To planet-jægere fanget på La Silla
I århundreder har filosoffer og videnskabsfolk spekuleret over muligheden for beboelige planeter uden for Solsystemet. I dag er denne idé mere end spekulation: mange hundrede exoplaneter er blevet opdaget i det seneste par årtier af astronomer over hele verden. Forskellige teknikker bruges til at lede efter nye verdener. I dette usædvanlige billede er teleskoper, der bruger to af disse metoder blevet fanget i samme skud: ESOs 3,6 meter-teleskop med HARPS-spektrografen og CoRoT-rumteleskopet. Billedet er taget af astronomen Alexandre Santerne, der selv studerer exoplaneter.
HARPS-spektrografen (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planetary Search), der er et instrument på ESOs 3,6 meter-teleskop, er verdens førende exoplanet-jæger. Teleskopets åbne kuppel ses i venstre side af dette billede bag den kantede bygning, der huser New Technology Telescope. HARPS finder exoplaneter ved at registrere små ændringer i en stjernes bevægelse, når den rokker en smule frem og tilbage pga. tyngdepåvirkningen fra en planet i kredsløb om stjernen. Denne teknik til at finde exoplaneter kaldes for radialhastighedsmetoden.
Det svage lysspor højt på himlen i denne 20 sekunders optagelse er ikke et meteor, men rumteleskopet CoRoT (Convection Rotation and planetary Transits). CoRoT leder efter planeter ved at se efter et fald i en stjernes lysstyrke, når en planet passerer ind foran den – passagemetoden. Rumteleskopets placering over Jordens atmosfære forbedrer nøjagtigheden af observationerne, fordi stjernerne ikke blinker. Potentielle planeter, der findes med passagemetoden, bekræftes med andre teknikker som radialhastighedsmetoden. Netop den nat, hvor dette billede blev taget, blev HARPS brugt til at følge op på exoplanet-kandidater fundet af CoRoT!
I november 2012 fik CoRoT desværre et computerproblem. Selvom satellitten stadig fungerer, kan den ikke modtage data fra sit teleskop (se nyheden på CoRoTs websted eller denne nyhedsartikel i Nature). CoRoT-holdet har dog ikke givet op og arbejder på at genoplive systemerne. Uanset om det lykkes at få CoRoT på banen igen eller ej, så er missionen allerede en stor succes! Satellitten har virket i dobbelt så lang tid som oprindeligt planlagt og var det første rumfartøj til at opdage en exoplanet med passagemetoden. CoRoT har ydet mange vigtige bidrag til både eftersøgningen af exoplaneter og undersøgelsen af stjerners indre inden for området asteroseismologi.
Eftersøgningen af exoplaneter hjælper os med at forstå vores eget planetsystem og kan være det første skridt på vejen mod at finde liv uden for Jorden. HARPS og CoRoT er bare to af de mange spændende instrumenter, der er udviklet til at hjælpe astronomerne med denne eftersøgning.
Alexandre indsendte dette billede til Flickr-gruppen” Your ESO Pictures”. Denne Flickr-gruppe bliver jævnligt gennemgået og de bedste billeder bliver udvalgt til at komme med i vores populære serie ”Ugens billede” eller i vores galleri. I 2012, som del af fejringen af ESOs 50 års jubilæum, vil vi også gerne have historiske billeder med relation til ESO. Efter han indsendte dette billede er Alexandre også blevet en af ESOs fotoambassadører.
Links
- Dette billede med forklarende tekst på Alexandre Santernes Flickr-billedstrøm
- Alexandre Santernes Flickr-billedstrøm
- Flickr-gruppen ”Your ESO Pictures”
- Annonceringen af ”Your ESO Pictures”
- ESOs fotoambassadører
ESO/A. Santerne
Om billedet
| Id: | potw1248a |
| Sprog: | da |
| Type: | Foto |
| Udgivelsesdato: | 26. november 2012 10:00 |
| Størrelse: | 3360 x 2171 px |
Om objektet
| Navn: | La Silla |
| Type: | Unspecified : Technology : Observatory |
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