Solar System Science With the Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST)
WFIRST will provide imaging and spectroscopic capabilities from 0.6-2.0 µm and will be a potential contemporary and eventual successor to JWST.
We present a community-led assessment of the capabilities of NASA’s Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) for Solar System science.
Observations of asteroids, the giant planets and their satellites, Kuiper Belt Objects, and comets will be possible through both the Guest Investigator (GI) and Guest Observer (GO) programs. Surveys of minor bodies and time domain studies of variable surfaces and atmospheres are uniquely well-suited for WFIRST with its 0.28 deg2 field of view.
Previous use of astrophysics assets for Solar System science and synergies between WFIRST, LSST, and JWST are discussed. We also provide a list of proposed minor modifications to the mission, including non-sidereal tracking of 30 mas/s and a K-band filter (~2.0-2.4 µm).
B.J. Holler, S.N. Milam, J.M. Bauer, C. Alcock, M.T. Bannister, G.L. Bjoraker, D. Bodewits, A.S. Bosh, M.W. Buie, T.L. Farnham, N. Haghighipour, P.S. Hardersen, A.W. Harris, H.H. Hsieh, M.S.P. Kelley, M.M. Knight, E.A. Kramer, A. Longobardo, C.A. Nixon, E. Palomba, S. Protopapa, L.C. Quick, D. Ragozzine, V. Reddy, J.D. Rhodes, A.S. Rivkin, G. Sarid, A.A. Sickafoose, A.A. Simon, C.A. Thomas, D.E. Trilling, R.A. West
(Submitted on 8 Sep 2017)
Comments: 53 pages, 25 figures, 4 tables
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:1709.02763 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1709.02763v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Bryan Holler
[v1] Fri, 8 Sep 2017 16:17:55 GMT (8390kb)
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/1709.02763
