Canada's first microsatellite and space telescope was unveiled Thursday.

The Canadian Space Agency's $10 million MOST (Microvariability and Oscillation of STars) telescope is the size of a suitcase. It is designed to measure the age of stars in our galaxy and help unlock the mysteries of the universe.

The 60-kilogram telescope can measure the intensity of faint stars to determine their composition and age.

MOST telescope mirror has a diameter the size of a pie-plate
MOST telescope mirror has a diameter the size of a pie-plate

Traditionally, astronomers have measured stars from telescopes on Earth, not in space. By taking measurements in space, researchers will gain better measurements that aren't hampered by distortions from the Earth's atmosphere and rotation.

Robert Zee, manager of the space flight laboratory at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, said MOST will complement the giant Hubble Space Telescope.

X-rays from a distant quasar dim as they pass through intergalactic gas
X-rays from a distant quasar dim as they pass through intergalactic gas

"We'll be doing astronomy that the Hubble Space Telescope can't do because we're in a different orbit," said Zee.

Scientists at the Canadian Space Agency, Dynacon Enterprises and the Universities of Toronto and British Columbia designed the MOST telescope. It is scheduled to be launched next April on board a Russian rocket.

In other space news Thursday, NASA announced the Chandra X-ray observatory has discovered part of an intergalactic web of hot gas and dark matter in the cosmic landscape.

The U.S. space agency said the hot gas appears to lie like a fog in channels carved by rivers of gravity that have been hidden until now.

The gaseous component alone contains more material than all the stars in the universe, the four groups of American researchers say. The extremely sensitive X-ray telescope was able to detect the hot gases.

Astronomers say the discovery could help in their hunt for dark matter – the 90 per cent of stuff that is invisible in the Universe.

Their findings appear in the August 1 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.