80,005 research outputs found
The Emergence of the Modern Universe: Tracing the Cosmic Web
This is the report of the Ultraviolet-Optical Working Group (UVOWG)
commissioned by NASA to study the scientific rationale for new missions in
ultraviolet/optical space astronomy approximately ten years from now, when the
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is de-orbited. The UVOWG focused on a scientific
theme, The Emergence of the Modern Universe, the period from redshifts z = 3 to
0, occupying over 80% of cosmic time and beginning after the first galaxies,
quasars, and stars emerged into their present form. We considered
high-throughput UV spectroscopy (10-50x throughput of HST/COS) and wide-field
optical imaging (at least 10 arcmin square). The exciting science to be
addressed in the post-HST era includes studies of dark matter and baryons, the
origin and evolution of the elements, and the major construction phase of
galaxies and quasars. Key unanswered questions include: Where is the rest of
the unseen universe? What is the interplay of the dark and luminous universe?
How did the IGM collapse to form the galaxies and clusters? When were galaxies,
clusters, and stellar populations assembled into their current form? What is
the history of star formation and chemical evolution? Are massive black holes a
natural part of most galaxies? A large-aperture UV/O telescope in space
(ST-2010) will provide a major facility in the 21st century for solving these
scientific problems. The UVOWG recommends that the first mission be a 4m
aperture, SIRTF-class mission that focuses on UV spectroscopy and wide-field
imaging. In the coming decade, NASA should investigate the feasibility of an 8m
telescope, by 2010, with deployable optics similar to NGST. No high-throughput
UV/Optical mission will be possible without significant NASA investments in
technology, including UV detectors, gratings, mirrors, and imagers.Comment: Report of UV/O Working Group to NASA, 72 pages, 13 figures, Full
document with postscript figures available at
http://casa.colorado.edu/~uvconf/UVOWG.htm
Scientific Objectives for UV/Visible Astrophysics Investigations: A Summary of Responses by the Community (2012)
Following several recommendations presented by the Astrophysics Decadal
Survey 2010 centered around the need to define "a future ultraviolet-optical
space capability," on 2012 May 25, NASA issued a Request for Information (RFI)
seeking persuasive ultraviolet (UV) and visible wavelength astrophysics science
investigations. The goal was to develop a cohesive and compelling set of
science objectives that motivate and support the development of the next
generation of ultraviolet/visible space astrophysics missions. Responses were
due on 10 August 2012 when 34 submissions were received addressing a number of
potential science drivers. A UV/visible Mission RFI Workshop was held on 2012
September 20 where each of these submissions was summarized and discussed in
the context of each other. We present a scientific analysis of these
submissions and presentations and the pursuant measurement capability needs,
which could influence ultraviolet/visible technology development plans for the
rest of this decade. We also describe the process and requirements leading to
the inception of this community RFI, subsequent workshop and the expected
evolution of these ideas and concepts for the remainder of this decade.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, 3 table
Measurements of the Young’s modulus of hydroxide catalysis bonds, and the effect on thermal noise in ground-based gravitational wave detectors
With the outstanding results from the detection and observation of gravitational waves from coalescing black holes and neutron star inspirals, it is essential that pathways to further improve the sensitivities of the LIGO and VIRGO detectors are explored. There are a number of factors that potentially limit the sensitivities of the detectors. One such factor is thermal noise, a component of which results from the mechanical loss in the bond material between the silica fibre suspensions and the test mass mirrors. To calculate its magnitude, the Young’s modulus of the bond material has to be known with reasonable accuracy. In this paper we present a new combination of ultrasonic technology and Bayesian analysis to measure the Young’s modulus of hydroxide catalysis bonds between fused silica substrates. Using this novel technique, we measure the bond Young’s modulus to be
18.5
±
2.0
2.3
 
 
GPa
. We show that by applying this value to thermal noise models of bonded test masses with suitable attachment geometries, a reduction in suspension thermal noise consistent with an overall design sensitivity improvement allows a factor of 5 increase in event rate to be achieved
An Imaging Fabry-Perot System for the Robert Stobie Spectrograph on the Southern African Large Telescope
We present the design of the Fabry-Perot system of the Robert Stobie
Spectrograph on the 10-meter class Southern African Large Telescope and its
characterization as measured in the laboratory. This system provides
spectroscopic imaging at any desired wavelength spanning a bandpass 430 - 860
nm, at four different spectral resolving powers ranging from 300 to 9000. Our
laboratory tests revealed a wavelength dependence of the etalon gap and
parallelism with a maximum variation between 600 - 720 nm that arises because
of the complex structure of the broadband multi-layer dielectric coatings. We
also report an unanticipated optical effect of this multi-layer coating
structure that produces a significant, and wavelength dependent, change in the
apparent shape of the etalon plates. This change is caused by two effects: the
physical non-uniformities or thickness variations in the coating layers, and
the wavelength dependence of the phase change upon refection that can amplify
these non-uniformities. We discuss the impact of these coating effects on the
resolving power, finesse, and throughput of the system. This Fabry-Perot system
will provide a powerful tool for imaging spectroscopy on one of the world's
largest telescopes.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in The Astronomical
Journa
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