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arXiv · 1411.0313

Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Mission and Synergies with LISA and LIGO-Virgo

Neil Gehrels·David N. Spergel
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Abstract

The Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is a NASA space mission in study for launch in 2024. It has a 2.4 m telescope, wide-field IR instrument operating in the 0.7 - 2.0 micron range and an exoplanet imaging coronagraph instrument operating in the 400 - 1000 nm range. The observatory will perform galaxy surveys over thousands of square degrees to J=27 AB for dark energy weak lensing and baryon acoustic oscillation measurements and will monitor a few square degrees for dark energy SN Ia studies. It will perform microlensing observations of the galactic bulge for an exoplanet census and direct imaging observations of nearby exoplanets with a pathfinder coronagraph. The mission will have a robust and well-funded guest observer program for 25% of the observing time. WFIRST will be a powerful tool for time domain astronomy and for coordinated observations with gravitational wave experiments. Gravitational wave events produced by mergers of nearby binary neutron stars (LIGO-Virgo) or extragalactic supermassive black hole binaries (LISA) will produce electromagnetic radiation that WFIRST can observe.

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Neil Gehrels, David N. Spergel. 2014-11-02. Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Mission and Synergies with LISA and LIGO-Virgo. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596%2F610%2F1%2F012007

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