Searching For Habitable Planets In Alpha Centauri: The Toliman Mission!
TOLIMAN MIssion : Searching for planets in Alpha Centauri! This is how we will search for habitable planets in Alpha Centauri, TOLIMAN Mission! Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to ours and one of the most critical targets in the search for habitable planets. Until now, we knew very little about the possible worlds in this star system, but that is about to change thanks to the TOLIMAN Space Telescope. What will this telescope do, and when will it be launched into space? Join us to find out! Why Alpha Centauri? In this channel, we have talked many times about this system. Its importance lies mainly in that it is the closest star system to the Sun and, therefore, the most promising place to search for habitable planets like Earth. It is located at a distance of approximately 4.37 light years. It comprises three central stars: Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, and Proxima Centauri.
Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B are stars similar to the Sun and form a binary system, orbiting each other around a common center of mass. These stars are slightly larger and more massive than our Sun. Alpha Centauri A is the largest and most luminous of the three, while Alpha Centauri B is slightly smaller and dimmer. Both stars are similar in age to our Sun and are estimated to be around 4.85 and 6.17 billion years old, respectively.
Regarding the possibility of habitable planets in the Alpha Centauri system, an exoplanet in orbit around Proxima Centauri has been discovered, named Proxima B. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star and is the closest of the three to the Sun. In addition, the exoplanet Proxima B is known to be in the "habitable zone" of its star, which means that liquid water could exist on its surface, which is considered a key factor for life as we know it. However, the star is an active red dwarf and regularly
emits bursts of solar radiation, which could have implications for the habitability of your planet. For years astronomers have carried out studies and simulations to determine if there are more planets in the Alpha Centauri system, especially in the habitable zones around Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. Some of these studies suggest the possibility of rocky planets in orbit around these stars, although no discovery has been confirmed. Given Alpha Centauri's proximity to our solar system, it has aroused great interest in the scientific community and the possibility of sending space missions in the future to explore this star system further.
The development of technologies such as solar sails and interstellar probes could allow us to get closer and study Alpha Centauri and its possible habitable planets more closely; however, these technologies are still too far out of reach, so currently, the only thing we can do is to observe it with the most powerful telescopes of humanity. TOLIMAN mission Until now, everything we know about the Alpha Centauri star system is the result of research that has been carried out thanks to data and observations by telescopes and radio telescopes around the world in conjunction with space telescopes. Until now, a space mission with the priority objective of studying the Alpha Centauri system had never been seriously announced. However, that is about to change thanks to the Toliman Mission. Toliman is the acronym of Telescope for Orbit
Locus Interferometric Monitoring of our Astronomical Neighborhood. As its name indicates, this space telescope will have the mission of studying the closest stars to Earth, placing enormous emphasis on the study of the Alpha Centauri system. This makes it the first mission in history that will have as a priority objective to study the closest star system to ours. With what they expect to achieve, great discoveries to decipher which planets could be found in the surroundings of the stars that make up the Alpha Centauri system.
In addition to Alpha Centauri, Toliman will have the objective of studying in depth all the stars that are less than ten light years from ours, so although its scope will be limited, it will carry potent observation instruments that will allow it to see these regions as no other telescope has done it before. In addition to its English acronym, the name TOLIMAN comes from the Arabic name for Alpha Centauri. The spacecraft itself is a small, custom-designed space telescope. You can make excellent measurements of the two stars to detect any planet around Alpha Centauri. Initially, the Toliman mission would be a project financed by NASA, but thanks to a fundraising campaign, in 2021, the project obtained $500,000 from the Australian government.
And in March 2023, the University of Sydney said it would join the TOLIMAN project by providing researchers and investment. In the same year, a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer called EnduroSat declared it would provide satellite technology. And Breakthrough Company Initiatives, led by Israeli businessman Yuri Milner, stated that it will also back the mission. Peter Tuthill, an astrophysical imaging expert from the University of Sydney in Australia, will lead the mission. Thanks to all these contributions from visionaries who believe we could find treasures in these stars, the Toliman mission will be possible. The project is currently in Phase 2 of the program, which consists of designing and building the telescope and integrating it with the spacecraft.
