What is the Habitable Worlds Observatory? | Exoplanet Radio ep 33

[@Cocoshunt]

T-Dog back in the game! Great to see you back making regular videos again. Legend

[@deepastronomy]

You're a legend for coming back, thank you!

[@Smog_007]

Humanity needs to look out for humanity. All we can ever pass down is knowledge. We must stay close to family and community. That’s what matters most.

[@williamcourtland5945]

That is a nice little idea, but here is what we need: We need a series array of satellites roaming around the sun in a fixed orbital position between Earth and Venus. We need a second Array in fixed position 'of the sun, between Saturn and Jupiter. We need a final array stationed near the orbit of Pluto. Each Satellite is a telemetry and triangulation buoy, communications relay, and an observatory. These arrays will map everything in the solar system, survey the asteroid belt and the Oort Cloud. Together the array is an observator with a apex lens of many AU across. With this we can gain a slight depth perception against the local cosmos. If that was not enough: the final experiment is to accelerate towards or away from Jupiter when 2 light hours away, and see if gravity is noted where light says Jupiter is, or where it is in real time and location. The array provides the telemetry data as a fixed backdrop.

[@RolfStones]

I am far too impatient to wait for this telescope 😂

[@Jenab7]

What I'd like to know is how NASA expects to keep that starshade exactly on the line-of-sight between the telescope and the star. The different orbital motions of the telescope and the starshade will certainly pull the latter off that line-of-sight so quickly that they might as well not have bothered.

[@JenniferA886]

Great point… you have just asked the very question that I didn’t even know how to ask 👍👍👍

[@deepastronomy]

Not to mention pressure from the solar wind. something that big is basically a solar sail. I think NASA would say the answer is "we need to invent the tech to make it work". They do have precedent to say that given the success of JWST

[@Jenab7]

@@deepastronomy Yes. I haven't thought up any good approaches for dealing with those issues, though. If anyone else has, I'd like to hear about them. (A good topic for a SpaceFan News someday.)

[@TheKruxed]

@@Jenab7 You just envelope the craft in it rather than a separate entity

[@ohifoundyou4687]

it will be taking a picture not filming a documentary. slap it behind the moon = no solar wind.

[@LV-426...]

If it won't come with the starshade, then it's a joke. We'll see.

[@deepastronomy]

It probably will. They are in the early stages yet.

[@JenniferA886]

👍👍👍

[@fahadalharbi960]

It is an Idea, until someone with money take it as a project, it just an idea

[@deepastronomy]

That's kinda true of everything.