Stellar Imager (SI) — A UV/Optical Interferometer to Observe the Universe in High Definition
Abstract
The concept for a space based, UV/Optical Interferometer with over 200x HST's resolution, named "Stellar Imager" (http://hires.gsfc.nasa.gov/si/), was developed as part of the NASA Vision Mission studies ("NASA Space Science Vision Missions" 2008, ed. M. Allen). SI was a "Landmark/Discovery Mission" in the 2005 Heliophysics Roadmap and a candidate UV-optical interferometer (UVOI) in the 2006 Astrophysics Strategic Plan. SI would enable 0.1 milli-arcsec spectral imaging of stellar surfaces, and many sources in the Universe in general, and open an enormous new "discovery space" for Astrophysics with its combination of high angular resolution, dynamic imaging, and spectral energy resolution. SI's goal is to study the role of magnetism in the Universe and revolutionize our understanding of: 1) Solar/Stellar Magnetic Activity and their impact on Space Weather, Planetary Climates, and Life; 2) Magnetic and Accretion Processes and their roles in the Origin and Evolution of Structure and in the Transport of Matter throughout the Universe; 3) the close-in structure of Active Galactic Nuclei; and 4) Exo-Solar Planet Transits and Disks. Significant technology development is critical to enabling SI and other future space-based, sparse aperture telescopes and distributed-spacecraft missions. The key technology needs include: 1) precision formation flying of many spacecraft, 2) precision metrology over km-scales, 3) closed-loop control of many-element, sparse optical arrays, 4) staged-control systems with very high dynamic ranges (nm to km-scale). We describe the needed technology development, science goals, and feasibility of interferometry from space, as well as provide detail performance parameters and simulations of the data that could be acquired by this space interferometer.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23530102C