OWL-Moon in 2050 and beyond

Abstract

We address three major questions in astronomy, namely the detection of biosignatures on habitable exoplanets, the geophysics of exoplanets and cosmology. To achieve this goal, two requirements are needed: (i) a very large aperture to detect spectro-polarimetric and spatial features of faint objects such as exoplanets, (ii) continuous monitoring to characterize the temporal behaviour of exoplanets such as rotation period, meteorology and seasons. An Earth-based telescope is not suited for continuous monitoring and the atmosphere limits the ultimate angular resolution and spectro-polarimetrical domain. Moreover, a space telescope in orbit is limited in aperture, to perhaps 15 m over many decades. This is why we propose an OWL-class lunar telescope with a 50–100 m aperture for visible and IR astronomy, based on ESO's Overwhelmingly Large Telescope concept, unachievable on Earth for technical issues such as wind stress that are not relevant for a lunar platform. It will be installed near the south pole of the Moon to allow continuous target monitoring. The low gravity of the Moon will facilitate its building and manoeuvring, compared to Earth-based telescopes. We introduce a new original idea: such a large lunar telescope will allow Intensity Interferometric measurements when coupled with large Earth-based telescopes, leading to picosecond angular resolution. Rather than going into all details, our objective is essentially to inject new ideas and give a kind of roadmap. In particular, the choice of a final location will have to find a compromise between the cool temperature of craters at the Moon South Pole and the visibility of Earth for some science objectives. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades’.

Cosmology Intertwined: A Review of the Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Associated with the Cosmological Tensions and Anomalies

“…There are many issues to be discussed [2178][2179][2180][2181][2182][2183][2184][2185][2186][2187][2188][2189][2190][2191][2192][2193], including how to discriminate the elusive science signals from pervasive low radio frequency and terahertz foregrounds, and handling the abrasive role of lunar dust. One can add imaging via mega-telescopes in dark and cold polar craters and making use of the seismic stability of the Moon for deployment of GW telescopes, using technology that dates back to, and goes far beyond, the Apollo-era era seismometers.…”

The DRAKE mission: finding the frequency of life in the Cosmos

“…I assume here an observatory design specially tailored for such a mission, however the goals of the DRAKE mission could equally be achieved as a specific component of a general purpose observatory project. Possible locations include deep space, such as the L2 Lagrange point or a location on the Moon, such as the Shackleton crater at the lunar South Pole (Schneider et al 2021;Eads & Angel 2021). Each location has advantages and disadvantages.…”

OWL-Moon: Very high resolution spectropolarimetric interferometry and imaging from the Moon: exoplanets to cosmology

“…The 1200 m2 array project at the lunar pole [3] and an OWL-Moon like 50-meter telescope [8] will make precise measurements of planet radii, Transit Time Variations (leading to the detection of additional planets and of exo-moons) and search for the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres, potentially providing biosignatures.…”

“…In addition, by applying a novel approach using Intensity Interferometry (II) with Earth-based telescopes, it will be possible to achieve angular resolution of the order of pico-arcseconds. Further details of the OWL-Moon concept and the application of Intensity Interferometry can be found in an extended version (Schneider et al 2021) of this short communication, which was submitted as a White Paper to the Voyage 2050 Call (Schneider et al, 2019).…”