Annual Report 2011 Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

16 I. General
Point source sensitivity (5s, 1 hour) [Jy]
100
1
0.01
LINC-NIRVANA
MATISSE
MIDI
10
GRAVITY (UT)
GRAVITY (AT)
LAICA CONICA
SPHERE
LUCI/
ARGOS
MICADO
–4
10 –6
10 –8
ASTRALUX
NORTE/
SUR
PANIC
Ω 2000
10 –10
NIRSPEC
MIRI
PACS
METIS
1 10
Wavelength [mm]
100
chapter III.1 of the annual report 2010 for details about
HerSchel and some of the excellent scientific data obtained
in the first year of the regular mission).
The MPIA is the leading institute in Germany for
the development of instrumentation for the James Webb
Space Telescope (JWST, Fig. I.2.6), to be launched
in this decade as the successor to the hubble Space
Telescope.
JWST will be equipped with a folding primary mirror
with a diameter of 6.5 m and four science instruments.
As a member of a European consortium, MPIA
is responsible for the development of the cryogenic
wheel mechanisms required for precise and reliable positioning
of the optical components in JWST’s mid-infrared
instrument Miri and is also leading the electrical
system engineering of this instrument. Miri is designed
for the wavelength range from 5 to 28 micron, and consists
of a high-resolution imager and a spectrometer of
medium resolving power.
In 2009 the flight model of the filter wheel mechanism
was delivered for integration into the imager section
of the Miri instrument.
The MPIA also provides critical components for the
second JWST instrument mainly developed in Europe,
the near-infrared multi-object spectrograph nirSpec
This contribution, as well as our participation in the
nirSpec science team, will provide the astronomers at
MPIA with further excellent opportunities for powerful
infrared observations. For the development of the precision
optics of Miri and nirSpec, the MPIA has closely
co- operated with Carl Zeiss Optronics, Oberkochen,
and Astrium GmbH, Ottobrunn and Friedrichshafen.
With the end of 2010, all tasks regarding the cryogenic
mechanisms were successfully finished and they were
integrated into Miri and nirSpec.
Spatial resolution [milliarcsec]
0.1
1
10
100
10 3
10 4
10 5
GRAVITY (ATS)
GRAVITY (UTS)
MIDI
MICADO
MATISSE
SPHERE
METIS LINC-NIRVANA
ASTRALUX
SUR
CONICA/LUCI
ASTRALUX NORTE
LUCI/ARGOS
MIRI
PANIC
LAICA
PACS
Ω 2000
NIRSPEC
1 10 100
Field of view
1000 10000
CALAR ALTO VLT NTT LBT Wise Observatorium HERSCHEL JWST E-ELT
Fig. 1.2.7: Capabilities of MPIA’s major instruments. Left: sensitivity
as a function of wavelength. Right: spatial resolution as
a function of field of view.
The Institute is also leading a major data analysis
aspect of ESa’s Gaia project, a space observatory
scheduled for launch in 2012. Gaia will be the successor
to the HipparcoS astrometry satellite, exceeding the
latter’s sensitivity by several orders of magnitude. The
satellite will measure positions, magnitudes, and radial
velocities of one billion stars, in addition to numerous
gala-xies, quasars and asteroids. The telescope will provide
photometric data in 15 spectral bands as well as
spectra in a selected spectral range. Unlike HipparcoS,
Gaia does not need to be provided with an input catalogue,
but will measure systematically all accessible
objects. Automatic object classification will thus be of
major importance for data analysis. Concepts for coping
with this demanding task are being developed at the
MPIA (supported by a grant from DLR).
MPIA is involved in the mission studies within the
ESa Cosmic Vision program.
Euclid has the goal of mapping the geometry of
the dark Universe by studying the distance-redshift
relationship and the evolution of cosmic structures.
To this end, the shapes and redshifts of galaxies and
galaxy clusters will be measured out to redshifts z 2,
that is, to a look-back time of 10 billion years, thereby
covering the entire period over which dark energy
played a significant role in accelerating the expansion
of the Universe. The observing strategy of Euclid will
be based on baryonic acoustic oscillations measurements
and weak gravitational lensing, two complementary
methods to probe dark energy. The Euclid survey
will produce 20 000 square degrees visible and near-in-
Credit: MPIA