Spherex: New NASA MIDEX All-Sky 1-5 Um Spectral Survey

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Spherex: New NASA MIDEX All-Sky 1-5 Um Spectral Survey SPHEREx: New NASA MIDEX All-Sky 1-5 um Spectral Survey Designed to Explore ▪ The Origin of the Universe ▪ The Origin and History of Galaxies ▪ The Origin of Water in Planetary Systems ▪ PI Jamie Bock, CalTech The First All-Sky Near-IR Spectral Survey A Rich Legacy Archive for the Astronomy Community with 100s of Millions of Stars and Galaxies Low-Risk Implementation ▪ 2022 NASA MIDEX Launch ▪ Single Observing Mode ▪ Large Design Margins Co-I Carey Lisse, SES/SRE ▪ No Moving Optics NASA SBAG Jun 25, 2019 Copyright 2017 California Institute of Technology. U.S. Government sponsorship acknowledged. New MIDEX SPHEREx (2022-2025): All-Sky 0.8 – 5.0 µm Spectral Legacy Archives Medium- High- Accuracy Accuracy Detected Spectra Spectra Clusters > 1 billion > 100 million 10 million 25,000 All-Sky surveys demonstrate high Galaxies scientiFic returns with a lasting Main data legacy used across astronomy Sequence Brown Spectra Dust-forming Dwarfs Cataclysms For example: > 100 million 10,000 > 400 > 1,000 COBE J IRAS J Stars GALEX Asteroid WMAP & Comet Galactic Quasars Quasars z >7 Spectra Line Maps Planck > 1.5 million 1 – 300? > 100,000 PAH, HI, H2 WISE J Other More than 400,000 total citations! SPHEREx Data Products & Tools: A spectrum (0.8 to 5 micron) for every 6″ pixel on the sky Planned Data Releases Survey Data Date (Launch +) Associated Products Survey 1 1 – 8 mo S1 spectral images Survey 2 8 – 14 mo S1/2 spectral images Early release catalog Survey 3 14 – 20 mo S1/2/3 spectral images Survey 4 20 – 26 mo S1/2/3/4 spectral images Final Release Legacy catalogs and maps Available Data Tools: Served through IRSA at IPAC Analysis Tool Function Image lookup Find image at location and time SED estimator Find spectrum of a known source Data cube viewer View spectrum of any sky region On-the-fly mosaic Images within specified time Variable sources Spectra over all 4 surveys Spectral image Moving sources SEDs for known moving objects Legacy Catalogs and Maps Catalog # Function Core science > 450 M Galaxy types & redshift catalogs > 20,000 Ice sources Deep field maps Image mosaics Stars > 100 M SEDs of known stars Galaxies 1.4 B SEDs of known galaxies Clusters 25,000 SEDs of cluster members Asteroids 10,000 SEDs of known objects Galaxy maps Image and line mosaics more releases, tools and catalogs under consideration SPHEREx Overview Passively cooled telescope (80K 30cm diameter primary) and near-infrared detectors (55K) in Low-earth Orbit Linear Wide-field telescope with Variable High-Throughput Linear Filter Variable Filter (LVF) Focal Spectrometer Plane Assembly Spectrum obtained by stepping source over astigmat FOV in multiple images: no moving parts mirror - Three PSF undersampled: 6 arcsecond resolution set by pixel plate scale in all bands Mapping the Sky with LVFs 1 orbit Spectral image 2 orbits LVF 1/6 LVF 1/6 LVF 1/6 N orbits A complete spectrum is made from a series of images SPHEREx maps the sky over multiple orbits with large and small slews SPHEREx Creates an All-Sky Legacy Archive at High Sensitivity R=135 Deep field (100 sq deg) R=41 R=41 R=41 R=35 All-sky R=110 Overarching SPHEREx Solar System Science Goal: The Local Cosmology (i.e Origin & Evolution of the Nearest Exosystem) [Besides, we need to remove the foreground