About the mission

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded €3 million to the HYADES project, which will develop a dedicated space telescope to observe hydrogen and deuterium around small bodies in the Solar System. The goal of the project is to determine the origin of water on our planet and to search for new, previously unknown water reservoirs in the Solar System and other planetary systems. The five-year project will be carried out at the Jagiellonian University.

Water is one of the most important chemical compounds needed for the development of life. Water molecules are also widely present in the universe, being the main component of comets. However, direct observation of cometary water is very difficult.

“It is much easier to observe hydrogen atoms released in the gaseous envelopes of comets due to the decay of water molecules”, said Michal Drahus, HYADES project manager.

Goals

Future studies will appear here.