Next Generation O/IR Telescopes Stephen E. Strom Associate Director GSMT Development NOAO User’s Committee October, 2005

Outline US Decadal Survey perspective AURA New Initiatives Office Science with a GSMT Top level summary of ELT Projects: OWL, GMT & TMT Overview of TMT Site Selection Status of AURA/NSF support of TMT and GMT

AASC Vision for GSMT “The Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope (GSMT), the committee’s top ground-based recommendation….is a 30-m-class ground-based telescope that will be a powerful complement to NGST [and ALMA] in tracing the evolution of galaxies and the formation of stars and planets.”

Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope 30m segmented primary mirror 10x gain in light gathering power Diffraction limited via Adaptive Optics (AO), –3x gain in angular resolution For (typical) background limited problems, time to reach fixed S/N reduced by 100x (point source)

A New Paradigm “GSMT requires a large investment of resources and offers an opportunity for partnership between national and university/independent observatories in producing and operating a world-class facility within the coordinated system of these two essential components of US ground-based astronomy.” “Half the total cost should come from private and/or international partners.”

AURA Response to AASC Challenge In response, AURA formed a New Initiatives Office (NIO) to support scientific & technical studies to evaluate technical risk areas & cost of building a GSMT NIO has been a joint venture of NOAO + Gemini

AURA-NIO Goals Ensure community access to highly-capable next generation ELTs by enabling completion of –“Fast track” facilit(ies) contemporary with JWST/ALMA –“Ultimate” ground-based OIR observatory before 2025 Develop partnerships to build and operate ELTs Engage and involve the community at all phases –Design –Construction (instruments and key subsystems) –Operation Look a decade ahead and begin dialog re next generation facilities

NIO Activities to Date Identify key science drivers for a 30m-class ELT –Accomplish via a community-based GSMT SWG Carry out technical studies common to all ELTs –AO; wind loading; segment fabrication; sites Develop a ‘point design’ –Understand systems issues –Estimate system and subsystem costs Results summarized in “GSMT Book” – Provide engineering support as part of TMT collaboration

GSMT Science Working Group - Identify forefront astrophysical science likely to emerge over next decade - Identify science potentially enabled by GSMT - Understand and assess design options that can achieve science - Identify technologies to be advanced or developed - Provide advice the NSF about investments needed - Advocate community interests in private/public partnerships - Establish working relationships with groups in Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, Mexico - Keep abreast of progress on TMT and GMT to ensure that emerging designs + instrument suites meet community aspirations

Science with a GSMT: The SWG View The physics of young Jupiter's

GSMT SWG Members Chair: Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, UH IfA Vice-Chair: Steve Strom, NOAO SWG Members: –Jill Bechtold -- UA –Mike Bolte -- UCSC –Ray Carlberg -- U Toronto –Matthew Colless -- ANU –Irena Cruz-Gonzales -- UNAM –Alan Dressler -- OCIW –Betsy Gillespie -- UCI –Michael Liu -- UHIfA –Kim Venn -- U Victoria –Terry Herter -- Cornell –Paul Ho -- CfA –Jonathan Lunine -- UA LPL –Claire Max -- UCSC –Chris McKee -- UCB –Francois Rigaut -- Gemini –Doug Simons -- Gemini –Chuck Steidel -- CIT

Science Enabled by GSMT Tomography of the Intergalactic Medium at z > 3 –High resolution spectra of IGM absorption spectra Determine 3-dimensional distribution of gas Track evolution of metal abundance & relate to galactic activity Observing the galaxy assembly process –Integral field unit spectra of pre-galactic fragments Determine gas and stellar kinematics; measure mass directly Quantify star formation activity and chemical composition Separating constituent stellar populations in galaxies –MCAO imaging and spectroscopy Determine age and distribution of chemical abundances Understanding where and when planets form –Ultra-high resolution mid-IR spectra of ~1000 accreting PMS stars Infer planetary architectures via observation of ‘gaps’ in disks Detecting and characterizing mature planets –Extreme AO coronography; spectroscopy