objects to study the background properly.] Motivation: Besides the usual (M,R,P) for the host star + planets, we have: • Crater Counts • Detailed Orbital Dynamical Info • Meteorite Minerological & Isotopic info • Geomorphology rperihelion = 0.25 AU rperigee = 0.20 AU eccentricity = 1.19 SPHEREx would have provided Spectrophotometric st APO 3.5M DDT Time Imaging of 1 29 Oct 2017 UT g’ Meech et al. Detected 2017 Interstellar Object Point Source, 0.1 km < Radius < 0.2km in the Solar System: 1I/’Oumuamua Football Shaped Spheroid r’ Colors Consistent [Sept-Nov 2017 w/ Solar System Asteroids asteroid passage] r’ Double-Peaked See: Bolin, Weaver, Prot ~ 8.1 hrs Fernandez, Lisse+ 2017 Triaxial Ratio ApJ Lett 853, L8 4 < a:b < 7 (!!) KBO Science: What are These Bodies Made of, And Does This Vary Across the Kuiper Belt? We Know Densities Vary from 0.5 g/cm3 up to 2.5 g/cm3. Many Evince Strong Organic Ices Lines, Others Mainly Water. Why? Size? Evolution? How Do Binary KBO Partners Compare Spectrally? Pluto KBO NIR Spectroscopy The Heart Comet Science: Solar System Reservoirs of Astrophysical Ices; proxy measurement of abundances in the Proto-planetary Disk X – CH, PAHs AKARI Comet Spectroscopy of H2O/CO/CO2 : SPHEREx Will Return 100’s of Spectra Like These 18 AKARI R~100 Measurements CO2 sublimation CO2, not CO could be powers comet fundamental activity outside 2.5 comet/PPD molecule AU water ice line Follow the (Icy) Water! Schematic of a protoplanetary disk r apo e • Gas and dust in molecular er V n Wat i ne r of L o clouds are the reservoirs for new Laye ow Z ace Sn ce stars and planets Surf I - In molecular clouds, water is 100- Formation of icy Planetesimals 1000x more abundant in ice than Star in gas Diffusive Transport - Herschel observations of the TW of Water? 0au 0.1au 1.0au Hydrae disk imply the presence 10au of 1000s of Earth oceans in ice (Hogerheijde et al. 2011) ISO absorption spectrum - Models suggest water and 30 biogenic molecules reside in ice in W33A XCN CO the disk mid-plane and beyond CO2 13CO the snow line 20 CH3OH 2 • Ideal ls to study ices: 2.5 - 5 µm H2O - Includes spectral features from 10 6 H2O, CO and CO2 in ~10 objects - Plus chemically important minor 0 constituents NH3, CH3OH, X-CN, 13 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 and CO2 Wavelength (microns) Jupiter Trojan Science : Were the Trojans Formed in Place, or Accreted During the LHB? (Lucy Discovery Mission Context) Ceres Moon Mercury Mars Wherever we look in the Solar System, we see massive cratering. Trojan Asteroid NIR Spectroscopy Outer Solar System Object NIR Reflectance Spectra Compared to HR4796A Ring 67P/C-G COMET NUCLEI 124P/Mrkos Quirico et al. 2015 C/LONEOS 2001 OG108 67P/C-G 2.39 um Absorption? KUIPER 19P/Borrelly Small End BELT 5145 Pholus H2O Ice? H2O Ice 5145 67P/C-G Pholus CENTAURS & TROJANS 624 Hektor 10199 Chariklo 2060 Chiron H2O Ice Jewitt & Luu 2004 Asteroid Science : Were Asteroids Formed From a Chemically Segregated Solar PPD and Then Mixed? (Dawn, Psyche Mission Context) DeMeo+ 2014 NIR Asteroid Spectral Characterization Know What You’re About to Mine (NASA PSD) or Get Whacked By (NASA NEO Office): Iron Metal (M-type), Rock (S-type), or Organic Mush (C-type) Inner Zody (Dust Debris) Cloud We Sense From Earth is a Mix of Asteroidal & Cometary Dust Inner Cloud is ~90% Cometary SPHEREx vs LSST, NeoCAM, JWST; Dawn, Lucy, Psyche • SPHEREx will get down to AB magnitude ~ 19 (5s) in the W1 passband, which => V ~ 20.5 for solar colored (i.e., neutral/grey objects), V~ 21-22 for reddish objects. • LSST has a limiting sensitivity of ~24.5 at V, or about 3 mags fainter than SPHEREx’s 3s limit for a neutral grey object. Therefore everything SPHEREx detects will be in the LSST survey, but not vice-versa. • JWST: SPHEREx’s all-sky survey will find the most interesting and high-value targets for NASA’s slowly slewing premier telescope of the 2020’s. • NEOCam is a 50 cm space telescope with a single imaging instrument operating at ~35K in two wavelength ranges: 4 - 5 μm and 6 - 10 μm. NeoCAM will have a limiting sensitivity about 2 mags more sensitive than SPHEREx at 4-5 um. Therefore everything SPHEREx detects will be in the NEOCam survey, but not vice-versa, but SPHEREx will provide unique spectra for ~ 105 of NEOCam’s 0.1 – 100 km radius targets, allowing detailed spectral characterization for future hazard and resource utilization applications. • Dawn, Lucy, Psyche: all these missions require an absolutely calibrated 1-3.5 um NIR reference spectrum of the mission target, WHICH has yet to be produced. Ground based spectra cannot cover the entire wavelength range, especially in the 2.7 – 3.1 um water bands. Dawn ASSUMED that Vesta was a water-poor, rocky body with a simple spectrum, and used this as the reference calibration spectrum for Ceres. SPHEREx will provide this spectrum, for 16 Psyche and all of Lucy’s Trojan targets, assuming they are not confused. Sample SPHEREx Solar System Projects • Spectral studies & lightcurves of the largest KBOs – e.g. the CO/CH4 peaks of Pluto’s lightcurve [K ~ 13], coordinated with the ice-rich Sputnik Plenum glacier • Chemical abundances of Comets as tracers of the PPD. E.g CO2 in Comets – the Fundamental Carbon Bearing Molecule in the PPD? And by extension in all molecular clouds and hot cores? • Monitor world (Planets + Giant Moons) atmospheric weather: CH4, H2O clouds & hazes • Icy Moon water, CO2, CO, CH4 trends w/time, parent body, rh + • Giant Planet H3 aurorae • Spectral classification of the Trojan Asteroids • Spectral survey of >106 of Asteroids – better reckoning of the origin and dynamical evolution of their types – formed in zones of the PPD then scattered E.g: Hydrated minerals vs Ammoniated Phyllosilicates from the Outer Solar System on Ceres • Solar System Wide Survey of Astrobiologically Important Molecules H2O, CO, CO2, CH4, C2H6, CN, CH3OH, H2CO, NH3, PAHs • Follow the Water throughout the Solar System: Search for episodic water emission from Ceres, Europa Study water temporal, spatial patterns on the Moon – implantation followed by sublimation under daylight? • Zodiacal (Debris) Cloud Measurement • Hb, Paschen a, Brackett a/b/g solar system albedos New MIDEX SPHEREx (2022-2025): All-Sky 0.8 – 5.0 µm Spectral Legacy Archives Medium- High- Accuracy Accuracy Detected Spectra Spectra
Recommended publications
  • KAREN J. MEECH February 7, 2019 Astronomer
    BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH – KAREN J. MEECH February 7, 2019 Astronomer Institute for Astronomy Tel: 1-808-956-6828 2680 Woodlawn Drive Fax: 1-808-956-4532 Honolulu, HI 96822-1839 [email protected] PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION Rice University Space Physics B.A. 1981 Massachusetts Institute of Tech. Planetary Astronomy Ph.D. 1987 APPOINTMENTS 2018 – present Graduate Chair 2000 – present Astronomer, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii 1992-2000 Associate Astronomer, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii 1987-1992 Assistant Astronomer, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii 1982-1987 Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant, Massachusetts Inst. Tech. 1981-1982 Research Specialist, AAVSO and Massachusetts Institute of Technology AWARDS 2018 ARCs Scientist of the Year 2015 University of Hawai’i Regent’s Medal for Research Excellence 2013 Director’s Research Excellence Award 2011 NASA Group Achievement Award for the EPOXI Project Team 2011 NASA Group Achievement Award for EPOXI & Stardust-NExT Missions 2009 William Tylor Olcott Distinguished Service Award of the American Association of Variable Star Observers 2006-8 National Academy of Science/Kavli Foundation Fellow 2005 NASA Group Achievement Award for the Stardust Flight Team 1996 Asteroid 4367 named Meech 1994 American Astronomical Society / DPS Harold C. Urey Prize 1988 Annie Jump Cannon Award 1981 Heaps Physics Prize RESEARCH FIELD AND ACTIVITIES • Developed a Discovery mission concept to explore the origin of Earth’s water. • Co-Investigator on the Deep Impact, Stardust-NeXT and EPOXI missions, leading the Earth-based observing campaigns for all three. • Leads the UH Astrobiology Research interdisciplinary program, overseeing ~30 postdocs and coordinating the research with ~20 local faculty and international partners.
    [Show full text]
  • Rochyderabad 27072017.Pdf
    List of Companies under Strike Off Sl.No CIN Number Name of the Company 1 U93000TG1947PLC000008 RAJAHMUNDRY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIMITED 2 U80301TG1939GAP000595 HYDERABAD EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE 3 U52300TG1957PTC000772 GUNTI AND CO PVT LTD 4 U99999TG1964PTC001025 HILITE PRODUCTS PVT LTD 5 U74999AP1965PTC001083 BALAJI MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION PRIVATE LIMITED 6 U92111TG1951PTC001102 PRASAD ART PICTURES PVT LTD 7 U26994AP1970PTC001343 PADMA GRAPHITE INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED 8 U16001AP1971PTC001384 ALLIED TOBBACCO PACKERS PVT LTD 9 U63011AP1972PTC001475 BOBBILI TRANSPORTS PRIVATE LIMITED 10 U65993TG1972PTC001558 RAJASHRI INVESTMENTS PRIVATE LIMITED 11 U85110AP1974PTC001729 DR RANGARAO NURSING HOME PRIVATE LIMITED 12 U74999AP1974PTC001764 CAPSEAL PVT LTD 13 U21012AP1975PLC001875 JAYALAKSHMI PAPER AND GENERAL MILLS LIMITED 14 U74999TG1975PTC001931 FRUTOP PRIVATE LIMITED 15 U05005TG1977PTC002166 INTERNATIONAL SEA FOOD PVT LTD 16 U65992TG1977PTC002200 VAMSI CHIT FUNDS PVT LTD 17 U74210TG1977PTC002206 HIMALAYA ENGINEERING WORKS PVT LTD 18 U52520TG1978PTC002306 BLUEFIN AGENCIES AND EXPORTS PVT LTD 19 U52110TG1979PTC002524 G S B TRADING PRIVATE LIMITED 20 U18100AP1979PTC002526 KAKINADA SATSANG SAREES PRINTING AND DYEING CO PVT LTD 21 U26942TG1980PLC002774 SHRI BHOGESWARA CEMENT AND MINERAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED 22 U74140TG1980PTC002827 VERNY ENGINEERS PRIVATE LIMITED 23 U27109TG1980PTC002874 A P PRECISION LIGHT ENGINEERING PVT LTD 24 U65992AP1981PTC003086 CHAITANYA CHIT FUNDS PVT LTD 25 U15310AP1981PTC003087 R K FLOUR MILLS PVT LTD 26 U05005AP1981PTC003127
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmic Origins Newsletter, September 2016, Vol. 5, No. 2
