Probing the Time Domain with High Spatial Resolution

TL;DR

This paper discusses the scientific potential of combining high temporal resolution and high spatial resolution observations in astronomy, focusing on new systems that bridge the capabilities of LSST and JWST.

Contribution

It proposes a system capable of achieving both high cadence and high spatial resolution, enabling new scientific investigations in time-domain astronomy.

Findings

Potential to study late stellar evolution in detail

Ability to constrain dark matter and cosmology with lensed transients

Bridging the capabilities of LSST and JWST for advanced observations

Abstract

Two groundbreaking new facilities will commence operations early in the 2020s and thereafter define much of the broad landscape of US optical-infrared astronomy in the remaining decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), perched atop Cerro Pachon in the Chilean Andes, will revolutionize the young field of Time Domain Astronomy through its wide-field, multi-band optical imaging survey. At the same time, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), orbiting at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, will provide stunningly high-resolution views of selected targets from the red end of the optical spectrum to the mid-infrared. However, the spatial resolution of the LSST observations will be limited by atmospheric seeing, while JWST will be limited in its time-domain capabilities. This paper highlights the scientific opportunities lying between these two landmark missions, i.e., science enabled by systems capable of astronomical observations with both high cadence in the time domain and high resolution in the spatial domain. The opportunities range from constraining the late phases of stellar evolution in nearby resolved populations to constraining dark matter distributions and cosmology using lensed transient sources. We describe a system that can deliver the required capabilities.