Unraveling the Secrets of the Universe the Secrets Unraveling No
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Clefs 58GB_couv.qxd:Mise en page 1 13/10/10 10:54 Page 1 No. 58 Autumn 2009 clefsISSN 0298-6248 Unraveling the secrets of the Universe the secrets Unraveling No. 58 - Autumn 2009 clefs www.cea.fr N° 58 Automne 2009 Autumn 2009 clefsISSN 1625-970X Unraveling Dans les secrets de l’Univers Unraveling the secrets of the Universe the secrets of Clefs CEA No. 58 – AUTUMN 2009 Main cover picture Reflection nebula NGC 1999, lying in the Orion Constellation. This image was the Universe taken by the MEGACAM camera, developed at CEA, which is positioned at the focus of 253 Foreword the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), set up on top of the Mauna Kea by Catherine Cesarsky volcano, at an altitude of 4,200 m, on the 453 Seeing the invisible: a short account of main island of Hawaii. a grand conquest MEGACAM (CEA) image by CFHT by Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud & Coelum Inset top: Functional inspection, and control of I. ASTROPHYSICS AND THE EXPLORATION the imager for the MIRI infrared camera, one of the instruments due to be fitted OF THE UNIVERSE to the James Webb Space Telescope. CEA has scientific, and technical oversight for this imager. 103 Stars seed the Universe L. Godart/CEA 103 What does the Sun tell us?, bottom: Alignment tests for the MIRI by Sylvaine Turck-Chièze 39 imager, carried out at CEA. F. Rhodes/CEA 143 Probing stellar interiors, by Rafael A. García Pictogram on inside pages Our Galaxy, the Milky Way. 163 From the Sun to the stars, NASA/JPL-CalTech/R. Hurt (SSC) by Allan Sacha Brun Review published by CEA 173 A tour of stellar nurseries, Communication Division by Vincent Minier, Philippe André Bâtiment Siège and Frédérique Motte 440 Galaxies: a richly paradoxical 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex - (France) 223 How heavy elements arise, evolution Phone: + 33 (0)1 64 50 10 00 by Stéphane Mathis 443 The active life of galaxies, Executive publisher 263 How supernovae explode, by Marc Sauvage and Frédéric Galliano Xavier Clément by Thierry Foglizzo 483 A mysterious black hole, Editor in chief 273 Supernova remnants, by Andrea Goldwurm Marie-José Loverini by Anne Decourchelle and Jean Ballet [email protected] 503 Elucidating the cosmic ray acceleration 283 High-energy objects – mechanism, by Jean Ballet, Deputy editor sources for astonishment, Martine Trocellier Anne Decourchelle and Isabelle Grenier by Sylvain Chaty, Stéphane Corbel [email protected] and Jérôme Rodriguez 523 Seeking out the great ancestors, Scientific committee by Emanuele Daddi 313 Focus A Probing the Universe across Bernard Bonin, Gilles Damamme, the entire light spectrum 563 The formation of galaxies: a story of Céline Gaiffier, Étienne Klein, paradoxes, by David Elbaz François Pupat, Gérard Sanchez, Gérard Santarini 603 The morphogenesis of galaxies, by Frédéric Bournaud Iconography Florence Klotz 18 Production follow-up 620 The Universe, a homogeneous “soup” Lucia Le Clech that has turned into a hierarchical Subscription structure Subscription (printed French version) to 623 The grand thermal history of Clefs CEA is free. the Universe, by Dominique Yvon Requests for subscriptions should be addressed, preferably via Internet, by 653 The cosmic web, by Monique Arnaud using the form available at the site 683 The formation of the structures of the http://www.cea.fr Universe: the interplay of models, or by fax to: + 33 (0)1 64 50 20 01 by Romain Teyssier Translated into English by 703 Does the Universe have a shape? Jean-François Roberts Is it finite, or infinite?, Design of electronic media by Roland Lehoucq Calathea – Paris Phone:+33(0)143381616 343 Planets: a dance of small bodies, ISSN 1625-970X swirling around up to the finale 720 Odyssey across the dark side of the Clefs CEA (CD–Rom) of their birth Universe With the exception of illustrations, 343 How our world was born, 723 1. The puzzle of dark matter all information in this issue of Clefs CEA by André Brahic 723 Astrophysics and the observation may be freely reproduced, in whole 403 The rings of Saturn: a magnificent of dark matter, or in part, subject to agreement research laboratory, by Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille by the editors and mention of the source. by Sébastien Charnoz and Roland Lehoucq © 2010 CEA and Cécile Ferrari 773 The theory of dark matter, RCS Paris B 775 685 019 413 Planetary cocoons, by Marco Cirelli and Camille Bonvin Head office: Bâtiment Le Ponant D, by Pierre-Olivier Lagage, 803 Could dark matter be generated some 25 rue Leblanc, 75015 Paris (France) Frédéric Masset and Éric Pantin day at LHC?, by Bruno Mansoulié CLEFS CEA - No. 58 - AUTUMN 2009 813 2. A Universe dominated by 913 2. Submillimeter and infrared 983 HESS, by Jean-François Glicenstein dark energy 913 ArTéMis, by Michel Talvard 993 EDELWEISS, by Gilles Gerbier 813 Astrophysics and the observation 923 Herschel Space Observatory, of dark energy, by Marc Sauvage by Vanina Ruhlmann-Kleider and