(Poster Maker: Cheng Siqi)
In the vast universe, is the only planet known to have life, The Earth, the only lonely being? In the depths of the distant universe, is there really a "wandering earth"?
In the face of ancient questions from mankind, more than 100 scientific researchers from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Microsatellite Innovation, the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics and the University of Science and Technology of China, with the support of the strategic pilot project "Earth 2.0" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, intend to conduct a "census" of galactic-like planets, and are currently carrying out key technical research.
(Video Producer: Tintin)
Professor Ge Jian, head of the Earth 2.0 project and the Shanghai Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "Our core goal is to find a large number of samples of Earth-like planets located in different orbits, including the discovery of a second 'Earth' (i.e. 'Earth 2.0') – a planet the size of the Earth (0.8-1.25 Earth radius) in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars; to answer three basic questions, how common is 'Earth 2.0' in the universe?" How did the Earth form and evolve? How did the 'Wandering Earth' come about? ”
Ge Jian introduced that as one of the most basic celestial bodies in the universe, planets are the cradle of life and civilization, and the study of planetary exploration and its formation and evolution carries the strong desire of human beings to uncover the origin of life and seek extraterrestrial life. In the past 20 years, the rapid development of exoplanet research and the gradual maturity of key technologies have pushed mankind to the critical intersection of discovering the "second Earth". In particular, the observations of the "transit method" and the "microgravity lensing method" are highly sensitive to the detection of small masses of planets.
The "Earth 2.0" project will for the first time combine these two advanced observation methods to independently develop six 30cm aperture, 500 square degree wide-angle transit telescopes and a 30cm aperture, 4 square degree microgravity lens telescope, which will be launched to the L2 point of the Sun-Dilaters by mounting on a scientific satellite, using a large field of view and ultra-high-precision optical metering to conduct a large-scale census of the Earth-like planets in the Milky Way.
According to Ge Jian, the satellite science team with the participation of more than 200 astronomers from more than 30 universities and research institutes at home and abroad has completed the scientific target research of the satellite project; the satellite technical team has also completed the design of the payload, ultra-high-precision guide satellite and satellite platform.
In addition, there are two key technologies in the satellite engineering solution that need to be tackled: satellite attitude ultra-high stability control and ultra-high precision CMOS metering camera. In terms of satellite attitude, the team has completed ground test verification of the satellite flywheel seismic isolation system, which will be verified in orbit in April this year; in terms of ultra-high-precision photometric camera technology, the laboratory assembly of the space prototype of the single detector camera has been completed, and performance tests are being carried out. "We hope that after the key technologies have been tackled and verified, the 'Earth 2.0' project can smoothly enter the project." Ge Jian said.
Professor Ge Jian works at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Photo by Zhang Jiansong)
So far, humans have not found an "Earth 2.0". But astronomers are convinced of the existence of terrestrial planets (including Earth 2.0) and in a very wide orbital range, from the vicinity of scorching stars all the way to extremely cold space. Through the Kepler telescope, astronomers have found more than 300 solid planets with short orbits (less than 20 days) but similar in size to Earth around some of the quieter bright stars.
"Unlike super-Earths, these planets are likely to have collided after the complete dissipation of the gas disk of the protostar, and are therefore most similar to earth origins, and these planets, called 'sub-Earths', may be distributed in different orbits." And those 'sub-Earths' located in habitable areas are likely to have the 'Earth 2.0' that we have been looking for. "We not only want to find the first 'Earth 2.0', but also through the 'Transit Star Method' and the 'Microlensing Method', we want to find a large number of hot, wet, cold 'Earth', as well as 'Wandering Earth' that has been expelled from the planetary system."
Industry experts believe that after the implementation of the "Earth 2.0" project, it will enable human beings to obtain the largest sample bank of terrestrial planets. Through in-depth analysis of various terrestrial planet samples, astronomers are expected to be able to unravel the mystery of the origin of terrestrial planets and stray planets; through subsequent observations from ground and space telescopes, measure and study the mass, density, and atmospheric, oceanic and habitability characteristics of the "extra-earth" on them, and even hope to find signs of extraterrestrial life, and leap exoplanet scientific research to the "Earth age".
Producer: Hu Qinghai
Planner: Liu Xinhui
Reporter: Zhang Jiansong
Editors: Lian Changyan, Tang Jianhui
It was jointly produced by Xinhua News Agency and Shanghai Branch of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Starry Sky Studios