SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation Plenaries 2024

The Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory (TIO) is an ambitious international scientific endeavor. In Part 1, we highlight Japan’s contributions toward technical advancements. Building upon the scientific and engineering success of the Subaru Telescope and ALMA, Japan leads in developing the telescope structure, primary mirror production, and cutting-edge science instruments. Part 2 delves into TIO’s transformative shift toward community engagement. At TIO, we believe in community model of astronomy that upholds the values of inclusion, respect, and community stewardship. We are committed to listening to, learning from, and working together with Hawaiʻi commuities to build a brighter future for all.

Africa's unique dark skies offer vast potential for astronomy, which has significantly advanced over the last two decades through substantial investment in infrastructure and human capital. The African Astronomical Society (AfAS), relaunched in 2019, plays a crucial role in this ascent, enhancing the network of astronomers across the continent, fostering research collaborations, and advising on policy. Noteworthy achievements for Astronomy in Africa include securing a bid to host the mid-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope, hosting the first International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Africa in August 2024, and being home to the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) since 2011. This talk highlights these milestones, illustrating the community's commitment to developing astronomy on the continent and utilising astronomy as a tool to address developmental challenges.

The Basic Plan on Space Policy sets forth the basic principles of Japan's space policy with an aim to promote policies for space development. The latest version, approved by the Cabinet in June 2023, marks a significant shift by defining space science as a crucial integral part of Japan's space development efforts, transitioning from treating it solely as an isolated academic activity. For instance, the Artemis program is promoted as a policy initiative where scientific exploration is positioned to serve a precursor role. It also encourages Japan’s involvement in NASA's post-JWST efforts. Here, I will present Japan's recent accomplishments and future plans in space science.

The goals of the Astrophysics Division are to understand how the universe works, understand how we got here and to address the question, are we alone? In this talk, Dr. Clampin will discuss the current goals of the Astrophysics Division, and its suite of current and future missions. He will also preview progress towards the 2020 National Academies (NAS) Decadal Survey including the key recommendation, the Habitable Worlds Observatory and NASA’s approach to its implementation. Dr. O’Meara will discuss the first steps towards implementation, the formation of a Science, Technology, Architecture Review Team (START) and Technical Analysis Group (TAG) for HWO. He will describe how these teams, along with a large cohort of volunteers are working to define the trade space that must be explored for HWO to meet its top science goals of surveying exoplanets for the signatures of life and performing transformational astrophysics.

After launch on 1 July 2023, the Euclid space telescope of the European Space Agency (ESA) has begun its 6-year mission designed to understand the origin of the Universe's accelerating expansion, which is commonly associated with Dark Energy. By observing billions of galaxies, Euclid will create a 3-dimensional map of the Universe covering 10 billion years of cosmic history. It contains the hierarchical assembly of (dark) matter in galaxies, clusters and superclusters telling us about the nature of gravity and giving us a detailed measurement of the accelerated expansion of the Universe in time. The stringent image quality and sky survey requirements impose extreme performances of the telescope, instruments, and spacecraft. After a mission summary, I will describe the in-orbit spacecraft and instrument performances. A notable challenge is the processing of the large volume of data. The scientific prospects of Euclid are illustrated with the first images and early science results.

The Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) mission, scheduled for launch in 2030, advances three scientific pillars: exploring the low-mass, low-metallicity galaxy frontier; providing new views of the dynamic universe, and leaving a broad legacy of modern, deep synoptic surveys adding to the panchromatic richness of 21st century astrophysics. The UVEX instrument consists of a single module with simultaneous FUV and NUV imaging over a wide (10 sq. deg) FOV and sensitive R>1000 spectroscopy over a broad band from 1150 - 2650 Angstroms. In this talk I will describe the UVEX scientific program and provide an overview of the instrument and mission.

The next decade heralds a renaissance in radio astronomy, with a formidable complement of global Observatories, from LOFAR2.0, to the SKA becoming powerful discovery engines at these lowest frequencies. While they commit to lowering data access barriers, managing the deluge of data poses challenges, as the new constraint on viable astronomy must move from hours on sky to data product cost in energy, compute and carbon and data footprint. I will explore with you the challenges and opportunities in creating a new frontier of sustainable, ethical, affordable astronomy.

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) project was initiated in 2018 as the recovery mission resuming the high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy with imaging once realized but unexpectedly terminated by a mishap of ASTRO-H/Hitomi. XRISM carries a pixelized X-ray micro-calorimeter array and an X-ray CCD on the focal planes of two sets of X-ray mirror assemblies. The spacecraft was successfully launched from JAXA Tanegashima Space Center on September 7, 2023, and is now conducting performance verification observation followed by guest observations starting in August 2024. In this paper, we present the history of development and recent results.