Exploring the Universe: From Antarctica to the Stars

Have you ever wondered how our Solar System was formed? What about the stars and planets in other solar systems? Galaxies are, in fact, living entities. Stars form as a result of the gravitational collapse of gas and dust in the interstellar medium, and then planets form around those stars. If any of those planets are the right size, at the right distance, and have the right composition, life could arise. Eventually, after several million years, the star will die, for example, in a massive explosion called a supernova, returning all the material back to the interstellar medium. Therefore, the cycle of star formation begins again. These mechanisms are called stellar feedback. Understanding how galaxies evolve remains one of the mysteries of modern astrophysics.

Half of the brightness of the Universe and 98% of all photons emitted since the Big Bang is far-infrared radiation. It is not surprising, then, that most of the key markers of star formation, as well as many of the molecules that enable life as we know it, are found in the far infrared. By studying star formation, we are helping to answer questions that are only simple in appearance, such as “Where do we come from?” and “Is there life elsewhere in the Universe?” These kinds of questions enable the formation of ideas or technological concepts that give meaning to the creation of scientific instruments necessary for the study of new aspects of the Universe, the understanding of which may be key to answering them.

One of the challenges we face in studying the far infrared is that these stellar emissions are blocked from us by water vapor in our atmosphere and are therefore very difficult to detect from the Earth's surface. As a low-cost alternative to studying them from space, and although it may seem incredible, Antarctica is one of the best places to look at the sky... but not from the surface. At NASA, “we are the explorers.” The talk will attempt to justify this statement not only with words, but also with some amazing photos and videos from a real exploration trip to Antarctica. The goal: to build and launch, from the bottom of the world, surrounded by ice and extreme cold, large far-infrared telescopes to study our galaxy and other galaxies from the stratosphere.

Lecture by engineer Dr. José V. Siles, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, aimed at younger audiences.