For a long time, astronomers and other scientists believed that the importance of their work was evident to society. But in these difficult days of financial austerity, even the most obvious benefits of science have to undergo careful scrutiny. So, now more than ever was the time to highlight some of the importance of astronomy as a field in terms of its technological and beneficial contribution to other fields, such as in Aerospace, Medical and biomedical, Pharmacy, Defense, Communication, Energy research, Electronics, Computational systems/application and other sectors.
Here, we are going to read why astronomy is such an important part of every society. We will try to briefly explain a device invented by the astronomers before we will talk about the use and impacts of the device to human and the society. Whilst considerable attention will be given to technology and knowledge transfer from astronomy, perhaps the most important contributions outlined is the awareness that astronomy gives us of the vastness of the Universe and our place within it.
Telescopes, Mirrors And Atennas
A telescope is an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe distant objects, or various devices used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation.
Large mirrors or antennas that focus and image light, infrared radiation, or radio waves are used not only by astronomers but also by, for example:
- The communications industry
- The military e.g. in surveillance
- The scientists who use telescopes that look down from space to study Earth’s ecosystem and resources.
- Energy Sector: Technology designed to image X-rays in X-ray telescopes — which have to be designed differently from visible-light telescopes — is now used to monitor plasma fusion. If fusion, where two light atomic nuclei fuse to form a heav¬ier nucleus — became possible to con¬trol, it could be the answer to safe, clean energy.
- In aerospace engineering: Observations of stellar distributions on the sky — which are used to point and calibrate telescopes.
In order to produce a sharp image, either large-diameter mirrors or antennas are required, or the radiation must be collected on widely spaced individual mirrors or antennas and then combined - a technique called interferometry.
Besides size, another key to a high-quality image is producing a very accurately shaped mirror or antenna. Astronomers have made major contributions to mirror and antenna technology. Examples include developing mirror materials (lightweight materials in particular), mirror designs, precision shaping and metrology (shape testing), procedures for correcting the effects of bending under the force of gravity, technologies to correct for the blurring effect of the atmosphere e.g. a technology called adaptive optics, interferometry, and the technology for steering the beams and efficiently collecting the radiation in large radio telescopes. Besides the obvious applications noted above, there are additional spin-offs. One notable example is in the area of adaptive optics. Techniques developed by astronomers for adaptive optics are being refined to produce ophthalmic instruments that can image the retina of an eye and measure an individual’s eye aberrations in unprecedented detail. The potential exists for low-cost diagnosis of eye disease, as well as for specification of parameters for either contact lenses that will provide supernormal vision or corrective eye surgery.
The photo, taken in 1969, shows the telescope as it was around the time of the first manned Moon landing.
Credit: By CSIRO, CC BY 3.0
Since the development of space-based telescopes, information acquisition for defence has shifted from using ground-based to aerial and space-based tech¬niques. Defense satellites are essentially telescopes pointed towards Earth and require identical technology and hard¬ware to those used in their astronomical counterparts. In addition, processing sat¬ellite images uses the same software and processes as astronomical images.
Adaptive optics techniques and techniques to manufacture and figure ultra-lightweight, ultrahigh precision mirrors are examples of synergy between investments in defense-related technology and in astronomy. The rapid growth of adaptive optics over the past decade owes much to the declassification of techniques developed in the service of national security interests.
Sensors, Detectors, And Amplifiers
Perhaps the biggest technology spin-off contributed by astronomy has been the development or improvement of devices that convert light and other forms of radiation into images. Historically, astronomy pushed the development of photographic film to greater sensitivities and resolution. Some of the most useful examples of technology benefits between astronomy and industry include advances in imaging and communications. For example, a film calledKodak Technical Pan is used exten¬sively by medical and industrial spectros¬copists, industrial photographers, and art¬ists, and was originally created so that solar astronomers could record the changes in the surface structure of the Sun. However, film has now been largely replaced by electronic sensors, detectors, and amplifiers – a devices that enable accurate digitized measurements of brightness over a wide range of wavelengths. In this section, astronomy’s contributions to signal detection are discussed by frequency band, starting with the high-frequency x-ray band and moving to ever lower frequencies: ultraviolet/optical, infrared, and radio.
