Faint objects in motion: the new frontier of high precision astrometry
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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

Författare

F. Malbet

Université Grenoble Alpes

Céline Boehm

The University of Sydney

A. Krone-Martins

Universidade de Lisboa

A. Amorim

Universidade de Lisboa

G. Anglada Escude´

Queen Mary University of London

A. Brandeker

Stockholms universitet

Frédéric Courbin

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)

T.A. Enßlin

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Antonio Falcão

Instituto de Desenvolvimento de Novas Tecnologias (UNINOVA)

Katherine Freese

Stockholms universitet

The University of Texas at Austin

Berry Holl

Université de Genève

L. Labadie

Universität zu Köln

A. Léger

Université Paris-Saclay

Gary A. Mamon

Université Pierre et Marie Curie (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

Stockholms universitet

E. Villaver

Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)

Ummi Abbas

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Conrado Albertus

Universidad de Granada

J. Alves

Universität Wien

Rory Barnes

University of Washington

A. S. Bonomo

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Hervé Bouy

Université de 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

Observatoire de Paris

Mario Damasso

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Jeremy Darling

University of Colorado at Boulder

M. B. Davies

Lunds universitet

Antonaldo Diaferio

Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare

Universita degli Studi di Torino

Morgane Fortin

Polish Academy of Sciences

Malcolm Fridlund

Universiteit Leiden

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik

Mario Gai

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

P. J. V. Garcia

Universidade do Porto

Oleg Gnedin

University of Michigan

A. Goobar

Stockholms universitet

P. Gordo

Universidade de Lisboa

R. Goullioud

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

David Hall

Open University

Nigel Hambly

University of Edinburgh

Diana Harrison

IoA

D. Hobbs

Lunds universitet

Andrew Holland

Open University

Erik Høg

Niels Bohr Institute

Carme Jordi

Universitat de Barcelona

Sergei Klioner

Technische Universität Dresden

Ariane Lançon

Université de Strasbourg

J. Laskar

Observatoire de Paris

Mario Lattanzi

Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)

Christophe Le Poncin-Lafitte

Observatoire de Paris

Xavier Luri

Universitat de 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

Observatoire de Paris

Luisa Ostorero

Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare

Universita degli Studi di Torino

Jordi Portell

Universitat de Barcelona

Jean Pierre Prost

Thales Group

A. Quirrenbach

Universität Heidelberg

J. Schneider

Observatoire de Paris

Pat Scott

Imperial College London

University of Queensland

Arnaud Siebert

Université de Strasbourg

Antonio da Silva

Universidade de Lisboa

Manuel Silva

Universidade do Porto

P. Thebault

Observatoire de Paris

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

Uniwersytet Warszawski

Rosemary Wyse

Johns Hopkins University

Yoshiyuki Yamada

Kyoto University

Experimental Astronomy

0922-6435 (ISSN) 1572-9508 (eISSN)

Vol. 51 3 845-886

Ämneskategorier

Rymd- och flygteknik

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

Mänsklig interaktion med IKT

DOI

10.1007/s10686-021-09781-1

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2022-04-05