The Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM): a Next-Generation Experiment for Galaxy Evolution Studies
Abstract
Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies over cosmic time is one of the foremost goals of astrophysics and cosmology today. The cosmic star formation rate has undergone a dramatic evolution over the course of the last 14 billion years, and dust obscured star forming galaxies (DSFGs) are a crucial component of this evolution. A variety of important, bright, and unextincted diagnostic lines are present in the far-infrared (FIR) which can provide crucial insight into the physical conditions of galaxy evolution, including the instantaneous star formation rate, the effect of AGN feedback on star formation, the mass function of the stars, metallicities, and the spectrum of their ionizing radiation. FIR spectroscopy is technically difficult but scientifically crucial. Stratospheric balloons offer a platform which can outperform current instrument sensitivities and are the only way to provide large-area, wide bandwidth spatial/spectral mapping at FIR wavelengths. NASA recently selected TIM, the Terahertz Intensity Mapper, with the goal of demonstrating the key technical milestones necessary for FIR spectroscopy. The TIM instrument consists of an integral-field spectrometer from 240-420 microns with 3600 kinetic-inductance detectors (KIDs) coupled to a 2-meter low-emissivity carbon fiber telescope. In this paper, we will summarize plans for the TIM experiment's development, test and deployment for a planned flight from Antarctica.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2009.14340,
title = {The Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM): a Next-Generation Experiment for Galaxy Evolution Studies},
author = {Joaquin Vieira and James Aguirre and C. Matt Bradford and Jeffrey Filippini and Christopher Groppi and Dan Marrone and Matthieu Bethermin and Tzu-Ching Chang and Mark Devlin and Oliver Dore and Jianyang Frank Fu and Steven Hailey Dunsheath and Gilbert Holder and Garrett Keating and Ryan Keenan and Ely Kovetz and Guilaine Lagache and Philip Mauskopf and Desika Narayanan and Gergo Popping and Erik Shirokoff and Rachel Somerville and Isaac Trumper and Bade Uzgil and Jonas Zmuidzinas},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.14340},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
8 pages, 5 figures, published in the 30th International Symposium on Space THz Technology (ISSTT2019), Gothenburg, Sweden, April 15-17, 2019