WORLDTECHNASA Schedules UVEX Ultraviolet Survey Telescope for 2031 Launch
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File:NASA Science Calendar 2021.pdf / NASA This image was created with Adobe InDesign . / https://eospso.nasa.gov/https%3A/eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/publications/2021-nasa-science-calendar ( direct link ) / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Science_Calendar_2021.pdfSource pageNASA has committed to an ultraviolet space telescope named UVEX, short for UltraViolet EXplorer, with a launch set for 2031. According to Universe Today, the instrument will be about 100 times more powerful than GALEX, the NASA ultraviolet telescope whose mission ended in 2013.
What UVEX will survey
UVEX is designed to run an all-sky survey in near and far ultraviolet, and the mission will be led by CalTech, according to the report.
A white paper on the telescope lays out a two-year baseline mission. Its authors describe repeated synoptic all-sky observations in the ultraviolet that would reach 50 to 100 times deeper than GALEX. The plan also includes recurring surveys of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, rapid follow-up of targets of opportunity, and spectroscopic follow-up of samples of stars and galaxies.
Sensitivity compared with GALEX
GALEX serves as the reference point for the new instrument, and the report states that UVEX will be up to 100 times more sensitive than its predecessor.
The telescope is expected to observe nearby low-mass galaxies that are bright in ultraviolet. Those observations will complement work by the James Webb Space Telescope and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Its place among survey telescopes
The report argues that survey telescopes are central to modern astronomy, even though their results are less visually striking than images of distant nebulae. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will perform three infrared surveys, while the Vera Rubin Observatory will photograph the night sky again and again across a decade. Euclid is conducting three deep-field surveys in visible light.
NASA's SPHEREx is also running an all-sky survey in near-infrared. UVEX would add a deep two-band ultraviolet dataset that complements the planned wide-field optical and near-infrared surveys of Rubin and Euclid.
The night sky's hidden activity
The report contrasts the apparently quiet night sky with what it actually contains. Moonlight, drifting planets, satellites and the ISS, and occasional meteors create an impression of stillness, yet transient events occur almost continuously for observers with the right instruments.
Each new wavelength band, the report quotes a researcher as saying, reveals something unexpected. That is the case for adding an ultraviolet survey to existing infrared and visible-light programmes.
Open questions
- Will UVEX launch in 2031 as currently scheduled?
- How will UVEX data be made available to the wider astronomy community?