The astronomy of the future could have its headquarters on the Moon. It is the suggestive proposal of a team of researchers, who in a new paper plan the construction of a gigantic optical "hypertelescope" in the crater of a lunar pole. A revolutionary structure to bring the observation of the cosmos to unprecedented levels.
The idea of astronomical bases on lunar soil is certainly not new, with already funded projects such as the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope of NASA. The engineering challenge of building large arrays of telescopes and interferometers on the Moon, however, is currently well out of reach.
Here is the alternative proposal published in a paper on arXiv (I link it to you here): exploit the natural conformation of a polar crater to create an optical instrument of extraordinary size and power.
Hypertelescope in the crater: mirrors on the edge and detectors in the center
The hypertelescope concept involves the mirrors being arranged along the edge of the crater, while the detection system with sensors would be suspended in the center via a cable, similar to the iconic Arecibo radio telescope. The substantial difference is that the structure of the "parabola" is replaced by the natural conformation of the lunar crater.
The individual mirrors should not be large, greatly simplifying their construction, and the natural conformation of the crater would reduce the interventions necessary for their positioning.
In one variant, the mirrors could all be on one side of the crater, with the scientific instruments on the other. Even in that case, the observation of the cosmos could benefit from immense focal distances, even if with a limited field of view.
Technical challenges, but the lunar observatory of the cosmos will be built
Certainly even with this "sustainable" design there are technical obstacles to overcome, such as cleaning dust from mirrors and the sensitivity of the alignment to the slightest seismic movements. But the implementation of astronomical observatories on our satellite appears only a matter of time.
When man goes into space, sooner or later he builds telescopes to explore the cosmos. And with a hypertelescope on the lunar surface, that voyage of discovery will take an epochal leap forward, opening up fascinating perspectives for understanding the entire universe.
