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etween several competing elements in order to optimize the science delivery at a time of seriously constrained funding. A guiding principle is maintenance of an appropriate balance between major national facilities and a vibrant university-based program. A second principle is provision for the long term future through a staged program leading towards major participation in all three components of the international Square Kilometer Array, which has enormous scientific potential and enthusiastic support around the globe. At present, approximately two-thirds ($67M) of the AST-RMS budget is devoted to NRAO to operate and develop the (E)VLA, Green Bank, and ALMA facilities. The remaining one-third ($33M) is devoted to future facilities development, technology development, and university-operated observatories and experiments. While the strength of the RMS system rests on maintaining the balance of the national observatories, university operated observatories, PI-led experiments, and technology development, a fundamental problem is the funding pressure that new facilities place on the existing program. The RMS PPP report cites the many new calls on this budget that are likely to arise over the coming decade including: full operations support for ALMA; upgrades to ALMA and other NRAO facilities; technology development for SKA and increased support of the URO program. The introduction of new capabilities will require withdrawal of NSF support of some existing facilities. This has happened historically under the URO program, 8 and Arecibo and the VLBA, though both still productive and unique in sensitivity and spatial resolution, respectively, have had their funding reduced following the last Senior Review. Additional saving will surely be needed and the proper venue for making these funding choices on a facility by facility basis is the Senior Review process. CONCLUSION: The future opportunities, worldwide, in radio-millimeter-submillimeter astronomy are considerable, but U.S. participation in projects such as the Square Kilometer Array is possible only if there is either a significant increase in NSF-AST funding or continuing closure of additional unique and highly productive facilities. The committee’s recommendations in Chapter 7 address the balance within RMS astronomy through endorsements of medium scale facilities and funds for technology development. A Future Solar Observatory System The NSF-supported National Solar Observatory (NSO, within AST) and High Altitude Observatory (HAO, within AGS) are joined by a number of public/private solar observatories, namely Big Bear Solar Observatory (operated by NJIT), Meese Solar Observatory (U Hawaii), Mt. Wilson Observatory (Carnegie/MWI), San Fernando Observatory (Cal State Northridge), and Wilcox Solar Observatory (Stanford). The funding streams for the independent solar observatories are fragile, influenced by significant reduction of funding to them by ONR and AFOSR. These facilities have good collaborative arrangements with NSO and HAO in the development of instrumentation, in scheduling observing campaigns, and in exchange of personnel, and they are particularly valuable in the training of young scientists, thereby functioning as an informal solar observatory system. The national ground-based solar facilities will be transformed once ATST is completed and becomes operational in 2017. ATST is being built within NSO but has very active participation by HAO and many other university partners. The headquarters of NSO are likely to be relocated to admit closer university participation with its scientists and in the training of young researchers. Other solar telescopes operated by NSO in Arizona (McMath-Pierce on Kitt Peak) and in New Mexico (Dunn on Sacramento 8 For example, the 42m telescope at Green Bank, the 14m telescope at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory, the 37m telescope at the Haystack Observatory have been shut down already; the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory is slated for closure in 2016. PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION 6-12
Peak) are planned for closure to free up resources. ATST will require an additional $3M per year to NSO beyond this for operations. Solar observations at radio and millimeter wavelengths continue to be complementary to the optical/infrared programs and the extensive probing at optical and UV wavelengths from spacecraft like the highly successful SOHO, TRACE, STEREO and the recently launched Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Long wavelength observations elucidate plasma properties in regions of magnetic field reconnection both on the solar disk and off the limb, in the extended corona and its wind streams, and by imaging coronal mass ejections. These observations are being carried out with NRAO facilities such as the VLA and the Green Bank Solar Radio Burst Spectrometer, along with the Owens Valley Solar Array operated by NJIT. Once operational, ALMA is capable of probing the lower solar atmosphere, including emissions from the most energetic electrons and protons produced in solar flares. The proposed FASR with three arrays of steerable antennas, and the ability to rapidly sample a broad range of frequencies, would yield the most direct means of measuring and imaging coronal magnetic fields, various physics of solar flares, and drivers of space weather. FASR would be built by a consortium. The wide field of view afforded by FASR of evolving plasma structures and of associated magnetic fields would be an important complement to the high resolution but localized observations enabled with ATST. FASR was ranked highly by AANM (2001) and in the Solar and Space Physics Survey (2003). As described above, the bulk of the grant funding for solar scientists within NSF comes from AGS, while the facilities funding is split between AGS and AST. This unusual dual division support arrangement for ground-based solar work has been noted 9 and differs from the organization of spacebased solar physics 10 . Solar physics will change rapidly over the next five years as ATST is constructed and deployed and as older