scholarly journals Massive stars in extremely metal-poor galaxies: a window into the past

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Garcia ◽  
Christopher J. Evans ◽  
Joachim M. Bestenlehner ◽  
Jean Claude Bouret ◽  
Norberto Castro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metal Content ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Single Point ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Space Telescope ◽  
The Universe

AbstractCosmic history has witnessed the lives and deaths of multiple generations of massive stars, all of them invigorating their host galaxies with ionizing photons, kinetic energy, fresh material, and stellar-mass black holes. Ubiquitous engines as they are, astrophysics needs a good understanding of their formation, evolution, properties and yields throughout the history of the Universe, and with decreasing metal content mimicking the environment at the earliest epochs. Ultimately, a physical model that could be extrapolated to zero metallicity would enable tackling long-standing questions such as “What did the first, very massive stars of the Universe look like?” or “What was their role in the re-ionization of the Universe?” Yet, most of our knowledge of metal-poor massive stars is drawn from one single point in metallicity. Massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC, $\sim $ ∼ 1/5Z⊙ ) currently serve as templates for low-metallicity objects in the early Universe, even though significant differences with respect to massive stars with poorer metal content have been reported. This White Paper summarizes the current knowledge on extremely (sub-SMC) metal poor massive stars, highlighting the most outstanding open questions and the need to supersede the SMC as standard. A new paradigm can be built from nearby extremely metal-poor galaxies that make a new metallicity ladder, but massive stars in these galaxies are out of reach to current observational facilities. Such a task would require an L-size mission, consisting of a 10m-class space telescope operating in the optical and the ultraviolet ranges. Alternatively, we propose that ESA unites efforts with NASA to make the LUVOIR mission concept a reality, thus continuing the successful partnership that made the Hubble Space Telescope one of the greatest observatories of all time.

scholarly journals The need for a multi-purpose, optical–NIR space facility after HST and JWST

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knud Jahnke ◽  
Oliver Krause ◽  
Hans-Walter Rix ◽  
Frédéric Courbin ◽  
Adriano Fontana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wavelength Range ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Hubble Constant ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
List Type ◽  
Space Telescope ◽  
Readiness Level ◽  
Visible Wavelengths

AbstractIn the early 2030s, after the end of operations for the epochal Hubble Space Telescope and the long-anticipated James Webb Space Telescope, astrophysics will lose access to a general purpose high-spatial resolution space observatory to cover the UV–optical–NIR wavelength range with a variety of imaging bandpasses and high-multiplexing mid-resolution spectroscopy. This will greatly impact astrophysical “discovery space” at visible wavelengths, in stark contrast to progress at most other wavelengths enabled by groundbreaking new facilities between 2010 and 2030. This capability gap will foreseeably limit progress in a number of fundamental research directions anticipated to be pressing in the 2030’s and beyond such as: What are the histories of star formation and cosmic element production in nearby galaxies? What can we learn about the nature of dark matter from dwarf galaxies? What is the local value of the Hubble Constant? A multi-purpose optical–NIR imaging and multiplexed spectroscopy Workhorse Camera (HWC) onboard NASA’s 4m-class Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) space mission would provide access to these required data. HabEx is currently under study by NASA for the US Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020, and if selected would launch around 2035. Aside from its direct imaging of Earth-like exoplanets, it will have a general-observatory complement of instrumentation. The versatile Workhorse Camera will provide imaging and R$\sim $ ∼ 1000 spectroscopy from 370nm to 1800nm, diffraction-limited over the whole wavelength range, with simultaneous observations of the visible and NIR. Spectroscopic multiplexing will be achieved through microshutter arrays. All necessary HWC technology is already at Technology Readiness Level 5, hence technological risks are low. HWC has a rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) cost of 300 M€, and could be European-funded within the cost envelope of an ESA S-class mission in the Voyage 2050 program, with matching funds by national funding agencies to construct HWC by a European instrument consortium. This White Paper is intended to put a European HabEx Workhorse Camera into ESA’s considerations. If ESA shares the wide interest and if HabEx were to be selected by NASA, there would be ample time to identify interested institutes for a European instrument consortium, including MPIA, to design, finance, and build the HabEx Workhorse Camera.

scholarly journals Current Status of the Astrometric Capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensors

1991 ◽  
Vol 127 ◽  
pp. 68-76
Author(s):  
W.H. Jefferys ◽  
G.F. Benedict ◽  
R.L. Duncombe ◽  
O.G. Franz ◽  
L.W. Fredrick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical System ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Optical Axis ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Spherical Aberration ◽  
Radial Distance ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Space Telescope ◽  
Wavefront Error

AbstractThe Fine Guidance Sensors (FGSs) are the instrument of choice for most astrometric measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The observed amount of spherical aberration in the Ritchey Chretien optical system does not affect positional measurements with perfectly aligned FGSs because they are interferometers. The FGSs combine wavefronts from points in the exit pupil with other points which are at the same radial distance from the optical axis. Asymmetric aberrations such as coma and astigmatism do affect the measured positions. The current knowledge of the HST wavefront error, the FGS operation and the implications for milliarcsecond relative astrometry are discussed. It is still planned to use the HST to tie the HIPPARCOS and VLBI Reference Frames together at the few milliarcsecond level.

