The China-France satellite will monitor the most powerful explosions in space

The China-France satellite will monitor the most powerful explosions in space

of actIoNled by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the French space agency CNES, began in 2006.

“The launch of SVOM closed a loop that started 18 years ago,” said François Gonzalez, manager of the French SVOM project at CNES.

Over the years, members of the science and engineering teams learned how to “adapt their ways” to work together and move the mission forward, he said.

Gamma-ray bursts are produced during extremely energetic events in the distant universe, such as the merger of two black holes or the collapse of a massive, dying star.

While such flashes of light provide unique insights into major cosmic phenomena, they are extremely difficult to capture as they can appear anywhere in the sky and last only a few seconds.

On top of that, gamma rays are easily absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere, so the only way to record them is to place probes in space.

SVOM will be able to observe at different wavelengths and obtain “the most complete set of data” showing how eruptions occur and evolve over time, Gonzalez said.

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SVOM is equipped with four state-of-the-art instruments – two built in France and two in China. For example, the French-built ECLAIRs telescope will play a critical role, autonomously detecting bursts in near-real time in the gamma energy and x-ray energy range.

Meanwhile, the visible telescope made in China will track light emitted in the visible after the gamma-ray burst as part of the burst process.

Bertrand Cordier, the French principal investigator of the mission from the Saclay Nuclear Research Center near Paris, noted that coordinated observations between SVOM and large ground-based telescopes were key to understanding the explosions.

“The main challenge of the mission is to determine the origin of the gamma-ray bursts,” Cordier said. “What environment do they come from? In what period are they created? Only detailed analyzes of their light by ground-based telescopes can answer these questions.

SVOM is expected to detect 70 to 80 gamma-ray bursts each year.

“Examined in all possible ways, gamma ray bursts We hope they will no longer be seen as mysterious objects, but as great tools for exploring the unknown,” he said.

Space has been a top priority for scientific cooperation between the two countries. The partnership between the two national space agencies began in 1997, when Beijing and Paris signed an agreement on the peaceful use of outer space.

This mission will study gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy phenomena. Photo: SVOM laboratory

The China-France Oceanographic Satellite, launched in 2018, has allowed scientists from around the world to make more accurate ocean forecasts and provide early warnings of severe weather events.

This year, a French instrument called the Detection of Outgassing RadoN, or Dorn, made a trip with China’s instrument Chang’e-6 mission to land on the far side of the moon. Dorn is the first French scientific instrument to touch the lunar surface.
Both countries are considering keeping a Dorn-like instrument for measurements of the moon’s surface aboard China’s upcoming lander. Chang’e-8 mission, which is expected to launch in 2028, according to space watchers.

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Image Source : www.scmp.com

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