A Large Infrared Synoptic Survey Telescope in Antarctica

Nicolas EpchteinCNRS, UNS, OCA, Nice, Franceon behalf of the PLT ConsortiumLIA-Origins-May 20121A project for a Polar Large Telescope (PLT)and aNew Infrared Sky Survey from Antarctica (NISSA)

LIA-Origins-20121LIA-Origins-May 20122N. Epchtein(1), W. Ansorge(2), L. Abe(1), E. Aristidi (1), D. Mkarnia(1), J.-P. Rivet(1), M. Langlois(3), I. Vauglin(3), B. Le Roux(4), M. Carbillet(1), G. Moretto(18), C. Tao (19,20) , A. Tilquin (19) , S. Argentini(7), C. Genthon(6), R.Lemrani(8), T. Le Bertre(5), G. Marchiori(9), J. Montnacher(10), C.David(11), I. Esau(12), E. Ruch (13), I. Bryson(14), G. Dalton(15), M. Ashley(16), J. Storey(16), J. Lawrence(17)

(1) CNRSUNSOCA, Laboratoire Lagrange, Nice, France(2) RAMSCON Management Consultants, Assling, Germany(3) CNRSCRALUniv. Lyon1, France(4) CNRSLAM, Marseille, France (5) CNRSLERMA, Observatoire de Paris, France(6) CNRSLGGE, Grenoble, France(7) CNRISAC, Rome, Italy(8) Centre de Calcul IN2P3, Lyon, France (9) European Industrial Engineering (EIE), Mestre, Italy(10) Fraunhofer Institute (IPA), Stuttgart, Germany(11) Institut Paul Emile Victor, Brest, France(12) Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, Norway(13) SAFRAN (SAGEMREOSC), SaintPierre du Perray, France(14) STFC, UKATC, Edinburgh, UK (15) STFC, RAL Space Dpt., Didcot, UK(16) University of New SouthWales, Sydney, Australia(17) AngloAustralian Observatory, Australia.(18) IPNL- IN2P3, Lyon, France(19) CPPM-IN2P3, Marseille, France(20) Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

The PLT Consortium 2LIA-Origins-2012outlineLIA-Origins-May 20123- 50 years of large scale Infrared broad band surveys- The Antarctic opportunity- The PLT/NISSA project- ConclusionsOrigin of the projectLIA-Origins-May 20124Recommendations of ASTRONET (2008)ARENA network (2009)INSU 5-yr prospect (2009)PILOT phase A study (Australia) (2008)Consortium was set up to submit a proposal to the EC FP7 call for Design Study in 2010Enlarged for a new proposal to French ANR in 2012: AAA proposal

Present Status:EC proposal in standby ANR waiting evaluation (June 2012)Seeking for partneship (China, Australia, ...)Preparing future proposals to EC Horizon 2020 (in 2013)

50 years of infrared sky surveysLIA-Origins-May 20125Past/present (ground) IRC (I/K) (60s)2MASS (JHKs) / DENIS (IJKs) (90s)UKIDSS (2000s)VISTA (visible to Ks) (2010s) Past (space) AFGL (70s) IRAS (10-100m) (80s) MSX (90s) WISE (3-24 m) (2010) Spitzer (2000s) AKARI (2000s)

Projects (ground) SASIR (US/Mexican)Projects (Antarcica) PILOT (Australia) KDUST (China) PLT/NISSA (Europe/Australia)Projects (space)

