NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Galaxy Evolution Spectroscopic Explorer: Scientific RationaleGESE is a mission concept consisting of a 1.5-m space telescope and UV multi-object slit spectrograph designed to help understand galaxy evolution in a critical era in the history of the universe, where the rate of star-formation stopped increasing and started to decline. To isolate and identify the various processes driving the evolution of these galaxies, GESE will obtain rest-frame far-UV spectra of 100,000 galaxies at redshifts, z approximately 1-2. To obtain such a large number of spectra, multiplexing over a wide field is an absolute necessity. A slit device such as a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) or a micro-shutter array (MSA) enables spectroscopy of a hundred or more sources in a single exposure while eliminating overlapping spectra of other sources and blocking unwanted background like zodiacal light. We find that a 1.5-m space telescope with a MSA slit device combined with a custom orbit enabling long, uninterrupted exposures (approximately 10 hr) are optimal for this spectroscopic survey. GESE will not be operating alone in this endeavor. Together with x-ray telescopes and optical/near-IR telescopes like Subaru/Prime Focus Spectrograph, GESE will detect "feedback" from young massive stars and massive black holes (AGN's), and other drivers of galaxy evolution.
Document ID
20160010652
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Heap, Sara
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Ninkov, Zoran
(Rochester Inst. of Tech. Rochester, NY, United States)
Robberto, Massimo
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Hull, Tony
(New Mexico Univ. Albuquerque, NM, United States)
Purves, Lloyd
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 30, 2016
Publication Date
July 19, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Proceedings of SPIE, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray
Publisher: SPIE
Volume: 9905
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN35215
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
digital micro-mirror device (DMD)
micro-shutter array (MSA)
GESE

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available