NIAC Atlanta

A deep field infrared observatory

near the lunar polar
Roger Angel and Pete Worden
March 15 2005
personnel and areas of expertise
Roger Angel U. Arizona PI Design of space and ground
telescopes
Ermanno
Borra
U. Laval Unpaid Co-I Liquid mirror telescopes
Paul Hickson UBC Unpaid CoI Science, liquid mirror
telescopes
K. Ma U Houston Co-I Superconducting bearings
Pete Worden U Arizona Co-I Lunar logistics, site survey
mission
Gil Moretto National
Solar Obs
consultant Optical design
Suresh
Sivanandam
U Arizona grad student Liquid mirrors, lunar pole
sites, choice of pole
Why an observatory on the Moon?
Advantages common to free space:
No atmospheric aberration or distortion
Strong radiative cooling possible for infrared spectrum
(at poles)
Unique lunar advantages
Large stable platform for many telescopes
Exploration initiative may result in infrastructure for
large telescope assembly and maintainance
Gravity
Lunar disadvantage vs L2
Powered descent needed for surface landing
dust might be a problem for optics or bearings
bearings and drives required for pointing and tracking
(versus gyros for free space)
Background light in space
Lunar sky is ~ 10
6
times fainter than Earths at 10 um
-> 1000 times fainter detection limit
Space Telescope Science Institute
Ultradeep field observatory can
take best advantage of moon
deep extragalactic fields are a goldmine for
understanding origins of universe and cosmology
Hubble, ground optical and radio, Spitzer, Chandra
Any direction clear of absorption by our galaxy is good
A suite of telescopes co-pointed along moons spin axis
Simple telescopes long exposure with no tracking
could provide ultimate deep field, across the electromagnetic
spectrum
Infrared especially important to see first, highly
redshifted stars, galaxies and forming quasars
Far ultraviolet Lyman limit shifted from 912 A to 2 microns at
z=20
Interferometers to look out on spin axis also require no
moving parts, greatly simplified
High resolution at longer IR and sub-millimeter wavelengths
High-redshift galaxies
JWST
10 10
5
s
LLMT
Galaxy evolution
(Spitzer 0.85 m cold telescope)
Assembly of galaxies
Formation of the
Hubble sequence
Role of interactions
and starbursts
Development of AGN
Evolution of disks
Role of the
environment
Advantages of LLMT:
Better sensitivity
Better resolution
3.5 x 3.5 arcmin Spitzer/IRAC images (Barmby et al 2004)
Need for very large aperture
Lunar telescope would go to the next level of
sensitivity, beyond HST and JWST
JWST will be 6.5 m diameter D, cooled infrared
telescope at L2, with longest integrations of t~ 1
month
Lunar telescope should have D > 20 m and
integrate for many years
Sensitivity as D2t: compared to JWST
20 m for 1 year will be 30 times more sensitive
100 m would be 1000 times more sensitive
Virtually impossible by rigid mirror technology
Liquid mirror telescope
way to get very large aperture at low cost
Proven on ground to 6 m
Borra and Hickson in Canada
Current ground status
Lunar location at poles
Superconducting bearing
Reflective coating a cryogenic liquid
Optical design for long integration
The 6 m diameter mercury liquid mirror of the LZT
(courtesy P. Hickson)
6 m performance
(near Vancouver!)
Seeing-limited (FWHM ~ 1.4)
R
AB
~ 22.5 in 100 sec
30 sq degrees every clear night
Testbed for future projects
Location at lunar pole
Zenith view fixed on sky along spin axis
Deep integration with no steering
Strong radiative cooling for high infrared
sensitivity possible
Use cylindrical radiation shield
Shields from sun always on horizon
Artists impression of the 20 m telescope. The secondary mirror is
erected by extending the six telescoping legs, and the sunshield by
inflation. The scientific instruments are below the bearing pier, shielded
by lunar soil.
( Tom Connors)
First concept for superconducting
levitation bearing
Suspension alternate
(Ma)
HTS
PM
dish
drive &
control
toy system and scaling
Bearing
Superconductor diameter, 1 in., height, 0.5 in. 55g
Permanent magnet, 0.875 in., height 0.5 in. 30 g
Gap of a few mm, different each time
Suspended mirror assembly
Suspension length 12.75 in.
Weight 180g
The speed of rotation 40 RPM to 60 RPM
Liquid surface 6 diameter, f/1
Scaling
increasing all dimensions increases bearing mass as cube, load
as square
simple 30 scale up model would weigh 2.5 tons and lift 1 ton
mass on the moon
Optimization could improve high mass ratio by 10 x
First success in metallizing liquid
Polypropelyne glycol with vacuum deposited tin (Borra)
Location and optical design
Wide field imaging best close to zenith
Only at pole is zenith view constant
Location very close to pole strongly favored
Moons spin axis precession
18 year period
1.55 degree tilt angle
Axis point moves at 1/2/year in 3 dia circle
degree field will allow for 1 year integrations
Another possibility is to make optics to track
ecliptic pole at 1.55 field angle
Small field correctable, but always in view
3-mirror design for 1.55 annular field
Field angle 1.43 1.67
Encircled energy at 2.5 m (1.7 m)
1.7 m precursor details
Diffraction limited resolution
0.3 arcsec at 2.5 m
0.6 arcsec at 5 m
3 degree annular field, 14 minute wide
2 square degrees
4096 x 0.2 arcsec pixels wide
30 square degrees covered during 18 yr precession
18 year mission
average 2 years integration on typical field point
~2 weeks on each of 40 differently filtered detectors in ring
Limiting sensitivity as D2t, 25x Spitzer in same broad bands (4 of
the 40 slots) i.e. 20 nJy at 3.5 m.