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration Cosmic Origins Newsletter September 2016 Volume 5 Number 2 Summer 2016 Cosmic Origins Program Inside this Issue Update Summer 2016 Cosmic Origins Program Update ............................1 Mansoor Ahmed, COR Program Manager Hubble Reveals Stellar Fireworks in ‘Skyrocket’ Galaxy ................2 Message from the Astrophysics Division Director .........................2 Susan Neff, COR Program Chief Scientist Light Echoes Give Clues to Protoplanetary Disk ............................3 Far-IR Surveyor Study Status .............................................................5 Welcome to the September 2016 Cosmic Origins (COR) newslet- LUVOIR Study Status .........................................................................5 ter. In this issue, we provide updates on several activities relevant to Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) Selections the COR Program objectives. Some of these activities are not under for ROSES-2015 ...................................................................................6 the direct purview of the program, but are relevant to COR goals, Technology Solicitations to Enable Astrophysics Discoveries ......6 therefore we try to keep you informed about their progress. Cosmic Origins Suborbital Program: Balloon Program – BETTII ................................................................7 In January 2016, Paul Hertz (Director, NASA Astrophysics) News from SOFIA ...............................................................................8 presented his
    [Show full text]
  • Early Observations of the Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov
    geosciences Article Early Observations of the Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Chien-Hsiu Lee NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA; [email protected]; Tel.: +1-520-318-8368 Received: 26 November 2019; Accepted: 11 December 2019; Published: 17 December 2019 Abstract: 2I/Borisov is the second ever interstellar object (ISO). It is very different from the first ISO ’Oumuamua by showing cometary activities, and hence provides a unique opportunity to study comets that are formed around other stars. Here we present early imaging and spectroscopic follow-ups to study its properties, which reveal an (up to) 5.9 km comet with an extended coma and a short tail. Our spectroscopic data do not reveal any emission lines between 4000–9000 Angstrom; nevertheless, we are able to put an upper limit on the flux of the C2 emission line, suggesting modest cometary activities at early epochs. These properties are similar to comets in the solar system, and suggest that 2I/Borisov—while from another star—is not too different from its solar siblings. Keywords: comets: general; comets: individual (2I/Borisov); solar system: formation 1. Introduction 2I/Borisov was first seen by Gennady Borisov on 30 August 2019. As more observations were conducted in the next few days, there was growing evidence that this might be an interstellar object (ISO), especially its large orbital eccentricity. However, the first astrometric measurements do not have enough timespan and are not of same quality, hence the high eccentricity is yet to be confirmed. This had all changed by 11 September; where more than 100 astrometric measurements over 12 days, Ref [1] pinned down the orbit elements of 2I/Borisov, with an eccentricity of 3.15 ± 0.13, hence confirming the interstellar nature.
