Throughout the past four years, many UCLA researchers have
contributed to breakthroughs in astronomy that have changed the way
scientists look at the universe.
The development of telescopes, satellites, cameras, lasers, and
other instruments that provide clearer data and images of the
galaxy, as well as the construction of a dark matter detector, are
helping researchers realize their ultimate goal: to gain a greater
understanding of the structure of our universe, and how it has
evolved.
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is an example of a tool that has
provided astronomers with valuable information. Launched to orbit
Saturn last July, Cassini-Huygens used innovative instruments,
including a radio antenna, magnetic field detector, dust collector,
and cameras capable of photographing Saturn and its moons in
various wavelengths of light.
The researchers of the Cassini-Huygens mission hope to obtain a
greater understanding of processes that occur on local objects, and
to apply the knowledge to data obtained from distant sources.
Cassini helped astronomers observe the process of energy being
transferred through the rotating magnetic field of Saturn, which
leads to the generation of radio waves and X-rays. This unique
property of a rotating electromagnetic field is key to inferring
the properties of far away objects that emit similar data.
Last December, the Huygens probe, which was attached to the
Cassini spacecraft, landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan,
to investigate its surface properties. Krishan Khurana and
Christopher Russell are UCLA professors who are analyzing the
data.
Russell plans on leading a mission for next year to study
objects in the asteroid belt, one of which has a valuable resource
for humans ““ water.
“Several years ago, people would not have believed you if
you said that water was present on other bodies so close to
earth,” Russell said.
Russell is among other astronomers searching for celestial
objects that could provide resources for humans as the
earth’s environment deteriorates and the impending threat of
overpopulation looms. UCLA physics and astronomy Professor Ben
Zuckerman is a member of an international team that identified a
planet outside of our solar system in a photograph in April this
year.
The infrared image taken by the European Space
Observatory’s telescope in Chile showed evidence of a large,
gaseous planet about five times the size of Jupiter, and marked the
beginning of his search for terrestrial planets outside our solar
system.
Another important target of study in the past decade has been
the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers can learn about the
galactic center by analyzing photographs with a clear distinction
of colors corresponding to different wavelengths of light.
UCLA professors Andrea Ghez and Mark Morris, among others, were
able to use photographs taken from various telescopes to infer the
presence of a black hole in the center, with a group of young,
luminous stars moving around it. The presence of the massive black
hole confirmed the astronomers’ theories of the structure of
galaxies, but the location of the young stars was a surprise and
led to speculation over the structure of the universe.
“The formation of young stars near a black hole is
unlikely because of the strong gravitational tides of the black
hole, which would tear apart the star,” Ghez said.
However, in an alternate theory, she postulates, “they may
have formed elsewhere, and had a very efficient mechanism for
getting transported inwards because it would have otherwise taken
much longer than their lifetime to get that close to the black
hole.”
This year, another important image of the galactic center was
obtained and processed by researchers using NASA’s Chandra
X-ray observatory.
UCLA professor Dr. Michael Muno presented evidence of tens of
thousands of smaller black holes surrounding the gigantic black
hole at the galactic center, indicated by seven sources of
transient X-ray bursts within 75 light years of the super massive
central black hole.
“This is a much higher concentration of black holes than
we expected,” he said.
Muno’s team plans to continue to use Chandra to confirm
the source of X-rays as black holes, as they may possibly be
neutron stars.
Researchers continue to work studying different ages of galaxies
and how they have evolved into their current structure.
In order to obtain images of different galaxies, a team of
researchers is taking on the ambitious task to map out the entire
sky. UCLA scientist Edward Wright is the principal investigator of
the new NASA Wide-Infrared Survey Explorer mission, which hopes to
start mapping in 2008.
Another infra-red telescope that is being built, the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, is intended to
launch in 2006, and will have the advantage of mobility as it flies
45,000 feet above the earth’s surface in a Boeing 747.
By gathering more information about how celestial objects
interact with each other, such infrared telescopes will also enable
scientists to examine the invisible but theoretically present
“dark” matter.
“Dark matter, which accounts for about 80 percent of the
universe, is the name given to particles and matter that we cannot
detect,” Muno said.
In September of this year, a dark matter detector called ZEPLIN
II will begin to collect data in an underground laboratory in
England. The design and construction of this instrument, currently
the largest dark matter detector in the world, was initiated by
UCLA professor David Cline.
“If a dark matter particle could be detected, it would be
the biggest revolution in particle physics since the electron,
proton, and neutron were discovered,” Morris said in April
this year.