New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2010) / Chapter Skim
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From page 131... ...
the broadly distributed core activities discussed in this chapter -- such as research grants to individuals and groups that support observation, theory, computation, data handling and dissemination, technology development, and laboratory astrophysics -- that are the true foundations of the astrophysics enterprise. Maintaining the correct balance between large and small projects, between projects and core activities, and also among the elements of the core program is a challenge that requires evaluation in the context of the current and future scientific landscape.
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From page 132... ...
A significant challenge for the astrophysics program is how to maintain sup port for individual investigators pursuing a broad range of activities in a landscape where specific, large programs provide a fluctuating level of funding for associ ated analysis and theory. Realizing the scientific potential of existing facilities is of primary importance, but so is placing the broad range of results in appropriate context, providing young scientists with opportunities to develop their potential, and enabling the creative thinking that lays the foundations for the future.
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From page 133... ...
104 27 3.9 astrophysics Theory and Fundamental Physics (aTP) 181 37 4.9 GaleX Guest Investigator – Cycle 4 99 35 2.8 astrophysics Data analysis 98 41 2.3 Fermi Guest Investigator – Cycle 1 167 42 4.0 Swift Guest Investigator – Cycle 4 144 49 2.9 Suzaku Guest Investigator – Cycle 3 120 50 2.4 TOTal 3,660 1,092 3.4 SOURCe: NaSa astrophysics Division.
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From page 134... ...
In the committee's judgment, it is absolutely necessary for the health of the whole astronomy and astrophysics enterprise to increase the support of individual investigators: those who write the papers, who train the students and other junior researchers, and who in the end produce the results to drive the field forward and ignite the public's imagination. Reallocation of resources may have to come at the expense of support of existing missions/facilities and new projects.
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From page 135... ...
Several important trends are increasing the scope of theoretical activity and enhancing the roles of theorists: • The boundary between astrophysics theory and high-energy physics theory has become increasingly blurred as astrophysical observations play a grow ing role in particle physics phenomenology. Much of the information we 4 National Research Council, A Performance Assessment of NASA's Astrophysics Program, The Na tional Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2007.
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From page 136... ...
FIGURe 5.2 Simulated image of gravitational radiation from two merging black holes using NaSa's Columbia supercomputer. a movie of this simulation can be found at http://www.nas.nasa.gov/News/ archive/2006/08-09-06.html.
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From page 137... ...
One of the upcoming challenges associated with the Panel on Stars and Stellar Evolution is the three-dimensional simulation of the magnetic field observed in the solar corona using the Solar Dynamics Observer and other solar observatories. The quality of the data now being garnered presents a strong challenge to simulators.
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From page 138... ...
FIGURe 5.4 False-color simulated image of the density of matter accreting from a spinning gas disk onto a black hole. The image shows a cross-sectional cut through one side of the disk, with the black hole represented as a black semicircle on the left side.
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From page 139... ...
A comprehensive theory of planet formation requires following the growth of dust grains in the protoplanetary disk into small rocky bodies, the growth of these bodies into planets, and the subsequent development of oceans and atmospheres -- a study spanning some 42 orders of magnitude in mass and a vast array of processes ranging from the sticking properties of dust grains, through the dynamics of bodies in shearing gas flows, to gravitational stability of planetary orbits on billion-year timescales. FIGURe 5.5 Theoretically predicted chemical structure 100 seconds after the explosion of a massive carbon/oxygen white dwarf.
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From page 140... ...
At NSF, general astrophysics theory is funded through the AST Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants (AAG) program,5 as well as through the NSF Division of Physics (NSF-PHY)
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From page 141... ...
5.3 NSF-PHY astrophysics and Cosmology Theory 1.2 NSF-PHY Physics Frontier Centers (several) NaSa astrophysics Division astrophysics Theory Program 12.4 NaSa astrophysics Division Great Observatories Guest Observer Programs 2.2 DOe Scientific Discovery through advanced Computing 0.7 DOe High energy Physics Theory 10 DOe Nuclear Physics Theory 3 understand the formation of structure in the universe, the explosion of massive stars, the evolution of our solar system over billions or trillions of years, and how a complex experiment works.
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From page 142... ...
An example of a recently established Priority Program is "Witnesses of Cosmic History: Formation and Evolution of Black Holes, Galaxies, and Their Environment."
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From page 143... ...
Publicly accessible data archives can multiply the scientific impact of a facility or mission -- for a fraction of the capital and operating costs of those facilities or missions. The data explosion and the long-term need for the ability to cross-correlate enormous data sets require archival data preservation beyond the life of projects and the development of new analysis and data-mining tools.
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From page 144... ...
SOURCe: Courtesy of Richard l. White, Space Telescope Science Institute.
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From page 145... ...
SOURCe: Courtesy of Richard l. White, New 5-7 bitmapped Space Telescope Science Institute.
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From page 146... ...
The committee further concluded that public funds could support public archiving of data from facilities that are fully funded from private sources, should such support be proposed and highly reviewed. Proposals to NSF's Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants program or to the ATI program could include support for the development of software tools related to data reduc tion and analysis, and archiving.
