Abstract
We report results of a recently-completed pre-formulation phase study of SPIRIT, a candidate NASA Origins Probe mission. SPIRIT is a spatial and spectral interferometer with an operating wavelength range 25-400 μm. SPIRIT will provide sub-arcsecond resolution images and spectra with resolution R = 3000 in a 1′ field of view to accomplish three primary scientific objectives: (1) learn how planetary systems form from protostellar disks, and how they acquire their inhomogeneous composition; (2) characterize the family of extrasolar planetary systems by imaging the structure in debris disks to understand how and where planets of different types form; and (3) learn how high-redshift galaxies formed and merged to form the present-day population of galaxies. Observations with SPIRIT will be complementary to those of the James Webb Space Telescope and the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter Array. All three observatories could be operational contemporaneously.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 689-703 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Advances in Space Research |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2007 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cryogenic optics
- Infrared
- Infrared detectors
- Interferometry
- Origins probe
- Submillimeter
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aerospace Engineering
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Geophysics
- Atmospheric Science
- Space and Planetary Science
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)