A small space telescope to conduct a large spectroscopic survey of galaxies

Sara R. Heap; Qian Gong; Tony Hull; Jeffrey Kruk; Lloyd Purves; Massimo Robberto

doi:10.1117/12.2023730

26 September 2013 A small space telescope to conduct a large spectroscopic survey of galaxies

Sara R. Heap, Qian Gong, Tony Hull, Jeffrey Kruk, Lloyd Purves, Massimo Robberto

Proceedings Volume 8860, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts VI; 88600D (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023730
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2013, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

One of the key goals of NASA’s astrophysics program is to answer the question: How did galaxies evolve into the spirals and elliptical galaxies that we see today? We describe a mission concept called Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer (GESE) to address this question by making a large spectroscopic survey of galaxies at redshift, z~1-2 (lookback times of 8-10 billion years). GESE is a 1.5-m space telescope with a 3-channel multi-object slit spectrograph that can obtain spectra of ~400 galaxies per exposure. Together, the 3 channels cover the spectral range, 0.2-1.6 μm at a resolving power, R~400. (This observed spectral range corresponds to 0.1-0.8 μm in the restframe of a galaxy at a redshift, z=1 galaxy.) The mission concept takes advantage of two new technological advances: (1) light-weighted, wide field of view telescope mirrors, and (2) the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) to be used as a slit generator in a multichannel (UV, optical, NIR), multi-object slit spectrograph.

Citation Download Citation

Sara R. Heap, Qian Gong, Tony Hull, Jeffrey Kruk, Lloyd Purves, and Massimo Robberto "A small space telescope to conduct a large spectroscopic survey of galaxies", Proc. SPIE 8860, UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts VI, 88600D (26 September 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023730

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