Chapter 26: 26

Chapter 26 - Changes of 0.0001%

 

 

Five hours have passed. It is nearly six o'clock in the afternoon, but the sun is still quiet. Neither satellites, observatories, nor radio telescopes have received any logical signals from the direction of the sun. 

Perhaps it is true that, as the head of the observatory said, "Either the K2 civilization does not exist, or they have ignored us." After five hours, due to the angular difference caused by the rotation of the Earth, even if the signal from the direction of the sun really came, the Milky Way Radio Telescope could not receive it.

Obviously, due to being built in a valley, the Star River Radio Telescope cannot freely rotate to point in different directions. It can only follow the Earth, scanning a certain range of the sky along a fixed orbit.

Nevertheless, even if the Star River Radio Telescope cannot monitor the sun, it is no problem. At this moment, other radio telescopes that can freely rotate in other regions of the Earth are still chasing the figure of the sun until it sets.

The highest intensity of monitoring will last for three days. If no information is returned after three days, the monitoring of the Sun's direction will not stop. At least two large radio telescopes will still be responsible for this task.

Zhao Huasheng said, "Let’s wait for three days then. Some people may think that exchanging with extraterrestrial civilizations to change our current predicament is easier than relying on our own strength to change the sun, but I don't think so. I think if the sun has changed due to its own physical mechanisms, then we still have some chances. If there really is a K2 level civilization out there, then we have no chance at all. So…I hope no reply will ever come back from the sun."

The head of the Observatory said, "In any case, let’s just wait for these three days." 

Zhao Huasheng, Li Wei, and Meng Zhuo stayed at the Star River Observatory. After the Star River Telescope was no longer able to observe the sun due to the earth's rotation, the Star River Observatory returned to its daily routine.

This is the most sensitive ear built by human civilization. It can even listen to the radiation emitted from galaxies seventy billion lightyears away. Since the completion of this radio telescope, it has discovered more than five hundred neutron stars and white dwarfs, and through gamma ray monitoring, it has determined at least three hundred new suspected black hole stellar bodies. It has made many extremely important discoveries in close binary stars, progenitor variable stars, supernova explosions, double neutron stars or white dwarf systems, and dense main sequence star models.

There is always massive radiation and signals in the universe.The role of the Milky Way Radio Telescope is to listen to these signals, filter out useless interference, and screen out signals of value to astronomy research.

Zhao Huasheng is also an astronomer. Although his research direction is different from those of the Astronomical Observatory, this does not prevent Zhao Huasheng from participating. Zhao Huasheng stayed at the Milky Way Astronomical Observatory for three days, until noon on the third day.

After 72 hours, the sun remained silent and still. None of the global receiving devices had detected even a hint of a signal. 

At this moment, Zhao Huasheng received the notice from Wang Tang: "The Prime Minister has approved, and we have decided to relaunch the Solar Exploration Plan. There will be at least thirty probes and one manned spacecraft leaving Earth for the Sun."

"Good," said Zhao Huasheng, "When will the launch be?"

"The astronauts will depart from Earth tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll go see them off too," said Zhao Huasheng.

"Welcome," said Wang Tang.

The communication was cut off, Zhao Huasheng said to Meng Zhuo, "There is still some time before the rocket launches. Let's go to the Fire God Telescope to take a look. Maybe we can find some clues left by Li Qi."

"Alright," Meng Zhuo agreed. After an hour of preparation, five helicopters carrying Zhao Huasheng and his group left the Star River Observatory and set off towards the Fire God Telescope.

The Fire God Telescope is an optical telescope, so it must be constructed in a place with clean air to reduce the impact of the atmosphere on the light so as to improve the observation accuracy. In fact, the construction site of the Fire God Telescope is on mountain, with an altitude of more than five thousand meters, and it is dry and rarely rains all year round.

Located at low latitude, although solar radiation has been reduced a lot, the plain temperature here still remains above zero. But it is different on the mountain. At an altitude of more than five thousand meters, the temperature has dropped to about minus thirty degrees. In such extreme cold, Zhao Huasheng's helicopter came to the open space in front of the Fire God Telescope.

