ORIGIN: Metal Creation and Evolution from the Cosmic Dawn

TL;DR

ORIGIN is a proposed ESA mission designed to study the creation and evolution of metals from the cosmic dawn using high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, addressing fundamental questions about the universe's chemical history.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mission concept capable of probing metal formation and distribution from the early universe to lower redshifts with high spectral resolution.

Findings

Will identify physical conditions of elements from C to Ni at high redshifts

Can study the evolution of cosmic metal content over time

Extends exploration to the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM)

Abstract

ORIGIN is a proposal for the M3 mission call of ESA aimed at the study of metal creation from the epoch of cosmic dawn. Using high-spectral resolution in the soft X-ray band, ORIGIN will be able to identify the physical conditions of all abundant elements between C and Ni to red-shifts of z=10, and beyond. The mission will answer questions such as: When were the first metals created? How does the cosmic metal content evolve? Where do most of the metals reside in the Universe? What is the role of metals in structure formation and evolution? To reach out to the early Universe ORIGIN will use Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) to study their local environments in their host galaxies. This requires the capability to slew the satellite in less than a minute to the GRB location. By studying the chemical composition and properties of clusters of galaxies we can extend the range of exploration to lower redshifts (z ~ 0.2). For this task we need a high-resolution spectral imaging instrument with a large field of view. Using the same instrument, we can also study the so far only partially detected baryons in the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). The less dense part of the WHIM will be studied using absorption lines at low redshift in the spectra for GRBs.