Astro Seminar
The Galaxy Evolution Probe: A Concept for a Mid- to Far-Infrared Survey Observatory to Measure the Star Formation History, Growth of AGN, and Evolution of Galactic Interstellar Medium over Cosmic Time
Speaker: Jason Glenn (NASA Goddard)
Date: Wednesday 21 April 2021
Time: 16:00
Venue: Zoom
Assembling a cosmic history of star formation, supermassive black hole growth, and the build-up of metals in galactic disks will require large infrared surveys that can see into the hearts of galaxies. The NASA Astrophysics Probe class under consideration by the U.S. Decadal Survey presents an opportunity to meet this challenge on a scope between medium scale and Flagship (Cornerstone) observatories. I will discuss the Galaxy Evolution Probe (GEP), a concept for an infrared observatory dedicated to large, uniform galaxy surveys. I will describe GEP’s science goals, provide context on the complementarity of infrared observations to other wavelengths and surveys, and describe GEP’s design with a brief focus on the enabling detector technology -- kinetic inductance detectors. I will present some predictions for science outcomes based on simulations and list some areas that need further exploration.