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Astronomers are calling for urgent protection of a site on the moon assessed to be the best in the solar system for installing advanced instruments designed to uncover the secrets of the universe.
This prime location is free from ground vibrations and protected from Earth’s noisy broadcast signals and extreme cold, making it ideal for sensitive equipment that may make observations from other locations impossible. very suitable.
But the pristine sites, known as sites of extreme scientific importance (thesis), are at risk of being ruined by impending missions such as lunar navigation and communications satellites, probes, and mining operations. Experts warned on Monday to protect precious monuments. The site was an “urgent matter”.
“This is the first time humans have had to decide how to enter the solar system,” said Dr. Martin Elvis, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts. “We are at risk of losing a unique opportunity to understand the universe.”
At least 22 international missions are expected to land on the moon by the end of 2026, half of which will head to locations near the moon’s south pole. More landers, including commercial and civilian landers, are expected to follow, and two lunar bases, one in the United States and one in China and Russia, are expected to become operational in the 2030s.
Without coordination authority, researchers say, future collisions on the moon cannot be prevented. Risks range from dust clouds kicked up by physical impacts and lunar activity to damage to the site from vibrations, electromagnetic interference, and drilling and other operations.
The prospect of doing astronomy from the moon was just a dream 20 years ago, but researchers now have solid plans for instruments, some of which will be on the lunar surface by the end of the decade. there is a possibility. These include optical, infrared, Includes detectors, etc.
The far side of the Moon is the most radio-quiet place in the solar system, thanks to 70 billion tons of lunar rock that block radio transmissions from Earth. These conditions are perfect for radio telescopes to observe the dark ages of the universe, the time before stars were born, and search for “technosignatures” of extraterrestrial life. But because of the mountainous backside, he has identified only three locations where scientists could set up large telescope arrays. One of them, named Mare Moscoviense, is rich in helium-3. Helium-3 is a material that US startup Interune wants to mine for use in the quantum computing and fusion energy industries.
Other major locations are the crater bases at the moon’s north and south poles, which have been shielded from direct sunlight for billions of years. These permanently shadowed regions, or “cold traps,” are among the coldest places in the universe, making them ideal for large infrared telescopes that can only operate at temperatures below -200 degrees Celsius. The Moon’s infrared telescope can image Earth-sized planets around distant stars and search for signs of life in their atmospheres.
What astronomers would like to further protect are cold traps in seismically quiet regions of the moon. The lack of ground vibrations makes it ideal for gravitational wave detectors, which can detect movements 1/1,000 times smaller than an atomic nucleus. One idea is to place seismometers in cold traps around the moon to detect how the moon itself shakes as gravitational waves pass through it.
Writing in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Elvis and Dr. Alana Krolikowski, a political scientist at the Missouri Institute of Technology, said that Cesis offered “extraordinary opportunities for astronomical research,” but that the location was “uncommon. It’s fragile,” he warned.
For example, some cold traps contain ice, are located next to “tops of eternal light” (crater rims or ridges that receive sunlight year-round), and require power, water, and oxygen. It is a perfect location for experiments, moon bases, and mining operations. “There’s a pretty good chance there are competing uses for the same land,” Elvis said.
Satellite constellations that provide communications and GPS on the moon’s surface can also ruin astronomers’ plans by interfering with telescopes, while large probes and mining robots can send out dust that can ruin delicate experiments. The researchers added that it could generate vibrations and vibrations.
“We were all surprised at how prominent the Starlink satellites became,” Elvis said, referring to the impact Elon Musk’s giant constellations have on the night sky. “We have to come to a consensus and be able to argue for protecting certain parts of the moon.”
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