Related papers: The Lynx Mission Concept Study Interim Report
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will play a vital role in constraining the origin and evolution of massive black holes throughout the Universe. In this study we use a waveform model (IMRPhenomXPHM) that includes both…
We describe The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS), the largest program ever undertaken at the VLA to perform 21-cm HI observations of the highest quality (~7'', <= 5 km/s resolution) of nearby galaxies. The goal of THINGS is to investigate…
Over the past decade, sky surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey have proven the power of large data sets for answering fundamental astrophysical questions. This observational progress, based on a synergy of advances in telescope…
Gaia is a fully-approved all-sky astrometric and photometric survey due for launch in 2011. It will measure accurate parallaxes and proper motions for everything brighter than G=20 (ca. 10^9 stars). Its primary objective is to study the…
Euclid will observe 15 000 deg$^2$ of the darkest sky, in regions free of contamination by light from our Galaxy and our Solar System. Three "Euclid Deep Fields" surveys covering around 40 deg$^2$ in total will extend the scientific scope…
Observations at high energies yield important information on the structure and nature of AGN; when coupled with deep optical and near-infrared (photometric and spectroscopic) follow-up, they provide constraints on the mass of the growing…
A new all-sky visible and Near-InfraRed (NIR) space astrometry mission with a wavelength cutoff in the K-band is not just focused on a single or small number of key science cases. Instead, it is extremely broad, answering key science…
The next generation of electromagnetic and gravitational wave observatories will open unprecedented windows to the birth of the first supermassive black holes. This has the potential to reveal their origin and growth in the first billion…
The mission concept, Cosmic Origins Through UV Surveys (CETUS) is an all-UV space mission concept that was selected and funded by NASA for study in 2017. The main capabilities of CETUS that even Hubble doesn't have are: (1) wide-field…
Galaxy redshift surveys are outstanding tools for observational cosmology. Mapping the universe as outlined by galaxies leads to fundamental measurements which refine our knowledge of its structure and evolution. Redshift acquisition has…
The SKA is a unique instrument to open a window on many aspects of galaxy formation and evolution which can be examined in our Local Universe. Here I will focus on the outermost regions of galaxies which can be observed with sufficient…
The purpose of this document is to discuss the scientific case of a space mission to the ice giants Uranus and Neptune and their satellite systems and its relevance to advance our understanding of the ancient past of the Solar System and,…
Discoveries in the last few years have revolutionized our knowledge of the universe and our ideas of its ultimate fate. Measurements of the expansion of the universe show that it is not slowing down under normal gravity but accelerating due…
High-time-resolution X-ray observations of compact objects provide direct access to strong-field gravity, to the equation of state of ultra-dense matter and to black hole masses and spins. A 10 m^2-class instrument in combination with good…
X-ray observatories contribute fundamental advances in Solar System studies by probing Sun-object interactions, developing planet and satellite surface composition maps, probing global magnetospheric dynamics, and tracking astrochemical…
The Dark UNiverse Explorer (DUNE) is a wide-field imaging mission concept whose primary goal is the study of dark energy and dark matter with unprecedented precision. To this end, DUNE is optimised for weak gravitational lensing, and also…
We report the first year on-orbit performance results for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a NASA Small Explorer that is performing a survey of the sky in two ultraviolet bands. The instrument comprises a 50 cm diameter modified…
The next generation of telescopes aim to directly observe the first generation of galaxies that initiated the reionization process in our Universe. The Lyman Alpha (Lya) emission line is robustly predicted to be the most prominent intrinsic…
X-ray astronomy is closely related to the study of black hole sources. The discovery that some unseen objects, more massive than any degenerate star, emit huge amounts of X-rays helped accept the concept that back holes are present in X-ray…
With the immense number of images, data, and sources that Euclid will deliver, the consortium will be in a unique position to create/provide/construct legacy catalogues. The latter will have exquisite imaging quality and good near-infrared…