Journal article
Hyperion: the origin of the stars. A far UV space telescope for high-resolution spectroscopy over wide fields
Journal of astronomical telescopes, instruments, and systems, Vol.8(4), pp.044008-044008
10/01/2022
DOI: 10.1117/1.JATIS.8.4.044008
Abstract
We present Hyperion, a mission concept recently proposed to the December 2021 NASA Medium Explorer announcement of opportunity. Hyperion explores the formation and destruction of molecular clouds and planet-forming disks in nearby star-forming regions of the Milky Way. It does this using long-slit high-resolution spectroscopy of emission from fluorescing molecular hydrogen, which is a powerful far-ultraviolet (FUV) diagnostic. Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the most abundant molecule in the universe and a key ingredient for star and planet formation but is typically not observed directly because its symmetric atomic structure and lack of a dipole moment mean there are no spectral lines at visible wavelengths and few in the infrared. Hyperion uses molecular hydrogen’s wealth of FUV emission lines to achieve three science objectives: (1) determining how star formation is related to molecular hydrogen formation and destruction at the boundaries of molecular clouds, (2) determining how quickly and by what process massive star feedback disperses molecular clouds, and (3) determining the mechanism driving the evolution of planet-forming disks around young solar-analog stars. Hyperion conducts this science using a straightforward, highly efficient, single-channel instrument design. Hyperion’s instrument consists of a 48-cm primary mirror with an f/5 focal ratio. The spectrometer has two modes, both covering 138.5- to 161.5-nm bandpasses. A low resolution mode has a spectral resolution of R ≥ 10,000 with a slit length of 65 arcmin, whereas the high-resolution mode has a spectral resolution of R ≥ 50,000 over a slit length of 5 armin. Hyperion occupies a 2-week-long high-earth lunar resonance TESS-like orbit and conducts 2 weeks of planned observations per orbit, with time for downlinks and calibrations. Hyperion was reviewed as category I, which is the highest rating possible but was not selected.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Hyperion: the origin of the stars. A far UV space telescope for high-resolution spectroscopy over wide fields
- Creators
- Erika T. Hamden - University of ArizonaDavid Schiminovich - Columbia UniversityShouleh Nikzad - California Institute of TechnologyNeal J. Turner - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryBlakesley Burkhart - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyThomas J. Haworth - Queen Mary University of LondonKeri Hoadley - University of IowaJinyoung Serena Kim - University of ArizonaShmuel Bialy - University of Maryland, College ParkGeoff Bryden - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryHaeun Chung - University of ArizonaNia Imara - University of California, Santa CruzRob Kennicutt - University of ArizonaJorge Pineda - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryShuo Kong - University of ArizonaYasuhiro Hasegawa - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryIlaria Pascucci - University of ArizonaBenjamin Godard - University of ArizonaMark Krumholz - Australian National UniversityMin-Young Lee - Korea Astronomy and Space Science InstituteDaniel Seifried - University of CologneAmiel Sternberg - Tel Aviv UniversityStefanie Walch - University of CologneMiles Smith - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryStephen C. Unwin - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryElizabeth Luthman - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryAlina Kiessling - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryJames P. McGuire - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryMina Rais-Zadeh - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryMichael Hoenk - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryThomas Pavlak - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCarlos Vargas - University of ArizonaDaewook Kim - University of Arizona
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of astronomical telescopes, instruments, and systems, Vol.8(4), pp.044008-044008
- DOI
- 10.1117/1.JATIS.8.4.044008
- ISSN
- 2329-4124
- eISSN
- 2329-4221
- Publisher
- Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers
- Grant note
- University of Arizona Royal Society (The Royal Society) 80NM0018D0004 / NASA | Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/01/2022
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984428793202771
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