The Origins Space Telescope will trace the history of our origins from the time dust and heavy elements permanently altered the cosmic landscape to present-day life. How did galaxies evolve from the earliest galactic systems to those found in the Universe today? How do habitable planets form? How common are life-bearing worlds? To answer these alluring questions, Origins will operate at mid- and far-infrared (IR) wavelengths and offer powerful spectroscopic instruments and sensitivity three orders of magnitude better than that of the Herschel Space Observatory, the largest telescope flown in space to date. We describe the baseline concept for Origins recommended to the 2020 US Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. The baseline design includes a 5.9-m diameter telescope cryocooled to 4.5 K and equipped with three scientific instruments. A mid-infrared instrument (Mid-Infrared Spectrometer and Camera Transit spectrometer) will measure the spectra of transiting exoplanets in the 2.8 to 20 μm wavelength range and offer unprecedented spectrophotometric precision, enabling definitive exoplanet biosignature detections. The far-IR imager polarimeter will be able to survey thousands of square degrees with broadband imaging at 50 and 250 μm. The Origins Survey Spectrometer will cover wavelengths from 25 to 588 μm, making wide-area and deep spectroscopic surveys with spectral resolving power R ∼ 300, and pointed observations at R ∼ 40,000 and 300,000 with selectable instrument modes. Origins was designed to minimize complexity. The architecture is similar to that of the Spitzer Space Telescope and requires very few deployments after launch, while the cryothermal system design leverages James Webb Space Telescope technology and experience. A combination of current-state-of-the-art cryocoolers and next-generation detector technology will enable Origins’ natural background-limited sensitivity.

中文翻译：

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起源太空望远镜：基线任务概念

起源太空望远镜将从尘土和重元素永久改变宇宙景观到当今生活的时间追溯我们的起源历史。星系是如何从最早的银河系演变成如今在宇宙中发现的？可居住的行星是如何形成的？生命世界有多普遍？为了回答这些诱人的问题，Origins将在中红外和远红外（IR）波长下运行，并提供功能强大的光谱仪器和灵敏度，这比迄今为止在太空中飞行的最大望远镜赫歇尔太空天文台要好三个数量级。我们描述了2020年美国天文学和天体物理学十年调查推荐的Origins的基线概念。基线设计包括一个直径为5.9 m的望远镜，该望远镜被冷冻至4.5 K，并配备了三台科学仪器。一款中红外仪器（中红外光谱仪和Camera Transit光谱仪）将测量2.8至20μm波长范围内的过渡系外行星的光谱，并提供前所未有的分光光度法精度，从而可以进行确定的系外行星生物特征检测。远红外成像仪的旋光仪将能够在50和250μm的宽带成像下测量数千平方度。Origins Survey Spectrometer的波长范围从25到588μm，使用光谱分辨力R〜300进行广域和深光谱测量，并通过可选的仪器模式在R 40,000和300,000进行尖锐观测。Origins旨在最大程度地减少复杂性。该架构类似于Spitzer空间望远镜的架构，发射后几乎不需要部署，低温热系统的设计利用了James Webb太空望远镜的技术和经验。当前最先进的低温冷却器和下一代检测器技术的结合将使Origins具有自然本底限制的灵敏度。