A visible IFU for HWO: characterizing ocean world habitability inside and outside of the solar system

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), NASA’s next Astrophysics Flagship mission, will absolutely revolutionize astrophysics, and has the potential to conduct complementary planetary science. A prime opportunity to understand exo-ocean worlds and their habitability can be found in visible-wavelength spatially resolved spectroscopy of solar system bodies. In the case of Europa, there are several absorption and emission features spanning the optical bandpass that offer unprecedented insight into the moon’s surface features, plume activity, and exosphere. HWO's long operational lifespan enables long-term monitoring of transient phenomena like geyser eruptions and surface composition changes. Such observations will provide breakthrough progression toward understanding the extent of interior-surface material exchange, which is essential for determining if they harbor habitable environments. To this end, we present a preliminary visible wavelength integral field spectrograph for HWO.