A Remarkable Panoramic Space Telescope for the 2020s
Dr. Marc Postman (SB ’81, MIT) Space Telescope Science Institute How are stars and galaxies formed?
How does the universe work? Astronomers ask big questions.
Are we alone? WFIRST: Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope
Dark Energy, Dark Wide-Field Surveys of the Matter, and the Fate of the Universe Universe ? ?
Technology Development for The full distribution of planets around stars Exploration of New Worlds National Academy of Sciences Astronomy & Astrophysics Decadal Survey (2010) DARK MATTER DARK ENERGY 26% 69%
STARS, GAS, DUST, ALL WE CAN SEE 5% How do we know there is so much dark matter? And what could dark matter be? How do we know there is so much dark energy? And what is it? Do we need new physics? What new experiments do we need to run? What new observations do we need to make? Basic properties of dark matter… • Dark matter is likely a particle, the way protons and neutrons are particles. • These particles must be abundant. • Dark matter barely interacts, if at all, with other matter (except by gravity). • Dark matter does not emit light. • Dark matter is passing through each of us right now (about 3 x 10-7 micrograms every second)*.
*Based on E. Siegel, Forbes We already know dark matter cannot be:
• Black holes • Neutrinos • Dwarf planets • Cosmic dust • Squirrels
https://xkcd.com/2186/ Cluster of galaxies We can measure the mass in a system by measuring orbital speeds and distances
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50 Mercury 40 Venus 30 Earth Mars 20 Jupiter
Orbital Velocity (km/s) Velocity Orbital 10 Saturn Uranus Neptune 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Solar system – not drawn to scale Distance from the Sun (A.U.)
Mass of Sun = 1.989 × 1030 kg We can measure the mass in a system by measuring orbital speeds and distances
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What we measure 150
100
50 Stellar Orbital Velocity (km/s) Velocity Orbital Stellar 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 Distance from center (kiloparsecs) 10 kpc = 32,616 light years We can also infer a lot about the nature of dark matter by studying the way galaxies are distributed in space 180o Real Data: 3D Map of Galaxies in the “Nearby” Universe 240o
120o
0.28 0.55 0.83 1.10 1.36 1.63 1.89 Billions of Light Years
300o
60o Map of dark matter distribution in large simulation Sloan Digital Sky Survey of the nearby universe. 0o Galaxies form on a cosmic web built of “cold” dark matter Einstein invented a way to measure mass without measuring the speed of objects.
• He called this technique gravitational lensing. • It is a direct prediction of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. And it works especially well for studying dark matter on very large scales. • But don’t worry! NO EQUATIONS needed to understand this idea. You just need to know one thing … Einstein (1915): Matter can bend light! WFIRST will map the distribution and growth of structures in the universe by measuring such gravitational lensing distortions over wide area of sky.
What we observe their shapes and positions to be in Distant the actual Galaxies universe.
What we would observe their shapes and positions to be in an empty universe.
How does cosmic gravitational lensing reveal the distribution of dark matter? An Earthly Analog of Gravitational Lens Distortion
Mirage: air density variations due to thermal gradients Common features with gravitational lensing: variable magnification/de-magnification results in distortions If we map the distortions, we can infer properties of the foreground material. Gravitationally lensed objects tend to be tangential to the mass doing the lensing. Galaxy Cluster Abell S1063 Galaxy Cluster Abell 370 3D Dark Matter Distribution based on observations from Hubble Space Telescope and Newton X-ray Observatory
Image credit: NASA, ESA, and Richard Massey (Caltech) And what about my “greatest blunder”? I think they call this “dark energy” today. Stuff in space: Gravity Cosmological constant: matter + energy opposes gravity – keeps (how space-time curves (source of the curvature) from place to place) universe from collapsing 푮흁흊 = ퟖ흅 푻흁흊 − 휦품흁흊 Expansion of universe discovered by Hubble (1929)
Farther Earth from Farther Distance Moving Away Faster
Farther Back in Time
Redshift 4
3
2
1
Distance between Galaxies between Distance Relative Size of the the of Universe Size Relative A lot of dark matter, no dark energy A “closed” universe - ”Big Crunch” 0 -10 Now +10 +20 +30 Time (Billions of Years) How do we measure the distances to astronomical objects that are billions of lightyears away? • Need a calibrated source of light with a narrow range in luminosity. • Needs to be a very bright source, so we can see it at great distances. • This is what astronomers call a “standard candle.” Type Ia Supernova: currently our best standard candle
SN 1994D in NGC 4526
Energy released = 1044 joules = energy output of the Sun over its entire lifetime in a matter of minutes!
Luminosity of explosion ≥ entire galaxy!
