SPICA - a large cryogenic infrared space telescope Unveiling the obscured Universe

Abstract

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 evolution of stars and planetary systems in galaxies over cosmic time. Previous infrared missions, from IRAS to Herschel, have revealed a great deal about the obscured Universe, but sensitivity has been limited because up to now it has not been possible to fly a telescope that is both large and cold. SPICA is a mission concept aimed at taking the next step in mid- and far-infrared observational capability by combining a large and cold telescope with instruments employing state-of-the-art ultra-sensitive detectors. The mission concept foresees a 2.5-meter diameter telescope cooled to below 8 K. With cooling provided by mechanical coolers instead of depending on a limited cryogen supply, the mission lifetime can extend significantly beyond the required three years. SPICA offers instrumentation with spectral resolving powers ranging from R ~50 through 11000 in the 17-230 $\mu$m domain as well as R~28.000 spectroscopy between 12 and 18 $\mu$m. Additionally SPICA will provide efficient 30-37 $\mu$m broad band mapping, and polarimetric imaging in the 100-350 $\mu$m range. SPICA will provide unprecedented spectroscopic sensitivity of ~5 x $10^{-20}$ W/m${}^2$ (5$\sigma$/1hr) - at least two orders of magnitude improvement over what has been attained to date. With this exceptional leap in performance, new domains in infrared astronomy will become accessible, allowing us, for example, to unravel definitively galaxy evolution and metal production over cosmic time, to study dust formation and evolution from very early epochs onwards, and to trace the formation history of planetary systems.

arXiv comment34 pages, 22 figures, paper accepted for publication in PASA on 2nd February 2018, part of the PASA SPICA Special Issue

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Cited by in corpus (54)

• De Re Metallica: The cosmic chemical evolution of galaxies
• The Quest for Dual and Binary Supermassive Black Holes: A Multi-Messenger View
• High-redshift star formation in the ALMA era
• Water in star-forming regions (WISH): Physics and chemistry from clouds to disks as probed by Herschel spectroscopy
• Molecular outflows in local galaxies: Method comparison and a role of intermittent AGN driving
• Submillimeter and Far-Infrared Polarimetric Observations of Magnetic Fields in Star-Forming Regions
• Evidence for a high mutual inclination between the cold Jupiter and transiting super Earth orbiting $\pi$ Men
• Solar System Physics for Exoplanet Research
• The dust content of the Crab Nebula
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey: Dust mass budget in the early Universe
• Infrared emission of $z\sim 6$ galaxies: AGN imprints
• The Relationship between Mid-Infrared and Sub-Millimetre Variability of Deeply Embedded Protostars
• The dust mass function from z~0 to z~2
• The future of astronomy with small satellites
• A New Method to Measure Star Formation Rates in Active Galaxies Using Mid-infrared Neon Emission Lines
• X-ray binary accretion states in Active Galactic Nuclei? Sensing the accretion disc of supermassive black holes with mid-infrared nebular lines
• Probing the cold magnetized Universe with SPICA-POL (B-BOP)
• Active Galactic Nuclei as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope
• Observability of Debris Discs around M-stars
• Transition Edge Sensors: Physics and Applications
• Infrared luminosity functions based on 18 mid-infrared bands: revealing cosmic star formation history with AKARI and Hyper Suprime-Cam
• Extinction in the 11.2 micron PAH band and the low L_11.2/L_IR in ULIRGs
• A proto-pseudobulge in ESO 320-G030 fed by a massive molecular inflow driven by a nuclear bar
• The seeds of supermassive black holes and the role of local radiation and metal spreading
• The deep composition of Uranus and Neptune from in situ exploration and thermochemical modeling
• InfraRed Astronomy Satellite Swarm Interferometry (IRASSI): Overview and Study Results
• Constraining the detectability of water ice in debris disks
• Probing the High-Redshift Universe with SPICA: Toward the Epoch of Reionization and Beyond
• Piercing through Highly Obscured and Compton-thick AGNs in the Chandra Deep Fields. II. Are Highly Obscured AGNs the Missing Link in the Merger-Triggered AGN-Galaxy Coevolution Models?
• Polarised emission from aligned dust grains in nearby galaxies: predictions from the Auriga simulations
• Origins Space Telescope: predictions for far-IR spectroscopic surveys
• Broad-band X-ray analysis of local mid-infrared selected Compton-thick AGN candidates
• Performance and uniformity of a kilo-pixel array of Ti/Au transition-edge sensor microcalorimeters
• Calibration of mid- to far-infrared spectral lines in galaxies
• Multi-line Herschel/HIFI observations of water reveal infall motions and chemical segregation around high-mass protostars
• Herschel SPIRE discovery of far-infrared excess synchrotron emission from the west hot spot of the radio galaxy Pictor A
• $Herschel$/PACS OH Spectroscopy of Seyfert, LINER, and Starburst Galaxies
• Constraining the Bulk Composition of Disintegrating Exoplanets Using Combined Transmission Spectra from JWST and SPICA
• Understanding JWST water spectra: what can thermochemical models tell us about the (cold) water in protoplanetary disks?
• The role of SPICA-like missions and the Origins Space Telescope in the quest for heavily obscured AGN and synergies with Athena
• CosTuuM: polarized thermal dust emission by magnetically oriented spheroidal grains
• Dust emission, extinction, and scattering in LDN 1642
• Submillimeter signatures from growing supermassive black holes before reionization
• The SAFARI Detector System
• Infrared Absorption and its Sources of CdZnTe at Cryogenic Temperature
• Development and validation of a cryogenic far-infrared diffraction grating spectrometer used to post-disperse the output from a Fourier transform spectrometer
• Simulating infrared spectro-photometric surveys with a SPRITZ
• Characterising the optical response of ultra-low-noise far-infrared 60-110 $\mu$m transition edge sensors
• Modelling the Partially Coherent Behaviour of Few-Mode Far-Infrared Grating Spectrometers
• Particle response of antenna-coupled TES arrays: results from SPIDER and the lab
• High-sensitivity transition-edge-sensed bolometers: improved speed and characterization with AC and DC bias
• Unveiling the physical processes that regulate Galaxy Evolution with SPICA observations
• The physics of Galaxy Evolution with SPICA observations
• Two-stage SQUID amplifier with bias current re-use