SAGACE: the Spectroscopic Active Galaxies And Clusters Explorer

TL;DR

SAGACE is a proposed mm/sub-mm telescope with a spectrometer designed for large-scale spectroscopic surveys of galaxy clusters, active galactic nuclei, and distant galaxies, enabling new insights into cosmic structures and phenomena.

Contribution

The paper introduces SAGACE, a novel small mission concept with a specialized spectrometer for comprehensive spectroscopic surveys in the 100-760 GHz range.

Findings

Feasibility of operating from a Molniya orbit.

Instrument can be built within small mission budget.

Successful phase-A study completed for the Italian Space Agency.

Abstract

The SAGACE experiment consists of a mm/sub-mm telescope with a 3-m diameter primary mirror, coupled to a cryogenic multi-beam differential spectrometer. SAGACE explores the sky in the 100-760 GHz frequency range, using four diffraction-limited bolometer arrays. The instrument is designed to perform spectroscopic surveys of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effects of thousands of galaxy clusters, of the spectral energy distribution of active galactic nuclei, and of the [CII] line of a thousand galaxies in the redshift desert. In 2008 a full phase-A study for a national small mission was completed and delivered to the Italian Space Agency (ASI). We have shown that taking advantage of the differential operation of the Fourier Transform Spectrometer, this ambitious instrument can operate from a Molniya orbit, and can be built and operated within the tight budget of a small mission.