Illuminating Galaxy Evolution at Cosmic Noon with ISCEA: the Infrared
  Satellite for Cosmic Evolution Astrophysics
  ISCEA (Infrared Satellite for Cosmic Evolution Astrophysics) is a small
astrophysics mission whose Science Goal is to discover how galaxies evolved in
the cosmic web of dark matter at cosmic noon. Its Science Objective is to
determine the history of star formation and its quenching in galaxies as a
function of local density and stellar mass when the Universe was 3-5 Gyrs old
(1.2<z<2.1). ISCEA is designed to test the Science Hypothesis that during the
period of cosmic noon, at 1.7 < z < 2.1, environmental quenching is the
dominant quenching mechanism for typical galaxies not only in clusters and
groups, but also in the extended cosmic web surrounding these structures. ISCEA
meets its Science Objective by making a 10% shot noise measurement of star
formation rate down to 6 solar masses per year using H-alpha out to a radius >
10 Mpc in each of 50 protocluster (cluster and cosmic web) fields at 1.2 < z <
2.1. ISCEA measures the star formation quenching factor in those fields, and
galaxy kinematics with a precision < 50 km/s to deduce the 3D spatial
distribution in each field. ISCEA will transform our understanding of galaxy
evolution at cosmic noon.
  ISCEA is a small satellite observatory with a 30cm equivalent diameter
aperture telescope with a FoV of 0.32 deg^2, and a multi-object spectrograph
with a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) as its programmable slit mask. ISCEA
will obtain spectra of 1000 galaxies simultaneously at an effective resolving
power of R=1000, with 2.8"x2.8" slits, over the NIR wavelength range of 1.1 to
2.0 microns, a regime not accessible from the ground without large gaps in
coverage. ISCEA will achieve a pointing accuracy of <= 2" FWHM over 200s. ISCEA
will be launched into a Low Earth Orbit, with a prime mission of 2.5 years.
ISCEA's space-qualification of DMDs opens a new window for spectroscopy from
space, enabling revolutionary advances in astrophysics.
