Diffuse Gas in Cosmic Ecosystems SIG Seminar, April 23, 2026 4:00pm ET
22 April 2026
Potential Diffuse Gas Science Cases and Instrument Goals for UV Imaging and Spectroscopy with HWO
Speaker: Kevin France | LASP, University of Colorado
Abstract:
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is NASA’s next astronomical flagship observatory and the top recommendation of the 2020 US Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. HWO, which combines leaps in scientific discovery space relative to the Hubble Space Telescope with the ability to find and characterize Earth-like exoplanets, is currently being developed by NASA and its international partners. The worldwide astronomical community has developed the scientific framework for this mission, and it has become widely recognized that most of the galactic ecosystem, exoplanet, and stellar science goals of HWO require high-throughput imaging and/or spectroscopy at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths.
This talk will summarize current progress by the HWO Community Science and Instrumentation Team to identify and quantify the potential driving science cases related to the detection and characterization of diffuse gas that motivate the capabilities of the UV instrument suite for HWO. Key topics currently include the regulation of star formation over cosmic time through galactic feedback, the intergalactic ionizing radiation field, the properties of the first stars, and the evolution of chemical complexity in stars and galaxies. We will describe the measurement goals they imply for the HWO, ranging from UV high-resolution point-source spectroscopy, multi-object and integral field spectroscopy, and far-UV imaging capabilities. The talk will conclude with a synthesis of these measurement capabilities and a description of next steps for UV instrument definition through the upcoming open call for HWO instrument studies in 2026.