| 1. |
- Leisawitz, David, et al.
(författare)
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The origins space telescope
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. ; 11115
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid-and far-infrared wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of Herschel, the largest telescope flown in space to date. After a 3 1/2 year study, the Origins Science and Technology Definition Team will recommend to the Decadal Survey a concept for Origins with a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (MISC-T) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8-20 μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented sensitivity, enabling definitive biosignature detections. The Far-IR Imager Polarimeter (FIP) will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer (OSS) will cover wavelengths from 25-588 μm, make wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R ∼ 300, and pointed observations at R ∼ 40,000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The telescope has a Spitzer-like architecture and requires very few deployments after launch. The cryo-thermal system design leverages JWST technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins' natural backgroundlimited sensitivity.
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| 2. |
- Leisawitz, David, et al.
(författare)
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Origins Space Telescope: Baseline mission concept
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems. - 2329-4221 .- 2329-4124. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the Universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid-and far-infrared (IR) wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of the Herschel Space Observatory, the largest telescope flown in space to date. We describe the baseline concept for Origins recommended to the 2020 US Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The baseline design includes a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (Mid-Infrared Spectrometer and Camera Transit spectrometer) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8 to 20 μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented spectrophotometric precision, enabling definitive exoplanet biosignature detections. The far-IR imager polarimeter will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer will cover wavelengths from 25 to 588 μm, making wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R ∼ 300, and pointed observations at R ∼ 40,000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The architecture is similar to that of the Spitzer Space Telescope and requires very few deployments after launch, while the cryothermal system design leverages James Webb Space Telescope technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins' natural background-limited sensitivity.
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| 3. |
- Leisawitz, David, et al.
(författare)
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The Origins Space Telescope: Mission concept overview
- 2018
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Ingår i: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. ; 10698
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only. The Origins Space Telescope (OST) will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did the universe evolve in response to its changing ingredients? How common are life-bearing planets? To accomplish its scientific objectives, OST will operate at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths and offer superlative sensitivity and new spectroscopic capabilities. The OST study team will present a scientifically compelling, executable mission concept to the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astrophysics. To understand the concept solution space, our team studied two alternative mission concepts. We report on the study approach and describe both of these concepts, give the rationale for major design decisions, and briefly describe the mission-enabling technology.
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| 4. |
- Spinoglio, L., et al.
(författare)
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- 2017
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Ingår i: Publications Astronomical Society of Australia. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 1323-3580 .- 1448-6083. ; 34
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- IR spectroscopy in the range 12-230 mu m with the SPace IR telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) will reveal the physical processes governing the formation and evolution of galaxies and black holes through cosmic time, bridging the gap between the James Webb Space Telescope and the upcoming Extremely Large Telescopes at shorter wavelengths and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array at longer wavelengths. The SPICA, with its 2.5-m telescope actively cooled to below 8 K, will obtain the first spectroscopic determination, in the mid-IR rest-frame, of both the star-formation rate and black hole accretion rate histories of galaxies, reaching lookback times of 12 Gyr, for large statistically significant samples. Densities, temperatures, radiation fields, and gas-phase metallicities will be measured in dust-obscured galaxies and active galactic nuclei, sampling a large range in mass and luminosity, from faint local dwarf galaxies to luminous quasars in the distant Universe. Active galactic nuclei and starburst feedback and feeding mechanisms in distant galaxies will be uncovered through detailed measurements of molecular and atomic line profiles. The SPICA's large-area deep spectrophotometric surveys will provide mid-IR spectra and continuum fluxes for unbiased samples of tens of thousands of galaxies, out to redshifts of z similar to 6.
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| 5. |
- Roelfsema, P. R., et al.
(författare)
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SPICA-A Large Cryogenic Infrared Space Telescope : Unveiling the Obscured Universe
- 2018
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Ingår i: Publications Astronomical Society of Australia. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 1323-3580 .- 1448-6083. ; 35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Measurements in the infrared wavelength domain allow direct assessment of the physical state and energy balance of cool matter in space, enabling the detailed study of the processes that govern the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems in galaxies over cosmic time. Previous infrared missions revealed a great deal about the obscured Universe, but were hampered by limited sensitivity. SPICA takes the next step in infrared observational capability by combining a large 2.5-meter diameter telescope. cooled to below 8 K, with instruments employing ultra-sensitive detectors. A combination of passive cooling and mechanical coolers will be used to cool both the telescope and the instruments. With mechanical coolers the mission lifetime is not limited by the supply of cryogen. With the combination of low telescope background and instruments with state-of-the-art detectors SPICA provides a huge advance on the capabilities of previous missions. SPICA instruments offer spectral resolving power ranging from R similar to 50 through 11 000 in the 17-230 mu m domain and R similar to 28.000 spectroscopy between 12 and 18 mu m.SPICA will provide efficient 30-37 mu m broad band mapping, and small field spectroscopic and polarimetric imaging at 100, 200 and 350 mu m. SPICA will provide infrared spectroscopy with an unprecedented sensitivity of similar to 5 x 10(-20) W m (-2) (5 sigma/1 h)-over two orders of magnitude improvement over what earlier missions. This exceptional performance leap, will open entirely new domains in infrared astronomy; galaxy evolution and metal production over cosmic time, dust formation and evolution from very early epochs onwards, the formation history of planetary systems.
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| 6. |
- Meijerink, R., et al.
