OH-VLISM Online Seminar Series

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Our next OH-VLISM online seminar will be on Wednesday, February 18 at 11 am ET. The speaker will be Allison Youngblood (NASA GSFC) giving a talk on "The ESCAPE Small Explorer Mission: EUV spectroscopy of nearby stars ". The zoom link can be found at:

https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/98123589099?pwd=0TpKfnZweJQgWuVRCOJXZauvqaaZRV.1

(password: ohvlism)

Abstract:

The Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Physics and Evolution (ESCAPE) mission is a Small Explorer concept to be proposed to NASA this year. ESCAPE employs extreme- and far-ultraviolet spectroscopy (80-1650 Å) to provide the first comprehensive study of the stellar EUV history and stellar coronal mass ejection (CME) environment that control atmospheric mass-loss and determine the habitability of rocky exoplanets. ESCAPE will survey over 300 nearby F, G, K, and M stars (including almost all the Habitable Worlds Observatory Tier A and B target list), including 15-day monitoring campaigns on targets of interest, to measure EUV irradiance, EUV flare rates, and the properties of stellar CMEs. ESCAPE’s 24-month primary mission includes two months of “community observation time” whose targets will be determined with community input through an open workshop series prior to launch. The local interstellar medium (LISM) strongly absorbs EUV radiation from even the nearest stars, closely linking ESCAPE’s primary science objectives with LISM science. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the ESCAPE instrument and primary science objectives. I will also address how knowledge of the LISM is informing ESCAPE’s development, and how ESCAPE could advance our understanding of the LISM.