Related papers: SOFIA Astronomy and Technology in the 21st Century

The Astro2010 Decadal Survey recommended a Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) as its top priority for a new large space mission. The report of the WFIRST-AFTA Science Definition Team (SDT) presents a Design Reference Mission for…

Using new cosmological models for galaxy evolution, predictions for the next generation of deep mid-IR surveys are presented for both the ASTRO-F space telescope (due for launch 2003) and the proposed HII/L2 mission (2010). Although ASTRO-F…

The Single Aperture Far-InfraRed (SAFIR) Observatory's science goals are driven by the fact that the earliest stages of almost all phenomena in the universe are shrouded in absorption by and emission from cool dust and gas that emits…

Measurements in the infrared wavelength domain allow us to assess directly the physical state and energy balance of cool matter in space, thus enabling the detailed study of the various processes that govern the formation and early…

Following the selection of The Gravitational Universe by ESA, and the successful flight of LISA Pathfinder, the LISA Consortium now proposes a 4 year mission in response to ESA's call for missions for L3. The observatory will be based on…

SPIFFI is the near-infrared integral-field spectrometer for the VLT. Assisted by the SINFONI adaptive optics module, the instrument will be offered to the astronomical community in 2004. We outline the scientific rationale for infrared…

Astronomical instrumentation is most of the time faced with challenging requirements in terms of sensitivity, stability, complexity, etc., and therefore leads to high performance developments that at first sight appear to be suitable only…

World Space Observatory UltraViolet (WSO-UV) is a multipurpose space observatory, made by a 170 cm aperture telescope, capable of UV high-resolution spectroscopy, long slit low-resolution spectroscopy, and deep UV and optical imaging. With…

We propose SILVIA (Space Interferometer Laboratory Voyaging towards Innovative Applications), a mission concept designed to demonstrate ultra-precision formation flying between three spacecraft separated by 100 m. SILVIA aims to achieve…

Gravitational-wave detectors with sensitivities sufficient to measure the radiation from astrophysical sources are rapidly coming into existence. By the end of this decade, there will exist several ground-based instruments in North America,…

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is expected to start science operations in 2030 and by that time there could be up to 10$^5$ artificial satellites in Earth's orbit, comprising an increase of an order of magnitude compared to 2024. Most of…

We present the science drivers for the Far-Infrared Enhanced Survey Spectrometer (FIRESS), one of two science instrument on the PRobe Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA). FIRESS is designed to meet science objectives in the areas of…

The fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics are technology limited, where the advent and application of new technologies to astronomy usher in a flood of discoveries altering our understanding of the Universe (e.g., recent cases include LIGO…

With SKA precursor and pathfinder operations in full swing, radio and (sub-)mm astronomy is entering the era of super big data. The big questions is how to make (sub-)mm and radio data available to the astronomical community, preferably…

The FIR/submm window is amongst the least explored spectral regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is, however, a key to study the general properties of the interstellar medium of galaxies, as it contains important spectral line…

SPICA is a mid to far infra-red space mission to explore the processes that form galaxies, stars and planets. SPICA/SAFARI is the far infrared spectrometer that provides near-background limited observations between 34 and 230 micrometers.…

The most important limitation for ground-based submillimetre (submm) astronomy is the broad-band absorption of the total water vapour in the atmosphere above an observation site, often expressed as the Precipitable Water Vapour (PWV). A…

Optical fibers have altered astronomical instrument design by allowing for a complex, often large instrument to be mounted in a remote and stable location with respect to the telescope. The fibers also enable the possibility to rearrange…

We present a community-led assessment of the solar system investigations achievable with NASA's next-generation space telescope, the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST). WFIRST will provide imaging, spectroscopic, and…

Dedicated to spectroscopic and imaging observations of the ultraviolet sky, the World Space Observatory for Ultraviolet Project is a Russia led international collaboration presently involving also China, Germany, Italy, Spain and Ukraine.…