    [Show full text]
  • Initial Characterization of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov
    Initial characterization of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov Piotr Guzik1*, Michał Drahus1*, Krzysztof Rusek2, Wacław Waniak1, Giacomo Cannizzaro3,4, Inés Pastor-Marazuela5,6 1 Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland 2 AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland 3 SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht, the Netherlands 4 Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands 5 Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 6 ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, the Netherlands * These authors contributed equally to this work; email: [email protected], [email protected] Interstellar comets penetrating through the Solar System had been anticipated for decades1,2. The discovery of asteroidal-looking ‘Oumuamua3,4 was thus a huge surprise and a puzzle. Furthermore, the physical properties of the ‘first scout’ turned out to be impossible to reconcile with Solar System objects4–6, challenging our view of interstellar minor bodies7,8. Here, we report the identification and early characterization of a new interstellar object, which has an evidently cometary appearance. The body was discovered by Gennady Borisov on 30 August 2019 UT and subsequently identified as hyperbolic by our data mining code in publicly available astrometric data. The initial orbital solution implies a very high hyperbolic excess speed of ~32 km s−1, consistent with ‘Oumuamua9 and theoretical predictions2,7. Images taken on 10 and 13 September 2019 UT with the William Herschel Telescope and Gemini North Telescope show an extended coma and a faint, broad tail. We measure a slightly reddish colour with a g′–r′ colour index of 0.66 ± 0.01 mag, compatible with Solar System comets.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolving Launch Vehicle Market Supply and the Effect on Future NASA Missions
    Presented at the 2007 ISPA/SCEA Joint Annual International Conference and Workshop - www.iceaaonline.com The Evolving Launch Vehicle Market Supply and the Effect on Future NASA Missions Presented at the 2007 ISPA/SCEA Joint International Conference & Workshop June 12-15, New Orleans, LA Bob Bitten, Debra Emmons, Claude Freaner 1 Presented at the 2007 ISPA/SCEA Joint Annual International Conference and Workshop - www.iceaaonline.com Abstract • The upcoming retirement of the Delta II family of launch vehicles leaves a performance gap between small expendable launch vehicles, such as the Pegasus and Taurus, and large vehicles, such as the Delta IV and Atlas V families • This performance gap may lead to a variety of progressions including – large satellites that utilize the full capability of the larger launch vehicles, – medium size satellites that would require dual manifesting on the larger vehicles or – smaller satellites missions that would require a large number of smaller launch vehicles • This paper offers some comparative costs of co-manifesting single- instrument missions on a Delta IV/Atlas V, versus placing several instruments on a larger bus and using a Delta IV/Atlas V, as well as considering smaller, single instrument missions launched on a Minotaur or Taurus • This paper presents the results of a parametric study investigating the cost- effectiveness of different alternatives and their effect on future NASA missions that fall into the Small Explorer (SMEX), Medium Explorer (MIDEX), Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP), Discovery,
    [Show full text]
  • FINESSE and ARIEL + CASE: Dedicated Transit Spectroscopy Missions for the Post-TESS Era
    FINESSE and ARIEL + CASE: Dedicated Transit Spectroscopy Missions for the Post-TESS Era Fast Infrared Exoplanet FINESSE Spectroscopy Survey Explorer Exploring the Diversity of New Worlds Around Other Stars Origins | Climate | Discovery Jacob Bean (University of Chicago) Presented on behalf of the FINESSE/CASE science team: Mark Swain (PI), Nicholas Cowan, Jonathan Fortney, Caitlin Griffith, Tiffany Kataria, Eliza Kempton, Laura Kreidberg, David Latham, Michael Line, Suvrath Mahadevan, Jorge Melendez, Julianne Moses, Vivien Parmentier, Gael Roudier, Evgenya Shkolnik, Adam Showman, Kevin Stevenson, Yuk Yung, & Robert Zellem Fast Infrared Exoplanet