{"id":"f-73cd9b4b27-8a9fdb09-5da8-51fd-bdf6-fdd017589496","title":"NASA’s SPARCS CubeSat captures first light images","description":"NASA’s SPARCS CubeSat has captured its first images of a star. The observations mark the start of its year-long science campaign.","timestamp":1773570540,"category":"technology","headline":"NASA’s SPARCS CubeSat captures first light images","modifiedHeadline":"NASA’s SPARCS CubeSat captures first light images","subCategories":["scid_cc47e385"],"subcategoriesName":["NASA"],"region":"IN","bundleMetaData":{"bundleId":"b162fe12-9cac-4117-a958-cc0604a457de","bundleTitle":"Science Simplified","cardData":null},"iabCategoryId":"472","iabCategoryName":"Space and Astronomy","fcSummary":"NASA’s SPARCS CubeSat has captured its first images of a star. The observations mark the start of its year-long science campaign.","summary":"NASA’s SPARCS CubeSat has captured its first images of a star. The observations mark the start of its year-long science campaign.","ctaUrl":"https://trends.glance.com/newz/astrology/IN/en/news9/f-73cd9b4b27-8a9fdb09-5da8-51fd-bdf6-fdd017589496","sourceUrl":"https://www.news9live.com/science/nasas-sparcs-cubesat-captures-first-light-images-2942744","bannerImage":"https://g-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/fc/image/T-cwDzSV0kP0.webp","content":"

New Delhi: NASA’s Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS) mission has achieved first light, within the initial ultraviolet images being received

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on 6 February. The tiny spacecraft was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 11 January. The first light images confirms that the telescope, detectors and overall system are operating as expected and tested on the ground, paving the way for full science operations. The spacecraft is only the size of a cereal box, and is the first dedicated mission for continuous, simultaneous monitoring of far-ultraviolet and near-ultraviolet radiation from low-mass stars in the vicinity. Most of the known exoplanets are around such stars.

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These stars are dimmer, smaller and cooler than the Sun, and contain between 30 and 70 per cent of the mass of the Sun. They are the most common type of star in the Milky Way, and host the majority of the estimated 50 billion habitable-zone terrestrial exoplanets in the galaxy. These are rocky worlds at just the right distance from the host star for liquid water to exist on the surface. Over the course of its one year long planned mission, SPARCS will observe about 20 such stars for periods of five to 45 days, tracking flares and sunspot activity. Although these stars are smaller, dimmer and cooler than the Sun, they flare much more frequently.

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The hostile red dwarf stars

These intense events can strongly influence the atmospheres of orbiting exoplanets. As such the behaviour of the host star is a critical factor in assessing the habitability of the exoplanet. The satellite demonstrates the viability of high-performance UV observations in a compact package. The onboard processing allows the computer to analyse data in realtime, and adjust observation parameters to capture flare evolution more effectively. The observations by SPARCS are expected to improve our understanding of the stellar environments around the most common types of stars in the galaxy.

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NASA’s SPARCS CubeSat captures first light images

SUMMARY