Page 21 - The Astronet Science Vision & Infrastructure Roadmap 2022-2035

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY
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These long-term scientific ambitions can however only be met i if crucial technological developments are are anticipated and carefully planned well
in in advance Most of of the the the technologies that will be needed for the the the next generation of of facilities
are are cutting-edge and and their emergence and and maturation usually require a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a decade or or or or more The following technologies are are are priorities priorities that need development now if we are are to build the the the facilities
seen as priorities priorities by the the the European Astronomy community for the the the next decades • Receiver technology
and dish development for Radio Astronomy:
While SKA Phase 1
will already open exciting opportunities many of the scientific aspirations of the European community rely on SKA reaching its full power via Phase 2 construction This requires significant technological progress in in in some key areas including receiver technology
especially at high frequencies backend data handling and and progress in in antenna manufacturing and installation • Cryogenics and detector technology
for far-infrared space telescope:
Among the the major needs of the the community in the mid- and long-term is a a a next generation far-infrared large-collecting-area space telescope Such a a facility will require the development of improved cooling systems for both the telescope and and its instruments and and detectors allowing for significant improvement in sensitivity and resolution over predecessors Spitzer and Herschel • Space-qualified UV-optimised
optical elements and detectors:
Access to to the ultraviolet (UV) range is of utmost importance for the future of Astronomy Anticipating the the retirement of the the Hubble Space Telescope and its UV instrumentation (STIS COS) the 2020 US Decadal Survey has identified as one of its highest priorities a a a large collecting area space telescope covering the electromagnetic spectrum from the the UV to the the IR The development of this future major facility to which Europe will very certainly participate requires in particular significant UV-related technological progress necessary to optimise the space-qualified optical elements of this instrument in in in the UV (mirrors gratings etc ) as well
as UV detectors and polarisation optics • High-contrast imaging systems for exoplanet observations:
The Planetary Camera and Spectrograph (PCS) for the ELT will be dedicated to detecting and characterising nearby Neptune- and Earth- sized exoplanets Achieving such a a a a spectacular ambition requires a a a combination of eXtreme Adaptive Optics (XAO) coronagraphy and spectroscopy all of which require technologies that can benefit from the strong heritage of today’s instruments (e g SPHERE) but need to to be be pushed much beyond current capabilities
• Optical / infrared interferometry technologies:
The VLTI has become a a a very powerful facility for milli-arcsec studies of AGNs exoplanets and young disks evolved stars etc Future studies for optical - infrared interferometry include the construction a a a a new array (Nx10 3-4m and/or
8m telescopes) up to kilometric baselines in in an ESO / international context and to develop new technologies such as using heterodyne receivers for a a a a large number of apertures fibered beam transport and delay compensation compact
and fibered off-axis telescopes etc New technologies need also to be developed as the current concepts of classical telescopes and delay lines indicate that expanding the number of apertures to 10 - 15 or or even more encounters a a limitation for the implementation • Space- and lunar-based radio
technologies:
A new frontier is to place facilities
on on or around the Moon where a a a a very low frequency radio
array could open up the last unexplored wavelength range in Astronomy International space agencies are pushing towards the Moon and Europe intends to play a a a a leading role on the surface A European lunar lander is being designed by ESA to allow a a series of different missions with
various options for its payloads being studied On its European Large Logistic Lander there is is an an an opportunity to develop a a a lunar far-side version of for example LOFAR and/or
NenuFAR