The Origins Space Telescope, one of four large Mission Concept Studies sponsored by NASA for review in the 2020 US Astrophysics Decadal Survey, will open unprecedented discovery space in the infrared, unveiling our cosmic origins

Armus, L.

Battersby, Cara

Bradford, C. Matt

Carey, Sean

Zmuidzinas, Jonas

English

Caltech Authors - Main

 
 
The Origins Space Telescope: From First Stars to Life 
The Origins Space Telescope, one of four large Mission Concept studies sponsored by NASA for 
review in the 2020 US Astrophysics Decadal Survey, will open unprecedented discovery space in 
the infrared, unveiling our cosmic origins. 
 
Authors: Cara Battersby1, Lee Armus2, Edwin Bergin3, Tiffany Kataria4, Margaret Meixner5,6, 
Alexandra Pope7, Kevin B. Stevenson5, Asantha Cooray8, David Leisawitz9, Douglas Scott10, 
James Bauer11, C. Matt Bradford4,12, Kimberly Ennico13, Jonathan J. Fortney14, Lisa 
Kaltenegger15, Gary J. Melnick16, Stefanie N. Milam9, Desika Narayanan17, Deborah Padgett4, 
Klaus Pontoppidan5, Thomas Roellig13, Karin Sandstrom18, Kate Y. L. Su19, Joaquin Vieira20, 
Edward Wright21, Jonas Zmuidzinas12, Johannes Staguhn6,9, Kartik Sheth22, Dominic Benford22, 
Eric E. Mamajek4, Susan G. Neff9, Sean Carey2, Denis Burgarella23, Elvire De Beck24, 
Maryvonne Gerin25, Frank P. Helmich26, S. Harvey Moseley9, Itsuki Sakon27 and Martina C. 
Wiedner25 
 
1Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.  2Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, 
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. 3Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann 
Arbor, MI, USA. 4NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA.5Space Telescope Science Institute, 
Baltimore, MD, USA. 6Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. 
7Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA. 8Department of Physics & Astronomy, 
University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. 9NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA. 
10Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 11Department of 
Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. 12Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, 
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. 13NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA. 
14Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA. 15Carl Sagan Institute 
at Cornell, Ithaca, NY, USA. 16Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA. 17Department 
of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. 18Department of Physics, University of California, San 
Diego, CA, USA. 19Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. 20Department of Astronomy, 
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA. 21Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of 
California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 22Astrophysics Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, 
Washington, DC, USA. 23Laboratoire d’Astrophysique, University of Marseille, Marseille, France. 24Department of 
Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers Institute of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden. 
25Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Paris, France. 26SRON Netherlands Institute 
for Space Research, Groningen, The Netherlands. 27Department of Astronomy, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. 
 
 
The Universe has never been seen like this before. The window into the far-infrared opens only 
above Earth’s atmosphere, and humanity has barely glimpsed outside. About half of the light 
emitted by stars, planets, and galaxies over the lifetime of the Universe emerges in the infrared. 
With an unparalleled sensitivity increase of up to a factor of 1,000 more than any previous or 
planned mission, the jump forward offered by the Origins Space Telescope (OST) is akin to that 
from the naked eye to humanity’s first telescope, and the jump from Galileo’s first telescope to 
humanity’s first telescope in space. While key path-finding missions have glimpsed a rich 
infrared cosmos, extraordinary discovery space awaits; the time for a far-IR revolution has 
begun. 
 
Are we alone or is life common in the Universe? OST directly addresses this long-standing 
question by searching for signs of life in the atmospheres of potentially habitable terrestrial 
planets transiting M dwarfs. How do planets become habitable? OST traces the trail of cold 
water from the interstellar medium, through protoplanetary disks, and into the outer reaches of 
our own solar system. How do stars, galaxies, black holes, and the elements of life form from 
cosmic dawn to today? With broad wavelength coverage and fast mapping speeds, OST will map 
millions of galaxies, simultaneously measuring star formation rates and black hole growth across 
cosmic time, peering deeper into the far reaches of the Universe than ever before. 
 
