Deep time: An artist's illustration of Planck, a 1.5-metre telescope with two ultra-sensitive detectors of cosmic microwave background radiation, or CMB.
Credit: ESA
PARIS: On Thursday a rocket is set to hoist aloft two European spacecraft designed to probe the distant past – all the way back to the origins of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago.
With a combined cost of 1.6 billion euros (A$2.86 billion), the Herschel and Planck telescopes represent Europe's greatest-ever investment in orbital astronomy.
But the price tag is on a scale with the mysteries that these machines hope to pierce. How do stars and galaxies form? When precisely did the Big Bang occur? What are dark matter and dark energy? And will the universe expand forever, or will it one day implode in a gigantic 'Big Crunch'?
Unseen infrared wavelengths
The largest reflector ever to be launched into space, Herschel will scan some never-before-detected infrared radiation wavelengths for clues on how stars and galaxies were formed, and whether they continue to come into being.
Even the coldest of space objects give off thermal radiation, which means they can be seen by infrared telescopes even if they are invisible to the human eye.
Deployed in a distant orbit beyond Earth's obstructing atmosphere, Herschel will be the only instrument in space able to cover the farthest reaches of the infrared part of the energy spectrum. It can also penetrate massive clouds of dust, allowing it to delve into deep space, into regions never before explored.
The new data could show whether all galaxies were created at the same time, as some astronomers argue, or whether there is a non-stop galaxy-making mechanism still at work. They may also tell us which came first, galaxies or the stars of which they are composed.
Supercool scopes
The instruments onboard Herschel must be cooled to temperatures just above -273.15ºC, also known as absolute zero, otherwise the heat they generate will ruin the observations.
Herschel has a co-passenger aboard the Ariane-5 ECA heavy rocket, scheduled to lift off at 1:12 PM GMT on Thursday from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. It is Planck, a 1.5-metre telescope with two ultra-sensitive detectors of cosmic microwave background radiation, or CMB.
Discovered by chance in 1965 by two radio astronomers in the United States, CMB was quickly recognised as the best proof available of the primeval explosion that created the universe as we know it.
