There’s a telescope behind the Moon, what does this mean? For many years, we have used rockets, satellites and orbit stations to see beyond our planet. However, there’s a new scientific project that has changed this, the project is to install a telescope on the Moon’s shadow (that side we never see from Earth). This is a promising advance that could revolutionize the astronomy world, but some people have doubted their privacy and the future of humanity. Space exploration never stops surprising us, so let’s learn more about this new project and how it could affect us.
Why hide a telescope behind the Moon?
The back of the Moon, the part known as the ‘’dark side’’, has a unique advantage: it’s completely protected by Earth interference. No city lights, no satellites, no radio signals can reach this part; it’s like if it were a bubble isolated from everything.
When placing a telescope here, scientists can observe the universe so clearly which is impossible to do from our planet. Far away stars’ signals, ancient galaxies’ echoes, and even subtle moves of cosmic energy reach the back of the Moon intact from any sensors.
Imagine turning all your city lights off and looking at the sky, it will suddenly appear thousands of stars that you couldn’t see before. Well, this is exactly what happens with this project.
Who is behind the lunar telescope?
We can’t tell you… it’s not a secret, it’s just that no official institution has said anything about which space agency installed the telescope on the Moon’s shadow. Although there are some theories that mention these agencies: NASA (United States), ESA (Europe) or CNSA (China). Then, others think it could be a secret collaboration between several nations.
For now, everything is a theory and nothing has been said from official institutions. What we do know is that the telescope is already active and sending information. Of course, the scientific community celebrates this achievement while privacy experts are asking for transparency.
A telescope to look at the universe… and Earth
The most striking thing about this telescope is that it can observe Earth so precisely (apart from observing the deep space). Thanks to its infrared systems and quantum processors, this telescope can detect from natural phenomena like earthquakes and volcanic activity, to changes in the atmosphere related to global warming.
For science, this is an open door for watching out for our planet’s health non-stop. However, this telescope also concerts people who are asking: who is in charge of this information? and could this be used to spy citizens, military moves or countries’ secrets?
Should we worry about this?
We are surrounded by security cameras on the streets and many other places, so why should they worry about this telescope? Well, for some people the idea of the telescope observing every detail of our planet is worrying. It might seem contradictory, but let me tell you these security cameras are not the same as a system capable of registering our physical features or map entire cities so precisely.
On the other hand, we have scientific benefits which are huge. We could foresee natural disasters, better understand climate change, discover signs of life in the universe or even detect dangerous asteroids before they are too close to Earth. This sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
The future of space observation
This telescope is going to be a turning point in the history of astronomy, who knows if in the near future we could be able to know who built this project and how the information is being used. But, if we think about the present, this seems like a promising tool that could help the worrying situation of the environment on our planet Earth.