Jonathan Gagné, scientific advisor at the Planétarium | Espace pour la vie, adjunct professor at Université de Montréal and member of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx), is part of the scientific team made up of experts from 12 institutions, mostly in the United States. 

“Being a part of this space mission along with brilliant experts by contributing to target selection and data analysis is an exciting prospect! The impact that the Landolt Mission will have in different areas of astrophysics, notably in exoplanet characterization and in measuring the accelerating expansion of the Universe, will be particularly important,” explained Jonathan Gagné. 

The Landolt Mission, named in honor of astronomer Arlo Landolt, who created widely used catalogues of stellar luminosity, is based on the deployment of lasers calibrated on board a “CubeSat”-type satellite. Those lasers will be directed towards the Earth and will produce an “artificial star” whose luminous flux is known with precision, thus allowing telescopes on the ground to recalibrate the observed luminous flux from about 60 stars, which will then serve as standards. The initiative will enable the astronomical community to review the absolute calibrations of luminous flux for most of the stars present in several major catalogs. 

With technological progress, the old calibrations have become the principal source of error in measuring luminosity for the majority of stars. Those calibrations were made in 1995 by scientists at the Space Telescope Science Institute and were based on a comparison of observations of three white dwarfs using theoretical models. 

The Landolt Mission comprises a crucial step in the quest for precision in astronomy. In solving the problems caused by the older calibrations, it opens the way to new discoveries and a better understanding of the Universe that surrounds us. 

More about the Landolt Space Mission 
 

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Espace pour la vie 

Protecting biodiversity and the environment is at the heart of the mission of Espace pour la vie, which is made up of the Biodôme, Biosphère, Insectarium, Jardin botanique and Planétarium. Together, these museums located in Montréal form Canada’s largest natural science museum complex, welcoming over 2.4 million visitors each year. In view of the challenges our planet is facing, Espace pour la vie is working to increase its impact by fostering dialogue with communities and taking actions aimed at mobilizing the public behind the socio-ecological transition.