The CUBES science case

Evans, C.; Cristiani, S.; Opitom, C.; Cescutti, G.; D'Odorico, V.; Alcala, J. M.; Alencar, S. H. P.; Balashev, S.; Barbuy, B.; Bastian, N.; Battino, U.; Cambianica, P.; Carini, R.; Carter, B.; Cassisi, S.; Vaz Castilho, B.; Christlieb, N.; Cooke, R.; Covino, S.; Cremonese, G.; Cunha, K.; Da Silva, A. R.; D'Elia, V.; De Cia, A.; De Silva, G.; Diaz, M.; Di Marcantonio, P.; Ernandes, H.; Fitzsimmons, A.; Franchini, M.; Gansicke, B. T.; Genoni, M.; Giribaldi, R. E.; Grazian, A.; Hansen, C. J.; La Forgia, F.; Lazzarin, M.; Marcolino, W.; Marconi, M.; Migliorini, A.; Noterdaeme, P.; Pereira, C.; Pilecki, B.; Quirrenbach, A.; Randich, S.; Rossi, S.; Smiljanic, R.; Snodgrass, C.; Sturmer, J.; Trost, A.; Vanzella, E.; Ventura, P.; Wright, D.; Zafar, T.

doi:10.1007/s10686-022-09864-7

We introduce the scientific motivations for the development of the Cassegrain U-Band Efficient Spectrograph (CUBES) that is now in construction for the Very Large Telescope. The assembled cases span a broad range of contemporary topics across Solar System, Galactic and extragalactic astronomy, where observations are limited by the performance of current ground-based spectrographs shortwards of 400 nm. A brief background to each case is presented and specific technical requirements on the instrument design that flow-down from each case are identified. These were used as inputs to the CUBES design, that will provide a factor of ten gain in efficiency for astronomical spectroscopy over 300-405 nm, at resolving powers of R∼ 24,000 and ∼ 7,000. We include performance estimates that demonstrate the ability of CUBES to observe sources that are up to three magnitudes fainter than currently possible at ground-ultraviolet wavelengths, and we place its predicted performance in the context of existing facillities.

The CUBES science case / Evans, C.; Cristiani, S.; Opitom, C.; Cescutti, G.; D'Odorico, V.; Alcala, J. M.; Alencar, S. H. P.; Balashev, S.; Barbuy, B.; Bastian, N.; Battino, U.; Cambianica, P.; Carini, R.; Carter, B.; Cassisi, S.; Vaz Castilho, B.; Christlieb, N.; Cooke, R.; Covino, S.; Cremonese, G.; Cunha, K.; Da Silva, A. R.; D'Elia, V.; De Cia, A.; De Silva, G.; Diaz, M.; Di Marcantonio, P.; Ernandes, H.; Fitzsimmons, A.; Franchini, M.; Gansicke, B. T.; Genoni, M.; Giribaldi, R. E.; Grazian, A.; Hansen, C. J.; La Forgia, F.; Lazzarin, M.; Marcolino, W.; Marconi, M.; Migliorini, A.; Noterdaeme, P.; Pereira, C.; Pilecki, B.; Quirrenbach, A.; Randich, S.; Rossi, S.; Smiljanic, R.; Snodgrass, C.; Sturmer, J.; Trost, A.; Vanzella, E.; Ventura, P.; Wright, D.; Zafar, T.. - In: EXPERIMENTAL ASTRONOMY. - ISSN 0922-6435. - 55:1(2023), pp. 1-57. [10.1007/s10686-022-09864-7]