FINESSE Spectroscopy Survey Explorer Exploring the Diversity of New Worlds Around Other Stars **Candidate NASA MIDEX mission for launch in 2023** Objectives FINESSE will test theories of planetary origins and climate, transform comparative planetology, and open up exoplanet discovery space by performing a comprehensive, statistical, and uniform survey of transiting exoplanet atmospheres. Strategy • Transmission spectroscopy of 500 planets: Mp = few – 1,000 MEarth • Phase-resolved emission spectroscopy of a subset of 100 planets: Teq > 700 K • Focus on synergistic science with JWST: homogeneous survey, broader context, population properties, and bright stars Hardware • 75 cm aluminum Cassegrain telescope at L2 • 0.5 – 5.0 μm high-throughput prism spectrometer with R > 80 • Single HgCdTe detector with JWST heritage for science and guiding Origins | Climate | Discovery Advantages of Fast Infrared
    [Show full text]
  • Comet Interceptor: a Mission to an Ancient World
    EPSC Abstracts Vol. 14, EPSC2020-574, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2020-574 Europlanet Science Congress 2020 © Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Comet Interceptor: A mission to an ancient world Cecilia Tubiana1, Geraint Jones2,3, Colin Snodgrass4, and the the Comet Interceptor Team* 1Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Goettingen, Germany ([email protected]) 2Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Surrey, UK 3The Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck, London, UK 4Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract Comets are the most pristine objects in our Solar System. Having spent most of their life at large distance from the Sun, where they remained mostly unaffected by solar radiation, comets are the most unaltered remnants from the era of planet formation. In June 2019, a multi-spacecraft project – Comet Interceptor – was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as its next planetary mission, and the first in its new class of Fast (F) projects [1]. The mission’s primary science goal is to characterise, for the first time, a long-period comet – preferably one which is dynamically new – or an interstellar object. An encounter with a comet approaching the Sun for the first time will provide valuable data to complement that from all previous comet missions: the surface of such an object would be being heated to temperatures above the its constituent ices’ sublimation point for the first time since its formation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Future of X-Rayastronomy
    The Future of X-rayAstronomy Keith Arnaud [email protected] High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center University of Maryland College Park and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Themes Politics Efficient high resolution spectroscopy Mirrors Polarimetry Other missions Interferometry Themes Politics Efficient high resolution spectroscopy Mirrors Polarimetry Other missions Interferometry How do we get a new X-ray astronomy experiment? A group of scientists and engineers makes a proposal to a national (or international) space agency. This will include a science case and a description of the technology to be used (which should generally be in a mature state). In principal you can make an unsolicited proposal but in practice space agencies have proposal rounds in the same way that individual missions have observing proposal rounds. NASA : Small Explorer (SMEX) and Medium Explorer (MIDEX): every ~2 years alternating Small and Medium, three selected for study for one year from which one is selected for launch. RXTE, GALEX, NuSTAR, Swift, IXPE Arcus, a high resolution X-ray spectroscopy mission was a finalist in the latest MIDEX round but was not selected. Missions of Opportunity (MO): every ~2 years includes balloon programs, ISS instruments and contributions to foreign missions. Suzaku, Hitomi, NICER, XRISM Large missions such as HST, Chandra, JWST are not selected by such proposals but are decided as national priorities through the Astronomy Decadal process. Every ten years a survey is run by the National Academy of Sciences to decide on priorities for both land-based and space-based astronomy. 1960: HST; 1970: VLA; 1980: VLBA; 1990: Chandra and SIRTF; 2000: JWST and ALMA; 2010 WFIRST and LSST.
