Many studies on the formation of stars and planets require high angular and high spectral resolution in the far-infrared regime. Even with the upcoming operation of the Herschel Space Observatory, ALMA, and JWST, angular resolutions of better than 1 arcsec combined with high spectral resolution in the crucial far-infrared domain of 1 THz to ~ 10 THz (300 μm to 30 μm) are still beyond observational reach. Only a far-infrared heterodyne interferometer can close this gap. Here we present the general requirements for a FIR heterodyne interferometer in space and address a number of critical key technologies needed for such an instrument.

Date Published: 18 July 2008
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 7020, Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, 70201N (18 July 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.789552

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7020:
Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy IV
William D. Duncan; Wayne S. Holland; Stafford Withington; Jonas Zmuidzinas, Editor(s)