Related papers: LOFT: the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing
In this White Paper we present the potential of the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission for studies related to Observatory Science targets. These include flaring stars, supernova remnants, accreting white dwarfs, low and…
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…
Euclid is a space telescope currently developed in the framework of the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Program. It addresses fundamental cosmological questions related to dark matter and dark energy. The lens system of one of the two…
LOX is a lunar-orbiting astrophysics mission that will probe the cosmos at MeV energies. It is guided by open questions regarding thermonuclear, or Type-Ia, supernovae (SNeIa) and will characterize these inherently radioactive objects by…
The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is a next generation high energy gamma-ray observatory due for launch in Fall 2007. The primary instrument is the Large Area Telescope (LAT), which will measure gamma-ray flux and spectra…
Extremely large telescopes (ELTs) are considered worldwide to be one of the highest priorities in ground-based astronomy. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is developing an ELT that will have a 39 m main mirror and will be the largest…
The low energy (LE) X-ray telescope is one of the three main instruments of the Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT). It is equipped with Swept Charge Device (SCD) sensor arrays with a total geometrical area of 384 cm2 and…
Gamma-ray astrophysics depends in many ways on multiwavelength studies. The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT) Collaboration has started multiwavelength planning well before the scheduled 2007 launch of…
MOONS is a new conceptual design for a Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph for the Very Large Telescope (VLT), selected by ESO for a Phase A study. The baseline design consists of 1000 fibers deployable over a field of view…
During the three years long assessment phase of the LOFT mission, candidate to the M3 launch opportunity of the ESA Cosmic Vision programme, we estimated and measured the radiation damage of the silicon drift detectors (SDDs) of the…
SPOrt is an ASI-funded experiment specifically designed to measure the sky polarization at 22, 32 and 90 GHz, which was selected in 1997 by ESA to be flown on the International Space Station. Starting in 2006 and for at least 18 months, it…
ESO and ESA agreed to establish a number of Working Groups to explore possible synergies between these two major European astronomical institutions. This Working Group's mandate was to concentrate on fundamental questions in cosmology, and…
There are 8000 galaxies, including 1600 at z larger than 1.6, which could be simultaneously observed in an E-ELT field of view of 40 sq. arcmin. A considerable fraction of astrophysical discoveries require large statistical samples, which…
High precision astrometry aims at source position determination to a very small fraction of the diffraction image size, in high SNR regime. One of the key limitations to such goal is the optical response variation of the telescope over a…
Since 2005 ESO has been working with its community and industry to develop an extremely large optical/infrared telescope. ESO's Extremely Large Telescope, or ELT for short, is a revolutionary ground-based telescope that will have a 39-metre…
The NEAT (Nearby Earth Astrometric Telescope) mission is a proposal submitted to ESA for its 2010 call for M-size mission within the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 plan. The main scientific goal of the NEAT mission is to detect and characterize…
Optically levitated particles are used in a wide range of experiments to explore both fundamental physics and to act as sensors to a variety of external forces. One field of particular interest that these particles can be used to…
The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope ($Insight$-HXMT) was successfully launched on June 15th, 2017. It performs broad band X-ray scan survey of the Galactic Plane to detect new black holes and other objects in active states. It also observes…
The main objective of the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) on the LOFT mission is to provide unambiguous detection of the high-energy sources in a large field of view, in order to support science operations of the LOFT primary instrument, the LAD.…
Ultra-precise optical clocks in space will allow new studies in fundamental physics and astronomy. Within an European Space Agency (ESA) program, the Space Optical Clocks (SOC) project aims to install and to operate an optical lattice clock…