Chinese robotic telescope on the moon holds out longer than expected

The first robotic telescope on the moon holds out longer than expected. The Lunar-based Ultraviolet
Telescope has for the first eighteen months on the telescopes hostile moonscape well-sustained and works still properly.

The environment of the moon, filled with charged particles and eroderend lunar dust that may damage the equipment and the electronics can destroy, made sure that the expectations for the telescope is not too high-strung. The telescope sits on the Chang’e 3-lunar. The included cart that soil samples had to collect, the Yutu rover, or ” jaden rabbit, stopped in march this year with work.

To prevent damage, caused the Chinese to ensure that the telescope is between sunrise and sunset on the moon, relaxing in the Chang’e 3. Scientists published this week a paper of the activity during the first eighteen months that the telescope was active. The telescope is gathered at that time about 2000 hours of data, and followed forty stars.

The robot telescope on the lander has a fifteen inches large Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, and explains ultraviolet light to galaxies, stars, quasars, and other celestial phenomena that are visible only in the ultraviolet spectrum of 245 to 340nm. The thin atmosphere and slow rotation of the moon, can be extremely long, uninterrupted observations of celestial objects can be made.