The Roman Coronagraph Instrument, previously named the WFIRST-AFTA Coronagraph Instrument, is a technology demonstration that advances a range of new technologies, including advanced coronagraph occulters/masks, deformable mirrors, advanced wavefront sensing and control, and photon-counting detectors. Since the Special Section on WFIRST-AFTA Coronagraphs in 2016, the instrument has advanced and is now undergoing final flight integration and test. This work is highly relevant to the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), given the need for high contrast coronagraphs that are capable of direct imaging of nearby Earth-like planets. HWO will benefit from Roman Coronagraph development not only in new technologies but also engineering and programmatic aspects. 

This special section calls for submission on Roman Coronagraph Instrument development and testing, including but not limited to: 

• Roman Coronagraph optical integration and test results
• Wavefront sensing (high order and low order) test results
• Coronagraph performance model validation
• EMCCD calibration and test results at instrument level
• Key active optical subsystems such as deformable mirror, fast steering mirror, focus control mirror, and precision alignment mechanisms
• Instrument electronics and software 
• Coronagraph opto-mechanical design and thermal controls
• Instrument operations
• Level 1 – Level 4 (L1 – L4) data processing pipelines
• Key ground support equipment
• Target selection and synergy with ground-based telescopes
• Lessons learned

To submit a manuscript for consideration in the special section, please prepare the manuscript according to the journal guidelines (https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/journal-of-astronomical-telescopes-instruments-and-systems/author-guidelines) and submit the paper via the online submission system (http://jatis.msubmit.net/). Once the special section is opened online, each paper will be published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included with the paper. Manuscripts published in the Proceedings of SPIE are welcome for submission to this special section after proper revision to meet the standards of a journal publication. Submissions will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the journal's established policies and procedures.

The Arcus probe mission, proposed to the NASA Astrophysics Probe Explorer, addresses science prioritized by the Astro 2020 Decadal, including (i) exploring how supermassive black hole accretion and winds vary with luminosity, black hole mass, black hole spin, and other parameters, (ii) determining how gas, metals, and dust flow into, though, and out of galaxies, and (iii) probing stellar activity across all stellar types and lifecycles. The Arcus Probe mission provides a high-sensitivity soft X-ray spectrometer (XRS) with R~3500 (R>2500 req) and an average effective area in the 12-50Å bandpass of 335 cm2 (250 cm2 req). It will be complemented by a co-aligned UV spectrometer (UVS) working in the 1020-1560Å band with R= 24200 (R>17000 req) and >5× the sensitivity of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Observer (FUSE) at O VI (1020Å) that observes simultaneously with the X-ray instrument. The satellite will be in High Earth Orbit to enable long uninterrupted stares and a wide field of regard, with opportunities for fast response to targets of opportunity.

Papers highlighting the science opportunities, instrumentation, and operations of Arcus probe are solicited. Example areas of interest for this special section are:

• Mission design, including concept of operation considerations
• Instrument design, technology, and estimated performance
• Enabling technologies

To submit a manuscript for consideration in the special section, please prepare the manuscript according to the journal guidelines ( https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/journal-of-astronomical-telescopes-instruments-and-systems/author-guidelines) and submit the paper via the online submission system ( http://jatis.msubmit.net/). Once the special section is opened online, each paper will be published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included with the paper. Manuscripts published in the Proceedings of SPIE are welcome for submission to this special section after proper revision to meet the standards of a journal publication. Submissions will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the journal's established policies and procedures.

This special section of JATIS focuses on addressing the challenges of making state-of-the-art measurements with imperfect detectors. As science objectives in astronomical sciences demand greater and greater fidelity and sensitivity, so too does the need for understanding and/or mitigating such imperfections.

This is a broad topic. Examples of the areas of interest for this special section include:

• New detector technologies including but not limited to:
  ○ narrow-gap semiconductor [e.g., IR] detectors;
  ○ CMOS;
  ○ Skipper;
  ○ MKIDs;
  ○ SNSPDs.
•  Software/algorithms for precision astronomy
  ○ Faint object characterization; image stacking
  ○ Point spread function retrieval or characterization
  ○ Astrometric retrieval
• Detector modeling
• Sensor and systematics characterization, including but not limited to:
  ○ narrow-gap semiconductor [e.g., IR] detectors;
  ○ CMOS detectors;
  ○ CCD detectors.

Addressing these topics, we envision a collection of peer reviewed papers that builds on work presented in Detectors for Astronomy & Cosmology, Parts 1 & 2 (JATIS, 2019-20). A number of these new papers will be work products of contributions presented at the Image Sensors for Precision Astronomy workshop, hosted at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, March 12-14, 2024. It is important to note, however, that this call for papers encourages submission of non-conference papers alike, since it is entirely independent of the workshop.

