by
David Valls-Gabaud(LERMA, Observatoire de Paris (Meudon))
→
Europe/Stockholm
FA31
FA31
Description
MESSIER is a mini satellite aimed at exploring the last remaining
niche in observational space: the extremely low surface brightness universe
at UV and optical wavelengths.
The two driving science cases target the mildly and highly non-linear
regimes of structure formation to test two key predictions of the LCDM
scenario. MESSIER has been designed for the detection of the putative
large number of satellites orbiting normal galaxies and their associated
tidal streams in the local universe, and for the identification of the
filaments of the cosmic web and Lyman-alpha galaxies at z=0.65. Other key
science issues will result as free by-products, such as the actual luminosity
function of galaxies, the optical/UV cosmological background, the prevalence
of warm molecular hydrogen at low redshift, and mass loss from red giants,
among many others. Synergies with Gaia and EUCLID will likewise be discussed.