(författare)
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Evidence for CO Shock Excitation in NGC 6240 from Herschel SPIRE Spectroscopy
- 2013
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8213 .- 2041-8205. ; 762:2, s. L16-L20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present Herschel SPIRE FTS spectroscopy of the nearby luminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240. In total 20 linesare detected, including CO J = 4−3 through J = 13−12, 6 H2O rotational lines, and [C i] and [N ii] fine-structurelines. The CO to continuum luminosity ratio is 10 times higher in NGC 6240 than Mrk 231. Although the COladdersof NGC 6240 and Mrk 231 are very similar, UV and/or X-ray irradiation are unlikely to be responsible for theexcitation of the gas in NGC 6240.We applied both C and J shock models to the H2 v = 1–0 S(1) and v = 2–1 S(1)lines and the CO rotational ladder. The CO ladder is best reproduced by amodel with shock velocity vs = 10 km s−1and a pre-shock density nH = 5 × 104 cm−3. We find that the solution best fitting the H2 lines is degenerate. The shock velocities and number densities range between vs = 17–47 km s−1 and nH = 107–5×104 cm−3, respectively.The H2 lines thus need a much more powerful shock than the CO lines.We deduce that most of the gas is currently moderately stirred up by slow (10 km s−1) shocks while only a small fraction (1%) of the interstellar mediumis exposed to the high-velocity shocks. This implies that the gas is rapidly losing its highly turbulent motions. We argue that a high CO line-to-continuum ratio is a key diagnostic for the presence of shocks.
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| 7. |
- Privon, G., et al.
(författare)
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A hard x-ray test of hcn enhancements as a tracer of embedded black hole growth
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 893:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Enhanced emission from the dense gas tracer HCN (relative to HCO+) has been proposed as a signature of active galactic nuclei (AGN). In a previous single-dish millimeter line survey we identified galaxies with HCN/HCO+ (1-0) intensity ratios consistent with those of many AGN but whose mid-infrared spectral diagnostics are consistent with little to no (≲15%) contribution of an AGN to the bolometric luminosity. To search for putative heavily obscured AGN, we present and analyze NuSTAR hard X-ray (3-79 keV) observations of four such galaxies from the Great Observatories All-sky LIRG Survey. We find no X-ray evidence for AGN in three of the systems and place strong upper limits on the energetic contribution of any heavily obscured (NH > 1024 cm-2) AGN to their bolometric luminosity. The upper limits on the X-ray flux are presently an order of magnitude below what XDR-driven chemistry models predict are necessary to drive HCN enhancements. In a fourth system we find a hard X-ray excess consistent with the presence of an AGN, but contributing only ∼3% of the bolometric luminosity. It is also unclear if the AGN is spatially associated with the HCN enhancement. We further explore the relationship between HCN/HCO+ (for several J upper levels) and LAGN/LIR f for a larger sample of systems in the literature. We find no evidence for correlations between the line ratios and the AGN fraction derived from X-rays, indicating that HCN/HCO+ intensity ratios are not driven by the energetic dominance of AGN, nor are they reliable indicators of ongoing supermassive black hole accretion. © 2020. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved
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| 8. |
- Ricci, C., et al.
(författare)
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A hard X-ray view of luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies in GOALS - I. AGN obscuration along the merger sequence
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 506:4, s. 5935-5950
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The merger of two or more galaxies can enhance the inflow of material from galactic scales into the close environments of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), obscuring and feeding the supermassive black hole (SMBH). Both recent simulations and observations of AGN in mergers have confirmed that mergers are related to strong nuclear obscuration. However, it is still unclear how AGN obscuration evolves in the last phases of the merger process. We study a sample of 60 luminous and ultra-luminous IR galaxies (U/LIRGs) from the GOALS sample observed by NuSTAR. We find that the fraction of AGNs that are Compton thick (CT;N-H >= 10(24)cm(-2) ) peaks at at a late merger stage, prior to coalescence, when the nuclei have projected separations (d(sep)) of 0.4-6 kpc. A similar peak is also observed in the median N-H [[(1.6 +/- 0.5) x 10(24) cm(-2)].]. The vast majority (85(-9)(+7) per cent)) of the AGNs in the final merger stages (d(sep) less than or similar to 10 kpc) are heavily obscured (N-H = 10(23) cm(-2)), and the median N-H of the accreting SMBHs in our sample is systematically higher than that of local hard X-ray-selected AGN, regardless of the merger stage. This implies that these objects have very obscured nuclear environments, with the gas almost completely covering the AGN in late mergers. CT AGNs tend to have systematically higher absorption-corrected X-ray luminosities than less obscured sources. This could either be due to an evolutionary effect, with more obscured sources accreting more rapidly because they have more gas available in their surroundings, or to a selection bias. The latter scenario would imply that we are still missing a large fraction of heavily obscured, lower luminosity (L2-10 less than or similar to 10(43) erg s(-1)) AGNs in U/LIRGs.
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| 9. |
- Battersby, C., et al.
(författare)
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The Origins Space Telescope
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:8, s. 596-599
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Origins Space Telescope, one of four large Mission Concept Studies sponsored by NASA for review in the 2020 US Astrophysics Decadal Survey, will open unprecedented discovery space in the infrared, unveiling our cosmic origins.
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| 10. |
- Gonzalez-Alfonso, E., et al.
(författare)
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Herschel observations of water vapour in Markarian 231
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 518:Article Number: L43
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Ultra luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) Mrk 231 reveals up to seven rotational lines of water (H2O) in emission, including a very high-lying (Eupper = 640 K) line detected at a 4 sigma level, within the Herschel/SPIRE wavelength range (190
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