Description
Organisers: Jessica Doppel, Qiuhan He, David Lagattuta, Richard Massey, James Nightingale
NASAโs Habitable World Observatory (HWO), which is set to launch in the late 2030s, will transform our understanding of exoplanets and the potential for life beyond Earth. Its primary goal is to identify and directly image at least 25 potentially habitable worlds and use spectroscopy to detect chemical biosignatures, such as oxygen and methane, in their atmospheres. This mission has scope well beyond exoplanets, including stellar astrophysics, cosmology, and extragalactic astronomy.
The telescope will feature a 6.5-meter primary mirror with infrared, optical, and ultraviolet detectors across a broad range of wavelengths. It will also include sensitive spectrometers, coronagraphs for direct imaging, and space-based imaging quality and optics, enabling exquisite imaging of exoplanet atmospheres, biosignatures, and distant galaxies.
Now is the critical time to explore how to maximize the nation's involvement. The UK leads 3 of the 65 science cases being used to optimise hardware design, and UKSA are negotiating a (potentially substantial) contribution of an instrument - but which is not yet agreed. This session will serve as a forum for UK researchers to present science objectives, discuss engagement strategies, and identify key areas where the UK can secure a leading role. Topics will include exoplanets, stars, galaxy evolution, dark sector physics, and how HWO can complement other space missions and UK contributions to ground-based observatories.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is NASA's next-generation flagship space telescope, primarily designed to search for and directly image potentially habitable exoplanets. While its main focus is on planetary systems, HWOโs exceptional imaging capabilitiesโboth in depth and resolutionโalso make it a powerful tool for advancing our understanding of cosmology. In this talk, I will highlight...
The success of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) and other future space telescope missions depends on high-performing sensors capable of detecting in the UV band. The Centre for Electronic Imaging at The Open University is undertaking a program of development and testing of UV detector technologies to meet these future mission requirements. This includes testing and derisking of UV...
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) has been selected by NASA as its next flagship space astronomy mission. A principal scientific goal of HWO is to search for Earth-like planets in our interstellar neighbourhood and characterise their surfaces and/or atmospheres through direct spectroscopic observations in the search for evidence of life processes. This programme will answer the question...
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will deliver transformational insights into dark sector science. Theoretical and empirical studies show that satellite counts of ultra-faint dwarfs (i.e., those with stellar masses < 10^5 M_sun) can be valuable probes of potential deviations from a cold dark matter cosmology and subsequently place constraints on the warm dark matter particle mass. With...
In this talk, I will discuss how the latest generation of galaxy evolution simulations can aid the HWO community by providing the cosmological context required for meaningful predictions of exoplanet demographics and habitability in the Milky Way (MW), Local Group, and beyond.
First, I will outline the three main types of cosmological simulations and discuss each of their advantages and...
One of the most exciting planned missions for exoplanet science is the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), the telescope likely to yield the first images and biosignature detections from habitable zone exo-Earth twins. The mission is led by NASA but other space agencies including UKSA and ESA may provide significant contributions. Previous missions such as JWST have shown that such buy-in can...