Probing the Distant Universe

IGM Tomography Goals: –Map out large scale structure for z > 3 –Link emerging distribution of gas; galaxies to CMB –Determine metal abundances Measurements: –Spectra for 10 6 galaxies (R ~ 2000) [wide-field 8-m?] –Spectra of 10 5 QSOs and galaxies (R ~20000) Key requirements: –15-20’ FOV; ~1000 fibers Time to complete study with GSMT: 3 years

The Potential of GSMT Input 30m 8m

Analyzing Galaxies at High Redshift Determine the gas and stellar dynamics within individual galaxies Quantify variations in star formation rate Tool: IFU spectra [R ~ 5,000 – 10,000] GSMT 3 hour, 3  limit at R=5, ”x0.1” IFU pixel (sub-kpc scale structures) J H K

Connecting the Distant & Local Universe

Stellar Populations Goals: –Quantify ages; [Fe/H]; for stars in nearby galaxies spanning all types –Use ‘archaelogical record’ to understand the assembly process –Quantify IMF in different environments Measurements: –CMDs for selected areas in local group galaxies –Spectra of stars in selected regions (R ~ 1000) Key requirements: –MCAO delivering 30” FOV; MCAO-fed NIR spectrograph Time to complete study with GSMT: 3 years

Deconstructing Nearby Galaxies

Stellar Populations in Galaxies M 32 (Gemini/Hokupaa)GSMT with MCAO 20” JWST Population: 10% 1 Gyr ([Fe/H]=0), 45% 5 Gyr ([Fe/H]=0), 45% 10 Gyr ([Fe/H]=-0.3) Simulations from K. Olsen and F. Rigaut

Crowding Limits Photometric Accuracy Crowding introduces photometric error through luminosity fluctuations within a single resolution element of the telescope due to the unresolved stellar sources in that element.

Crowding Limits for GSMT JWST limit GSMT limit Limiting luminosity scales as ~ D -2

Modeling Population Mixes – Maximum likelihood method of Dolphin (1997) – 45 model isochrones with ages from Gyr and [Fe/H]=0.0,-0.3,-0.6 compared with data

Recovering Population Mixes 3% 1 Gyr/[Fe/H]=0.0 35% 5 Gyr/[Fe/H]=0.0 62% 10 Gyr/[Fe/H]=-0.3 2% 1 Gyr/[Fe/H]=0.0 34% 5 Gyr/[Fe/H]=0.0 64% 10+/-1 Gyr/[Fe/H]=-0.3 5% Gyr/[Fe/H]= % 3--7 Gyr/[Fe/H]=0.0 80% Gyr/[Fe/H]= Input Simulation 30 m GSMT JWST

Origins of Planetary Systems Goals: –Understand where and when planets form –Infer planetary architectures via observation of ‘gaps’ Measurements: –Spectra of 10 3 accreting PMS stars (R~10 5 ;  ) Key requirements: –On axis, high Strehl AO; low emissivity –Exploit near-diffraction-limited mid-IR performance Time to complete study with GSMT: –2 years

Probing Planet Formation with High Resolution Infrared Spectroscopy S/N=100, R=100,000, > 4  m Gemini out to 0.2kpc 10s of objects GSMT 1.5kpc 1000s of objects JWST N/A Planet formation studies in the infrared (5-30µm):  Probe forming planets in inner disk regions  Residual gas in cleared region low  emission  Rotation separates disk radii in velocity  High spectral resolution high spatial resolution Simulated 8 hr exposure

H2

Goal: Image and characterize exo-planets –Mass, radius, albedo –Atmospheric structure –Chemistry –Rotation Measurements: R~ 10 photometry & R ~ 200 spectra –Near-infrared (reflected light) –Mid-infrared (thermal emission) Role of GSMT: Enable measurements via –High sensitivity –High angular resolution Detecting and Characterizing Exo-Planets

Key Parameters: 30m GSMT  5  D 10pc 1.2  40 mas 0.4 AU 4.7  160 mas 1.6 AU Aperture is critical to enable separation of planet from stellar image

Exo-Jupiter Examples