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Chronos: A NIR spectroscopic survey to target the most important phases of galaxy evolution across cosmic time
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- (Abridged summary) Responding to ESA's Voyage 2050 call to define the long-term plan for the future space missions that will address the astrophysics science questions during the 2035-2050 cycle, we propose a dedicated, ultra-deep spectroscopic survey in the near infrared (NIR), that will target a mass-limited sample of galaxies during two of the most fundamental epochs of cosmic evolution: the formation of the first galaxies (at z>6; cosmic dawn), and at the peak of galaxy formation activity (between redshift z=1 and 3; cosmic noon). By way of NIR observations, it is possible to study the Lyman-alpha region in the former, and the optical rest-frame in the latter, allowing us to extract fundamental observables such as gas and stellar kinematics, chemical abundances, and ages, providing a unique legacy database covering these two crucial stages of cosmic evolution. A dedicated, space-based facility will overcome the challenges faced by ground-based telescopes, no matter how large the aperture, or the reduced field of view and low multiplex factor of the best space-based instrument in the near future, namely NIRSpec at the JWST. Our project (codename Chronos) aims to produce about 1 million high quality spectra, with a high S/N in the continuum, where information about the underlying stellar populations is encoded.<br />Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures. Submitted to ESA's Voyage 2050 call to shape the future space science programme. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1306.6333
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.1908.08795
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-021-09702-2