Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T18:15:16.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wide-Field Slitless Spectroscopy with JWST's NIRISS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2016

William V. Dixon ,
Swara Ravindranath  and
Chris J. Willott
William V. Dixon
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States email: dixon@stsci.edu, swara@stsci.edu
Swara Ravindranath
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States email: dixon@stsci.edu, swara@stsci.edu
Chris J. Willott
Affiliation:
Canadian Astronomy Data Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada email: Chris.Willott@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) aboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will offer wide-field slitless spectroscopy (WFSS) with a resolving power R = 150 at wavelengths from 0.8 to 2.25 microns. In this band, NIRISS will be sensitive to Lyman α emission lines and continuum breaks in the spectra of galaxies with redshifts 6 < z < 17, allowing it to probe the first stars and ionizing sources in the early universe. NIRISS observations of the high-redshift universe will provide a wealth of information on foreground objects, creating a unique library of optical emission-line spectra from the faintest galaxies at lower redshifts. To explore its ability to identify and characterize galaxies at all redshifts, we have modeled a NIRISS observation of a massive strong-lensing galaxy cluster and analyzed the synthetic images using standard software tools. Our simulations demonstrate that WFSS with NIRISS will provide a powerful tool for the exploration of galaxies near and far.

Keywords

techniques: spectroscopicgalaxies: high-redshiftinfrared: galaxies
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 11 , Symposium S319: Galaxies at High Redshift and Their Evolution Over Cosmic Time , August 2015 , pp. 11
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

References

Bertin, E. & Arnouts, S. 1996, A&AS, 317, 393 Google Scholar
Dixon, W. V. & Willott, C. J. 2013, STScI Newsletter, 31 (2), 28 Google Scholar
Kümmel, M., Walsh, J. R., Pirzkal, N., Kuntschner, H., & Pasquali, A. J. 2009, PASP, 121, 59 Google Scholar
Postman, M. et al., ApJS, 199, 25 Google Scholar