Orbiting Astronomical Satellite for Investigating Stellar Systems (OASIS): following the water trail from the interstellar medium to oceans
Abstract
Orbiting Astronomical Satellite for Investigating Stellar Systems (OASIS) is a space-based, MIDEX-class mission concept that employs a 17-meter diameter inflatable aperture with cryogenic heterodyne receivers, enabling high sensitivity and high spectral resolution (resolving power ≥106) observations at terahertz frequencies. OASIS science is targeting submillimeter and far-infrared transitions of H2O and its isotopologues, as well as deuterated molecular hydrogen (HD) and other molecular species from 660 to 80 μm, which are inaccessible to ground-based telescopes due to the opacity of Earth’s atmosphere. OASIS will have <20x the collecting area and ~5x the angular resolution of Herschel, and it complements the shorter wavelength capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope. With its large collecting area and suite of terahertz heterodyne receivers, OASIS will have the sensitivity to follow the water trail from galaxies to oceans, as well as directly measure gas mass in a wide variety of astrophysical objects from observations of the ground-state HD line. OASIS will operate in a Sun-Earth L1 halo orbit that enables observations of large numbers of galaxies, protoplanetary systems, and solar system objects during the course of its 1-year baseline mission. OASIS embraces an overarching science theme of “following water from galaxies, through protostellar systems, to oceans.” This theme resonates with the NASA Astrophysics Roadmap and the 2010 Astrophysics Decadal Survey, and it is also highly complementary to the proposed Origins Space Telescope’s objectives.
Authors 30
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)
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Chalmers University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Chalmers Univ. of Technology (Sweden)
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Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)
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Northrop Grumman (United States)
Affiliation as printed
Northrop Grumman Space Systems (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
Univ. of Connecticut (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
Univ. of Michigan (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Chicago (United States)
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Observatoire de Paris · Sorbonne Université · Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique
Affiliation as printed
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris à Meudon, PSL Research Univ., CNRS, Sorbonne Univ., UPMC Univ. (France)
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Gordon L. Bjorakerb Aachen
Leiden University · Goddard Space Flight Center
Affiliation as printed
Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513 , NL-2300RA Leiden , The Netherlands
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)
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University of Maryland, College Park
Affiliation as printed
Univ. of Maryland, College Park (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Chalmers University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Chalmers Univ. of Technology (Sweden)
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Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Goddard Space Flight Center · University of Arizona
Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)
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University of Arizona · Chalmers University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Chalmers Univ. of Technology (Sweden)
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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University of Arizona · Northrop Grumman (United States)
Affiliation as printed
Northrop Grumman Space Systems (United States)
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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University of Arizona · University of Connecticut
Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Univ. of Connecticut (United States)
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University of Arizona · University of Michigan
Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Univ. of Michigan (United States)
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University of Arizona · University of Michigan · University of Chicago
Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
The Univ. of Chicago (United States)
Univ. of Michigan (United States)
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University of Arizona · University of Connecticut
Affiliation as printed
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Univ. of Connecticut (United States)
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Affiliation as printed
NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · University of Arizona · Observatoire de Paris · Sorbonne Université · Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique
Affiliation as printed
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris à Meudon, PSL Research Univ., CNRS, Sorbonne Univ., UPMC Univ. (France)
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
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