New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2010) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 79-102
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From page 79... ...
Many of the most phenomenal discoveries of the century lay ahead. Neutron stars, black holes, quasars, exoplanets, dark matter, dark energy, and the cosmic microwave background were yet to be found.
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From page 80... ...
, and the Office of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI) -- as well as the Astro physics, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science Divisions at NASA, the Office of High Energy Physics (OHEP)
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From page 81... ...
The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) marked the entry of astronomy into large-scale transformative scientific facilities.
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From page 82... ...
Managing International Collaboration Thanks to the growth of astronomy across the globe and the emergence of international partnerships on all scales -- from individual scientific collaborations to major multinational projects and sharing of major data sets -- science agendas around the globe are converging. At the same time, the growth in the costs and complexity of new telescopes and instruments is pressing the need for expanded international cooperation at all stages, from conceiving and building to using
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From page 83... ...
The advantages of such partnerships are manifest: cooperation can reduce unnecessary duplication of facilities and effort, marshals the best technological expertise globally, provides international merit-based use of the facilities, and makes it possible to construct facilities that otherwise would be out of the financial reach of any one nation or region. Traditional international partnerships, in which two or more national partners collaborate in the construction, operation, and management of a facility, also carry with them inherent disadvantages and overheads.
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From page 84... ...
A more limited form of partnership is the sharing of archival data from a facility, even in cases where observing time is restricted. Other arrangements may prove to be just as effective.
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From page 85... ...
agencies is to place appropriate value on reciprocity arrangements in providing access to foreign astronomical facilities and data sets for U.S. researchers.
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From page 86... ...
The long-term goal should be to maximize the scientific output from major astronomical facilities throughout the world, a goal that is best achieved through opening access to all astronomers. International partnership should be regarded as an element of a broader strat egy to coordinate construction and support of and access to astronomical facilities worldwide and to build scientific capability around the world.
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From page 87... ...
astronomical community. On the basis of the NSF senior review, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)
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From page 88... ...
Other important system activities include the enabling of OIR tech nology development, adaptive optics and interferometry, access to data archives for ground-based OIR telescopes, and training of future astronomers. The NOAO and the international Gemini Observatory are operated via a cooperative agreement between NSF and a research management corporation, AURA.
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From page 89... ...
PartnersHIP astronoMy astroPHysIcs In and Table 3.1 Currently Operating OIR Facility Partnerships (>3-meter apertures only) Federal/Public Observatory/Facility Private Partners Non-Federal/Public Partners Partners apache Point astrophysical Research Public universities Observatory Consortium and private universities Gemini Observatory International partners NSF through aURa HeT Stanford University University of Texas, Pennsylvania State University, ludwig Maximilians Universität, and Georg august Universität IRTF NaSa and NSF through University of Hawaii Keck Observatory Caltech University of California NaSa KPNO 4 m and CTIO NSF through 4m aURa/NOaO lbT Observatory Research Corporation, University of arizona, arizona University of Notre Dame State University, Northern arizona University, Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, University of Virginia, and international partners (Germany and Italy)
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From page 90... ...
A third problem is the competition between privately funded groups; although such competition has been generally beneficial to science historically, collaboration now seems imperative in order to realize next-generation facilities. Figure 3.2 shows the effective ownership share in terms of the number of square meters of primary mirror of the world's largest optical-infrared telescopes and illustrates how the share has evolved over the last two decades.
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From page 91... ...
Federal Other Europe 6% 9% FIGURe 3.2 Distribution of optical and infrared telescope aperture around the world, 1990 and 2010. Colors denote the fraction of telescope primary mirror area held by U.S.
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From page 92... ...
and technology development should allow the United States to maintain its position of international leadership in radio astronomy for at least another decade. However, significant investments in next-generation facilities by Europe, China, Australia, and South Africa (~$100 million each)
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From page 93... ...
and participation in an international Atmospheric Čerenkov Telescope Array, from the Panel on Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation; WFIRST and IXO (NASA plus ESA) , from the Panel on Electromagnetic Observations from Space; CCAT (a U.S.-led project with international university partners)
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From page 94... ...
By concentrating most of its resources into a single international partnership, Europe has minimized duplication of capability between facilities, created a major international research center, and established a funding line for construction that is intended to lead from ALMA to E-ELT to SKA. As a large monolithic, multinational institution, ESO inevitably carries a larger overhead than a U.S.
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From page 95... ...
The combination of wide-area photometric surveys and large-aperture spectroscopy has a long, productive history in OIR astronomy: interesting sources identified in the wide-field survey are studied in detail with the larger telescope. The panel concluded that a crucial goal for ground-based OIR astronomy in the coming decade should be to realize the potential of the combination of these facilities, as linchpins for an enlarged and more capable U.S.
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From page 96... ...
The HERA program, a project that was highly ranked by the RMS-PPP and included by the committee in its list of compelling cases for a competed mid-scale program at NSF, provides a development pathway for the SKA-low facility. Progress on development of the SKA-mid pathfinder instruments -- the Allen Telescope Array in the United States, the MeerKAT in South Africa, and the ASKAP in Australia -- and in new instruments and new observing modes on the existing facilities operated by NRAO and the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center will provide crucial insight into the optimal path toward a full SKA-mid.
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From page 97... ...
Because of the common interests in the science of dark energy, as well as complementary technical capabilities, NASA and DOE have been planning for the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) since 2003.
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From page 98... ...
AGENCY PARTNERSHIPS AND INTERFACES Revolutionary discoveries in astronomy over the past two decades have broad ened the field and created new interfaces with other areas of science -- particle physics (the birth and early evolution of the universe, cosmic rays, dark matter, and dark energy) , nuclear physics (the origin of the chemical elements and neutron star structure)
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From page 99... ...
Department of Energy, Report of the HEPAP Particle Astrophysics Scientific Assessment Group (PASAG) , October 23, 2009, available at http://www.er.doe.gov/hep/panels/reports/hepap_reports.
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From page 100... ...
These include the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel, for the DOE's OHEP and NSF-PHY; the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC) , for NSF-AST and NSF-PHY; the Astrophysics Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council's Science Committee, for the NASA Astrophysics Division; and the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC)
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From page 101... ...
within this national enterprise cut across agency boundaries, optimizing the program as a whole requires looking across agencies. The AAAC can play a key role in providing continuing advice to DOE, NASA, and NSF on funding across the three agencies in the areas of: • Support of individual and group grants funding, including the balance between grants programs, mission/facility operations, and the design and development of new missions/facilities; • Overall support of theoretical and computational astrophysics; • Data archiving and dissemination, and funding for data analysis software, including the optimal infrastructure for the curation of archival space- and ground-based data from federally supported missions/facilities; • Laboratory astrophysics; and • Technology development.
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From page 102... ...
The implementation advisory committee should be independent of the agen cies and the agency advisory committees in its membership, management, and operation. The survey committee believes that the role of a decadal survey implementa tion advisory committee will be all the more critical in the decade to come, in part because of the technical decision points that have been flagged, in part because of the many partnerships (agency, public/private, and international)
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