Gigantic new orbital telescope to seek new ‘Earth’ in universeJanuary 11, 2016 - 17:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A huge new orbital telescope – with 10 times the power of Hubble – could allow us to find life on habitable planets in deep space. The ambitious project is to be launched within the next 15 years, NASA experts say, according to RT. The new orbital telescope would outsize the Hubble Telescope’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), known as one of the largest space telescopes ever designed. But the next one may be twice as big, developed for an ambitious mission – finding extraterrestrial life and also answering the question of how the universe evolved. “The road to [discovering] living worlds requires an 8- to 12-meter space-based telescope,” Natalie Batalha, an astronomer who studies exoplanets at NASA’s Ames Research Center, was quoted as saying by Gizmodo. “This is what can consistently survey sun-like stars within 30 parsecs.” As Batalha explained, 30 parsecs (nearly 100 light years), is the radial distance to survey several dozen Earth-sized planets with possible life-supporting habitats that surround sun-like stars. Putting an 8- to 12-meter (26- to 40-foot) telescope into space would be a tremendous endeavor. For instance, the James Webb Space Telescope – an $8.7-billion, tennis-court sized device that will allow astronomers to see the universe with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity – has a 6.5-meter (21-foot) primary mirror. JWST is compared to the beast of a stargazer astronomers want to build in the 2030s. But searching for life is not the huge JSWT successor’s sole task. It will also help scientists learn how the building blocks of matter evolved over cosmic time, probing an even more fundamental question about where life in the universe comes from. By launching such a big telescope astronomers believe they would finally be able to see the smaller planets instead of (basically) using context clues to figure them out, as they do now. “A story is unfolding,” Batalha said. “It’s a story that takes a long time — these really big endeavors humanity undertakes take a lot of time to plan and execute.” Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. |