The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope: 100 Hubbles for the 2020s

TL;DR

WFIRST is a 2.4m space telescope designed for wide-field near-infrared surveys, offering vastly improved efficiency over Hubble for certain observations and enabling new science in cosmology and exoplanet studies.

Contribution

This paper summarizes the design and anticipated performance of WFIRST, highlighting its capabilities and potential scientific impact for the 2020s.

Findings

WFIRST will be hundreds of times more efficient than Hubble for wide-field near-IR surveys.

It will enable large area and time-domain surveys for cosmology and exoplanet research.

The mission is on schedule for launch in 2025 with key components in production.

Abstract

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is a 2.4m space telescope with a 0.281 deg^2 field of view for near-IR imaging and slitless spectroscopy and a coronagraph designed for > 10^8 starlight suppresion. As background information for Astro2020 white papers, this article summarizes the current design and anticipated performance of WFIRST. While WFIRST does not have the UV imaging/spectroscopic capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope, for wide field near-IR surveys WFIRST is hundreds of times more efficient. Some of the most ambitious multi-cycle HST Treasury programs could be executed as routine General Observer (GO) programs on WFIRST. The large area and time-domain surveys planned for the cosmology and exoplanet microlensing programs will produce extraordinarily rich data sets that enable an enormous range of Archival Research (AR) investigations. Requirements for the coronagraph are defined based on its status as a technology demonstration, but its expected performance will enable unprecedented observations of nearby giant exoplanets and circumstellar disks. WFIRST is currently in the Preliminary Design and Technology Completion phase (Phase B), on schedule for launch in 2025, with several of its critical components already in production.