The DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (or DECIGO) is a proposed

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese, space-based, gravitational wave observatory. The laser interferometric

gravitational wave detector A gravitational-wave detector (used in a gravitational-wave observatory) is any device designed to measure tiny distortions of spacetime called gravitational waves. Since the 1960s, various kinds of gravitational-wave detectors have been built ...

is so named because it is designed to be most sensitive in the frequency band between 0.1 and 10 Hz, filling in the gap between the sensitive bands of

LIGO The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Prior to LIG ...

and

LISA Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...

. Its precursor mission, B-DECIGO, is currently planned for launch in the 2030s, with DECIGO launching at some time afterward. The design is similar to LISA, with four zero-drag satellite clusters (two colocated) in a triangular arrangement, but using a smaller separation of only 1000 km whose relative displacements are measured by a Fabry–Pérot Michelson interferometer.

Description

The DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (DECIGO) is a proposed

ese, space-based, gravitational wave observatory. It was first described as a in a presentation given by Seiji Kawamura in an October 2000 presentation given at the ICRR Satellite Symposium held by the

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan The (NAOJ) is an astronomy, astronomical research organisation comprising several facilities in Japan, as well as an observatory in Hawaii and Chile. It was established in 1988 as an amalgamation of three existing research organizations - the To ...

. The first mention of the observatory as "DECIGO" was in a presentation given by Naoki Seto, Kawamura, and Takashi Nakamura at a September 2001 meeting of the

Physical Society of Japan The Physical Society of Japan (JPS; 日本物理学会 in Japanese) is the organisation of physicists in Japan. There are about 16,000 members, including university professors, researchers as well as educators, and engineers. The origins of the JPS ...

Okinawa International University , is a private university in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1959, and it was chartered as a university in 1972. The current President is Eiken Maetsu. Alumni * Ryo Kiyuna (born 1990), Japanese karateka * ...

. It was designed as a follow-up project to

KAGRA The Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA) is a large interferometer designed to detect gravitational waves predicted by the general theory of relativity. KAGRA is a Michelson interferometer that is isolated from external disturbances: its mi ...

by the Japanese Gravitational Wave Community (JGWC), and it was originally planned to be launched in 2027. A 2008 paper in the '' Journal of Physics: Conference Series'' in 2008, authored by 135 scientists headed by Kawamura, went into significantly more detail, describing the basic initial design ideas. It is designed to be most sensitive in the frequency band between 0.1 and 10 Hz, which better detects gravity waves in the gap between the sensitivity bands of

and

. In a 2021 update, it was described as "four clusters of observatories" placed in heliocentric orbits, with each cluster consisting of an equilateral triangle with legs (or sides) of and a zero-drag satellite at each point. Three of the clusters will be spaced equally around the

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, and the other will be placed in the same location as one of the others. The placement is designed to facilitate "correlation signals for the detection of primordial gravitational waves". It is planned to launch an unspecified time following B-DECIGO, which has a projected launch sometime in the 2030s.

B-DECIGO

B-DECIGO is a preliminary test of various technologies to be used in DECIGO. It will consist of a single cluster of observatories, each having arm lengths of , a laser wattage of 1 (rather than the 10 watts used for DECIGO), and a mirror mass of . The target is an Earth orbit with an average altitude of . , it is planned for launch in the 2030s.

References

External links

DECIGO home page
(English) {{Gravitational wave observatories Space telescopes Interferometric gravitational-wave instruments Astronomy in Japan Proposed spacecraft Satellites of Japan 2027 in science

Description

B-DECIGO

See also

References

External links