Nano-JASMINE

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Nano-JASMINE
NamesNano-Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for Infrared Exploration
Mission type Astrometric observatory
Operator National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Mission duration2 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer University of Tokyo,
Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL)
Launch mass35 kg (77 lb)
Dimensions50.8 × 50.8 × 51.2 cm (20.0 × 20.0 × 20.2 in)
Power20 watts
Start of mission
Launch dateTBD
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric orbit
Regime Sun-synchronous orbit
Perigee altitude 800 km (500 mi)
Apogee altitude 800 km (500 mi)
Main telescope
Type Ritchey–Chrétien telescope [1]
Diameter5.25 cm (2.07 in) [2]
Focal length167 cm (66 in)
Wavelengths600–1000 nm
JASMINE program
(Small-)JASMINE →
 

The Nano-Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for Infrared Exploration (Nano-JASMINE) is an astrometric microsatellite developed by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, with contributions by the University of Tokyo's Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL). As of 2015, the satellite was planned for launch together with CHEOPS (Characterising Exoplanets Satellite) [3] [4] in 2019. [5] However, this launch took place in December 2019 without Nano-JASMINE as one of the three piggyback payloads. Some sources named 2022 as the launch year of the satellite. [6]

Contents

Spacecraft

Nano-JASMINE is a microsatellite measuring 50.8 × 50.8 × 51.2 cm (20.0 × 20.0 × 20.2 in) and weighing approximately 35 kg (77 lb). [1] It carries a small, 5.25 cm (2.07 in) Ritchey–Chrétien telescope that will make observations in the infrared spectrum, allowing for easier observation toward the centre of the Milky Way. [2] Its exterior is covered with Gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells providing approximately 20 watts of power. [1] Due to limited bandwidth, Nano-JASMINE will employ a Star Image Extractor (SIE) for onboard raw image processing that will extract and transmit only specific object data. [7]

Overview

Nano-JASMINE is Japan's first and the world's third astrometric survey spacecraft, following Hipparcos (1989) and Gaia (2013), both launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). It is the pathfinder in a planned series of three spacecraft of increasing size and capability; the second is (originally and officially still called "Small-JASMINE") with a 30 cm (12 in) telescope, and the third is JASMINE with an 80 cm (31 in) telescope. [8] [9]

The spacecraft is designed to have an astrometric accuracy (2–3 mas (milli-arcsecond) for stars brighter than 7.5 magnitude) comparable to Hipparcos (1 mas). Nano-JASMINE should be able to detect approximately four times the number of stars as Hipparcos. Given the time difference between these missions, combining the data sets of Nano-JASMINE and Hipparcos will constrain the positions of stars whose current positions are poorly known owing to uncertainty in their motion since being measured by Hipparcos, and should provide an order-of-magnitude increase in the accuracy of proper motion measurements (approximately 0.1 mas/year; 0.2 mas/year for stars brighter than 9 magnitude). [2]

Nano-JASMINE had been scheduled for launch aboard a Tsyklon-4 launch vehicle from the Brazilian Space Agency's Alcântara Launch Center (CLA). The launch was originally contracted for August 2011, [10] but was delayed to the November 2013 to March 2014 time frame. [2] [8] Various issues have held back its launch, first due to delays in both the construction of the launch site and development of the launch vehicle, and later due to Brazil backing out of the Tsyklon-4 partnership with Ukraine leading to the rocket's indefinite hold. [11] [12] In March 2015, talks to arrange a flight for Nano-JASMINE began between NAOJ and ESA. [3] It was to be launched as a piggyback payload with CHEOPS on a Soyuz launch vehicle [4] [13] in 2019. [5] [14] As of late 2020, the launch of Nano-JASMINE is foreseen in 2022.

Nano-JASMINE is to be succeeded by a larger spacecraft, JASMINE (formerly "Small-JASMINE"), which is planned to be launched in 2028 by an Epsilon launch vehicle. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrometry</span> Branch of astronomy involving positioning and movements of celestial bodies

Astrometry is a branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. It provides the kinematics and physical origin of the Solar System and this galaxy, the Milky Way.

