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#interferometer

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Public
Olly 👾

Building an Interferometer with LEGO.

LEGO! It’s a fun toy that is popular around the world. What you may not realize is that it’s also made to incredibly high standards. As it turns out, the humble building blocks are good enough to build a interferometer if you’re so inclined to want one. Kyra Cole shows us how it’s done.

linkedin.com/pulse/michelson-m

Not only was the LEGO interferometer able to generate a proper interference pattern, [Kyra] then went one step further. A Raspberry Pi was rigged up with a camera and some code to analyze the interference patterns automatically. [Kyra] notes that using genuine bricks was key to her success. Their high level of dimensional accuracy made it much easier to achieve her end goal. Sloppily-built knock-off bricks may have made the build much more frustrating to complete.
[ImageSource: Kyra Cole] The build in question is a Michelson interferometer; [Kyra] was inspired to build it based on earlier work by the myphotonics project. <https://www.ufp.uni-osnabrueck.de/en/education/myphotonics.html> She was able to assemble holders for mirrors and a laser, as well as a mount for a beamsplitter and then put it all together on a LEGO baseboard. While some non-LEGO rubber bands were used in some areas, ultimately, adjustment was performed with LEGO Technic gears.
#lego#interferometer#maker
Public
Daniel Fischer

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase I Final Report - A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging Interferometer, Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI): arxiv.org/abs/2503.02105 -> We're One Step Closer to a Giant #Interferometer on the Moon: universetoday.com/articles/wer

arXiv logo
arXiv.orgNASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase I Final Report -- A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging Interferometer: Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI)This report presents the findings of a NIAC Phase I feasibility study for the Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI), a proposed high-resolution, UV/Optical interferometer designed for deployment on the lunar surface. Its primary science goal is to image the surfaces and interiors of stars with unprecedented detail, revealing new details about their magnetic processes and dynamic evolution and enabling the creation of a truly predictive solar/stellar dynamo model. This capability will transform our understanding of stellar physics and has broad applicability across astrophysics, from resolving the cores of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) to studying supernovae, planetary nebulae, and the late stages of stellar evolution. By leveraging the stable vacuum environment of the Moon and the infrastructure being established for the Artemis Program, AeSI presents a compelling case for a lunar-based interferometer. In this study, the AeSI Team, working with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Integrated Design Center (IDC), has firmly established the feasibility of building and operating a reconfigurable, dispersed aperture telescope (i.e., an interferometer) on the lunar surface. The collaboration produced a credible Baseline design featuring 15 primary mirrors arranged in an elliptical array with a 1 km major axis, with the potential to expand to 30 mirrors and larger array sizes through staged deployments. Additionally, this study identified numerous opportunities for optimization and the necessary trade studies to refine the design further. These will be pursued in follow-up investigations, such as a NIAC Phase II study, to advance the concept toward implementation.
Public
Daniel Fischer

Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) - A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging #Interferometer: arxiv.org/abs/2408.04699 -> #Artemis Missions Could Put the most Powerful imaging Telescope on the #Moon: universetoday.com/168511/artem

arXiv logo
arXiv.orgArtemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI): A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging InterferometerNASA's return to the Moon presents unparalleled opportunities to advance high-impact scientific capabilities. At the cutting edge of these possibilities are extremely high-resolution interferometric observations at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. Such technology can resolve the surfaces of stars, explore the inner accretion disks of nascent stars and black holes, and eventually enable us to observe surface features and weather patterns on nearby exoplanets. We have been awarded Phase 1 support from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program to explore the feasibility of constructing a high-resolution, long-baseline UV/optical imaging interferometer on the lunar surface, in conjunction with the Artemis Program. A 1996 study comparing interferometers on the Moon versus free-flyers in space concluded that, without pre-existing lunar infrastructure, free-flyers were preferable. However, with the advent of the Artemis Program, it is now crucial to revisit the potential of building lunar interferometers. Our objective is to conduct a study with the same level of rigor applied to large baseline, free-flying interferometers during the 2003-2005 NASA Vision Missions Studies. This preparation is essential for timely and effective utilization of the forthcoming lunar infrastructure. In this paper, we highlight the groundbreaking potential of a lunar surface-based interferometer. This concept study will be a huge step forward to larger arrays on both the moon and free-flying in space, over a wide variety of wavelengths and science topics. Our Phase 1 study began in April 2024, and here we present a concise overview of our vision and the progress made so far.
Public
Benjamin Carr, Ph.D. 👨🏻‍💻🧬

#LIGO goes to space: #ESA to proceed with LISA #gravitationalwave detector
ESA approved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, or LISA. The #interferometer would follow the same basic principles as the ground-based LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) experiment that first detected gravitational waves, the hardware would be placed 2.5 million kilometers apart, making it sensitive to an entirely new range of astronomical phenomena.
arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/

Public *
💧🌏 Greg Cocks

See [NASA’s] SWOT Mission’s Unprecedented View of Global Sea Levels
--
nasa.gov/missions/swot/see-swo <-- shared technical article
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youtu.be/obIkUQtSJgk?si=Lim-Rj <-- video animation
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swot.jpl.nasa.gov/ <-- project home page
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Animation Details: “This animation shows global sea level data collected by the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite from July 26 to Aug. 16. Red and orange indicate higher-than-average ocean heights, while blue represents lower-than-average heights…”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #remotesensing #global #animation #model #modeling #SLR #sealevel #sealevelrise #climatechange #radar #hydrospatial #SurfaceWaterandOceanTopography #SWOT #satellite #interferometer #seasurface #height #coast #coastal #visualisation #surfacewater #river #waterbodies #lakes #oceans #marine
@nasa

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