To submit a manuscript for consideration in the special section, please prepare the manuscript according to the journal guidelines and submit the paper via the online submission system. Once the special section is opened online, each paper will be published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included with the paper. Manuscripts published in the Proceedings of SPIE are welcome for submission to this special section after proper revision to meet the standards of a journal publication. Submissions will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the journal's established policies and procedures.

The 2023 Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) proposal call will culminate in a probe-class X-ray or far-infrared mission for the next decade. The Spectroscopic Time-Resolving Observatory for Broadband Energy X-rays (STROBE-X) is a proposed astrophysics probe mission to provide broadband (0.2-30 keV) X-ray spectroscopy of variable sources on timescales from micro-second to years. The Wide Field Monitor (WFM) instrument will continuously observe 1/3 of the sky and will autonomously trigger alerts from transients such as neutron star mergers, supernovae, and multi-messenger events to allow the Low Energy Modular Array (LEMA) and High Energy Modular Array (HEMA) instruments to obtain pointed observations within minutes of trigger. When not responding to transients, STROBE-X will provide precision measurements of physical conditions in extreme environments, including measurements of black hole mass and spin and determination of the neutron star equation of state. This special section calls for papers to describe the scientific motivation, mission and instrument design, expected performance, and enabling technologies of the STROBE-X observatory. The goal is to capture and archive the decade-plus design heritage and capture the status of the STROBE-X mission and instruments at the time of the APEX submission.

Examples of the areas of interest for this special section are:

• Mission concept, scientific motivation, and performance estimation
• Mission-level design and operation concepts
• Instrument design and architecture
• Enabling technologies

To submit a manuscript for consideration in the special section, please prepare the manuscript according to the journal guidelines and submit the paper via the online submission system. Once the special section is opened online, each paper will be published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included with the paper. Manuscripts published in the Proceedings of SPIE are welcome for submission to this special section after proper revision to meet the standards of a journal publication. Submissions will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the journal's established policies and procedures.

The Single Aperture Large Telescope for Universe Studies (SALTUS) is a mission concept that is designed to provide the astrophysics community with a powerful, far-infrared (far-IR) space observatory to explore our cosmic origins. From a halo orbit around L2, SALTUS will perform groundbreaking studies towards thousands of astrophysical targets, including the first galaxies, protoplanetary disks in various evolutionary states, and a wide variety of solar system objects. The SALTUS concept employs radiatively cooled, 14-m aperture, and cryogenic instruments to provide high spectral and spatial resolution at unprecedented sensitivity over a wavelength range largely unavailable to any existing ground or space observatories. These far-IR observations will bridge the knowledge gap that exists between the local and distant universe. SALTUS will employ sensitive, cryogenic coherent detectors (hot electron bolometer mixers—HEBs) and incoherent detectors (kinetic inductance detectors—KIDs) that cover a wavelength range spanning 34 to 659 𝜇m. A sunshield will allow the 14-m off-axis primary mirror to radiatively cool to <45K. Although new to astrophysics, the space deployable technology utilized by the SALTUS primary has been in use by the space telecom industry for decades. By combining this proven approach with mature corrector technology, SALTUS will provide a collecting area ~4x that of JWST and ~16x that of Herschel. The SALTUS mission is designed to have a lifetime of >5 years with over 70% of observing time available for Guest Observers (GO). All SALTUS data will be made publicly available within 6 months of observation. With its large aperture and unique instrument suite, SALTUS will bridge the knowledge gap between the local and distant universe, providing a quantum leap in the understanding of our cosmic origins.

This special section is calling for papers related to a large, single aperture far-IR observatory like SALTUS, including scientific motivation for the mission and the underlying telescope and instrument technologies that will make such an observatory possible. Examples of areas of interest include: 

• Scientific potential of a large, single aperture, far-IR space telescope, including primary science objectives and Guest Observer science
• Advantages to breaking through the confusion limit in the far-IR
• Sensitivity optimization
• Gossamer optics
• Adaptive optics
• Mission architecture
• Thermal design
• Instrument concepts

To submit a manuscript for consideration in the special section, please prepare the manuscript according to the journal guidelines and submit the paper via the online submission system. Once the special section is opened online, each paper will be published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included with the paper. Manuscripts published in the Proceedings of SPIE are welcome for submission to this special section after proper revision to meet the standards of a journal publication. Submissions will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the journal's established policies and procedures.