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The head of the Fire God Telescope base received Zhao Huasheng and his group. After bringing Zhao Huasheng and other people from the cold outside to the base, he left alone and replaced another person to accompany Zhao Huasheng and others. This was a somewhat thin, wooden and awkward middle-aged man wearing glasses, with a pen in his pocket, looking very much like a scholar of the last century.

The middle-aged man said, "That's right, this telescope was indeed built under the supervision of Director Li Qi. After Director Li Qi unfortunately passed away, the research department has sent at least seven batches of people to come here to inspect, but they didn't find anything valuable. What, you guys are from the research department too? Coming here to investigate Director Li Qi's things?" 

"Yes, we hope to find some clues left by Director Li Qi here," Zhao Huasheng said, nodding.

"No, there's nothing here," the middle-aged man shook his head regretfully, "Director Li Qi had permission for this telescope, but after it was built and put into use, he never paid attention to this place again. How could there be anything left by Director Li Qi here?"

Zhao Huasheng asked: "Does Li Qi have the operating authority over this telescope? Is it possible that Li Qi could operate this telescope for some observations without going through you guys directly with his own authority?"

"In theory, this is possible," said the thin, middle-aged man. "However, the investigators from the Seventh Division of the Research Department have already investigated this matter, and they seem to have found nothing."

"Yes, the research department personnel have investigated this matter," said Meng Zhuo. "The investigators did not find any trace of Li Qi's activities. There are two possibilities: one, Li Qi really did not do anything; two, Li Qi did something, but he left no trace. We don't know which one is true. Since this information has no value, I did not report it to you."

"Hmm." Zhao Huasheng nodded, thinking for a moment, then he turned to Li Wei and asked: "Since it's an optical telescope, did the people from your Optical Research Institute participate in the construction process of this telescope?"

Li Wei said that she had participated in the investigation, and the investigators had also examined the construction drawings and technical parameters of the telescope, but they hadn't found anything strange.

Zhao Huasheng pondered for a while, then said to the thin, middle-aged man, "Can we go and have a look at the telescope?"

"Of course," the middle-aged man replied. "We can take the car there."

The group then drove to the large factory where the telescope was located.

Optical telescopes are different from radio telescopes—they don't have the shape of a pot lid but rather the traditional cylindrical structure, just much larger. When it is used, the baffle above the factory is removed, and light from afar enters its mirror.

Although the structure is the same as a mirror, it is different from other telescopes. Other telescopes are mainly used for observing extremely distant celestial bodies, while this one is used for observing the sun. The sun is too large and too close, and if it is not treated, the solar light collected by the lens is enough to melt steel plates. Therefore, there are many filter plates on the outside of this telescope, and the staff at the base can conveniently adjust the intensity of the light entering the telescope according to the observation needs.

Many staff are busy here. On the huge screen in the factory, Zhao Huasheng also saw the real-time image of the sun. It was a hot fireball with a dark red color, and even after a great amount of attenuation, it still looked full of awe-inspiring power.

Due to the outbreak of the solar crisis, the observation tasks of this telescope have suddenly increased many times, even the staff here have increased three or four times more than before.

Zhao Huasheng did not say anything, only walking leisurely around the busy researchers, looking around the arrangement here and at the data sent back, and occasionally casting his gaze on the huge telescope.

After a while, Zhao Huasheng asked thoughtfully, "What is the resolution of this telescope in terms of solar light?"

"Resolution? What do you mean?" The middle-aged man with a slim figure asked with some confusion.

"Light intensity. For example," Zhao Huasheng said, "If its accuracy is adjusted to the highest, is it possible for it to detect the light intensity changes in a specific area of the Sun - this area may be very small, let's say 10 square kilometers, can it detect it?"

"Of course it can be detected," the thin middle-aged man said. "This telescope has a very powerful function. It is one of the most advanced ground telescopes built by humanity."

"What kind of accuracy can it achieve? Can a change of one millionth of a magnitude be detected?" Zhao Huasheng asked immediately.

 

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