Christophe Cara and Alexandre Refregier 923 VLT-VISIR, by Pierre-Olivier Lagage 852 Theories of dark energy, 85 933 Cassini-CIRS, by Cécile Ferrari by Philippe Brax and Louis Rodriguez 883 The matter–antimatter asymmetry of 943 3. Visible the Universe, by Stéphane Lavignac 943 SoHo-GOLF, by Rafael-A. García 953 4. X-ray 900 Journey into the lights of 953 XMM-Newton, by Jean-Luc Sauvageot the Universe 963 5. Gamma ray 903 1. Microwave 963 INTEGRAL, by François Lebrun 903 ESA Planck Surveyor, 973 Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, by Jean-Luc Starck by Isabelle Grenier II. TOOLS TO PROBE THE UNIVERSE 114 4. ANTARES: the neutrino, 102 Telescopes of the future another cosmic messenger, 140 Numerical simulation 102 1. Seeing further out by Thierry Stolarczyk in astrophysics 102 JWST: looking back on a past 140 Information technology and theoretical 13 billion years old, predictions in astrophysics, by Pierre-Olivier Lagage 116 The new generation of imaging by Frédéric Bournaud, and Jean-Louis Auguères spectrometers Romain Teyssier, Édouard Audit 105 Space specifics: 117 Observing the Universe and Allan-Sacha Brun the learning curve to know-how, in the submillimeter spectral region, 151 Supercomputers for a better by Jérôme Amiaux, Christophe Cara, by Patrick Agnese and Louis Rodriguez understanding of the Universe, Jean Fontignie and Yvon Rio 121 The X-ray Universe, by Pierre Leca, Christine Menaché 106 Fabricating a coronagraph mask, by Patrick Agnese and Claude Pigot and Édouard Audit by Claude Fermon, 124 Space cryocoolers, 153 The visualization of astrophysical Myriam Pannetier-Lecœur by Lionel Duband simulations, and Anne de Vismes 127 Out in the extreme, by Daniel Pomarède and Bruno Thooris 107 SVOM, a satellite to detect tumultuous Universe, 154 Godunov, a numerical platform the explosions of the first stars by Olivier Limousin and Éric Delagnes for education and research, to be formed in the Universe, 130 Probing the Sun with GOLF–NG, by Édouard Audit and Constantin Meis by Bertrand Cordier and Michel Fesquet by Sylvaine Turck-Chièze 108 2. Seeing more precisely and Pierre-Henri Carton 155 Institutions and organizations: 108 SIMBOL–X, pioneering 134 Focus B From light to imagery Who does what? formation flying, by Philippe Ferrando and Martial Authier 136 Data analysis in astrophysics, by Jean-Luc Starck 157 Glossary 110 ELT/METIS, a 42-meter giant, by Pierre-Olivier Lagage and Éric Pantin 111 One hundred telescopes for the CTA arrays, A spectacular document from the history of by Jean-François Glicenstein astronomy has just been brought back to light, 111 3. Seeing wider through the study conducted by a group of 111 Euclid, mapping the extragalactic sky, researchers led by Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud (CEA/SAp). This document, known as the by Olivier Boulade Dunhuang Map, kept at the British Library, and Alexandre Refregier in London, is a comprehensive sky chart, discovered in 1900 as one of 40,000 invaluable manuscripts held in the Mogao Caves, a Buddhist monastery complex along China’s Silk Road. Hidden in a cave around the 11th century CE, these manuscripts – chiefly 110 Buddhist religious treaties – were miraculously preserved, owing to the very dry climate. The detailed scientific study of this chart, carried out by these researchers, allowed the conclusion to be drawn that the atlas, containing as it does more than 1,300 stars, was composed in the years 649–84. Making use of accurate mathematical projection methods, it retains a precision of 1.5–4° for the brighter stars. This is the oldest known star chart, from any civilization, and it sets out the first pictorial representation to have reached us of all Chinese constellations. The atlas was the subject of a presentation in the journal Nature, > FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... in its issue dated 11 June 2009, and You can look up CEA’s astrophysics programs on the Internet: of a publication in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. http://irfu.cea.fr/Sap/ CLEFS CEA - No. 58 - AUTUMN 2009 1 Unraveling the secrets of the Universe Foreword Throughout 2009, we will have been com- have already been awarded European Research memorating the four hundredth anniversary of the Council (ERC) grants. Initially, CEA elected to first observations made by Galileo, this being embark on a space science, and technology effort as marked by international celebrations, as part of the France, and Europe made the decision to go in for International Year of Astronomy, organized at the space science. Consideration was immediately given initiative of the United Nations, and steered, world- to the detection of high-energy cosmic radiation (X- wide, by the International Astronomical Union ray and gamma photons, particles), which are (IAU) and UNESCO. As the outgoing President of unable to penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere – and IAU, I am wont to say that this year 2009 is also a thus to CEA, which, owing to its chief remit, was celebration of the golden age of astrophysics.