1: X-Ray
X-ray partially penetrate opaque objects and can thus be used to image their “insides”. One prominent example is provided by the luggage scanners used as security devices in airports. The most common version of this device is a spin-off from space x-ray astronomy, where the requirement to observe weak cosmic signals resulted in the development of high-sensitivity x-ray detectors. Application of these detectors to luggage scanners enabled the use of low x-ray dosages to obtain good images, thus enhancing their safety for operators and passengers alike. X-ray astronomy detectors, with their sensitivity to single photons and to low-energy x rays, are also ideally suited for fundamental biomedical research, for cancer and AIDS research, and for drug and vaccine development. These sensitive detectors have led to a plethora of x-ray medical imaging devices, including those used to search for breast cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease (the thallium stress test), and dental problems. The next, is a new development that uses x-ray charge-coupled devices (CCDs - miniature electronic detectors) to replace dental x-ray film, a change that will reduce exposure to x-rays. Another development is the creation of small thermal sensors initially developed to control telescope instrument temper¬atures, which are now used to control heating in neonatology units — units for the care of newborn babies (National Research Council, 1991).
Another exciting development is the x-ray microscope. A microscope is, in effect, a miniature telescope. X-ray astronomy has led to the development of the Lixiscope, a portable x-ray microscope to be used to image small objects and fine detail, with applications in energy research and biomedical research. It is widely used in out-patient surgery, diagnosis of sports injuries, and Third World clinics. The Lixiscope is NASA’s second largest source of royalties. In a somewhat different technique called x-ray diffraction, a “super-microscope” is achieved that can study tiny molecular structures. This technique utilizes the interference of the x-rays with each other after they scatter off a sample surface. X rays are preferred because they resolve molecular structure. Astronomical advances in detector sensitivity and focused beam optics have allowed the development of systems with much shorter exposure times, and have allowed researchers to use smaller samples, avoid damage to samples, and speed up their data runs. Biomedical and pharmaceutical researchers have used these systems for basic research on viruses, proteins, vaccines, and drugs, as well as for cancer, AIDS, and immunology research.
In airports, a gas chromatograph is used in airports, for separating and analysing compounds in surveying baggage for drugs and explosives — it was originally designed for a Mars mis¬sion. The police also used hand-held Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) photometers — an instrument developed by astrono¬mers for measuring light intensity — to check that car windows are transparent, as determined by the law.
2: At ultraviolet (UV) and optical frequencies
Astronomers have pushed the development of more sensitive Charge-Coupled Devices - CCDs and of large arrays of CCDs. Cooled silicon CCD arrays developed for optical astronomy now dominate in a multitude of industrial imaging applications. In 2009 Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the development of the CCD device that would be widely used in indus¬try. This sensors for image capture were developed for astronomical images, and it was first used in astronomy in the 1976. Within a very few years, they had replaced film not only on telescopes, but also in many people’s personal cameras, webcams and mobile phones. The improvement and popularity of CCDs is attributed to NASA’s decision to use super-sensitive CCD technology on the Hubble Space Telescope. The basic performance of these detectors has been improved by a thinning process developed by astronomers. CCD manufacturers have adopted this technique for use on Earth satellites e.g. to watch for lightning strikes in the atmosphere and in surveillance applications. In the UV, CCD development undertaken for a Hubble Space Telescope instrument was later incorporated in a stereotactic breast biopsy machine, which detects tumor positions accurately enough to steer the biopsy probe, thereby reducing the need for surgery and cutting costs by 75 percent. In addition, UV detectors developed for the Hubble Space Telescope are being considered as a key element in a helicopter-based system aimed at rapid detection of power-line failures in remote areas. Astronomers developed a solar-blind photon counter — a device which can measure the particles of light from a source, during the day, without being overwhelmed by the particles coming from the Sun. This is now used to detect ultraviolet (UV) photons coming from the exhaust of a missile, allowing for a virtu¬ally false-alarm-free UV missile warning system. The same technology can also be used in energy sector to detect toxic gases.