OST will be maintained at a temperature of 4 K, enabling its tremendous sensitivity gain, and 
will operate from 5–600 µm, encompassing the mid- and far-infrared. OST has two Mission 
Concepts: Concept 1 with a 9.1-m deployed off-axis primary, and Concept 2, described here, a 
non-deployed 5.9-m on-axis telescope with the equivalent collecting area of the James Webb 
Space Telescope. Concept 2 includes four instruments with capabilities for imaging (large 
surveys and pointed), spectroscopy (survey and high-resolution modes), and polarimetry, as well 
as an instrument for high-precision transiting exoplanet spectroscopy. Concept 2 is optimized for 
minimal complexity and fast mapping. We describe here the three key science themes for OST 
and the basic mission specifications. 
 
Are we alone in the Universe? 
For the first time in human history, our generation will have the technology to answer this age-
old question. Planet-hunting programs (such as TRAPPIST [Gillon et al. 2016], MEarth [Berta-
Thompson et al. 2013], Kepler [Borucki et al. 2010]) recently confirmed the first Earth 
analogues orbiting M dwarfs.  However, it is unknown whether planets orbiting M dwarfs, the 
most ubiquitous stars in our Galaxy, can support life. OST will characterize the atmospheres of 
Earth-size planets, and search for biosignatures, a combination of molecules that, when observed 
together, can only be sustained by life. 
Exoplanets are incredibly dim compared to their host stars. The transit technique is currently the 
only method that has characterized the atmospheres of potentially habitable worlds (de Wit et al., 
2018). During primary transit, we observe the planet pass in front of its host star, which 
unambiguously determines the planet's size and, when combined with a mass measurement, its 
bulk density. Knowledge of these fundamental parameters, in addition to temperature, is an 
essential first step towards assessing its ability to support life. OST will expand upon the legacy 
of exoplanet science with the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and the 
upcoming James Webb Space Telescope by using the transit technique to study the climates of 
Earth-size worlds orbiting within the habitable zones of M-dwarf stars. 
The true indicator of life, however, is the detection of biosignatures, a combination of mutually 
reactive molecules whose presence together in an atmosphere can only be sustained by life. For 
example, the measurable presence of methane (a reducing molecule) in Earth's oxidizing 
atmosphere (containing oxygen and ozone) is widely considered a biosignature (Kaltenegger, 
2017). OST will include an instrument designed to detect light absorbed and re-radiated by 
potentially habitable planets, whose emission peaks in the mid-infrared (see Figure 1).  By 
obtaining emission and transmission spectra from 5 to 25 µm, OST will be able to precisely 
measure a planet's atmospheric thermal structure and search for habitability indicators such as 
water, carbon dioxide, ozone, and methane.  The definitive detection of both ozone and methane 
in the atmospheres of one or more planets orbiting nearby M dwarfs will be the strongest 
evidence that we are not alone and, in fact, that life is common in our Galaxy. 
 
Figure 1: The Origins Space Telescope will search for biosignatures in the atmospheres of 
potentially habitable terrestrial planets transiting M dwarfs to determine if we are alone in the 
Universe.  
How do planets become habitable? 
The trail of water leads to a habitable world, but it begins in the cold expanse of interstellar 
space, where water forms in condensing, starless cores. As these starless cores collapse into 
protoplanetary disks, this water is distributed through the disk, with a transition from a hot (> 
200 K) vapor-dominated phase to a cold, ice-dominated phase at the water snowline. While 
pioneering observations with previous IR facilities (e.g. van Dishoeck et al. 2014) have provided 
glimpses of this water trail, a complete picture has so far remained elusive. 
Uncovering the trail of water requires a space-based platform, such as OST, operating from the 
mid-infrared, where hundreds of water transitions probe gas at high temperature (T > 400 K), to 
the far-infrared, where ground-state transitions probe cold (10 < T < 400 K) water vapor. These 
ground-state transitions are needed to trace the snowline location, which is posited as a favored 
site of planet formation (Stevenson & Lunine 1988). Within our solar system, OST will survey 
nearly a hundred comets and provide a true sample of the D/H ratio, and its variations, in 
cometary reservoirs – key to understanding the origin of water in Earth’s oceans. 
OST’s high sensitivity and broad wavelength coverage will allow us to probe the envelopes of 
collapsing gas clouds to trace the heretofore hidden supply of water to a natal disk, and 
simultaneously detect water vapor in hot and cold gas in protoplanetary disks out to the distance 
of Orion. Along with the ability to probe HD, a tracer of the total H2 mass (Bergin et al. 2013), 
astronomers will sample the evolving water content, both gas and ice, along with the water 
snowline as a function of stellar mass and evolutionary state. Ultimately, OST will provide the 
definitive picture of how water forms and is provided to planetary systems, which, with this 
central ingredient and others, can lead to life's formation on alien worlds. 
How do stars, galaxies, black holes, and the elements of life form from cosmic dawn to today? 
 
