ULTRASAT’s view of the transient universe: From neutron star mergers to planet habitability

ULTRASAT is a UV space telescope with an unprecedentedly large field of view (250 sq. deg.), planned to be launched in 2022. It will revolutionize our understanding of the hot transient universe by opening a new wave band (UV) and cadence access (minutes to months), and by providing a transient detection capability similar to that of LSST (the largest ground-based optical transient survey, planned to begin operation in 2022). ULTRASAT will have a broad science impact across the fields of gravitational wave sources, supernovae, variable and flare stars, active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, compact objects, and galaxies. A review will be given of ULTRASAT’s capabilities and science goals, with a focus on the detection of electro-magnetic (EM) emission from mergers of binary neutrons stars, that are detectable by gravitational wave detectors.