WFIRSTSpicaSnapsee review : S.D. Price, Sp. Sci. Rev. 142, 233 (2009)Scientific drivers for new near-IR surveysLIA-Origins-May 20126Large scale surveys (in particular in the IR) are basic tools for astrophysical researchTop priorities in astrophysics for the next decade: Nature of dark matter and energy Distant universeExoplanetsStellar populations in galaxies History of formation.Giant observatories for the optical/IR range: extreme sensitivity, ultra- HAR, but limited fields of viewE-ELT, TMT, JWST ca. 2016-2020 30Mega-surveys (optical/IR): 100s Mpxls Gpxls arrays also in the IR range (+ fast pipeline/huge archiving capacity)Time domain exploration (from minutes to years)From the ground: LSST (visible), Pan-STARRS (visible), VISTA (near IR), SASIR (?)In space: EUCLID, WFIRST (IR) In Antarctica: propositions of NIR IR ultra deep surveys: PLT/NISSA, KDUST, LOAT...Spectro-imaging surveys in the thermal IR particularly in the 2.2-3.6 m range6LIA-Origins-2012Guidelines for a new broad band near IR surveyLIA-Origins-May 20127Faster than VISTA @K by a factor > 10 or moreBetter angular resolution than VISTA (~ 0.3 vs. 0.5)Large Fields (comparable to VISTAs). All sky (?)Repeated (time domain exploration) (LSST-style)Near thermal infrared (2.2 to 4 m)Uninterrupted (day/night) observations beyond 3mPossible imaging-spectroscopic mode in the 2.3-5 m range? Provide lists of very faint exciting sources (transients, large z, candidate exoplanets...) for E-ELT, JWST.... alertsFollow up large space surveys EUCLID, WFIRST

Main science drivers for a new IR surveyLIA-Origins-May 20128Probe of early universe, QSO search re-ionization (z>6), distance candles (RR Lyr, Cepheids)IR SNIa (in heavily obscured regions) Monitoring and characterization of exoplanets (high dynamic imaging) Stellar populations and their history in galaxies Deep surveys of field BDs and very young low mass stars stars (T< 600K) Exhaustive global synoptic surveys of variable stars (all types) in the Magellanic Clouds and stream (VMC) and galaxies of the local group Astrometric surveys of nearby objects (brown dwarfs, small bodies, geocruisers, PHA, KBOs) (extend LSST for cooler objetcs)Complements Feed back with other large missions JWST/E-ELT/EUCLID/LSSTSerendipitous discoveries

Early Universe with the PLT/NISSA (or KDUST) LIA-Origins-14 May 20129Most distant QSO discovered by UKIDSS (ULAS J1120+0641 (Mortlock et al. Nat. 474, 616)How to explore re-ionization period at z >7 where optical surveys are uselessImprove UKIDSS/ VISTA by 2 to 3 mag. Immediate colour selection i-K and spectroscopic survey (2 simultaneous channels)

SNIa particularly in regions of high dust extinction (complemetary to LSST)Weak lensingSNe: Pair InstabilityDetection and monitoring of GRBs (respond to alerts LSST, SWIFT, Fermi..)

Stellar populations and formation history in MCs (M.-R. Cioni)DENIS/2MASS (IJHK)SAGE (Spitzer) (3-25 m)VISTA (VMC) (YJKs)PLT Kd Ls L

CCPM-PLT-29_04_201110Cioni & Habing 2003

LMC-AGBs

VMC survey with VISTA (PI M.-R. Cioni)CCPM-PLT-29_04_201111Stellar formation history3D structuresAssociations, binariesPNe and emission line objectsMouvements propresFormation stellaire Re-construct the system Better etsimate of MC distancesPLT-NISSA: Search for even more deeply embedded AGB stars10-yr monitoring of All RGB/AGB stars P-L deeper in K mK> 22

source VMC survey (M.-R. Cioni, PI: ; A&A, 527, A116, 531, A157, 537, A105, 537, A106new proposed large scale IR surveysLIA-Origins-May 201212 SASIR (J. Bloom et al. UCLA, Arizona, Mexico) Synoptic All Sky InfraRed surveywide bands: YJHK6.5 m telescope at San Pedro Martir (Mexico)124 X 2K arrays NISSA a New Infrared Sky Survey from Antarctica with PLT (in a conceptual phase)China: KDUSTAustralia: LOAT (J. Mould)

NISSA

NISSA

NISSA

NISSAThe Antarctic OpportunityLIA-Origins-May 201214CCPM-PLT-29_04_201115

Dome ADome CSouth PoleDome FA319casa212Twin OttertraverseAstrolabeDDUCaseyM. ZucchelliHobartChristchurchACCESS to Antarctic stations

15The Antarctic opportunityLIA-Origins-May 201216High altitude: 3000-4000 mvery low temperature: -20C