"PRIMA: The PRobe Far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics"

Abstract

The PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) is a cold 1.8 meter space telescope designed to address key science objectives identified in Astro2020 and open significant discovery space for the astronomical community. With imaging and spectroscopic capabilities, PRIMA fills the order of magnitude gap in wavelength between the James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array which is rich with diagnostics tracers of the multi-phase gas and dust in a range of astronomical objects. PRIMA is one of two Probe concepts selected by NASA for a study in 2024/2025, potentially leading to implementation and launch in 2032. PRIMA was designed for a broad range of astrophysics, from how planets assemble their atmospheres to the coevolution of galaxies and black holes and the evolving properties of dust and metallicity over cosmic time. Seventy-five percent of PRIMA's observing time will be reserved for Guest Observer observations and all PI science data will also be available promptly for Guest Investigator science. In this talk, I will describe the PRIMA concept, instruments, introduce the main PI science topics, and discuss exciting opportunities for Guest Observer science.