Cryoscope: A Cryogenic Infrared Survey Telescope in Antarctica

TL;DR

Cryoscope is a novel cryogenic infrared survey telescope in Antarctica designed to provide deep, wide, and fast observations beyond 2 micrometers, enabling new discoveries in obscured cosmic regions and time-domain science.

Contribution

It introduces an innovative cryogenic optical-thermal design and new detector technology for a large-scale infrared survey telescope in Antarctica, surpassing existing survey speeds.

Findings

Design of a cryogenically cooled 50 deg$^2$ field-of-view telescope

Development of cost-effective detector tiling technology

Projected deployment of the prototype in 2026 and full telescope by 2030

Abstract

We present Cryoscope--a new 50 deg$^2$ field-of-view, 1.2 m aperture, $K_{dark}$ survey telescope to be located at Dome C, Antarctica. Cryoscope has an innovative optical-thermal design wherein the entire telescope is cryogenically cooled. Cryoscope also explores new detector technology to cost-effectively tile the full focal plane. Leveraging the dark Antarctic sky and minimizing telescope thermal emission, Cryoscope achieves unprecedented deep, wide, fast and red observations, matching and exceeding volumetric survey speeds from the Ultraviolet Explorer, Vera Rubin Observatory, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, SPHEREx, and NEO Surveyor. By providing coverage beyond wavelengths of 2 $\mu$m, we aim to create the most comprehensive dynamic movie of the most obscured reaches of the Universe. Cryoscope will be a dedicated discovery engine for electromagnetic emission from coalescing compact binaries, Earth-like exoplanets orbiting cold stars, and multiple facets of time-domain, stellar and solar system science. In this paper, we describe the scientific drivers and technical innovations for this new discovery engine operating in the $K_{dark}$ passband, why we choose to deploy it in Antarctica, and the status of a fifth-scale prototype designed as a Pathfinder to retire technological risks prior to full-scale implementation. We plan to deploy the Cryoscope Pathfinder to Dome C in December 2026 and the full-scale telescope by 2030.