facilities are closed. In addition, the field is likely to expand in areas that directly involve solar effects on the Earth. A future solar observatory telescope system would benefit from NSF adopting a unified approach for how at least two of its divisions develop and support a coordinated ground-based solar physics program. RECOMMENDATION: The NSF should work with the solar, heliospheric, stellar, planetary, and geospace communities to determine the best route to an effective and balanced ground-based solar astronomy program that maintains multidisciplinary ties. Such coordination will be essential in developing funding models for the long-term operation of major solar facilities such as the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope and Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope, and in the development of next-generation instrumentation for them along with the funding of associated theory, modeling, and simulation science. 9 National Research Council, The Field of Solar Physics: Review and Recommendations for Ground-Based Solar Research, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1989.. 10 NASA has chosen to assign all matters solar to its Heliophysics division within SMD, and the solar space physics community will be conducting its own decadal survey starting in the summer of 2010. PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION 6-13
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PREPUBLICATION COPY
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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
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FIGURE 2‐4 Left panel: Image of t
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FIGURE 2‐6 Top: Schematic of the
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Most stars with masses smaller than
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BOX 2-2 The Origin of Planets After
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send material raining into the cent
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BOX 2-4 Lifecycles in Galaxies One
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Stars Stars are the most observable
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ubiquitous high-energy charged-part
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The Nature of Inflation As describe
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FIGURE 2‐11 Pie chart showing the
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An important clue to the nature of
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Studying the properties of neutron
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FIGURE 2‐14 A possible pathway is
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partners and makes recommendations
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As astronomy research has blossomed
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are increasingly relevant. The Euro
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TABLE 3-1 Currently Operating OIR F
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29% 1990 44% US Priv US Fed Other E
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CONCLUSION: Complex and high-cost f
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Space Observatories The Laser Inter
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Physics Division (PHY); the Mathema
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4 Astronomy in Society Astronomy of
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FIGURE 4‐2 The dust sculptures of
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FIGURE 4‐5 President Obama takes
Page 107 and 108: Astronomy Inspires in the Classroom
Page 109 and 110: teaching the scientific method. The
Page 111 and 112: where the fraction of astronomers h
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
Page 119 and 120: Professional training needs to acco
Page 121: assistant and associate professor p
Page 124 and 125: fluctuating level of funding for as
Page 126 and 127: THEORY Emerging Trends in Theoretic
Page 128 and 129: Central to the Galaxies across Cosm
Page 130 and 131: TABLE 5‐2 Support for astrophysic
Page 132 and 133: would normally be for a five-year p
Page 134 and 135: FIGURE 5‐7 Highly cited HST publi
Page 136 and 137: y optical and radio astronomers are
Page 138 and 139: FIGURE 5‐8 Number of PhDs per yea
Page 140 and 141: ated by the Program Prioritization
Page 142 and 143: nulling interferometry. The appropr
Page 144 and 145: FIGURE 5‐9 The richness of the su
Page 146 and 147: RECOMMENDATION: NASA and NSF suppor
Page 148 and 149: FIGURE 6‐1. All sky map as observ
Page 150 and 151: FIGURE 6‐3 NASA mission cost over
Page 152 and 153: FIGURE 6‐5 Gemini North with Sout
Page 154 and 155: TOWARD FUTURE PROJECTS, MISSIONS, A
Page 156 and 157: 3. Investment in new and upgraded i
Page 161 and 162: 7 Realizing the Opportunities The p
Page 163 and 164: FIGURE 7.1 Survey time line showing
Page 165 and 166: SCIENCE OBJECTIVES FOR THE DECADE T
Page 167 and 168: Box 7.1 Implementing a Cosmic Dawn
Page 169 and 170: JWST, with its superb mid-infrared
Page 171 and 172: optical imaging of brighter galaxie
Page 173 and 174: Box 7.3 Implementing the Physics of
Page 175 and 176: FIGURE 7.2 Multiwavelength images o
Page 177 and 178: Recommendations for New Space Activ
Page 179 and 180: FIGURE 7.4 Science accomplishments
Page 181 and 182: significance of mergers in the buil
Page 183 and 184: independent advice committee review
Page 185 and 186: committee review. It could range be
Page 187 and 188: Laboratory Astrophysics As describe
Page 189 and 190: Recommendations for New Ground-Base
Page 191 and 192: Program for instrumentation and fac
Page 193 and 194: excel at high spectral and spatial
Page 195 and 196: The committee reviewed a technical
Page 197 and 198: FIGURE 7.10 ACTA would be, like the
Page 199 and 200: Advanced Technologies and Instrumen
Page 201 and 202: LISA as soon as possible subject to
Page 203: FIGURE 7.14 DOE recommended program
Page 207 and 208: 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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