Exploring the NRO Opportunity for a Hubble-sized Wide-field Near-IR Space Telescope -- NEW WFIRST

We discuss scientific, technical and programmatic issues related to the use of an NRO 2.4m telescope for the WFIRST initiative of the 2010 Decadal Survey. We show that this implementation of WFIRST, which we call "NEW WFIRST," would achieve the goals of the NWNH Decadal Survey for the WFIR...

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Published in:arXiv.org 2012-11
Main Authors: Dressler, Alan, Spergel, David, Mountain, Matt, Postman, Marc, Elliott, Erin, Bendek, Eduardo, Bennett, David, Dalcanton, Julianne, Gaudi, Scott, Gehrels, Neil, Guyon, Olivier, Hirata, Christopher, Kalirai, Jason, Kasdin, N Jeremy, Kruk, Jeff, Macintosh, Bruce, Malhotra, Sangeeta, Penny, Matthew, Perlmutter, Saul, Rieke, George, Riess, Adam, Rhoads, James, Shaklan, Stuart, Somerville, Rachel, Stern, Daniel, Thompson, Rodger, Weinberg, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accretion disks
Dark energy
Extrasolar planets
Hubble Space Telescope
Microlenses
Planet detection
Space telescopes
Terrestrial planets
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Summary:We discuss scientific, technical and programmatic issues related to the use of an NRO 2.4m telescope for the WFIRST initiative of the 2010 Decadal Survey. We show that this implementation of WFIRST, which we call "NEW WFIRST," would achieve the goals of the NWNH Decadal Survey for the WFIRST core programs of Dark Energy and Microlensing Planet Finding, with the crucial benefit of deeper and/or wider near-IR surveys for GO science and a potentially Hubble-like Guest Observer program. NEW WFIRST could also include a coronagraphic imager for direct detection of dust disks and planets around neighboring stars, a high-priority science and technology precursor for future ambitious programs to image Earth-like planets around neighboring stars.
ISSN:2331-8422