<i>Hipparcos</i> European Space Agency scientific satellite

Hipparcos was a scientific satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 1989 and operated until 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions of celestial objects on the sky. This permitted the first high-precision measurements of the intrinsic brightnesses, proper motions, and parallaxes of stars, enabling better calculations of their distance and tangential velocity. When combined with radial velocity measurements from spectroscopy, astrophysicists were able to finally measure all six quantities needed to determine the motion of stars. The resulting Hipparcos Catalogue, a high-precision catalogue of more than 118,200 stars, was published in 1997. The lower-precision Tycho Catalogue of more than a million stars was published at the same time, while the enhanced Tycho-2 Catalogue of 2.5 million stars was published in 2000. Hipparcos' follow-up mission, Gaia, was launched in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JAXA</span> Japans national air and space agency

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon. Its motto is One JAXA and its corporate slogan is Explore to Realize.

<i>Gaia</i> (spacecraft) European optical space observatory for astrometry

Gaia is a space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 2013 and expected to operate until 2025. The spacecraft is designed for astrometry: measuring the positions, distances and motions of stars with unprecedented precision, and the positions of exoplanets by measuring attributes about the stars they orbit such as their apparent magnitude and color. The mission aims to construct by far the largest and most precise 3D space catalog ever made, totalling approximately 1 billion astronomical objects, mainly stars, but also planets, comets, asteroids and quasars, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer</span> NASA satellite of the Explorer program

Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer was a NASA proposed astrometric satellite designed to determine with unprecedented accuracy the positions, distances, and motions of 40 million stars within our galactic neighborhood. This database was to allow astronomers to accurately determine the distance to all of the stars on this side of the Milky Way galaxy, detect large planets and planetary systems around stars within 1,000 light years of the Sun, and measure the amount of dark matter in the galaxy from its influence on stellar motions. It was to be a collaborative effort between the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) and several other institutions. FAME would have measured stellar positions to less than 50 microarcseconds. The NASA MIDEX mission was scheduled for launch in 2004. In January 2002, however, NASA abruptly cancelled this mission, mainly due to concerns about costs, which had grown from US$160 million initially to US$220 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SPICA (spacecraft)</span> Proposed far-infrared space observatory

The Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), was a proposed infrared space telescope, follow-on to the successful Akari space observatory. It was a collaboration between European and Japanese scientists, which was selected in May 2018 by the European Space Agency (ESA) as a finalist for the next Medium class Mission 5 (M5) of the Cosmic Vision programme, to launch in 2032. At the time the other two finalists were THESEUS and EnVision, with the latter that was eventually selected for further development. SPICA would have improved on the spectral line sensitivity of previous missions, the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes, between 30 and 230 µm by a factor of 50—100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PLATO (spacecraft)</span> European space telescope to detect exoplanets

PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is a space telescope under development by the European Space Agency for launch in 2026. The mission goals are to search for planetary transits across up to one million stars, and to discover and characterize rocky extrasolar planets around yellow dwarf stars, subgiant stars, and red dwarf stars. The emphasis of the mission is on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around Sun-like stars where water can exist in a liquid state. It is the third medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme and is named after the influential Greek philosopher Plato. A secondary objective of the mission is to study stellar oscillations or seismic activity in stars to measure stellar masses and evolution and enable the precise characterization of the planet host star, including its age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer</span>

Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE) was a NASA mission proposal for a space observatory operating in the Near-infrared spectrum for the Medium-Class Explorers program. The Principal Investigator was Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lennart Lindegren</span> Swedish astronomer

Lennart Lindegren is a member of the staff at Lund Observatory, Sweden, where he obtained his PhD in 1980, and became a full professor of astronomy in 2000. Space astrometry and its various applications has been his main focus in astronomy since 1976. His career has been marked by his continuous involvement in, leadership of, and profound contributions to, ESA's Hipparcos and Gaia missions over their entire duration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHEOPS</span> Optical space telescope (launched in 2019)

CHEOPS is a European space telescope. Its objective is to determine the size of known extrasolar planets, which will allow the estimation of their mass, density, composition and their formation. Launched on 18 December 2019, it is the first Small-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision science programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OPS-SAT</span>