Possible sequence
Micro site survey
1.7 m robotic wide field survey
Complements Spitzer and JWST
20 m
Follow up spectroscopy of JWST candidates
100 m
Completely unique
Lunar Liquid Mirror Telescope
Operational Considerations
S. Pete Worden
Steward Observatory
The University of Arizona
The Ides of March, 2005
Site Selection: North or South Pole
Sky Considerations:
Dust contamination/atmosphere [Both?]
Circumstantial evidence supports dust levitation
and dust atmosphere.
Dust may contaminate optics, introduce stray light,
and increase sky background.
Stellar field contamination [South?]
Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) contaminates
South pole sky view.
Note: [?] indicates we need to investigate that location further.
Operational Considerations
Power - Site illumination [North?]
North pole winter illumination not known.
South pole illumination mapped by Clementine
Desire Peak of Eternal Light series of points in
permanent sunlight
Communications
Either need earth line of sight or orbiting relay
Positioning
Precise map of surroundings needed
Maintenance
Site Survey
DUST
Sketch by Apollo 17 astronaut,
Capt. Cernan.
Streamers observed in lunar orbit
at a 100 km altitude while
approaching the terminator from the
dark side.
Streamers interpreted to be similar
to those observed terrestrially as sun
sets over irregular horizon.
Possible evidence for lunar dust
atmosphere extending beyond
orbital modules altitude or local
scattering layer since streamers are
generated by forward-scattered light.
No mechanism that generates a
high-altitude lunar dust
atmosphere is known.
5 seconds before sunrise
More on DUST
Observed horizon glow from Surveyor 7 images.
Modeled to be low-level levitation (10-30 cm) of micron-sized
dust particles powered by photoelectric charging of lunar
surface by solar UV/X-ray photons.
Anomalous Lunokhod-II sky brightness
measurements.
Observed over-brightness correlated with solar zenith angle.
Anomalous brightness in solar corona observed by
astronauts just after sunset.
Hypothesized to be forward-scattered light.
But conditions may be fine for proposed work:
Solar flux in polar regions much smaller.
Lunar retro-reflectors have shown little degradation.
Require in-situ observations for confirmation.
The circle shows the 6 diameter field accessible to the lunar
zenith pointing telescope.
Ultraviolet image from the Moon, John Young & Charles Duke
Stellar Contamination at ecliptic poles
POSS2 Red Images (12 by 12 FOV, 2 resolution, R
limit
= 21):
South pole view North pole view
May be confusion-limited by LMC stars at the South pole.
Can we resolve LMC stars?
HST ACS HRC F606W Image of
field near the south ecliptic pole.
(29 by 26 FOV, diffraction-limited
0.06 resolution)
To first order, HST can resolve
LMC stars, though this image is
not nearly as deep as will be
obtained from moon.
The lunar pole telescope will have
higher diffraction limited resolution
in infrared than this visible image
Suresh is modeling the faint-end
of the LMC stellar population using
a LMC star catalogue.
He will determine the average
separation of stars to deep field
magnitude limit
North Pole Illumination: SMART-1
SMART-1 image extending
close to lunar North pole.
ESAs SMART-1 lunar
probe has made
observations of the
North pole during
January 2005, the
middle of the lunar
winter in the northern
hemisphere.
We will analyze the
data in the near future
to determine if there are
peaks of eternal light in
the North pole as seen
in the South pole.
Power: South Pole Illumination in Winter
Power: South Pole Illumination in Winter
Communications
Store and Forward via polar relay
Direct line of sight need to determine
horizon features of selected sites Is the
earth permanently in view?
Numerous Lunar Polar Orbiters
Planned Communications and
Situation Awareness
Tele-robotics vs Autonomous
Operation
Site Survey Proposal
Determine Sky
Brightness in the IR and
Visible
Determine Dust
Environment Expose
Liquid Test Cell
Small Fisheye Cameras
for Visible
Cooled IR Zenith Camera
Fisheye Images from the
MMT, Mt Hopkins, AZ
Commercial Lunar Lander
Millennium Space Design
Subsystem CBE Mass (kg)
Structure 22.80
Communications 4.66
Power 11.18
Attitude Control 1.69
Avionics 1.55
Propulsion 39.62
Thermal 2.10
Mechanisms 3.20
Payload 5.30
Propellant 533.50
Launch Vehicle Adapter 2.11
Horizon Zenith
Fisheye Cameras
Radiatively
cooled 5 sky
brightness
sensor
Mirror Dust
Collector-
Monitor
Cutaway view
Of IR Sensor
NOTIONAL LUNAR
LANDER PAYLOAD
LAYOUT
5-10 kg goal
New Launch Options Low Cost
Space-X FALCON
Falcon I 500kg to LEO - $5.9M
Falcon V 5000kg to LEO - $15M
BFR -- TBD
CONCLUSIONS
Lunar polar telescope sites appealing
issues to be resolved
Dust
Solar and Terrestrial access
Deepest Fields Possible? N vs S Pole
Low Cost Survey Mission Possible to
resolve issues Definition Needed
As in Real Estate LOCATION,
LOCATION, LOCATION!