope will be equipped with a 15-meter
mirror. That's more than twice the size of the Hubble Space Telescope mirror.
And just like the Hubble Space Telescope, LUVOIR will have a wider wavelength range of sensitivity,
spanning ultraviolet and visible light to near-infrared. This would enable it
to detect the spectral signatures of a wide range of compounds that
may point to the existence of life activity on other distant planets.
Also, the LUVOIR will have the capacity to detect evidence of
Nitrogen dioxide levels in the atmosphere of exoplanets that rotate around the sun
at a distance of up to 32.6 light-years away. And we know well enough that detecting high levels of
nitric dioxide in a planet’s atmosphere indicates the presence of life. But why
is there a need for LUVOIR to observe different space elements concurrently?
Well, from the images we've gotten from the James Webb telescope, scientists believe that
there's enough evidence to suggest there are several other civilizations in the universe.
Studies have shown that more than half of all existing exoplanets could support life.
And they might be several light-years more developed than us. The LUVOIR telescope will
scan our universe and simultaneously track several planets with the potential to support life,
unlike any other existing space telescope. This idea was first
suggested by NASA scientist Ravi Kumar Kopparapu, who claimed that Nitrogen
dioxide absorption characteristics could be observed using a large ultraviolet optical,
infrared probe. And that's one of the things that the all-new LUVOIR telescope will be able to do.
So, potentially speaking, if this telescope detects Nitrogen in any of the planets or
exoplanets that James Webb found, we could be on the verge of simultaneously discovering several
Earth-like planets. Also, the LUVOIR will be able detect techno signatures
and other signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. But are we even ready for this discovery?
As interesting as it sounds, our quest to discover advanced civilization could also be dangerous.
Chances are, when we find extraterrestrial creatures,
they'll be much more technologically advanced than us. And according to Alberto Caballero,
a doctoral student in conflict resolution at the University of Vigo in Spain,
there are four potentially hostile alien civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy alone.
“We don’t know the mind of extraterrestrials. An extraterrestrial civilization may have a
brain with a different chemical composition, and they might not have empathy, or they might
have more psychopathological behaviors.” Caballero said.
Imagine if one of them picks up the signal from the LUVOIR
telescope and comes for us? How are we going to communicate with them?
And worse of all, how do we defend ourselves if they decide to attack us?
Of course, the LUVOIR space telescope won’t be able to do much in this instance,
but it would have definitely given us hints about any possible attacks
long before they happened, giving us enough time to prepare our response.
While the existing space telescopes are not substandard,
they will be no match for the LUVOIR space telescope if it is approved.
Be sure to check out this video over here.