Time Domain Astronomy with the THESEUS Satellite

TL;DR

THESEUS is a proposed European Space Agency mission aiming to explore the early Universe and time domain astrophysics through multi-wavelength observations of gamma-ray bursts, gravitational waves, and neutrino events, with advanced X-ray and infrared instruments.

Contribution

This paper introduces the THESEUS mission's capabilities for studying time variability in astrophysical sources alongside gamma-ray burst detection.

Findings

Potential to study early Universe phenomena.

Simultaneous multi-wavelength observations.

Enhanced understanding of transient astrophysical events.

Abstract

THESEUS is a medium size space mission of the European Space Agency, currently under evaluation for a possible launch in 2032. Its main objectives are to investigate the early Universe through the observation of gamma-ray bursts and to study the gravitational waves electromagnetic counterparts and neutrino events. On the other hand, its instruments, which include a wide field of view X-ray (0.3-5 keV) telescope based on lobster-eye focusing optics and a gamma-ray spectrometer with imaging capabilities in the 2-150 keV range, are also ideal for carrying out unprecedented studies in time domain astrophysics. In addition, the presence onboard of a 70 cm near infrared telescope will allow simultaneous multi-wavelegth studies. Here we present the THESEUS capabilities for studying the time variability of different classes of sources in parallel to, and without affecting, the gamma-ray bursts hunt.