George Mason University is becoming the location for the $19.5 million recently approved Landolt NASA Space Mission that will put an artificial star in orbit around the Earth. And this artificial star will enable scientists to calibrate telescopes and more accurately measure the brightness of stars ranging from those nearby to the distant explosions of supernova in far-off galaxies. By launching absolute flux calibration, the mission will begin addressing several open astrophysics challenges including the speed and acceleration of the universe expansion.
Scientists understand the universe is expanding, as measured by the brightness of numerous stars and the number of photons per second they emit. According to Peter Plavchan, a George Mason associate professor of physics and astronomy and the Landolt mission principal investigator, more accurate measurements are needed for the next breakthroughs.
Named after the late astronomer Arlo Landolt, who put together widely used catalogs of stellar brightness from the 1970s through the 1990s, this mission will launch a light into the sky in 2029 with a known emission rate of photons. The team will observe it next to real stars to make new stellar brightness catalogs.
The satellite (artificial star) will have eight lasers shining at ground optical telescopes to calibrate them for observations. And the effort will not make the artificial stars too bright to see with the naked eye, but you would be able to see it with a personal telescope at home.
The artificial star will orbit Earth about 22,236 miles up, far enough away to look like a star to telescopes. And this orbit also enables it to move at the same speed of the Earth’s rotation, keeping it in place over the United States during its first year in space.
The payload (the size of the proverbial bread box) will be built in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a world leader in measuring photon emissions.
George Mason faculty and students from Mason’s College of Science and College of Engineering and Computing will collaborate with NASA and NIST and nine other organizations for a first-of-its-kind project for a university in the Washington, D.C., area.
With mission control based at George Mason on the Fairfax Campus, the team also includes Blue Canyon Technologies; California Institute of Technology; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Mississippi State University; Montreal Planetarium and iREx/University of Montreal; the University of Florida; the University of Hawaiʻi; the University of Minnesota, Duluth; and the University of Victoria.
With accurate measurements, experts will use the improved data from the project to enhance understanding of stellar evolution, habitable zones or exoplanets in proximity to Earth, and refine dark energy parameters, setting a foundation for the next great leaps in scientific discovery.
KEY QUOTES:
“This mission marks another first for George Mason University, a milestone that proves our impact as a major public research university truly knows no bounds. It’s an honor for George Mason to lead this unique team seeking to expand the boundaries of knowledge through College of Science associate professor Peter Plavchan’s collaboration with NASA, one of George Mason’s most prestigious research partners.”
- George Mason University President Gregory Washington
“This mission is focused on measuring fundamental properties that are used daily in astronomical observations. It might impact and change the way we measure or understand the properties of stars, surface temperatures, and the habitability of exoplanets.”
- Eliad Peretz, NASA Goddard mission and instrument scientist and Landolt’s deputy principal investigator
“This is what is considered an infrastructure mission for NASA, supporting the science in a way that we’ve known we needed to do, but with a transformative change in how we do it.”
“When we look at a star with a telescope, no one can tell you today the rate of photons or brightness coming from it with the desired level of accuracy. We will now know exactly how many photons-per-second come out of this source to .25 percent accuracy.”
- Peter Plavchan – who is also the director of Mason’s Observatories in Fairfax
“This calibration under known laser wavelength and power will remove effects of atmosphere filtration of light and allow scientists to significantly improve measurements.”
“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for George Mason and our students. Our team will design, build, and integrate the payload, which—because it’s going very high into geostationary orbit—must handle incredible challenges.”
- Peter Pachowicz, associate professor in George Mason’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who is leading this component of the mission
“Flux calibration is essential for astronomical research. We constantly ask: ‘How big? How bright? How far?’ and then ponder: ‘What is the universe made of? Are we alone?’ Accurate answers require precise measurements and excellent instrument characterization.”
- NIST’s Susana Deustua, a Physical Scientist in the NIST Remote Sensing Group
