Related papers: Enabling Deep All-Sky Searches of Outer Solar Syst…
In this white paper, we present the scientific cases for adding narrowband optical filters to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). LSST is currently planning to observe the southern sky in 6 broadband optical filters. Three of the…
The LSST survey will provide unprecedented statistical power for measurements of dark energy. Consequently, controlling systematic uncertainties is becoming more important than ever. The LSST observing strategy will affect the statistical…
This white paper is the result of the Tri-Agency Working Group (TAG) appointed to develop synergies between missions and is intended to clarify what LSST observations are needed in order to maximally enhance the combined science output of…
The Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) is a set of mission concepts for the next generation UV-Optical-Near Infrared space telescope with an aperture size of 8 to 16 meters. ATLAST, using an internal coronagraph or…
Astrophysical and cosmological observations currently provide the only robust, empirical measurements of dark matter. Future observations with Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will provide necessary guidance for the experimental dark…
Determining the distribution and spectral signature of volatile ices and organics exposed on icy body surfaces can provide crucial clues for deciphering how the outer solar system formed and evolved. Over the past few decades, ground- and…
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will image billions of astronomical objects in the wide-fast-deep primary survey and in a set of minisurveys including intensive observations of a group of deep drilling…
The Deep Ecliptic Survey is a project whose goal is to survey a large area of the near-ecliptic region to a faint limiting magnitude (R ~ 24) in search of objects in the outer solar system. We are collecting a large homogeneous data sample…
Context. The populations of small bodies of the Solar System (asteroids, comets, Kuiper-Belt objects) are used to constrain the origin and evolution of the Solar System. Both their orbital distribution and composition distribution are…
The proposed US Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) Program would secure national open access to at least 25% of the observing time on the Thirty Meter Telescope in the north and the Giant Magellan Telescope in the south. ELTs would advance…
The outer Solar System contains a large number of small bodies (known as trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs) that exhibit diverse types of dynamical behavior. The classification of bodies in this distant region into dynamical classes --…
The Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) is a dedicated time-domain multi-band ($u$, $g$, $r$, $i$, and $z$) photometric survey facility under construction. In this paper, we present a preliminary study that assesses the quality of…
We present a cadence optimization strategy to unveil a large population of kilonovae using optical imaging alone. These transients are generated during binary neutron star and potentially neutron star-black hole mergers and are…
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is predicted to make great advances in the field of exoplanet atmospheres. Its 25 m2 mirror means that it can reach unprecedented levels of precision in observations of transit spectra, and can thus…
The primary observational goals of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are to obtain CCD imaging of 10,000 deg^2 of the north Galactic cap in five passbands, with a limiting magnitude in the r-band of 22.5, to obtain spectroscopic redshifts of…
The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) is a new ground-based sky survey designed to find transiting Neptunes and super-Earths. By covering at least sixteen times the sky area of Kepler we will find small planets around stars that are…
We identify minimal observing cadence requirements that enable photometric astronomical surveys to detect and recognize fast and explosive transients and fast transient features. Observations in two different filters within a short time…
Cosmic variance from large-scale structure will be a major source of uncertainty for galaxy surveys at z > 6, but that same structure will also provide an opportunity to identify and study dense environments in the early Universe. Using a…
An 8 m successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) would make incredible gains in the study of stellar populations, especially in the Local Group. If diffraction-limited at 0.5 microns, the "Next HST" could produce high-resolution imaging…
Two populations of minor bodies in the outer Solar System remain particularly elusive: Scattered Disk objects and Sedna-like objects. These populations are important dynamical tracers, and understanding the details of their spatial- and…