A new sofia instrument inspired by the Moth's Eye
A new camera developed by NASA is able to take pictures of celestial impressions that are far more active than they may have been before, and the skills used in it have been inspired by nature, especially the moth's eye.
The concept is very brief. When looking at the object up close, the moth's eyes are arranged in a very fine arrangement consisting of a small cone-headed cylindrical protrusion. The purpose of this structure is to reduce the reflected light, so that these nocturnal creatures can absorb as much light as possible, so that they can identify directions even at night.
If we apply a similar concept of absorbers to far-infrared absorbers, we get thousands of tightly placed spikes (columnar bumps) formed by mechanical micromachining, which are not more than a single grain of sand. It is one of the key elements of four 1280-pixel calorimeter arrays developed by scientists and skill groups at NASA Goddard Space Flight Base in Maryland for high-resolution airborne wideband cameras+ (hawc+).
This photograph taken with an authentic scanning electron microscope shows a new absorber construct that makes it possible for sofia's new instrument, the high-resolution airborne wideband camera + (hawc+), to make observations possible. Such a "spike" structure was planned by the moth's eye. (Image supply: x-ray: nasa/cxc/sao/m.mccollough et al; radio: asiaa/sao/sma)
NASA has just completed the launch of HAWC+ on the Stratosphere Infrared Geographic Station (SOFIA). SOFIA is a joint NASA project with the German Aerospace Base (DLR). The heavily modified Boeing 747Sp carried an 8-foot telescope and six instruments into the airspace high enough that the telescope would not be disturbed by moisture in Earth's atmosphere. Moisture blocks most of the infrared radiation declared by celestial bodies.
The camera not only takes photos, but also measures polarized light from dust radiation from the Milky Way. Scientists can use the instrument to study the early stages of star and planetary prehistory, and with hawc+'s polarometer, they can also measure the magnetic field in the environment around the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Base.
With this instrument, which has never had a precedent in geography, we can even measure the small changes in the frequency and direction of light. Ed Wollack, a scientist from Goddard, said: "This allows the detector to be used on a wider range of wavelengths and also greatly increases the activity of the detector, especially in the far infrared band." Together with Goddard's detector expert, Christine Jhabvala, Wallak planned and created the micromachined absorber, which was crucial to goddard's calorimeter detector.
NASA recently completed the launch of a new airborne camera on NASA's Sofia Airborne Geostation. The image above shows the hawc+ instrument mounted on the Sofia telescope. (Image courtesy of NASA/afrc)
Radiation thermometers are commonly used in the measurement of infrared (thermal) radiation, and they are essentially very active thermometers. When the radiation is concentrated and hits the absorbent element (usually a resistively coated substance), the element heats up. A superconducting sensor then measured the resulting temperature change and gave the intensity of the incident infrared light.
Sofia's radiometer is a variant of the detector's skill called Back-Illuminated Lower Grid Sensors (bugs). Today, the sensor is used on a range of other instruments that are active for infrared networks. In the use of sofia, the reflective optical structure (so-called backlighting) is replaced by a micromachined absorber that blocks and absorbs light.
The team experimented with carbon nanotubes, hoping to use them as potential absorbers. However, although this columnar tube has been used in a range of aerospace skills today, it is not high for absorbing far infrared power. Eventually, Wallak turned to moths as a possible solution.
Christine Jabwala and Ed Warrak hold sketches of their planned absorbers. This absorber consists of thousands of micromachined spikes (columnar protrusions) placed compactly, which are not as high as sand grains. It is the key element of the four 1280 pixel detector arrays used by Hawc+. (Image courtesy of nasa/w. hrybyk)
Wallak said: "You may be inspired by something in nature, but you still have to use what you have at hand to make it." It's a combination of people, machines, and data. Now we have new talents that we didn't have before. This is the place of truth that stands out. ”