Looking through the fluid-filled, con¬stantly moving eye of a living person is not that different from trying to observe astronomical objects through the turbulent atmosphere, and the same fun¬damental approach seems to work for both. Adaptive optics used in astron¬omy can be used for retinal imaging in living patients to study diseases such as macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa in their early stages. (Boston Micromachines Corporation, 2010).
3: Infrared (IR) frequencies
Objects on Earth radiate most of their energy at infrared (IR) frequencies. In addition, infrared radiation can in some cases be more penetrating than visible light, thus rendering it useful for looking “inside” of an object, in analogy to x-rays. For both of these reasons, the development and/or improvement of sensitive IR detectors, large-format arrays, and IR techniques by infrared astronomers has had significant benefit to society. In this area, there has been a symbiotic relationship with the Department of Defense, which has invested large amounts of money in infrared-IR detector development for defense applications. Improvements made by astronomers have contributed to the final versions of the detectors used in the Strategic Defense Initiative and for night-vision devices. In the industrial sector, IR detector arrays developed by astronomers are being used in the semiconductor industry in IR microscopes that examine computer chips for flaws. In the medical sector, IR detectors and spectroscopes are being used to diagnose cervical cancer and genetic diseases and to image malignant tumors and vascular anomalies.
Preparing for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Image Credit: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. University of California, San Francisco
4: Radio Waves
Not only radio and television, but also all satellite and much telephone communication are accomplished with radio waves. Radio astronomers have provided the driving force to many technical advances that have improved the stability, widened the bandwidth, and reduced the noise and interference of radio communications such as low-noise maser, parametric, and other transistor amplifiers that have had wide application in the communications industry. Astronomers have perfected high-radio-frequency systems that have found application in devices to detect concealed weapons, to see through fog and adverse weather for aircraft landing systems, and to image human tissue e.g. in mammograms.
There are also many other things that people encoun¬ter on an everyday basis that were derived from astronomical technologies. Perhaps one of the most commonly used astronomy-derived invention is the wireless local area network (WLAN). In 1977 John O’Sullivan developed a method to sharpen images from a radio telescope. This same method was applied to radio signals in general, specifically to those dedicated to strength¬ening computer networks, which is now an integral part of all WLAN implementations (Hamaker et al., 1977). In the realm of communication, radio astronomy has provided a wealth of use¬ful tools, devices, and data-processing methods. Many successful communica¬tions companies were originally founded by radio astronomers.
Radio astronomers developed a method that is now used as a non-invasive way to detect tumours. By combining this with other traditional methods, there is a now an exceedingly high true-positive detec¬tion rate in breast cancer patients and other areas.
Spectrometers and Devices to Focus Radiation
Astronomers have driven the development of ever more precise instruments, called spectrometers, that separate and analyse the different frequencies present in a beam of radiation. In addition, they have perfected precision techniques to focus radiation into spots too small to be visible. These developments have been highly beneficial to industry, defense, and medical sectors of the economy.