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From page 147... ...
RECOMMENDATION: NSF, NASA, and DOE should plan for effective long term curation of, and access to, large astronomical data sets after completion of the missions or projects that produced these data, given the likely future scientific benefit of the data. NASA currently supports widely used curated data archives, and similar data curation models could be adopted by NSF and DOE.
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From page 148... ...
MEDIUM-SCALE ACTIVITIES A major recommendation of this report, directed to both the ground and the space programs, is that more support should be directed toward activities of intermediate scale. For the space program, both NASA's Explorer program and its Suborbital program are recommended in Chapter 7 for funding increments.
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From page 149... ...
Further, the scientific community must value the intellectual contributions of instrumentalists as an integral part of the astrophysics endeavor. NASA Explorer and Suborbital Programs The Explorer program, which develops small and mid-size missions on timescales of a few years, is a crown jewel of NASA space science.
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From page 150... ...
-- contributions of instruments or investigations to space programs led by other countries. MoOs provide highly leveraged mecha nisms to broaden the astrophysics program, deploy new technologies, and return significant science for relatively modest investments.
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From page 151... ...
Within NSF, grants programs such as Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants, Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation, and Major Research Instrumentation provide funding for training young people in instrumentation and telescope design, data analysis, and data interpretation, and such training has been funded relatively steadily over the past decade (Table 5.3)
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From page 152... ...
SOURCe: NSF Division of astronomical Sciences.
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From page 153... ...
17 National Research Council, Advanced Research Instrumentation and Facilities, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2006. 18 National Science Foundation, From the Ground Up: Balancing the NSF Astronomy Program, Report of the NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences Senior Review Committee, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Va., 2006.
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From page 154... ...
Near-Term Mission-Specific Technology Development Needs Ensuring adequate funding up front for mission-specific technology develop ment is critical to predicting and managing mission costs and schedules.20 It has been reported that "in the mid-1980s, NASA's budget office found that during the first 30 years of the civil space program, no project enjoyed less than a 40 percent cost overrun unless it was preceded by an investment in studies and technology of at least 5 to 10 percent of the actual project budget that eventually occurred."21 20 Such technology development was also recommended in a 2009 NRC report, America's Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C. Available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?
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From page 155... ...
In addition, mid-term investment is needed for systems aimed at detecting the polarization of the CMB, and for optics and detectors for a future space UV space telescope. Broad-based mid-term technology development is also crucial to the Explorer program, which selects missions that can be implemented on short timescales.
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From page 156... ...
A recent NRC report provides an excellent discussion of the metrics that should be used to establish and maintain a balanced technology development program but does not attempt to specify appropriate funding levels.22 It points out the clear importance of the long-range, high-risk, high-payoff com ponent of technology development, noting that industry typically devotes 5 to 10 percent of R&D budgets to this component. Another report, which concluded that about 8 percent of a government entity's research budget should be set aside for 22 National Research Council, An Enabling Foundation for NASA's Space and Earth Science Missions, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2010.
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From page 157... ...
To address the issues raised above concerning support of mid-range technology development for future astrophysics missions, the committee recommends in Chapter 7 increases in the funding levels of NASA's APRA and Suborbital programs. The adequate support of technology development for specific high-priority missions is also recommended in Chapter 7.
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From page 158... ...
In Chapter 7 the committee recommends increased funding of the ATI program to meet the technology devel opment needs of the future astronomy and astrophysics program. DOE-Funded Technology Development DOE-supported laboratories offer capabilities for technology development that are frequently not accessible at universities.
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From page 159... ...
The frontiers of physics have evolved, particularly in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical science, and little work of this type is now done 25 Specifically, laboratory astrophysics studies processes such as atomic and molecular transitions to obtain wavelengths, oscillator strengths, branching ratios, and collision cross sections; nuclear reactions to obtain important cross sections for nucleosynthesis and cosmic-ray spallation; plasma dynamics, transport, and dissipation processes to understand how gases respond to magnetic fields; and chemical reactions in the gas phase and on the surface of dust grains.
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From page 160... ...
. The promise of SMa, alMa, and CCaT will be enhanced with additional laboratory astrophysics work.
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From page 161... ...
Laboratory measurements will allow us to understand the formation of molecules in interstellar space and stellar atmospheres, both critical for studies of star formation, for example by studying the complex chemical reactions on the surface of dust grains. DOE's high-energy-density facilities26 will be able to host laboratory astrophysics experiments relevant to outstanding questions in radiative hydrodynamics, equation-of-state measurements relevant to planetary interiors, and turbulent flow.
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From page 162... ...
NSF-AST support has been increasing, but at far from a sufficient rate to compensate for the loss of input from the atomic physics community and the increased needs of modern astronomical observations. RECOMMENDATION: NASA and NSF support for laboratory astrophysics under the Astronomy and Physics Research and Analysis program and the Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants program, respectively, should continue at current or higher levels over the coming decade because labora tory astrophysics is vital for optimizing the science return from current and planned facilities.
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