"Before moving on, be sure to like or dislike the video, so that we can improve them for YOU the viewer. Plus, Don't forget to subscribe to our channel by making sure to hit the NOTIFICATION BELL, so you don't miss ANY of our daily videos! Small but mighty The TOLIMAN space telescope will not be the most powerful in history; it will not even be the biggest; compared to the most modern satellites, it will be small but mighty. The TOLIMAN telescope must be small enough to fit a limited volume on a primary satellite. The TOLIMAN telescope won't be big since it won't look that far into the universe and will only look at the neighborhood around our solar system. Saving space by not carrying such a large lens will allow to
carry other more complex observation instruments with which you can observe areas close to stars, especially those where there could be exoplanets. To achieve this feat, the team is developing a small, custom-designed space telescope capable of making excellent measurements that must fit within a limited volume of just 12 liters while maintaining its thermal and mechanical stability with extreme precision using active systems. "We are exceptionally proud to partner on this mission. The challenges are enormous and will push our engineering efforts to the extreme. The mission is the first scientific exploration effort of its kind and will help open the doors to low-cost astronomical missions," Raycho said, founder and CEO of EnduroSat. Discovering exoplanets is a huge technological challenge, even for large space telescopes.
For a mini satellite, it's incredibly daunting as it requires extreme precision to detect planets in other star systems. The satellite must be able to download payload data at more than 125 Mbps, which will be essential to get all the data from long observing sessions. EnduroSat company will provide its technology, with which it is expected that the Telescope can carry out constant and permanent monitoring in the vicinity of the stars that make up the Alpha Centauri system. So far, the main problem in looking for exoplanets in the closest stars to our solar system is that telescopes on Earth and in space are designed to observe a vast range of distances and sizes of objects in the universe, from small stars to vast clusters of galaxies. This prevents us from observing tiny bodies
such as exoplanets, and even when we do observe them, they are almost always huge, the size of gas giants such as Neptune or Jupiter. To observe very small exoplanets the size of the Earth, you don't need a giant telescope, it is enough to have the suitable Telescope for it, but until now, it had not been done since if a telescope is built that is specifically designed to observe nearby small exoplanets to Earth, this it cannot be used for anything else. This implies a risk that very few space agencies are willing to take; that risk is that if this Telescope fails to discover a single exoplanet, it will be wasted MONEY since it will not have fulfilled the only objective for which it was made. It is difficult for a project like this to be financed by a space agency, which is why until now, it has not been possible. However, the scientists in
charge of this mission are optimistic. "Modern satellite technology will allow us to explore our celestial backyard and perhaps lay the groundwork for future visionary missions spanning the interstellar voids to the Centauri system," said TOLIMAN mission leader Professor Peter Tuthill from the University of Sydney. Professor Tuthill has an impressive track record of designing high-precision instrumentation for international astronomical projects such as the James Webb Telescope of NASA, which has been revolutionary in observational astronomy. He participated in the design of their aperture masking interferometry mode, better known as NIRISS, which offers a high resolution of spatial observation, ideal for the search for exoplanets.
This experience will be helpful when designing observation equipment for the TOLIMAN project. Breakthrough Initiatives, funded by the Breakthrough Foundation established by Julia and Yuri Milner, is a set of science and technology programs investigating the fundamental questions of life in the Universe, also including telescope time acquired at the Parkes radio telescope at CSIRO to search for any signatures that may be present around stars in the Milky Way. "Any exoplanets we find close to Earth can be tracked with other instruments, providing excellent prospects for discovering and analyzing atmospheres, surface chemistry, or even fingerprints of a biosphere - the tentative signs of life."
The TOLIMAN project scientists know the risk of creating a small telescope for a specific function. Still, they believe that if we find at least one habitable exoplanet with this mission, it will all be worth it. Around our solar system, many nearby stars could host habitable planets. So far, we still don't know if are planets orbiting Alpha Centauri A and B. But we do know that the third member of the Alpha Centauri system, Proxima Centauri has at
least two exoplanets called Proxima Centauri A and B, about which we know very little. BEfore we move onto the last question “ Are We Alone?” be sure to stay tuned afterwards, if you havent' seen our earlier release on Why Colonize Alpha Centauri And Proxima Centauri? Are We Alone? Throughout humanity's history, every time we look at the night sky on starry nights, it is natural to wonder if perhaps we are the only beings that exist in the entire vast universe. We still do not have an answer to that question; we know that there are many stars, and most of them have planets, but we have not found a single one where life arose, as well as on Earth. Are we the only ones in the entire universe? Or is it that we have not searched enough? The constant search to know that we are not alone satisfies one of the most critical needs of humanity, and that need is curiosity. We are curious by nature; it is inevitable
to ask ourselves questions and to think that we are not alone. We like to believe that even if we don't have any evidence for it, we are not alone in the universe. Searching for life in the closest stars to our solar system is the first step in answering this question. Whether we find something or not, the TOLIMAN Telescope will give us the answers we seek. For the first time in all of history, the human race has the technology to look at other worlds and search for life outside our solar system, and this mission will test all the limits that our technology can reach.
And you, do you think the TOLIMAN mission will find a habitable exoplanet? Do you think we'll finally find out once and for all if we're alone in the universe?
2023-07-16 12:14