NASA supported the development of a novel x-ray spectrometer, the microcalorimeter, for x-ray astronomy, but this new device can also be used to analyse the chemical elements in a small sample. Applications include materials science research, rapid trace-element analysis for the semi-conductor industry (semi-conductor wafer testing), and bio-medical research, which requires low doses for biological samples. X-ray spectrometers developed in part in response to the needs of astronomy are also used in x-ray laser materials science and in fusion energy research, as well as in the nuclear non-proliferation program. Ultraviolet - UV spectrometers are used in laboratory analysis equipment. Infrared - IR spectrometers remotely analyze the composition of the atmosphere. Space-borne and ground-based radio spectrometers remotely monitor temperature, winds, humidity, and chemical composition in the atmosphere with applications to weather prediction, global warming, and pollution monitoring. The depletion of ozone has been monitored with astronomical radio telescopes equipped with radio spectrometers. Space-borne radio spectrometers also sense ground-level quantities such as soil moisture, vegetation cover, ocean height and sensitivity, oil spills, snow cover, and iceberg hazards. A gamma-ray spectrometer originally used to analyse lunar soil is now used as a non-invasive way to probe struc¬tural weakening of historical buildings or to look behind fragile mosaics. Essential components of all these spectrometers have been invented or perfected by the astronomical community.
US Food and Drug Administration scientist uses portable near infrared spectroscopy device to detect potentially illegal substances.
Image Credit: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration - Portable Screening Devices (1435), Public Domain
Efforts in UV and x-ray astronomy pioneered the development of technologies crucial for UV and x-ray lithography, a process by which fine beams of radiation etch lines in a material. Very fine line widths are needed by the semiconductor and micro-chip manufacturing sector to make advanced computer chips, transistors, and other micro-electronic devices. In the medical sector, astronomical technology invented to focus x-rays is being put to use in precision deposition of x-ray radiation to destroy cancerous tumors.
Image Reconstruction
Astronomers struggle constantly to see objects that are ever dimmer and fur¬ther away. Medicine also struggles with simi¬lar issues: to see things that are obscured within the human body. Both disci¬plines require high-resolution, accurate and detailed images. Consequently, astronomers have been at the forefront of efforts to improve and sharpen images, to reduce extraneous noise, and to extract the maximum information from the radiation received. One example of this effort is a system of image analysis tools and computer applications programs developed by astronomers at the National Optical Astronomy Observatories: the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility - IRAF. IRAF has been used not only by thousands of astronomers worldwide, but also by researchers outside astronomy, engaged in underwater imaging, mapping of the aerosols in the atmosphere, medical imaging for detection of breast cancer, decoding of human genetic material (in connection with the Human Genome Project), numerous defense-related applications, visualization of the images from electron microscopes, and many other applications. AIPS, the Astronomical Image Processing System developed at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, is another software package for manipulation of multidimensional images that is used routinely in non-astronomical image analysis applications. Astronomers have also contributed to the advancement of tomography, which enables construction of three-dimensional images out of a series of two-dimensional pictures. Tomographic imaging is used widely in both medical x-ray imaging and industrial applications. The image reconstruction work of R. Bracewell, a pioneering radio astronomer, is widely cited by the medical imaging community. Techniques pioneered by astronomers, such as “wavelet smoothing” and “maximum entropy,” have been used for pattern recognition in areas like mammography and to sharpen images for police work.
Another notable example of knowledge transfer between Astronomy and Medicine is the technique of aperture synthesis, developed by the radio astronomer and Nobel Laureate, Martin Ryle (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1974). This technology is used in computerized tomography (also known as CT or CAT scanners), magnetic reso¬nance imaging, positron emission tomog¬raphy (PET) and many other medical imag¬ing tools.
Time Precision and Position Measurements
Interferometry is the main technique used by astronomers to measure with ultrahigh precision the position in the sky of astronomical objects. Interferometers employ two or more telescopes located some distance apart that precisely measure the time difference in the arrival of radiation from a source. To do this properly, requires extremely accurate clocks, since the time differences are extremely short. Astronomers played a significant role in refining the hydrogen maser clock, which is now widely used for space communications and in the defense sector. The interferometric timing technique to locate radiation sources has had widespread application, including finding noise sources (such as faulty transmitters that interfere with communications satellites), locating cellular phones to track locations of emergency calls, measuring the tiny shifts of Earth’s crust before and after earthquakes, and precisely locating people and vehicles using the Global Positioning System (GPS) precision surveying network. GPS satellites rely on astronomical objects, such as quasars and distant galaxies, to determine accurate posi¬tions.
