Scientists know that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, sending distant galaxies further away at a pace we can’t yet explain. To better study this phenomenon, astronomers are looking for new technologies that can take detailed measurements of galaxy movements on a larger scale.
Open Source Instruments Inc. has received a National Science Foundation SBIR grant to develop a new fiber-positioning system for telescopes to improve astronomical imaging. The Waltham company will receive $240,200 of non-dilutive funding to develop a prototype this year.
Kevan Hashemi co-founded Open Source Instruments in 2005 as an electrical engineering company. Since then, Hashemi said the company has focused on projects in telemetry for neuroscience tests in animals and creating cameras for high-energy physics experiments. In this foray into astronomy, the company is bringing its electrical engineering expertise to a new technology.
“I like to design circuits and solve problems,” Hashemi said. “It’s like a puzzle. You might solve a Sudoku … I’m all for Sudoku, but solving these kind of engineering problems, every one is new.”
The basic process by which scientists measure the distance between Earth and other galaxies has been around for decades. Galaxies give off a spectrum of light, and by analyzing the length of the red wavelengths, scientists can determine how far away the galaxy is and at what pace it’s moving. This measurement is known as a redshift.
Optical fibers on telescopes capture this light and make these measurements possible.
“You have to put an optical fiber right where the light of the galaxy is (in the telescope),” Hashemi said. “The light of the galaxy goes into this glass thread, this thin glass tube, this optical fiber, and travels out of the telescope…down into this basement where you have a huge pile of equipment. And there you take the spectrum.”
With so many unanswered questions about the universe’s expansion, Hashemi said astronomers have set the goal of measuring the redshift of a billion galaxies in 10 years. To do that, they’ll need a telescope with thousands of fibers that can easily move to line up with each galaxy.
Hashemi and his team are designing a fiber positioner with 50,000 fibers that move around on the focal plane of a telescope.
“We measure 50,000 spectra at a time. Do that several times a night and after 10 years, you’ve measured one billion redshifts,” Hashemi said.
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There are other companies working on fiber positioners, Hashemi said, but Open Source Instruments’ differentiator is how it moves the fibers. The other methods used by academic institutions and companies involve motors and vibrations. Hashemi and his team have a mechanically simpler approach.
“We’re able to get the same mechanical movement by applying a high voltage to [fibers] that just bend,” Hashemi said. “Once you solve some electrical problem and remove moving parts, it becomes more reliable and cheaper to make.”
Astronomers hope that these measurements can explain why the universe is expanding at an accelerating clip. Hashemi said the common theory right now involves a mysterious force called dark energy. It’s a buzzword we still know little about, Hashemi added, and he’s not convinced it’s the answer.
“The device we’re making is supposed to ultimately answer questions in the search for dark energy, even though most likely there is no such thing as dark energy because the real answers to scientific questions are always more surprising than we expect,” Hashemi said.
The eventual product will be a $20 million, 50,000-fiber instrument, Hashemi said. But with this government funding, the company will build two 16-fiber prototypes to test the electrical system and measurement precision. If it’s successful, the company will apply for a second round of funding.
If the company does not receive more funding for this project, Hashemi said Open Source will live up to its name. The company publicly shares all its work and does not patent its designs.
“There’s no secrets. Our software is all free,” Hashemi said. “It turns out that if you’re developing new things and you’re open source, you just keep developing things and people still work with you and hire you because you’re moving forward.”
