We will send an “artificial star” into space

We're building an artificial sun in the French countryside. So why not do the same thing in space by putting an “artificial star” in orbit around Earth? This is Landolt's ambition, Sustainable programme By George Mason University and NASA, which will require a budget of $19.5 million.

However, there is a surprising development: in France, the ITER program seeks to tame nuclear fusion by perfecting the technology of tokamak-type reactors – and the resources involved are even more enormous (The bill is about 20 billion euros) As far as Landolt is concerned, the ambitions are much more modest. The risks are different.

Star measuring stick

With Landolt, it will not be a matter of creating a new energy source for humanity, but of improving the measurement of the light of stars, both near and far away in the universe. how ? By deploying a “quasar” whose brightness can be known with great accuracy.

In fact, Landolt will be a satellite equipped with eight lasers that will illuminate optical telescopes on Earth in order to calibrate them for observation, George Mason College specifies. In fact, we would know precisely the emission rate of images coming from this light source. From Earth, Landolt will be seen as a classic star with telescopes.

Landolt Thus it can serve as a standard meter. ” Even with today's modern instruments, measurements of the true brightness of stars are only slightly known “, notes David Ciardi, deputy director of NASA's Exoplanet Science Institute, Quoted By California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

” Landolt will improve these measurements by more than a factor of 10Adds David Ciardi. Understanding the actual brightness of stars allows us to better understand stars and, perhaps more importantly, better understand the planets that orbit them. »

The Landolt mission, named after the American astronomer Arlo Landolt, due to its stellar catalogues. He was also the first to detect a pulsating white dwarf, noting variations in brightness. Arlo Landolt died in 2022 at the age of 86.

However, you will have to be patient, because the mission will not depart immediately: it is scheduled to depart in 2029. After that, the operational career of the satellite will be one year. The machine will develop precisely at an altitude of 35,786 km. This is a geostationary orbit, which will allow this satellite to remain permanently over the USA.

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