prepublication copy - The Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics ...

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Statement of Task and Scope
STATEMENT OF TASK
• The Committee on Astro2010 will survey the field of space- and ground-based astronomy and
astrophysics, recommending priorities for the most important scientific and technical activities of
the decade 2010-2020.
• The principal goals of the study will be to carry out an assessment of activities in astronomy and
astrophysics, including both new and previously identified concepts, and to prepare a concise
report that will be addressed to the agencies supporting the field, the Congressional committees
with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.
SCOPE
The subject matter of the survey will include experimental and theoretical aspects of observations
of the cosmos, analysis of those observations, the theoretical framework for understanding the
observations, and the professional infrastructure that enables the observations. Science that involves in
situ observations (for instance planetary or helio probes) will be excluded.
The extent of the common ground between fundamental physics and cosmology has grown and
the strength of the relationship between physics questions at the quantum size scale and at the scale of the
entire universe is becoming increasingly clear. The survey will treat this and other areas of interface with
adjacent scientific disciplines, as appropriate.
Ground-based laboratory experimental data, physics-based theoretical models, and numerical
simulation play a growing role in the interpretation of astronomical observations. The scope of the study
will reflect these trends. The study will review the federal research programs that support work in the
field, including the astrophysics program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
the astronomy program at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and selected aspects of the physics
programs at the NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE). For the purpose of this charge, “activities”
include any project, telescope, facility, mission, or research program of sufficient scope to be identified
separately in the final report. The selection of subject matter will be guided by the content of these
programs. Only physics topics with a strong overlap with astronomy and astrophysics will be treated.
Solar astronomy will be covered but space-based solar astronomy projects will not be prioritized.
The study will assess the infrastructure of the field, including research and analysis support, the
educational system, instrumentation and technology development, data distribution, analysis, and
archiving, theory programs, and so on. The committee will determine whether the optimal infrastructure
necessary to advance the science and to capture the value of major activities is in place.
In its assessment, the committee will also consider the importance of balance within and among
the activities sponsored by the various agencies that support research in astronomy and astrophysics. It
will explore the diversity of the portfolio of activities ranging from PI-driven research, through small,
medium-sized, and large projects. The committee will conduct a review of relevant activities of other
nations and the opportunities for joint ventures and other forms of international cooperation. It will also
explore prospects for combining resources—private, state, federal, and international—to build the
strongest possible set of activities for U.S. astronomy and astrophysics.
APPROACH
The committee will address the future of U.S. astronomy and astrophysics by formulating a
PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION
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