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THE ORIGINS SPACE TELESCOPE M. Meixner1 and A. Cooray2 and The The Space Astrophysics Landscape 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2135) 5033.pdf THE ORIGINS SPACE TELESCOPE M. Meixner1 and A. Cooray2 and the Origins Study Team3, 1STScI/JHU, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, [email protected], 2UC Irvine, 4186 Frederick Reines Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697, [email protected], 3study website: https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/firs/team/, https://origins.ipac.caltech.edu/page/team Introduction: Half of the light emitted by stars, plan- Mid-Infrared Spectrometer and Camera (MISC) – ets, and galaxies over the lifetime of the Universe Transit spectrometer (TRA, 2.8-20 µm) [5]. emerges in the infrared. The Origins Space Telescope (Origins) will access this information-rich spectral Origins Science: Origins enables revolutionary scien- region to uncover the crucial missing pieces of our tific discoveries in many areas including: cosmic history. Origins is a community-led, NASA- How does the Universe work? Origins will supported mission concept study in preparation for the probe our earliest cosmic origins by chart- 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. ing the rise of dust and metals in galaxies Origins Baseline Mission Concept: The Origins over cosmic time, and determine how the Space Telescope [1, 2] and its suite of instruments coevolution of star formation and supermassive black will utilize next-generation detectors and operate with holes leads to the diversity in galaxies today. spectral resolving power in steps from ~3 to 3x105 How did we get here? Origins will follow over wavelengths from 2.8 to 590 µm, the telescope the trail of water from the birth of the and instruments will be cryocooled to 4.5 K, and the planet-forming disk to the assembly of pre- light collecting area, 25 m2, will match that of JWST. planetary materials, and in comets to un- We present a low-risk design concept that has mini- derstand the origin of Earth’s oceans. mal dependence on deployments and leaves appropri- Are we alone? Origins will measure bi- ate margin between science-driven measurement re- osignatures in transiting exoplanet atmos- quirements and estimated performance. The tele- pheres at mid-infrared wavelengths to as- scope’s 5.9 m diameter primary mirror is segmented, sess the habitability of nearby exoplanets like JWST, but round and it launches in its operation- and search for signs of life. al configuration. This departure from the JWST ap- Equally important to these compelling questions, proach is enabled by new launch vehicle capabilities OST will be a flagship general observatory which now in development. The telescope is a three-mirror provides the astronomical community access to un- anastigmat with an on-axis secondary. The telescope precedented discovery space in the infrared. OST will is diffraction limited at 30 µm and is used as a light be up to a factor of 1000 more sensitive than previous bucket at shorter wavelengths. far-infrared space telescopes. Its versatile instrument suite will enable deep and wide 3D surveys of the sky from the most distant galaxies to the outer reaches of our Solar system. The ultra-stable mid-infrared spec- trometer will build upon JWST’s expected work on exoplanets and push it to detection of biosignatures. This presentation describes the OST baseline mis- sion concept and spotlight its vast science potential. References: [1] Meixner, M., Armus, L., Battersby et al. (2018), SPIE, 10698, 0NM [2] Leisawitz, D., Amatucci, E., et al. (2018), SPIE, 10698, 15 Figure 1: The Origins Space Telescope will enable high- [3] Bradford, C.M., Cameron, B. et al. (2018), impact science in all three of NASA’s key astrophysics SPIE, 10698, 18 areas, and our concept for the mission is low-risk and [4] Staguhn, J., Amatucci, E., et al. (2018), SPIE, executable in the decade ahead. We recommend a 10698, 1 Spitzer-like architecture. [5] Sakon, I., Roellig, T., et al. (2018), SPIE, Three science instruments provide powerful, new 10698, 17 spectroscopic and imaging capabilities: Origins Sur- Additional Information: vey Spectrometer (OSS, 25-590 µm) [3], Far-infrared https://origins.ipac.caltech.edu Imager and Polarimeter (FIP, 50 and 250 µm) [4], https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/firs/ .
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