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FIGURE 4‐7 Cultivating the interest of young girls and members of underrepresented minority groups in science through the public appeal of astronomy can happen through programs such as Sally Ride Science Festival Handson Workshops (left panel, experimentation with basic telescope concepts) and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s Project Astro (right panel, appreciating black hole physics). (left) Photograph courtesy Sally Ride Science 2010, sallyridescience.com/festivals/gallery and Mark A. Brown. (right) Credit: The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. for the Hubble Space Telescope has now been adapted to optimize semiconductor manufacture and to manage patient flow in hospitals. Astronomy and the America Competes Act Astronomy and astrophysics can make major contributions in all three areas highlighted in the America COMPETES Act. 1. To strengthen research investment and to foster innovation and frontier research. Astronomical research is transformative at the most fundamental level, exploring areas as far-reaching as the origin of the universe, the search for earth-like planets in other solar systems and the understanding of fundamental physical principles. Astronomy and astrophysics are drivers for innovation in technology, especially in optical systems, detectors, and data processing. Many of these have found applications in the health sciences and national security. The major facilities and missions recommended in this survey will open new windows on the universe, and will forge partnerships with both the private sector and international partners. 2. To strengthen educational opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, (and Critical Foreign Languages). Astronomy has broad public appeal and vibrant ties to other branches of science and technology. These enable the field to contribute to STEM education in uniquely powerful ways. College-level introductory astronomy courses are often the only science class of future K-12 teachers. Astronomical observatories and NASA missions have strong programs in informal science education, which can be a gateway to the sciences and have the potential to attract more minorities and women to the sciences and engineering. 3. To develop a workforce for the 21st century. Astronomy can play a central role in raising the science literacy of the U.S. populace at all levels from kindergarten through university. College-level introductory astronomy courses play a central role in PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION 4-8
teaching the scientific method. The depth and sophistication of engineering analysis required for today’s new astronomical facilities and missions provide a unique opportunity for interns and young professionals to strengthen their skills. CONCLUSION: Astronomical research continues to offer significant benefits to the nation beyond astronomical discoveries. These benefits include its role in capturing the public’s attention and thereby promoting general science literacy and proficiency, its service as a gateway to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, and a number of important and often unexpected technological spin-offs. The field of astronomy and astrophysics deserves inclusion in initiatives to enhance basic research, such as the America Competes Act. Astronomy Addresses the Challenges of the 21st Century The examples above show that astronomy contributes in unexpected ways to national agendas that extend far beyond the study of the universe itself. In science and technology today, two of the most important challenges are the impact of global climate change and the search for clean, sustainable, carbon-free sources of energy. In his address to the National Academy of Sciences in April 2009, President Obama issued a call to action, exhorting the United States to muster its collective expertise and energy to assume international leadership in addressing these challenges. Astronomy has already played a major role in our understanding of global climate and climate change. The first understanding of the planet-wide greenhouse effect came from studies of Venus, whose surface temperature exceeds 800 degrees Fahrenheit because of a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide. The first understanding of rapid global climate change came from computer models of the effects of nuclear war, and of catastrophic asteroid impacts, which led to a mass extinction 60 million years ago. One of the best ways to investigate the complex problem of how the Earth's climate responds to stress is to study the geological record of changes induced by periodic changes in the Earth's orbit over the past few million years. A better understanding of the Sun is also critical to modeling and understanding climate change. Over the past few decades, as computational power has increased, our fundamental understanding of how the Sun works is improving dramatically. One of the most ambitious efforts to solve the nation's energy problems involves the development of controlled nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion was first understood early in the last century by astronomers seeking the energy source of the stars, and since then there has been a close and fertile collaboration between astrophysicists trying to understand the behavior of plasmas in astrophysical systems and fusion researchers working to control plasmas in the laboratory; indeed, the U.S. fusion program was started by the same astronomer who first proposed the concept of a space telescope. Astronomers can bring relevant experience and capabilities to these initiatives, through their expertise in the atmospheres of planets and stars, radiative transfer, fluid dynamics, nuclear physics, plasma physics, electronics, detectors, remote sensing, numerical simulation of complex systems, and data handling, and one of their most important skills is being able to draw reliable inferences from incomplete observations as opposed to controlled experiments. CONCLUSION: Astronomy is a pure science, driven by human curiosity. Nevertheless, the techniques and models developed in the process of conducting astronomical research often have broad utility. Advances in understanding of the Sun and of the climates of other planets help illuminate critical issues and inform thinking about climate change here on Earth. The impact of recent discoveries and the many new opportunities that they have created have led to great interest in astronomy. PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION 4-9
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fi
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COMMITTEE FOR A DECADAL SURVEY OF A
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Panel on Stars and Stellar Evolutio
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DOUGLAS FINKBEINER, Harvard Univers
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SPACE STUDIES BOARD CHARLES F. KENN
