IAU01939
Presentation type requested: ORAL
THE SUPERNOVA/ACCELERATION PROBE (SNAP) MISSION
Eric Linder
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
The SuperNova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP) is a satellite mission designed to address fundamental questions concerning the cosmological model of our universe and the nature of its constituents. SNAP is targeted at a level of systematic uncertainties that will make it possible to begin to discriminate between theories of the ``dark energy'' that apparently is accelerating the expansion of the universe. We discuss the primary science program, including Type Ia supernovae as ``calibrated standard candles" out to z=1.7 and gravitational weak lensing over a 300 square degree field. The instrumentation includes a half billion pixel wide field optical and near infrared imager and an optical and near infrared integral field low resolution spectrograph, coupled to a 2 meter telescope. The wide, deep, and multiband capabilities provide a wealth of additional science resources, including mapping the dark matter distribution, evolution of the galaxy correlation function, galaxy distributions and populations, and multicolor mapping of star populations.
SNAP Collaboration for the
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