Two white dwarf (dying) stars in orbit around each other. They merge, compressing their cores together, triggering runaway nuclear fusion, and causing the merged star to explode as a supernova. Relative Distance to Supernovae Closer Farther away +0.5 - 0.5 0 Data onobservationsbased supernovae of>1000 ( 0.5 All Redshift - matter Universe:Matter: Energy:Dark 0% 100%, Empty Universe:Matter: 0%,DarkEnergy: 0% 1.0 Best Matter:fit: Energy:Dark 31%, 69% Recedingfaster Farthertimein back 1.5 Scolnic 2.0 etal. 2018) 2.5 Vacuum Energy Virtual Particles
W
Unknown Energy Field
What are some possible explanations for dark energy? Push-Pull: Dark Energy vs Dark Matter
Dark Energy Dark Matter Is a repulsive force Affected by the attractive force of gravity Affects the speed at which the Universe expands Affects how “clustered” objects are Causes everything to move away from everything else Causes objects to want to move towards one another One Possible Future Dark Energy will eventually rip the Universe apart! …sorry. To be sure, lets go and measure both dark matter and dark energy! WFIRST’s Dark Universe Roadmap
Galaxy Shapes Galaxy Positions Standard Candle
Growth of Structure Expansion History Expansion History (also Expansion History) (also Growth of Structure)
Determine the Universe’s End Fate! WFIRST’s Dark Universe Roadmap
Galaxy Shapes Galaxy Positions Standard Candle
WFIRST will measure • The shapes of 360 million gravitationally lensed galaxies • 14 million galaxy 3D positions (redshifts) • 3,400 Type Ia supernovae distances • More than 10,000 galaxy cluster masses WFIRST will allow cosmologists to achieve • Sub-percent accuracy on key cosmological parameters (up to 10x better than current limits) • Rigorous control of systematic errors from multiple independent measurement techniques • The potential to rule out key models for dark matter • Robust constraints on how dark energy levels have evolved with time • Cross-checks on other DM and DE surveys WFIRST’s Capabilities • Orbit located 1 million miles from Earth (no day-night cycle) • High performance coronagraph prototype to test direct exoplanet detection technology
• 2.4 meter primary mirror • Wide-field camera (100x larger field of view than HST’s main camera) WFIRST: a Hubble Sized Mirror with a Survey Sized Camera
Hubble Space Telescope The Sloan Digital Sky Survey • 2.5 new published papers per day • 1000+ astronomer user community • 1000+ scientific proposals per year • 14,000 sq deg survey cataloged >1 billion objects WFI Wide Field Instrument HST HUBBLE’SWFIRST FIELD OF VIEW The “Speed” of WFIRST is Unprecedented
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field HST 10,000 galaxies
WFIRST
A WFIRST Deep Field will measure 1,000,000 galaxies at Hubble-resolution
Full sky map: 41,253 sq. deg.
WFIRST sky coverage in 1 year (~2,000 sq. deg) HST sky coverage over 30 years (45 sq. deg.) Image credit: Gaia mission, European Space Agency WFIRST Orbit will be at the Sun-Earth L2 point: 1.5 million km from Earth
L4
L3 L2 L1
L5 WFIRST: Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope
Telescope Wavelength Range UV Visible Near-IR Mid-IR Telescope Temp +80o F Hubble Space Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope -388o F
WFIRST
+26o F The WFIRST Telescope is a Former Spy Satellite It was Designed for High-Resolution, Wide-Field Imaging
Former Reconnaissance Satellite (from cancelled Future Imaging Architecture Program) Transferred to NASA in 2012
#NASAWFIRST Inherited hardware needed modifications
Removal of PM Scraper 7/2018 Forward Metering Forward Metering Structure June 2019 Primary Mirror Assembly Shell Removal + Forward Metering 7/2018 Structure At SRR/Pedigree Review
Removal of PM Baffle Removal of Spare PM Aft Metering Adaptor 7/2018 from Aft Metering Structure June 2019 Structure May 2019 Inherited hardware needed modifications
Disassembly of Removal of Secondary Mirror support structure thermal-electric Support Structure from mirror hardware (SMSS) ready for re-use
Secondary Mirror Assembly At SRR/Pedigree Review Secondary Mirror Back Pad Removal In process shaping (SM) de-configured of SM to WFIRST from support prescription structure Cameras for Space- based Astronomical Imaging
Gaia Euclid
WFIRST 288 Megapixels Kepler WFIRST Light Sensor JWST TESS
HST/ACS HST/WFC3
WFIRST Mosaic Assembly WFIRST’s surveys will be amongst the most information- rich datasets ever created.
The WFIRST mission will produce 15
Petabytes of data individual of / pixel Area Area = Survey Grasp Survey over its life cycle. Bright Faint Fewer Galaxies Many Galaxies The stars in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy as would be seen by WFIRST: This is just 1/140th a full WFIRST image! WFIRST is a key step to answering the question: Are We Alone? • WFIRST will observe star fields like the one just shown and use gravitational micro-lensing to do conduct a census of thousands of new exoplanets. CGI Coronagraph Instrument WFIRST is a key step to answering the question: Are We Alone? • The Coronagraph Instrument (CGI) on WFIRST will be the first demonstration of ultra-high dynamic range imaging in space.
Seen from afar, the Sun is 10 billion times brighter than the Earth. WFIRST CGI will detect exoplanets that are up to 1 billion times fainter than their stars Simulated high-contrast image of the Solar System at 40 light years with coronagraph on a large space telescope in the mid-2030s. WFIRST: Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope
100x the Hubble Field of View First High-Resolution Maps of the Universe High Performance (at the same sensitivity and resolution) Direct Imaging of Exoplanets
Hubble’s Camera
Technology Transfer WFIRST’s of a Hubble-Sized Mirror Camera to Science
Ushers in the “Big Data Era” of NASA Astrophysics The Astrophysics Facility Landscape Chandra (NASA-led x-ray telescope)
Hubble Space Telescope (NASA-led UV-Optical-NIR)
James Webb Space Telescope (NASA-led infrared observatory)
WFIRST (NASA-led NIR sky survey mission) TESS (NASA exoplanet survey)
Athena (ESA large x-ray telescope) Euclid (ESA sky survey mission)
eRosita (German-Russian x-ray telescope) CHEOPS (ESA exoplanet survey mission) U.S. 30-m telescope(s) LSST (U.S. led sky survey)
ELT (European 39-m telescope)
SKA (international radio telescope array)
2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030 Many Billions of Years From Now … “There has got to be a deeper theory. With luck, we will come upon it by finding an anomaly in the theory we have now.”
Jim Peebles, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2019
“In astronomy, discovery eclipses physics.”
Riccardo Giacconi, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 2002 Thank you!