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In addition to the 27 panel meetings over the course of this survey, the survey committee itself met in person six times and held more than 100 teleconferences between December 2008 and May 2010. There were also detailed briefings from Jon Morse on behalf of NASA, Craig Foltz on behalf of NSF, and Dennis Kovar on behalf of DOE. All three agencies are thanked for their generous sponsorship of the survey and patient responses to requests for information that provided policy and budgetary context. In addition, the committee was pleased to receive critical perspectives from the U.S. Congress, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Office of Management and Budget. Kevin Marvel and Kate Kirby, executive officers of the American Astronomical and American Physical Societies, respectively, offered their insights and arranged important interfaces to the community. Members of the committee met regularly with the Board on Physics and Astronomy and the Space Studies Board, whose members provided wise feedback and advice. The committee undertook the hard and painful task, necessitated by the relatively severe financial constraints under which the agencies expect to have to operate, of consolidating the rich science opportunities and selecting from the many exciting and realizable activities presented to it. It established a set of criteria and, through a deliberative process, developed the program that is proposed in this report. The science objectives were first organized into three general themes enhanced by discovery areas. These themes were then focused into three science objectives for the decade, labeled “Cosmic Dawn,” “New Worlds,” and “Physics of the Universe.” The activities recommended to optimize addressing these objectives were organized into large, medium, and small activities in space and on the ground. The committee also took into account the organization of research programs in astronomy within the current federal agency structure. ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND COMMENTS The complexity of this process could have been overwhelming but for the support of the NRC staff at the Board on Physics and Astronomy and the Space Studies Board: Carmela Chamberlain, LaVita Coates-Fogle, Brian Dewhurst, Beth Dolan, Caryn Knutsen, James Lancaster, David Lang, Robert L. Riemer, Richard Rowberg, Brant Sponberg, and Teri Thorowgood. These dedicated supporters of the field undertook the formidable task of making all these meetings work, receiving and organizing all the input, and providing the logistical and tactical support that allowed the committee to remain on task, on schedule, and on budget over the course of close to 2 years. In addition the committee benefited from the inputs provided by three younger members of the community who served as NRC Mirzayan Policy Fellows over the course of the survey—Baruch Feldman, Michael McElwaine, and Leslie Chamberlain. On behalf of the committee, I express my personal gratitude to all of the above. I also thank Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences, for his unfailing support and helpful guidance. Donald Shapero, director of the Board on Physics and Astronomy, likewise kept watch over the process and used his experience to keep it on track. Michael Moloney directed the survey from the start with remarkable efficiency, foresight, and tact and did not stint in his effort after he also took on the directorship of the Space Studies Board. Lastly, I acknowledge every one of my 22 colleagues on the committee, who all worked extremely hard to learn about and then represent the whole field of astronomy and astrophysics. I am grateful for all that they have taught me and for their generous and good-natured support over the past 2 years. Among these must be singled out Martha Haynes, John Huchra, and Marcia Rieke, who acted so ably as vice chairs, and, especially, Lynne Hillenbrand, who served wisely, patiently, and tirelessly as executive officer. Each of these contributions was essential to the completion of the survey. The committee has been faced with making difficult choices in what is widely agreed are sobering times. Our national finances are experiencing significant stress, and although at the time of this report’s release the support of the current administration and Congress for science is remarkable, this survey has had to act responsibly in considering the scope of the program it can envision. This happens in the context of reporting at a singular time in the history of astronomy, one of remarkable ongoing discovery and unlimited possibility. All who have served on or worked with the committee have been PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION xvi
conscious of their personal good fortune to be living at this time and the wonderful scientific opportunity that today’s astronomers enjoy to seek new worlds and reach out to the new horizons of the universe. With the aid of the facilities operational today, those that are already started and will be completed during this decade, and those that are recommended to be started soon, this promises to be another extraordinary decade of discovery. Roger D. Blandford, Chair Committee for a Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION xvii
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Page 4 and 5: THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fi
Page 7 and 8: COMMITTEE FOR A DECADAL SURVEY OF A
Page 9 and 10: Panel on Stars and Stellar Evolutio
Page 11 and 12: DOUGLAS FINKBEINER, Harvard Univers
Page 13: SPACE STUDIES BOARD CHARLES F. KENN
Page 16 and 17: activities 2 that have emerged from
Page 20 and 21: Acknowledgment of Reviewers This re
Page 22 and 23: The Accelerating Universe 2-26 The
Page 24 and 25: APPENDIXES A Summary of Science Fro
Page 26 and 27: light up the universe, marking the
Page 28 and 29: RECOMMENDED PROGRAM Maintaining a b
Page 30 and 31: TABLE ES.4 Space: Recommended Activ
Page 32 and 33: Cosmic Dawn: Searching for the Firs
Page 34 and 35: this imprint would both probe funda
Page 36 and 37: important outcome will be to open u
Page 38 and 39: estimated to be on the order of $20
Page 40 and 41: observatories. For NASA an annual b
Page 42 and 43: surveys of large fields, enabling s
Page 44 and 45: RECOMMENDATION: U.S. investors in a
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Page 48 and 49: dominate spending; (2) private-publ
Page 50 and 51: us was certainly evident during the
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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
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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
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Astronomy Inspires in the Classroom
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teaching the scientific method. The
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where the fraction of astronomers h
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Percentage of AAS Membership by Fie
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0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 PL SO IM AG SF IN S
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FIGURE 4‐12 Number (top panel) an
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Professional training needs to acco
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assistant and associate professor p
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fluctuating level of funding for as
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THEORY Emerging Trends in Theoretic
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Central to the Galaxies across Cosm
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TABLE 5‐2 Support for astrophysic
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would normally be for a five-year p
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FIGURE 5‐7 Highly cited HST publi
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y optical and radio astronomers are
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FIGURE 5‐8 Number of PhDs per yea
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ated by the Program Prioritization
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nulling interferometry. The appropr
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FIGURE 5‐9 The richness of the su
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RECOMMENDATION: NASA and NSF suppor
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FIGURE 6‐1. All sky map as observ
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FIGURE 6‐3 NASA mission cost over
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FIGURE 6‐5 Gemini North with Sout
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TOWARD FUTURE PROJECTS, MISSIONS, A
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3. Investment in new and upgraded i
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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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