Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21340405b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #404.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.196
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
New Worlds Observer (NWO), a 4-meter class telescope designed to detect and characterize Earth-like planets around nearby stars with a star-shade, will be a powerful observatory for general astrophysics. NWO will have extended UV and near-IR sensitivity, angular resolution nearly a factor of two better than Hubble or JWST, and unprecedented astrometric and photometric stability due to its high Earth orbit. Wide-field focal-plane array imaging conducted in parallel with star-shade assisted exo-planet observations will find background planets around field stars using transits and gravitational micro-lensing. Deep synoptic monitoring of these fields will detect distant supernovae, some of Type Ia which can be used to measure cosmic acceleration and the properties of dark energy. These data will also set stringent new constrains on all types of variable and moving sources including comets, asteroids, variable stars, and GRB after-glows in the fields surrounding every NWO target star. The time-averaged data will enable mapping of the distribution of dark matter in distant galaxy clusters using the "weak-lensing” method of searching for correlations in gravitationally lensed galaxy shapes. While the star-shade is being moved to a new target, the NWO 4-meter telescope can be used for general astrophysics observations including spectroscopy of targets requiring precise pointing. Over half of NWO space-craft hours will be available for general astrophysics, enabling investigations being proposed for other, dedicated, but smaller space telescopes.
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