The terahertz intensity mapper: a balloon-borne imaging spectrometer for galaxy evolution

Abstract

The Terahertz Intensity Mapper (TIM) is a balloon-borne far-infrared imaging spectrometer designed to characterize the star formation history of the universe. In its Antarctic science flight, TIM will map the redshifted 158um line of ionized carbon over the redshift range 0.5-1.7 (lookback times of 5-10 Gyr). TIM will spectroscopically detect ~100 galaxies, determine the star formation rate history over this time interval through line intensity mapping, and measure the stacked CII emission from galaxies in its well-studied target fields (GOODS-S, SPT Deep Field). TIM consists of a 2-meter telescope feeding two grating spectrometers that that cover 240-420um at R~250 across a 1.3deg field of view, detected with 7200 kinetic inductance detectors and sampled through a novel RF system-on-chip readout. TIM will serve as an important scientific instrument, accessing wavelengths that cannot easily be studied from the ground, and as a testbed for future FIR space technology.