The Milky Way has spent the last 12 billion years growing into the familiar spiral Galaxy we live 
in today: its central supermassive black hole growing along with the stars, mostly hidden behind 
dust (Maddau & Dickinson 2014). In order to understand the complicated relationship between 
the growth of stars and black holes in galaxies, and chart this evolution over cosmic time, OST 
will characterize spectroscopically large samples of distant galaxies at the wavelengths where 
they emit most of their energy, thereby viewing the Universe at earlier and earlier epochs, 
effectively rewinding the clock on the lifecycle of galaxies. As OST pushes to the earliest 
epochs, we will observe the rise of metals and dust - the creation and dispersal of heavy elements 
inside and outside galaxies through successive generations of stellar birth and death - from the 
first stars and galaxies to the present epoch.  
 
 
Figure 2: OST will simultaneously observe key diagnostics of star formation (e.g. PAH features 
and [NeII], [SiII], [OI], [CII]), feedback (e.g. H2 lines), and black hole growth (e.g. [NeV], 
[OIV]) across millions of galaxies over cosmic time. Due to its ability to perform deep, wide 
spectroscopic surveys, OST will benefit from the factor of 1,000 increase in sensitivity while 
avoiding limitations imposed by source confusion. 
 
Infrared observations provide unique tracers of the gas that feeds both star formation and black 
hole growth (see Figure 2) and is immune to the obscuring effects of dust that often hides young 
stars and galactic nuclei from view at shorter wavelengths (Spinoglio & Malkan 1992). The 
powerful energy emitted from growing supermassive black holes plays a critical role in 
regulating star formation in galaxies. OST will measure this feedback on the dense interstellar 
medium of nearby galaxies and will revolutionize our ability to identify and measure galactic 
outflows over the past 12 Gyr, linking theory and observations of how galaxies grow inside their 
dark matter halos.  
 
A unique power of OST is its ability to conduct deep and wide spectroscopic surveys, taking full 
advantage of the large increase in sensitivity while avoiding many of the problems imposed by 
source crowding in photometric surveys. OST will conduct deep spectroscopic surveys over tens 
of square degrees, simultaneously measuring redshifts, star formation rates, and black hole 
accretion rates in millions of galaxies using bright, infrared emission lines from hot gas as well 
spectral features from dust grains excited by UV photons from young stars. These surveys will 
map out the cosmic history of star formation and black hole accretion over more than 95% of the 
age of the Universe. With the ability to trace the rise of metals, stars, and galaxies, and star 
formation and black hole growth from cosmic dawn to today, OST unveils the full story of our 
cosmic origins. 
 
