The Star Formation Camera

Paul A. Scowen; Rolf Jansen; Matthew Beasley; Daniela Calzetti; Steven Desch; Alex Fullerton; John Gallagher; Doug Lisman; Steve Macenka; Sangeeta Malhotra; Mark McCaughrean; Shouleh Nikzad; Robert O'Connell; Sally Oey; Deborah Padgett; James Rhoads; Aki Roberge; Oswald Siegmund; Stuart Shaklan; Nathan Smith; Daniel Stern; Jason Tumlinson; Rogier Windhorst; Robert Woodruff

arXiv · 0904.1992

The Star Formation Camera

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Abstract

The Star Formation Camera (SFC) is a wide-field (~15'x19, >280 arcmin^2), high-resolution (18x18 mas pixels) UV/optical dichroic camera designed for the Theia 4-m space-borne space telescope concept. SFC will deliver diffraction-limited images at lambda > 300 nm in both a blue (190-517nm) and a red (517-1075nm) channel simultaneously. Our aim is to conduct a comprehensive and systematic study of the astrophysical processes and environments relevant for the births and life cycles of stars and their planetary systems, and to investigate and understand the range of environments, feedback mechanisms, and other factors that most affect the outcome of the star and planet formation process. This program addresses the origins and evolution of stars, galaxies, and cosmic structure and has direct relevance for the formation and survival of planetary systems like our Solar System and planets like Earth. We present the design and performance specifications resulting from the implementation study of the camera, conducted under NASA's Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Studies program, which is intended to assemble realistic options for mission development over the next decade. The result is an extraordinarily capable instrument that will provide deep, high-resolution imaging across a very wide field enabling a great variety of community science as well as completing the core survey science that drives the design of the camera. The technology associated with the camera is next generation but still relatively high TRL, allowing a low-risk solution with moderate technology development investment over the next 10 years. We estimate the cost of the instrument to be $390M FY08.

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Paul A. Scowen, Rolf Jansen, Matthew Beasley, Daniela Calzetti, Steven Desch, Alex Fullerton, John Gallagher, Doug Lisman, Steve Macenka, Sangeeta Malhotra, Mark McCaughrean, Shouleh Nikzad, Robert O'Connell, Sally Oey, Deborah Padgett, James Rhoads, Aki Roberge, Oswald Siegmund, Stuart Shaklan, Nathan Smith, Daniel Stern, Jason Tumlinson, Rogier Windhorst, Robert Woodruff. 2009-04-13. The Star Formation Camera. https://arxiv.org/abs/0904.1992

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