WST - Widefield Spectroscopic Telescope: motivation, science drivers and top level requirements for a new dedicated facility

Roland Bacon; Vincenzo Maineiri; Sofia Randich; Andrea Cimatti; Jean-Paul Kneib; Jarle Brinchmann; Richard Ellis; Eline Tolstoi; Rodolfo Smiljanic; Vanessa Hill; Richard I. Anderson; Paula Sanchez Saez; Cyrielle Opitom; Ian Bryson; Philippe Dierickx; Bianca Garilli; Oscar Gonzalez; Roelof de Jong; David Lee; Steffen Mieske; Angel Otarola; Pietro Schipani; Tony Travouillon; Joel Vernet; Julia Bryant; Marc Casali; Matthew Colless; Warrick Couch; Simon Driver; Adriano Fontana; Matthew Lehnert; Laura Magrini; Ben Montet; Luca Pasquini; Martin Roth; Ruben Sanchez-Janssen; Matthias Steinmetz; Laurence Tresse; Christophe Yeche; Bodo Ziegler

doi:10.1117/12.3018093

11 September 2024 WST - Widefield Spectroscopic Telescope: motivation, science drivers and top level requirements for a new dedicated facility

Roland Bacon, Vincenzo Maineiri, Sofia Randich, Andrea Cimatti, Jean-Paul Kneib, Jarle Brinchmann, Richard Ellis, Eline Tolstoi, Rodolfo Smiljanic, Vanessa Hill, Richard I. Anderson, Paula Sanchez Saez, Cyrielle Opitom, Ian Bryson, Philippe Dierickx, Bianca Garilli, Oscar Gonzalez, Roelof de Jong, David Lee, Steffen Mieske, Angel Otarola, Pietro Schipani, Tony Travouillon, Joel Vernet, Julia Bryant, Marc Casali, Matthew Colless, Warrick Couch, Simon Driver, Adriano Fontana, Matthew Lehnert, Laura Magrini, Ben Montet, Luca Pasquini, Martin Roth, Ruben Sanchez-Janssen, Matthias Steinmetz, Laurence Tresse, Christophe Yeche, Bodo Ziegler

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13094, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes X; 130941O (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018093
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the wide-field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST) project. WST is a 12-metre wide-field spectroscopic survey telescope with simultaneous operation of a large field-of-view (3 sq. degree), high-multiplex (20,000) multi-object spectrograph (MOS), with both a low and high-resolution modes, and a giant 3×3 arcmin² integral field spectrograph (IFS). In scientific capability, these specifications place WST far ahead of existing and planned facilities. In only 5 years of operation, the MOS would target 250 million galaxies and 25 million stars at low spectral resolution, plus 2 million stars at high resolution. Without need for pre-imaged targets, the IFS would deliver 4 billion spectra offering many serendipitous discoveries. Given the current investment in deep imaging surveys and noting the diagnostic power of spectroscopy, WST will fill a crucial gap in astronomical capability and work in synergy with future ground and space-based facilities. We show how it can address outstanding scientific questions in the areas of cosmology; galaxy assembly, evolution, and enrichment, including our own Milky Way; the origin of stars and planets; and time domain and multi-messenger astrophysics. WST’s uniquely rich dataset may yield unforeseen discoveries in many of these areas. The telescope and instruments are designed as an integrated system and will mostly use existing technology, with the aim to minimise the carbon footprint and environmental impact. We will propose WST as the next European Southern Observatory (ESO) project after completion of the 39-metre ELT.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

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Roland Bacon, Vincenzo Maineiri, Sofia Randich, Andrea Cimatti, Jean-Paul Kneib, Jarle Brinchmann, Richard Ellis, Eline Tolstoi, Rodolfo Smiljanic, Vanessa Hill, Richard I. Anderson, Paula Sanchez Saez, Cyrielle Opitom, Ian Bryson, Philippe Dierickx, Bianca Garilli, Oscar Gonzalez, Roelof de Jong, David Lee, Steffen Mieske, Angel Otarola, Pietro Schipani, Tony Travouillon, Joel Vernet, Julia Bryant, Marc Casali, Matthew Colless, Warrick Couch, Simon Driver, Adriano Fontana, Matthew Lehnert, Laura Magrini, Ben Montet, Luca Pasquini, Martin Roth, Ruben Sanchez-Janssen, Matthias Steinmetz, Laurence Tresse, Christophe Yeche, and Bodo Ziegler "WST - Widefield Spectroscopic Telescope: motivation, science drivers and top level requirements for a new dedicated facility", Proc. SPIE 13094, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes X, 130941O (11 September 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3018093

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