scholarly journals The Evolution of Neutral Gas in the Universe

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S235) ◽  
pp. 440-440
Author(s):  
David Turnshek ◽  
Sandhya Rao ◽  
Eric Monier ◽  
Daniel Nestor ◽  
Anna Quider
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Line ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Reference List ◽  
Space Telescope ◽  
Neutral Gas ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Initial Results ◽  
Gas Component

AbstractWe give references to some of our work on the properties and evolution of the neutral gas component of the Universe (see reference list). The bulk of the observed neutral gas has been detected by identifying intervening damped Lyα (DLA) quasar absorption-line systems with N(H) ≥2 × 1020 atoms cm−2. We also present some initial results from a program to identify DLA absorbers near redshift z = 0.5 using Hubble Space Telescope ACS prism spectra (see Figure 1).

scholarly journals Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope observations of dark gamma-ray bursts and their host galaxies

2019 ◽  
Vol 486 (3) ◽  
pp. 3105-3117 ◽  
Author(s):  
A A Chrimes ◽  
A J Levan ◽  
E R Stanway ◽  
J D Lyman ◽  
A S Fruchter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
High Redshift ◽  
Host Population ◽  
Host Galaxy ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
Space Telescope ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Dust Component

Abstract We present a study of 21 dark gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies, predominantly using X-ray afterglows obtained with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) to precisely locate the burst in deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging of the burst region. The host galaxies are well-detected in F160W in all but one case and in F606W imaging in 60 per cent of cases. We measure magnitudes and perform a morphological analysis of each galaxy. The asymmetry, concentration, and ellipticity of the dark burst hosts are compared against the host galaxies of optically bright GRBs. In agreement with other studies, we find that dark GRB hosts are redder and more luminous than the bulk of the GRB host population. The distribution of projected spatial offsets for dark GRBs from their host galaxy centroids is comparable to that of optically bright bursts. The dark GRB hosts are physically larger, more massive and redder, but are morphologically similar to the hosts of bright GRBs in terms of concentration and asymmetry. Our analysis constrains the fraction of high redshift (z > 5) GRBs in the sample to 14 per cent, implying an upper limit for the whole long-GRB population of ≤4.4 per cent. If dust is the primary cause of afterglow darkening amongst dark GRBs, the measured extinction may require a clumpy dust component in order to explain the observed offset and ellipticity distributions.

scholarly journals Probing the faintest galaxy population at the epoch of reionization with gravitational lensing

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S352) ◽  
pp. 26-26
Author(s):  
Hakim Atek
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Lensing ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Space Telescope ◽  
Systematic Uncertainties ◽  
James Webb Space Telescope ◽  
Exciting Opportunity ◽  
Complete Dataset ◽  
Galaxy Populations ◽  
Galaxy Population ◽  
The Universe

AbstractUltra-deep observations of blank fields with the Hubble Space Telescope have made important inroads in characterizing galaxy populations at redshift z = 6 – 10. Gravitational lensing by massive galaxy clusters offers a new route to identify the faintest sources at the epoch of reionization. In particular, thanks to the Hubble Frontier Fields program, we robustly pushed the detection limit down to MAB = − 15 mag at z ∼ 6. I will present the latest results based on the complete dataset of the HFF clusters and parallel fields, and their implications on the ability of galaxies to reionize the Universe. I will also discuss the results of a comprehensive end-to-end modeling effort towards constraining the systematic uncertainties of the lens models, which are currently the last hurdle before extending the UV LF to fainter luminosities. Finally, I will discuss the great discoveries awaiting combination of such cosmic lenses with the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope and the exciting opportunity to probe the turnover of the UV LF, hence the limit of the star formation process at those early epochs.

scholarly journals Learning to Denoise Astronomical Images with U-nets

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Vojtekova ◽  
Maggie Lieu ◽  
Ivan Valtchanov ◽  
Bruno Altieri ◽  
Lyndsay Old ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Gain ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Post Processing ◽  
Space Telescope ◽  
Noise Characteristics ◽  
Astronomical Imaging ◽  
Average Flux ◽  
Astronomical Images ◽  
The Universe

Abstract Astronomical images are essential for exploring and understanding the universe. Optical telescopes capable of deep observations, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, are heavily oversubscribed in the Astronomical Community. Images also often contain additive noise, which makes de-noising a mandatory step in post-processing the data before further data analysis. In order to maximise the efficiency and information gain in the post-processing of astronomical imaging, we turn to machine learning. We propose Astro U-net, a convolutional neural network for image de-noising and enhancement. For a proof-of-concept, we use Hubble space telescope images from WFC3 instrument UVIS with F555W and F606W filters. Our network is able to produce images with noise characteristics as if they are obtained with twice the exposure time, and with minimum bias or information loss. From these images, we are able to recover $95.9\%$ of stars with an average flux error of $2.26\%$. Furthermore the images have, on average, 1.63 times higher signal-to-noise ratio than the input noisy images, equivalent to the stacking of at least 3 input images, which means a significant reduction in the telescope time needed for future astronomical imaging campaigns.

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