    [Show full text]
  • LSST Solar System Science (Excluding Neos)
    LSST Solar System Science (excluding NEOs) Meg Schwamb (Gemini Observatory) @megschwamb @lsstsssc LSST Solar System Science Collaboration (SSSC) Active objects Working Group (Lead: Mike Kelley): broadly consisting of all categories of activity in the minor planet populations: short period comets, long period comets, main belt comets, impact- or rotationally- generated active asteroids,etc Community software/infrastructure development Working Group (Lead: Henry Hsieh ): broadly consisting of people interested in helping David Trilling & Meg Schwamb build databases, software packages, etc to be used by the Solar System SSSC Co-Chairs community on LSST data Inner Solar System Working Group (Lead: Cristina Thomas): broadly consisting of the main belt, Mars/Jupiter Trojans, and Jupiter irregular satellites www.lsstsssc.org NEOs (Near Earth Objects) and Interstellar Objects Working Group (Lead: Steve Chesley): broadly consisting of objects on orbits inward of or diffusing inward from the main belt as well as interstellar objects temporarily residing in the Solar System Outer Solar System Working Group (Lead: Darin Ragozzine and Matt Holman): broadly consisting of KBOs, Centaurs, Oort cloud, Wes Fraser Saturn/Neptune/Uranus Trojans, and Saturn/Neptune/Uranus irregular LSST: UK Solar System POC satellites Slide Credit: Mario Jurić It’s Really Coming! Science Operations Start in 2022 Next 3 years is the time to prepare! Slide Credit: LSST/AURA/LSSTC Slide Credit: Victor Krabbendam Expected LSST Yield ugrizy photometry Slide Credit: LSST Science book/Lynne Jones What is LSST project Providing Slide Credit: Mario Jurić See http://ls.st/Document-29545 What LSST Can Do finding new small body targets for future NASA mission (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • ROSAT All-Sky Survey
    ROSAT All-Sky Survey S. R. Kulkarni July 22, 2020{July 27, 2020 The Russian-German mission, Spektr-R¨ongtenGamma (SRG) is on the verge of revolution- izing X-ray astronomy. One of the instruments, eROSITA, will be undertaking an imaging survey of the X-ray sky. Each six-month the entire sky will be covered to a sensitivity which is ten times better than the previous such survey (ROSAT). After eight semesters SRG will undertake pointed observations. I provide a condensed history so that a young student can appreciate the importance of SRG/eROSITA. The first all sky survey was undertaken by the Uhuru (aka SAS-1; 1970) satellite. This was followed up by HEAO-1 (aka HEAO-A; 1977) surveys. These surveys detected 339 and 843 sources in the 2{10 keV band. For those interested in arcana, 1 Uhuru count/s is 1:7 × 10−11 erg cm−2 s−1 in the 2{6 keV band. The next major mission was HEAO-2 (aka Einstein; launched in 1978). This was a game changer since, unlike the past missions which used essentially collimators or shadow cam- eras, the centerpiece of Einstein was a true imaging telescope. Furthermore the mission carried an amazing complement of imagers and spectrometers in the focal plane. The mission coincided with my graduate school (1978-1983). R¨ontgensatellit (ROSAT) was a German mission to undertake an X-ray imaging survey of the entire sky { the first such survey. Launched in 1990 it lasted for eight years. It carried two Positional Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC; 0.1{2.4 keV), a High Resolution Imager (HRI) and the Wide Field Camera (WFC; 60{300 A).˚ The PSPC, with a field-of- view of 2 degrees, was the primary work horse for the X-ray sky survey and was > 100 more sensitive than the pioneering Uhuru and HEAO-A1 surveys.
    [Show full text]
  • RIT Faculty Part of NASA's $242M Spherex Mission
    6/10/2021 RIT faculty part of NASA’s $242M SPHEREx mission | RIT Rochester Institute of Technology February , by Luke Auburn Follow @lukeauburn RIT faculty part of NASA’s $M SPHEREx mission Michael Zemcov on the team that will explore the origins of the universe, galaxies and water in planetary systems Caltech NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission is targeted to launch in . SPHEREx will help astronomers understand both how our universe evolved and how common are the ingredients for life in our galaxy’s planetary systems. A Rochester Institute of Technology professor is part of a small team of scientists contributing to NASA’s new mission to explore the origins of the universe by performing the first near-infrared all-sky spectral survey. Assistant Professor Michael Zemcov is one of co-investigators of the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission, which received $ million in funding from NASA today. SPHEREx has three primary objectives. First, SPHEREx will map galaxies across much of the universe to study inflation, the rapid expansion thought to play a part in the universe’s creation. The mission also seeks to gain new insights into the origin and history of galaxy formation by measuring spatial fluctuations in the extragalactic background light. Third, SPHEREx aims to answer questions about the amount and evolution of key biogenic molecules such as water and carbon monoxide throughout all phases of star and planetary formation. “I’m very excited by the opportunity to help explain if and how inflation happened, and to understand more about it,” said Zemcov.
    [Show full text]