Numerical Computation and Data Analysis
Astrophysics has been a major driver of supercomputer architecture and computational science for nearly 50 years. Computations of stellar evolution by the pioneering astronomer Martin Schwarzschild occupied nearly half of the time of one of the first computers (MANIAC). Computers are severely challenged by the gigabytes of data streaming in daily from modern astronomical sensors and large sky surveys, and by the large computational speeds required for both simulations and database searches. These requirements are stimulating the development of large computers and innovative hardware components. Beowulf computers, which provide simple commodity supercomputing, were developed by astronomers to enable sophisticated numerical simulations. The idea of designing special-purpose hardware for a specific task has also flourished in astronomy. Two examples of such hardware are the GRAPE computer chips for doing large-scale gravitational N-body simulations, and the Digital Orrery for calculating the motions of the bodies in our solar system (now retired at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.). The Gordon Bell Prize - a prestigious award for significant achievement in the application of supercomputers to scientific and engineering problems - was won by astronomers in 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
This Supercomputer Can Calculate in 1 Second What Would Take a human being 6 Billion Years!
Credit: By Carlos Jones/ORNL - CC BY 2.0
FORTH, a high-performance computer programming language and operating system, was developed at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and has been used in hand-held computers carried by Federal Express – FedEx delivery agents and by automotive engine analyzers in service stations, in environmental control systems in airports, and by Eastman Kodak in quality control for film manufacturing.
Many software developments were also either created by astronomers or received much of their impetus for improvement from them. Fast Fourier transforms and other image-processing techniques were greatly improved by radio astronomers and later by optical astronomers. Some of the more popular grid-based computational fluid dynamics techniques that are used in applications such as weather prediction were either created or improved by astronomers. Another particle-based hydrodynamic technique, smoothed particle hydrodynamics, was both invented and improved by astronomers and has found uses outside astronomy, for example in modeling ballistic impacts. Magnetohydrodynamic codes and numerical simulations of plasmas developed by astronomers contribute to design efforts aimed at harnessing fusion power. Digital correlation techniques for spectral analysis of broadband signals have been adapted for use in remote sensing, oceanography, and oil exploration. The company General Motors uses the astronomy programming language Inter¬active Data Language (IDL) to analyze data from car crashes, and also two oil companies, Texaco and BP, use IDL to analyse core samples around oil fields as well as for general petroleum research. Numerical Recipes, a collection of numerical algorithms that is now widely used throughout science, started as an astronomy course on scientific computing.
The telecommunications company AT&T uses Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) — a collection of software written at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory — to analyse computer sys¬tems and solid-state physics graphics.
To handle the large databases being produced by astronomical surveys, several groups are collaborating with computer scientists to push forward the frontiers of database mining. Inexpensive and error-free methods of archival mass data storage have been invented by astronomers. Such developments will obviously have far-reaching applications.
Lastly, astronomy serves as a prolific and productive training ground for many computational scientists.
Studying astronomical entities lead to the invention of awesome technological instruments that enable man to carry out some operations that was not possible before the enormous knowledge availability on this field.
We have seen how research on astronomy makes processing some tasks become so easier in our life, such as the use of radio signals in hospital for detecting diseases and in airports for scanning luggage, and in several other areas that use different inventions made by the astronomers.
Also, there are number of ongoing researches in the field of astronomy, some may even take longer than a decade before the final data of it will be available.
REFERENCES
- Marissa R. et al (January, 2014.) Astronomy in Everyday Life: Communicating Astronomy with the public Journal. pg.30 – 35. https://www.capjournal.org/issues/14/14_30.pdf Retrieved: June 25, 2020.
- National Research Council 2001. Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/9839 - https://www.nap.edu/download/9839# Retrieved: August 20, 2020.