The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope: 100 Hubbles for the 2020s

Understand

The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is a 2.4m space telescope with a 0.281 deg^2 field of view for near-IR imaging and slitless spectroscopy and a coronagraph designed for > 10^8 starlight suppresion.

• As background information for Astro2020 white papers, this article summarizes the current design and anticipated performance of WFIRST.
• While WFIRST does not have the UV imaging/spectroscopic capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope, for wide field near-IR surveys WFIRST is hundreds of times more efficient.
• Some of the most ambitious multi-cycle HST Treasury programs could be executed as routine General Observer (GO) programs on WFIRST.