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C. J. Bebek (LBNL), SNAP Collaboration
The SNAP mission concept is being developed to respond to the DOE-NASA Joint Dark Energy Mission. The science program requires photometric discovery and detailed follow-up observations of at least 2000 Type Ia supernovae with redshifts ranging from 0.3 to 1.7. The instrument, which sits at the focus of a 2-m three mirror anastigmat telescope with a 1.4 square degree FOV, consists of a photometer that instruments 0.7 square degree of the FOV, and a low resolution spectrograph. Both the photometer and spectrograph use visible and NIR detectors to span the wavelength range 350 nm to 1700 nm. A 2D-symmetric array of fixed filters is deployed over the photometer sensors and the focal plane is operated in a step-and-stare mode to perform broadband photometry over fixed regions of the sky. The multi-object spectrograph is based on an image slicer. We present an update on the R&D activities we are undertaking to insure technology readiness for a mission proposal.
This work has been supported by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Science, under contract DE-AC03-76SF00098.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.