Convenor: Simon Green, Monica Grady
Talks: PFC 212, Fri 4 April, 11:00-12:30
Posters: Whitla Hall
This session is simply a continuation of P25.
P25a/224 - PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) - submitted 25/02/2008
Presented by: Ian Roxburgh, Queen Mary, University of London
Status: Accepted as talk. 11:05-11:25
Abstract: PLATO is a candidate mission for ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme with launch in 2017/2018. The mission addresses the question: How do planetary systems form and evolve? It will provide the data needed to advance our understanding of the formation and evolution of planets and planetary systems, including systems with Earth-like planets in the "habitable zone", and of the structure and evolution of stars.
PLATO will detect and fully characterise planetary systems by long duration (3 year), short cadence (30 sec) continuous photometric monitoring of ≈100,000 bright stars of all spectral types, using the signature of transits of planets in front of their parent stars, seismic analysis of the oscillation frequencies of the parent stars, ground based high resolution spectroscopy and interferometry, and data from Gaia. The primary targets of PLATO are therefore stars sufficiently bright (4≤mv≤11) for such characterisation to be possible. In addition PLATO will also perform a more extensive survey of planetary transits in front of ≈400,000 stars down to mv=14, the limit for the detection of Earth like planets. Asteroseismic analysis of all the bright stars will also be used to study stellar evolution; this will include stars in open clusters and population II stars.
ESA's CDF mission study concluded that "A mission/spacecraft design that fits with the given technical requirements and constraints has been found". This has a cluster 28x0.01m2 co-aligned off-axis telescopes with a 25x25° field of view, 4 CCDs of 3548x3548x18µm pixels per focal plane operating in full frame mode, a front-end electronics box and DPU for each focal plane, and a central calculator for post processing, compression and transmission The photometric precision is 2.7 10-5 per hr, or 1ppm in 30 days for the 100,000 bright stars (mv≤11), sufficient to detect sub-earth size planets around dwarf stars. The cadence of observation is < 30 sec, sufficient for asteroseismic analysis and fine resolution of transits. PLATO will observe 1 field for 3 years, 1 field for 2 years (ideally 3), followed by a series of short duration observations on a number of fields. It could be launched by a Soyuz-Fregat into an orbit at L2.
P25a/531 - XEUS: the Physics of the Hot Evolving Universe - submitted 04/03/2008
Presented by: M.J.L.Turner, University of Leicester
Status: Accepted as talk. 11:25-11:45
Abstract: XEUS is the X-ray observatory chosen for study by ESA as part of the Cosmic Vision programme; it will compete for a launch slot in 2018. XEUS is a 5 square-metre X-ray telescope with an angular resolution of better than 5 arc sec and a focal length of 35 metres. XEUS comprises two spacecraft carried to L2 by an Ariane V launcher. The optics are mounted on the Mirror Spacecraft, and the instruments in the Detector Spacecraft; they maintain alignment 35 metres apart using formation flying technology. The main instruments are a cryogenic imaging spectrometer (NFI) using an array of transition edge sensors with a field of view of 1.7 arc min, and an energy resolution of a few eV. and a silicon-based wide field camera (WFI) with a field of view of 10 arc min and an energy resolution of 100 eV. These will be complemented by smaller instruments devoted to high time resolution, hard X-rays, and polarimetry. XEUS will address two of the 'grand themes' of Cosmic Vision: "How did the Universe originate and what is it made of?" and "What are the fundamental laws of the Universe?" It will do this by studying six areas of contemporary astrophysics: the evolution and growth of super-massive black holes; cosmic feedback and galaxy evolution; the evolution of large-scale structure; extreme gravity, and matter under extreme conditions; the dynamical evolution of cosmic plasmas; cosmic chemistry. XEUS will be put together by an international consortium, with instruments provided by the communities; it is planned to operate for 5 years and will be an open observatory with time awarded in a succession of announcements of opportunity.
P25a/360 - SPICA: The next generation FIR Space Observatory - submitted 29/02/2008
Presented by: Bruce Swinyard (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
Status: Accepted as talk. 11:45-12:05
Abstract: The Japanese led SPICA mission proposed for launch in 2017 represents the next generation of space infrared telescopes. Its cooled (<5 K) 3.5-m aperture offers the possibility to make far infrared (30-200 µm) observations with sensitivities that approach those in the MIR and ground based sub-mm. The telescope will also have a wide field of view to allow the provision MIR instruments complemenary to JWST-MIRI and the well comntrolled point spread funtion from the monolithic mirror means that a state of the art MIR corongraph can be included to provide both direct imaging, and for the first time, direct spectroscopy of young exo-planets.
We have proposed, and had accepted, that ESA explore the possibility of becoming partners in SPICA through the provision of a telescope and by supporting a UK led consortium that plans to build an FIR imaging photometer/spectrometer: SAFARI. The ESA contribution to SPICA is now under study within the Cosmic Vision process as a "Mission of Opportunity". In this talk I describe the proposed mission, its instrument complement and the part ESA and the European national agencies might play in it. I discuss the range of scientific advances that high sensitivity imaging spectroscopy in the 30-200 µm band will allow and describe the concepts currently being studied that will provide the wide-field imaging photometry and spectroscopy FIR instrument for SPICA.
P25a/348 - SPACE/DUNE - A European Dark Energy Mission - submitted 28/02/2008
Presented by: Carlton Baugh (Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham)
Status: Accepted as talk. 12:05-12:25
Abstract: Understanding the reason behind the accelerating expansion of the Universe is one of the most pressing problems in physics. I will outline two dark energy M-class missions selected by ESA in the Cosmic Visions call. Both proposals aim to survey the whole sky: SPACE is a novel near-infrared spectrograph and DUNE is an optical imager, with near-IR photometry. The missions use different techniques to probe the physics behind the accelerating cosmic expansion. I will report on the progress of the ESA study into a merged SPACE/DUNE mission.
