MICHI: a thermal-infrared instrument for the TMT

Abstract

With the imminent launch of the JWST, the field of thermal-infrared (TIR) astronomy will enjoy a revolution. It is easy to imagine that all areas of infrared (IR) astronomy will be greatly advanced, but perhaps impossible to conceive of the new vistas that will be opened. To allow both follow-up JWST observations and a continuance of work started on the ground-based 8m's, we continue to plan the science cases and instrument design for a TIR imager and spectrometer for early operation on the TMT. We present the current status of our science cases and the instrumentation plans, harnessing expertise across the TMT partnership. This instrument will be proposed by the MICHI team as a second-generation instrument in any upcoming calls for proposals.