 
The OST Mission Concepts 
 
OST is one of four Mission Concept studies sponsored by NASA for the 2020 NRC Decadal 
Study in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The OST study has two Mission Concepts, both covering 
wavelengths from 5–600 µm. Mission Concept 1 is comprised of a 9.1 m off-axis telescope and 
five instruments. Mission Concept 2, currently under development, is an optimized concept 
addressing all key science themes outlined in this article, composed of a 5.9 m on-axis telescope 
with JWST-sized collecting area and four instruments. The telescope in Mission Concept 2 is a 
three-mirror anastigmat, providing a field of view that allows OST to achieve all of its science 
goals. A field-steering fourth mirror enables rapid sky motion needed for the far-IR detectors. A 
multilayer sunshade, a cold baffle and cryocoolers ensure the telescope environment is 
maintained at 4 K, key to achieving OST’s unprecedented sensitivity gain.  
The four instruments under study for Mission Concept 2 enable a broad range of scientific 
advancements including those described here, but are designed to be flexible to the key questions 
of the 2030s and immense discovery space opened by OST. The OST Survey Spectrometer 
(OSS, resolution R~300 and R > 40,000 for 30-600 µm) will provide imaging and spectroscopy 
over large extragalactic fields and study protoplanetary disks. The Mid-Infrared Imager, 
Spectrometer and Camera (MISC) instrument (R~300) will conduct transit and emission 
spectroscopy of Jupiter to Earth-sized transiting exoplanets with simultaneous wavelength 
coverage from 5-25 µm, will have an imager and imaging spectrometer, and will also guide the 
observatory. OST’s Far-Infrared Imaging Polarimeter (FIP) will conduct 40, 80, 120 and 240 
µm imaging and polarimetry of wide extra-galactic fields and star-forming fields in our Galaxy. 
The HEterodyne Receiver for OST (HERO, resolution R~106 -107 in selected wavelength 
bands between 111 µm and 566 µm) will measure the kinematics of gas in the interstellar 
medium and protoplanetary disks.  
 
Figure 3:  OST offers expansive new discovery space, with an improvement in sensitivity of up to 
a factor of 1000 over any previous or planned facility. Spectral line sensitivity (5σ in 1 hour) 
across the far-IR band for the OST instruments (blue) for Concept 2 (5.9m) compared with 
existing and future facilities. The OSS and ALMA sensitivities refer to high-resolution (R=106) 
observations, for, e.g., protoplanetary disks and ISM kinematics.  
The observatory will be outfitted with large Control Moment Gyroscopes and momentum wheels 
to enable large-scale mapping of the sky at approximately 100 arcseconds per second. The OST 
Concept 2 design has minimal deployments (sunshields and solar arrays). The flight system, 
comprised of the telescope, instrument accommodation module, sunshield and spacecraft, will be 
launchable in a 7 or 8 m diameter fairing. Three possible launch vehicles – NASA’s Space 
Launch System and two commercial vehicles – are expected to be equipped with such fairings by 
the 2030s, when OST is planned to launch. 
 
With a sensitivity gain of up to a factor of 1,000 over any previous or planned mission, OST will 
open unprecedented discovery space, allowing us to peer through an infrared window teeming 
with possibility. OST will fundamentally change our understanding of our cosmic origins — 
from the growth of galaxies and black holes, to uncovering the trail of water, to life signs in 
nearby Earth-size planets, and discoveries never imagined. Built to be highly adaptable, while 
addressing key science across many areas of astrophysics, OST will usher in a new era of 
infrared astronomy. 
 
References: 
1. Bergin, E. A. et al. Nature 493, 644–646 (2013). 
2. Berta-Thompson, Z. K. et al. Astrophys. J. 775, 1–12 (2013). 
3. Borucki, W. J. et al. Science 327, 977–980 (2010). 
4. de Wit, J. et al. Nat. Astron. 2, 214–219 (2018). 
5. Gillon, M. et al. Nature 533, 221–224 (2016). 
6. Kaltenegger, L. Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 55, 433–485 (2017). 
7. Madau, P. & Dickinson, M. Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 52, 415–486 (2014). 
8. Stevenson, D. J. & Lunine, J. I. Icarus 75, 146–155 (1998). 
9. Spinoglio, L. & Malkan, M. A. Astrophys. J. 399, 504–520 (1992). 
10. van Dishoeck, E. F. et al. in Protostars and Planets VI, University of Arizona Press, 
Tucson, 835–858 (2014). 
 
 


The Origins Space Telescope

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The Origins Space Telescope

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