A space telescope designed to capture gamma-ray bursts, the brightest electromagnetic events in the universe, was launched from a spaceport in eastern Russia yesterday.
National Taiwan University (NTU) researchers were among an international team that designed and built the telescope.
The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) space telescope was launched from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome with the attendance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the liftoff was the first launch from the spaceport.
Photo: Lin Hsiao-yun, Taipei Times
Taiwanese scientists were key players of an international team composed of South Korean, Russian, Spanish and Danish scientists who developed the telescope.
NTU Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics director Chen Pi-sin (陳丕燊), who is a member of the UFFO team, said gamma-ray bursts are believed to originate from the merging of black holes with other black holes or neutron stars, or the collapse of hypernova, adding that most gamma-ray bursts originate deep inside the universe, allowing scientists to study the distant and early universe and its evolution.
There are three to four gamma-ray bursts happening every day, and each burst releases a massive amount of energy that is equal to the total energy the Milky Way galaxy can release, while bursts usually last from a few seconds to several minutes, he said.
Scientists have been trying to capture early moments of gamma-ray bursts, but the best space observatory designed for the purpose takes about a minute to detect gamma ray signal and reorient itself toward the burst source, while a lack of early observations prevents the understanding of burst events and the evolution of the early universe.
“The UFFO is designed to capture initial gamma-ray bursts, and the telescope should be able to do so as it does not slew the entire spacecraft to aim at a burst event, but uses mirror arrays that can focus on a target and reflect lights to the telescope within a second. This idea was developed by Taiwanese researchers,” Chen said.
The Taiwanese team also provided materials used to manufacture an X-ray camera fitted on the UFFO, while helping solve light leakage issues of the camera, he said, adding that the team spent eight years developing and constructing the telescope.
“The UFFO will hopefully advance the understanding of the expansion of the universe and dark energy, and it is a major achievement that Taiwanese scientists played a critical role in one of the most advanced space programs,” he said.
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