Radio telescope on the moon: not far away
Heino Falcke, professor of astroparticle physics and radio astronomy at Radboud University Nijmegen, is quite convinced that the lunar telescope he so wished for will be reality. This month, NASA set up a lunar institute to prepare research to be conducted on the moon. And the only European involved in Heino Falcke.
Heino Falcke does not want to explore the moon, but wants to go there to build a radio telescope. That is because it is much quieter on the moon than on our planet where radio programmes and cars partly attenuate tone down the radio signals from the cosmos. Added advantage is that the atmosphere filters the longest radio waves from the signal.
Origin of the Universe
Heino Falcke wants to listen to the delayed sighing of the older ‘sounds’ from the Universe, to fragments of the first periods after the Big Bang, to primordial times in the cosmos when matter had not been formed. That is, on the silent side of the moon, the side we never see, as it stays in the radio shadow of the Earth. And this presents an extra problem: communication with the Earth. No matter if this is a robotic or human-built observatory, contact with the home base is crucial. That is why they must first launch a communication satellite around the moon. So there are many problems to solve and it may take another decade and some minor experiments before that stage is reached, but professor Falcke is still optimistic.
‘The time for exploring the moon is favourable. NASA and ESA are seriously thinking about a manned lunar station. The purpose of this enterprise is not only fundamental scientific research but also an exploration about the things you may stumble across when travelling to and living beyond our Planet. ESA conducted an exploratory study into a moon-lander in which I was involved. Now they have staged follow-up studies.’ The radio waves that can tell us something about the early Universe were once much shorter, almost like those in mobile phones. However, because of the expansion of the Universe, this light can be observed with extremely elongated images in the spectre of an ultra-low radio frequency, with waves smaller than 100MHz. But that is because they are thirteen billion years old.
Radio waves
Professor Falcke is specialised in the astrophysics of supermassive black holes in the centres of the Milky Way and in the astrophysics of cosmic radiation. He is also coordinator of a network of astronomers at top research school NOVA, which conducts research into the extremities of the Universe, which is why he wants to go to the moon.
Professor Falcke is also involved in the LOFAR project, the new Dutch super radio telescope built by ASTRON (the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy), which will carry out the first scientific test measurements this year.
It is this type of telescope that Falcke wants to send to the moon. ‘The advantage is that this telescope consists of many relatively small parts which can be installed immediately and then get on with measuring. Any extensions can be carried along in every next lunar mission.’
Heini Falcke received an ERC advanced grant last year. This grant is a substantial EU research subsidy of 2.5 million Euros, which was increased with one million Euros for Falcke to develop radio antennas working from our Planet.
