Far-IR/Submm Missions of the Future: Scientific and Technology Challenges

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• Dr Wayne Holland, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
• Wednesday 15 October 2008, 14:00-15:00
• Ryle Seminar Room, Cavendish Laboratory.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Judith Moss.

Studying astrophysics in the far-infrared and submillimetre allows us to probe the earliest phases of the formation of galaxies, stars and planets. The past decade has seen a large investment by the UK and astronomers are poised to reap the rewards of new facilities (such as Herschel, SCUBA -2, and ALMA ) over the next several years. However, there remain both crucial wavebands and capabilities that are not addressed by the current programme. These include the so-called “far-infrared gap” and the ability to carry out very large area surveys in the submillimetre to depths well below current confusion limits. In this talk, after a brief review of the current and near-term status, I will describe the scientific goals of new proposed telescopes that are designed to address these missing links. These include large, single-aperture telescopes operating from ultra dry sites on the ground (e.g. CCAT ), cooled space satellites in the mid-far infrared (SPICA), and more speculative ventures such as a 10-m class far-IR telescope (SAFIR) and multi-element interferometer (FIRI) operating in space. Key to any new telescope or mission is the development of technologies to ensure that state-of-the-art instrumentation is employed on such facilities. The UK has considerable heritage in this areas and I will also discuss some of the key challenges of the next generation of detectors and their cryogenic requirements.

This talk is part of the Institute of Astronomy Extra Talks series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Astronomy Talks
• Combined External Astrophysics Talks DAMTP
• Cosmology, Astrophysics and General Relativity
• Institute of Astronomy Extra Talks
• Institute of Astronomy Talk Lists
• Ryle Seminar Room, Cavendish Laboratory

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