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activities 2 that have emerged from
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In addition to the 27 panel meeting
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers This re
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The Accelerating Universe 2-26 The
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APPENDIXES A Summary of Science Fro
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light up the universe, marking the
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RECOMMENDED PROGRAM Maintaining a b
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TABLE ES.4 Space: Recommended Activ
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Cosmic Dawn: Searching for the Firs
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this imprint would both probe funda
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important outcome will be to open u
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estimated to be on the order of $20
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observatories. For NASA an annual b
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surveys of large fields, enabling s
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RECOMMENDATION: U.S. investors in a
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departments and the community as a
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dominate spending; (2) private-publ
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us was certainly evident during the
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BOX 2-1 Other Worlds Around Other S
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FIGURE 2‐2 The source 3C 75, show
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FIGURE 2‐3 Numerical simulation o
Page 58 and 59: FIGURE 2‐4 Left panel: Image of t
Page 60 and 61: FIGURE 2‐6 Top: Schematic of the
Page 62 and 63: Most stars with masses smaller than
Page 64 and 65: BOX 2-2 The Origin of Planets After
Page 66 and 67: send material raining into the cent
Page 68 and 69: BOX 2-4 Lifecycles in Galaxies One
Page 70 and 71: Stars Stars are the most observable
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Page 74 and 75: The Nature of Inflation As describe
Page 76 and 77: FIGURE 2‐11 Pie chart showing the
Page 78 and 79: An important clue to the nature of
Page 80 and 81: Studying the properties of neutron
Page 82 and 83: FIGURE 2‐14 A possible pathway is
Page 84 and 85: partners and makes recommendations
Page 86 and 87: As astronomy research has blossomed
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Page 90 and 91: TABLE 3-1 Currently Operating OIR F
Page 92 and 93: 29% 1990 44% US Priv US Fed Other E
Page 94 and 95: CONCLUSION: Complex and high-cost f
Page 96 and 97: Space Observatories The Laser Inter
Page 98 and 99: Physics Division (PHY); the Mathema
Page 101 and 102: 4 Astronomy in Society Astronomy of
Page 103 and 104: FIGURE 4‐2 The dust sculptures of
Page 105 and 106: FIGURE 4‐5 President Obama takes
Page 107: Astronomy Inspires in the Classroom
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Page 113 and 114: Percentage of AAS Membership by Fie
Page 115 and 116: 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 PL SO IM AG SF IN S
Page 117 and 118: FIGURE 4‐12 Number (top panel) an
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Page 121: assistant and associate professor p
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Page 126 and 127: THEORY Emerging Trends in Theoretic
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Page 130 and 131: TABLE 5‐2 Support for astrophysic
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Page 134 and 135: FIGURE 5‐7 Highly cited HST publi
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Page 138 and 139: FIGURE 5‐8 Number of PhDs per yea
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Page 144 and 145: FIGURE 5‐9 The richness of the su
Page 146 and 147: RECOMMENDATION: NASA and NSF suppor
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Page 150 and 151: FIGURE 6‐3 NASA mission cost over
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etween several competing elements i
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7 Realizing the Opportunities The p
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FIGURE 7.1 Survey time line showing
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SCIENCE OBJECTIVES FOR THE DECADE T
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Box 7.1 Implementing a Cosmic Dawn
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JWST, with its superb mid-infrared
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optical imaging of brighter galaxie
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Box 7.3 Implementing the Physics of
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FIGURE 7.2 Multiwavelength images o
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Recommendations for New Space Activ
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FIGURE 7.4 Science accomplishments
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significance of mergers in the buil
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independent advice committee review
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committee review. It could range be
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Laboratory Astrophysics As describe
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Recommendations for New Ground-Base
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Program for instrumentation and fac
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excel at high spectral and spatial
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The committee reviewed a technical
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FIGURE 7.10 ACTA would be, like the
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Advanced Technologies and Instrumen
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LISA as soon as possible subject to
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FIGURE 7.14 DOE recommended program
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A Summary of Science Frontiers Pane
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PLANETARY SYSTEMS AND STAR FORMATIO
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A preliminary recommended program w
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certified as independent work perfo
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penalty based on an assessment of s
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The results show excellent correlat
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$12 MILLION TO $40 MILLION RANGE CM
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decadal research strategy with reco
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CFP CHIPSat CIP CGRO CMB CMU CoBRA
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NRC NSB NSF NSF-AGS NSF-ARC NSF-AST
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