The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
ULTRASAT: A Wide-field Time-domain UV Space Telescope
- Y. Shvartzvald,
- E. Waxman,
- A. Gal-Yam,
- E. O. Ofek,
- S. Ben-Ami,
- D. Berge,
- M. Kowalski,
- R. Bühler,
- S. Worm,
- J. E. Rhoads,
- I. Arcavi,
- D. Maoz,
- D. Polishook,
- N. Stone,
- B. Trakhtenbrot,
- M. Ackermann,
- O. Aharonson,
- O. Birnholtz,
- D. Chelouche,
- D. Guetta,
- N. Hallakoun,
- A. Horesh,
- D. Kushnir,
- T. Mazeh,
- J. Nordin,
- A. Ofir,
- S. Ohm,
- D. Parsons,
- A. Pe’er,
- H. B. Perets,
- V. Perdelwitz,
- D. Poznanski,
- I. Sadeh,
- I. Sagiv,
- S. Shahaf,
- M. Soumagnac,
- L. Tal-Or,
- J. Van Santen,
- B. Zackay,
- O. Guttman,
- P. Rekhi,
- A. Townsend,
- A. Weinstein,
- I. Wold
Affiliations
- Y. Shvartzvald
- ORCiD
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- E. Waxman
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- A. Gal-Yam
- ORCiD
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- E. O. Ofek
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- S. Ben-Ami
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- D. Berge
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany; Institut fur Physik, Humboldt-Universitzäu Berlin , D-12489 Berlin, Germany
- M. Kowalski
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany; Institut fur Physik, Humboldt-Universitzäu Berlin , D-12489 Berlin, Germany
- R. Bühler
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- S. Worm
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- J. E. Rhoads
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- I. Arcavi
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel; CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program , CIFAR, Toronto, Canada
- D. Maoz
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
- D. Polishook
- Faculty of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel
- N. Stone
- Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem 91904, Israel
- B. Trakhtenbrot
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
- M. Ackermann
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- O. Aharonson
- Helen Kimmel Center for Planetary Science, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot, Israel; Planetary Science Institute , Tucson, AZ, USA
- O. Birnholtz
- Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University , Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
- D. Chelouche
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa , Haifa 3498838, Israel; Haifa Research Center for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Haifa , Haifa 3498838, Israel
- D. Guetta
- Department of Physics, Ariel University , Ariel, IL-40700, Israel
- N. Hallakoun
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- A. Horesh
- Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem 91904, Israel
- D. Kushnir
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- T. Mazeh
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
- J. Nordin
- Institut fur Physik, Humboldt-Universitzäu Berlin , D-12489 Berlin, Germany
- A. Ofir
- Helen Kimmel Center for Planetary Science, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot, Israel
- S. Ohm
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- D. Parsons
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- A. Pe’er
- Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University , Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
- H. B. Perets
- Physics Department, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology , Technion City, Haifa 3200002, Israel; Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel , 1 University Road, P.O. Box 808, Raanana 4353701, Israel
- V. Perdelwitz
- Helen Kimmel Center for Planetary Science, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot, Israel
- D. Poznanski
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
- I. Sadeh
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- I. Sagiv
- ElOp—Elbit Systems Ltd. , Rehovot, Israel
- S. Shahaf
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- M. Soumagnac
- Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University , Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel
- L. Tal-Or
- Department of Physics, Ariel University , Ariel, IL-40700, Israel; Astrophysics Geophysics And Space Science Research Center, Ariel University , Ariel 40700, Israel
- J. Van Santen
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY , Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
- B. Zackay
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- O. Guttman
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- P. Rekhi
- Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 7610001, Israel ; [email protected]
- A. Townsend
- Institut fur Physik, Humboldt-Universitzäu Berlin , D-12489 Berlin, Germany
- A. Weinstein
- Tufts University , Medford, MA 02155, USA
- I. Wold
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad2704
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 964,
no. 1
p. 74
Abstract
The Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT) is scheduled to be launched to geostationary orbit in 2027. It will carry a telescope with an unprecedentedly large field of view (204 deg ^2 ) and near-ultraviolet (NUV; 230–290 nm) sensitivity (22.5 mag, 5 σ , at 900 s). ULTRASAT will conduct the first wide-field survey of transient and variable NUV sources and will revolutionize our ability to study the hot transient Universe. It will explore a new parameter space in energy and timescale (months-long light curves with minutes cadence), with an extragalactic volume accessible for the discovery of transient sources that is >300 times larger than that of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and comparable to that of the Vera Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time. ULTRASAT data will be transmitted to the ground in real time, and transient alerts will be distributed to the community in 23.5 AB mag, over 10 times deeper than the GALEX map. Two key science goals of ULTRASAT are the study of mergers of binaries involving neutron stars, and supernovae. With a large fraction (>50%) of the sky instantaneously accessible, fast (minutes) slewing capability, and a field of view that covers the error ellipses expected from gravitational-wave (GW) detectors beyond 2026, ULTRASAT will rapidly detect the electromagnetic emission following binary neutron star/neutron star–black hole mergers identified by GW detectors, and will provide continuous NUV light curves of the events. ULTRASAT will provide early (hour) detection and continuous high-cadence (minutes) NUV light curves for hundreds of core-collapse supernovae, including for rarer supernova progenitor types.
Keywords
- Near ultraviolet astronomy
- Space telescopes
- Time domain astronomy
- Gravitational wave sources
- Supernovae
- Gamma-ray bursts
