JASMINE: Near-infrared astrometry and time-series photometry science
Daisuke Kawata, Hajime Kawahara, Naoteru Gouda, Nathan J. Secrest, Ryouhei Kano, Hirokazu Kataza, Naoki Isobe, Ryou Ohsawa, Fumihiko Usui, Y. Yamada, Alister W. Graham, Alex R. Pettitt, Hideki Asada, Junichi Baba, Kenji Bekki, Bryan N. Dorland, Michiko S. Fujii, Akihiko Fukui, Kohei Hattori, Teruyuki Hirano, Takafumi Kamizuka, Shingo Kashima, Norita Kawanaka, Yui Kawashima, S. A. Klioner, Takanori Kodama, Naoki Koshimoto, Takayuki Kotani, Masayuki Kuzuhara, S. E. Levine, Steven R. Majewski, K. Masuda, Noriyuki Matsunaga, Kohei Miyakawa, Makoko Miyoshi, Kumiko Morihana, Ryoichi Nishi, Yuta Notsu, Masashi Omiya, Jason L. Sanders, Ataru Tanikawa, Masahiro Tsujimoto, Taihei Yano, Masataka Aizawa, Ko Arimatsu, M. Biermann, Céline Bœhm, Masashi Chiba, Victor P. Debattista, Ortwin Gerhard, Masayuki Hirabayashi, D. Hobbs, B. Ikenoue, Hideyuki Izumiura, C. Jordi, Naoki Kohara, W. Löffler, X. Luri, Ichiro Mase, A. Miglio, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Trent Newswander, Shogo Nishiyama, Yoshiyuki Obuchi, Takafumi Ootsubo, Masami Ouchi, Masanobu Ozaki, M. A. C. Perryman, T. Prusti, P. Ramos, Justin I. Read, R. Michael Rich, Ralph Schönrich, M. Shikauchi, Risa Shimizu, Y. Suematsu, Shotaro Tada, Aoi Takahashi, Takayuki Tatekawa, Daisuke Tatsumi, Takuji Tsujimoto, Toshihiro Tsuzuki, Seitaro Urakawa, Fumihiro Uraguchi, Shin Utsunomiya, Vincent Van Eylen, F. van Leeuwen, Takehiko Wada, N. A. Walton
Abstract
Abstract The Japan Astrometry Satellite Mission for INfrared Exploration (JASMINE) is a planned M-class science space mission by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. JASMINE has two main science goals. One is Galactic archaeology with a Galactic Center survey, which aims to reveal the Milky Way’s central core structure and formation history from Gaia-level (∼25 ${\mu} $as) astrometry in the near-infrared (NIR) Hw band (1.0–1.6 ${\mu} $m). The other is an exoplanet survey, which aims to discover transiting Earth-like exoplanets in the habitable zone from NIR time-series photometry of M dwarfs when the Galactic Center is not accessible. We introduce the mission, review many science objectives, and present the instrument concept. JASMINE will be the first dedicated NIR astrometry space mission and provide precise astrometric information on the stars in the Galactic Center, taking advantage of the significantly lower extinction in the NIR. The precise astrometry is obtained by taking many short-exposure images. Hence, the JASMINE Galactic Center survey data will be valuable for studies of exoplanet transits, asteroseismology, variable stars, and microlensing studies, including discovery of (intermediate-mass) black holes. We highlight a swath of such potential science, and also describe synergies with other missions.