Exploring dark energy with SNAP

Though focused on the study of the accelerating Universe, the overall SNAP instrument suite is quite general and able to make unique contributions to a wide variety of astronomical studies. The baseline satellite consists of a 2-m anastigmat telescope, with a 0.7 square degree focal plane paved with optical and NIR imaging arrays. Spectroscopy can be obtained using a high-throughput low-resolution optical + NIR integral field spectrograph. The baseline science programs will result in a 15 square degree “deep field” having temporal coverage every 4 days and summing to mAB ∼ 30.3 in all colors - to be used for discovery and follow-up of some 2000 Type Ia supernova in the range 0.1 < z < 1.7 - and a wide area survey spanning 1000 square degrees and reaching mAB ∼ 27.7 in all colors - to be used to measure the weak lensing power spectrum well into the non-linear regime. A panoramic survey covering 10,000 square degrees to mAB ∼ 26.7 in all colors is also possible. This baseline dataset represents a gold mine for archival astronomical research and follow-up with JWST, while guest observer survey programs will substantially broaden the impact that SNAP will have.