Faint objects in motion: the new frontier of high precision astrometry
Journal article, 2021
Sky survey telescopes and powerful targeted telescopes play complementary roles in astronomy. In order to investigate the nature and characteristics of the motions of very faint objects, a flexibly-pointed instrument capable of high astrometric accuracy is an ideal complement to current astrometric surveys and a unique tool for precision astrophysics. Such a space-based mission will push the frontier of precision astrometry from evidence of Earth-mass habitable worlds around the nearest stars, to distant Milky Way objects, and out to the Local Group of galaxies. As we enter the era of the James Webb Space Telescope and the new ground-based, adaptive-optics-enabled giant telescopes, by obtaining these high precision measurements on key objects that Gaia could not reach, a mission that focuses on high precision astrometry science can consolidate our theoretical understanding of the local Universe, enable extrapolation of physical processes to remote redshifts, and derive a much more consistent picture of cosmological evolution and the likely fate of our cosmos. Already several missions have been proposed to address the science case of faint objects in motion using high precision astrometry missions: NEAT proposed for the ESA M3 opportunity, micro-NEAT for the S1 opportunity, and Theia for the M4 and M5 opportunities. Additional new mission configurations adapted with technological innovations could be envisioned to pursue accurate measurements of these extremely small motions. The goal of this White Paper is to address the fundamental science questions that are at stake when we focus on the motions of faint sky objects and to briefly review instrumentation and mission profiles.
Space mission
Exoplanets
Local universe
Astrometry
Cosmology
Author
F. Malbet
Grenoble Alpes University
Céline Boehm
The University of Sydney
A. Krone-Martins
University of Lisbon
A. Amorim
University of Lisbon
G. Anglada Escude´
Queen Mary University of London
A. Brandeker
Stockholm University
Frédéric Courbin
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)
T.A. Enßlin
Max Planck Society
Antonio Falcão
Instituto de Desenvolvimento de Novas Tecnologias (UNINOVA)
Katherine Freese
Stockholm University
The University of Texas at Austin
Berry Holl
University of Geneva
L. Labadie
University of Cologne
A. Léger
University Paris-Saclay
Gary A. Mamon
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Barbara McArthur
The University of Texas at Austin
A. Mora
Aurora Technology B.V.
M. Shao
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
A. Sozzetti
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Douglas Spolyar
Stockholm University
E. Villaver
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
Ummi Abbas
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Conrado Albertus
Universidad de Granada
J. Alves
University of Vienna
Rory Barnes
University of Washington
A. S. Bonomo
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Hervé Bouy
University of Bordeaux
Warren R. Brown
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Vitor Cardoso
Instituto Superior Tecnico
Marco Castellani
Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
L. Chemin
University of Antofogasta
Hamish Clark
The University of Sydney
A. Correia
Centre for Physics of the University of Coimbra
Mariateresa Crosta
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Antoine Crouzier
Paris Observatory
Mario Damasso
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Jeremy Darling
University of Colorado at Boulder
M. B. Davies
Lund University
Antonaldo Diaferio
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
University of Turin
Morgane Fortin
Polish Academy of Sciences
Malcolm Fridlund
Leiden University
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
Mario Gai
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
P. J. V. Garcia
University of Porto
Oleg Gnedin
University of Michigan
A. Goobar
Stockholm University
P. Gordo
University of Lisbon
R. Goullioud
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
David Hall
Open University
Nigel Hambly
University of Edinburgh
Diana Harrison
IoA
D. Hobbs
Lund University
Andrew Holland
Open University
Erik Høg
Niels Bohr Institute
Carme Jordi
University of Barcelona
Sergei Klioner
Technische Universität Dresden
Ariane Lançon
University of Strasbourg
J. Laskar
Paris Observatory
Mario Lattanzi
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Christophe Le Poncin-Lafitte
Paris Observatory
Xavier Luri
University of Barcelona
Daniel Michalik
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
André Moitinho de Almeida
Instituto Superior Tecnico
Ana Mourão
Instituto Superior Tecnico
Leonidas Moustakas
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Neil J. Murray
Open University
Matthew Muterspaugh
Columbia State Community College
Micaela Oertel
Paris Observatory
Luisa Ostorero
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
University of Turin
Jordi Portell
University of Barcelona
Jean Pierre Prost
Thales Group
A. Quirrenbach
Heidelberg University
J. Schneider
Paris Observatory
Pat Scott
Imperial College London
University of Queensland
Arnaud Siebert
University of Strasbourg
Antonio da Silva
University of Lisbon
Manuel Silva
University of Porto
P. Thebault
Paris Observatory
John Tomsick
University of California at Berkeley
Wesley Traub
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Miguel De Val-Borro
Planetary Science Institute
Monica Valluri
University of Michigan
N. A. Walton
University of Cambridge
Laura L. Watkins
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
G. White
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Open University
Lukasz Wyrzykowski
University of Warsaw
Rosemary Wyse
Johns Hopkins University
Yoshiyuki Yamada
Kyoto University
Experimental Astronomy
0922-6435 (ISSN) 1572-9508 (eISSN)
Vol. 51 3 845-886Subject Categories
Aerospace Engineering
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Human Aspects of ICT
DOI
10.1007/s10686-021-09781-1