The Science Case for Multi-Object Spectroscopy on the European ELT
Abstract
This White Paper presents the scientific motivations for a multi-object spectrograph (MOS) on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The MOS case draws on all fields of contemporary astronomy, from extra-solar planets, to the study of the halo of the Milky Way and its satellites, and from resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies out to observations of the earliest 'first-light' structures in the partially-reionised Universe. The material presented here results from thorough discussions within the community over the past four years, building on the past competitive studies to agree a common strategy toward realising a MOS capability on the E-ELT. The cases have been distilled to a set of common requirements which will be used to define the MOSAIC instrument, entailing two observational modes ('high multiplex' and 'high definition'). When combined with the unprecedented sensitivity of the E-ELT, MOSAIC will be the world's leading MOS facility. In analysing the requirements we also identify a high-multiplex MOS for the longer-term plans for the E-ELT, with an even greater multiplex (>1000 targets) to enable studies of large-scale structures in the high-redshift Universe. Following the green light for the construction of the E-ELT the MOS community, structured through the MOSAIC consortium, is eager to realise a MOS on the E-ELT as soon as possible. We argue that several of the most compelling cases for ELT science, in highly competitive areas of modern astronomy, demand such a capability. For example, MOS observations in the early stages of E-ELT operations will be essential for follow-up of sources identified by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In particular, multi-object adaptive optics and accurate sky subtraction with fibres have both recently been demonstrated on sky, making fast-track development of MOSAIC feasible.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1501.04726,
title = {The Science Case for Multi-Object Spectroscopy on the European ELT},
author = {Chris Evans and Mathieu Puech and Jose Afonso and Omar Almaini and Philippe Amram and Hervé Aussel and Beatriz Barbuy and Alistair Basden and Nate Bastian and Giuseppina Battaglia and Beth Biller and Piercarlo Bonifacio and Nicholas Bouché and Andy Bunker and Elisabetta Caffau and Stephane Charlot and Michele Cirasuolo and Yann Clenet and Francoise Combes and Chris Conselice and Thierry Contini and Jean-Gabriel Cuby and Gavin Dalton and Ben Davies and Alex de Koter and Karen Disseau and Jim Dunlop and Benoît Epinat and Fabrizio Fiore and Sofia Feltzing and Annette Ferguson and Hector Flores and Adriano Fontana and Thierry Fusco and Dimitri Gadotti and Anna Gallazzi and Jesus Gallego and Emanuele Giallongo and Thiago Gonçalves and Damien Gratadour and Eike Guenther and Francois Hammer and Vanessa Hill and Marc Huertas-Company and Roridgo Ibata and Lex Kaper and Andreas Korn and Søren Larsen and Olivier Le Fèvre and Bertrand Lemasle and Claudia Maraston and Simona Mei and Yannick Mellier and Simon Morris and Göran Östlin and Thibaut Paumard and Roser Pello and Laura Pentericci and Celine Peroux and Patrick Petitjean and Myriam Rodrigues and Lucía Rodríguez-Muñoz and Daniel Rouan and Hugues Sana and Daniel Schaerer and Eduardo Telles and Scott Trager and Laurence Tresse and Niraj Welikala and Stefano Zibetti and Bodo Ziegler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1501.04726},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Significantly expanded and updated version of previous ELT-MOS White Paper, so there is some textual overlap with arXiv:1303.0029