OPS-SAT is a CubeSat by the European Space Agency (ESA) and it is intended to demonstrate the improvements in mission control capabilities that will arise when satellites can fly more powerful on-board computers. The mission has the objective to break the cycle of "has never flown, will never fly" in the area of satellite control. It was the first CubeSat operated directly by ESA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ARIEL</span> Space telescope

The Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) is a space telescope and the fourth medium-class mission of the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision programme. The mission is aimed at observing at least 1000 known exoplanets using the transit method, studying and characterising the planets' chemical composition and thermal structures. Compared to the James Webb Space Telescope, ARIEL will have more observing time available for planet characterisation but a much smaller telescope and it will be launched almost a decade later. ARIEL is expected to be launched in 2029 aboard an Arianespace Ariane 6 together with the Comet Interceptor.

Michael Perryman is a British astronomer, known for his work leading the Hipparcos and Gaia space astrometric projects.

Cosmic Vision is the third campaign of space science and space exploration missions in the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). Formulated in 2005 as Cosmic Vision: Space Science for Europe 2015–2025, the campaign succeeded the Horizon 2000 Plus campaign and envisioned a number of missions in the fields of astronomy and solar system exploration beyond 2015. Ten missions across four funding categories are planned to be launched under Cosmic Vision, with the first being CHEOPS in December 2019. A mission to the Galilean moons (JUICE), the first deep space mission with an opportunistic target, and one of the first gravitational-wave space observatories (LISA), are planned for launch as part of the Cosmic Vision campaign.

Katherine Gudrun Isaak is a British astrophysicist and the Project Scientist for the European Space Agency Characterising Exoplanet Satellite mission (CHEOPS). She is based at European Space Research and Technology Centre.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Nano-JASMINE". eoPortal. European Space Agency. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Yamada, Yoshiyuki; Fujita, Sho; Gouda, Naoteru; et al. (February 2013). "Scientific goals of Nano-JASMINE". Advancing the Physics of Cosmic Distances, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 289: 429–432. Bibcode:2013IAUS..289..429Y. doi: 10.1017/S1743921312021886 .
  3. 1 2 Gouda, N. (15 September 2015). 小型JASMINE計画 (PDF). GOPIRA Symposium 2015 14–16 September 2015 Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese). Group of Optical and Infrared Astronomers. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 Yamada, Yoshiyuki (2015). Gaia validation by Nano-JASMINE data (PDF). GENIUS Mid Term Review Meeting 20 November 2015 Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Exoplanet mission launch slot announced". ESA. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  6. ↑ Gouda, Naoteru (2011). "Jasmine". Scholarpedia. 6 (10): 12021. Bibcode:2011SchpJ...612021G. doi: 10.4249/scholarpedia.12021 .
  7. ↑ Yamauchi, M.; Gouda, N.; Kobayashi, Y.; et al. (July 2008). "A Star Image Extractor for the Nano-JASMINE satellite". A Giant Step: From Milli- to Micro-arcsecond Astrometry, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 248: 294–295. Bibcode:2008IAUS..248..294Y. doi: 10.1017/S1743921308019388 .
  8. 1 2 Gouda, N.; et al. (29 August 2012). Present status of JASMINE projects (PDF). 28th International Astronomical Union General Assembly 20–31 August 2012 Beijing, China.
  9. ↑ "JASMINE mission" (PDF). Group of Optical and Infrared Astronomers. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  10. ↑ "Nano-JASMINE Launch Contract". University of Tokyo. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  11. ↑ Krebs, Gunter (28 February 2017). "Nano-JASMINE". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  12. ↑ de Selding, Peter B. (16 April 2015). "Brazil Pulling Out of Ukrainian Cyclone-4 Launcher Project". SpaceNews. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Bauer, Markus (11 July 2014). "CHEOPS exoplanet mission meets key milestones en route to 2017 launch". European Space Agency. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  14. ↑ "Ready for testing electromagnetic compatibility". CHEOPS. University of Berne. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  15. ↑ "JASMINE（赤外線位置天文観測衛星）で拓く天の川中心核と地球型惑星の探査" [JASMINE (Infrared Astrometry Satellite) will pioneer the exploration of the Milky Way's core and terrestrial planets](PDF). NAOJ News (in Japanese). No. 332. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. 1 March 2021. p. 6. ISSN   0915-8863 . Retrieved 29 April 2021.
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