Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s
Year: 2023
Type: report
Abstract: We live in an extraordinary period of discovery in astronomy and astrophysics. Six Nobel Prizes have been awarded over the past decade alone for discoveries based on astronomical data (dark energy, gravitational waves, neutrino oscillations, the discovery of exoplanets, cosmology, and supermassive black holes). Many of the ambitious scientific visions of the 2010 New Worlds, New Horizons (Astro2010)1 decadal survey are being fulfilled, but momentum has only grown. We stand on the threshold of new endeavors that will transform not only our understanding of the universe and the processes and physical paradigms that govern it but also humanity’s place in it. This report of the Committee for a Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 (Astro2020) proposes a broad, integrated plan for space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade 2023–2032.2 It also lays the foundations for further advances in the following decade. This is the seventh in a sequence of decadal survey studies in this field from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This survey examines the program of record, providing advice on the major projects from prior surveys that are yet to be completed. It also lays out priorities for future investments driven by scientific opportunities. The recommendations in this report advance foundational activities that support the people who drive innovation and discovery, and that promote the technologies and tools needed to carry out the science. The report also recommends sustaining activities on a broad range of cost and time scales, as well as activities that enable future visionary projects by maturing them scientifically and technically. Last, the recommendations set in motion the construction of frontier facilities that will change the view and understanding of the cosmos. The survey is bounded by plausible budget scenarios based on briefings from the sponsoring agencies— the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Within these bounds, the survey aims high, reflecting this time of great scientific promise and progress, with opportunities to pursue some of the most compelling scientific quests of our times.
DOI: 10.2172/2326985
Authors: Fiona Harrison, USDOE Office of Science (SC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Robert Kennicutt, Julianne Dalcanton, Tim De Zeeuw, Andrew Driesman, Jonathan Fortney, Gabriela Gonzalez, Jordan Goodman, Marc Kamionkowski, Bruce MacIntosh, Jacobus Oschmann, Rachel Osten, Lyman Page, Eliot Quataert, Wanda Sigur, Rachel Somerville, Keivan Stassun, Jean Turner, Pieter Van Dokkum, Ellen Zweibel, Deepto Chakrabarty, Laura Chomiuk, Daniel Holz, Raffaella Margutti, Julie McEnery, Peter Meszaros, Ramesh Narayan, Scott Ransom, Todd Thompson, Daniel Eisenstein, Lindsey Bleem, Rachel Mandelbaum, Miguel Morales, Daniel Scolnic, Matias Zaldarriaga, Kathryn Zurek, Daniela Calzetti, Michael Boylan-Kolchin, Hsiao-Wen Chen, Ann Hornschemeier, Susan Kassin, Amanda Kepley, Charles Steidel, Daniel Stern, Tommaso Treu, David Weinberg, Victoria Meadows, David Brain, Ian Crossfield, Courtney Dressing, Tiffany Kataria, Kathleen Mandt, Mark Marley, Britney Schmidt, Christopher Stark, Lee Hartmann, Sean Andrews, Philip Armitage, Bruce Draine, Kaitlin Kratter, Karin Sandstrom, Snezana Stanimirovic, Sarbani Basu, Nancy Brickhouse, Adam Burgasser, Jennifer Johnson, R.T. McAteer, Elisa Quintana, Louis-Gregory Strolger, David Spergel, Michael Blanton, Kelle Cruz, Mark Delvin, Megan Donahue, Keith Hawkins, Alina Kiessling, Karin Oberg, Angela Olinto, Bernard Rauscher, James Stone, Marcia Rieke, Ruslan Belikov, Rebecca Bernstein, Lester Cohen, Nikole Lewis, Amy Mainzer, Mark Saunders, Evgenya Shkolnik, George Sonneborn, Megan Urry, Steven Kahn, Lisa Barsotti, Allison Barto, Michael Bay, Martin Elvis, Charles Hailey, Chryssa Kouveliotou, Charles Lawrence, S. Moseley, Reshmi Mukherjee, Gordon Stacey, Timothy Heckman, David Bearden, David Charbonneau, Suvi Gezari, Andrea Ghez, Jenny Greene, J. Hoeksema, Richard Pogge, Massimo Robberto, Natascha Forster Schreiber, David Silva, John Beacom, Laura Cadonati, David Besson, Elizabeth Hays, N. Kasdin, David Kieda, Andrea Lommen, Brian Metzger, James Yeck, Nicole Yunes, Andrew Baker, Hector Arce, Ravinder Bhatia, Tracy Clarke, Matt Dobbs, David Kaplan, Daniel Marrone, Lynn Matthews, Joan Najita, Richard Plambeck, Margaret Hanson, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, Gurtina Besla, Patricia Boyd, Kathryne Daniel, Martha Haynes, Jedidah Isler, Rachel Ivie, Kathryn Johnston, Casey Miller, Jesus Pando, Julie Posselt, Jane Rigby, Willie Rockward
Institutions: California Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, Texas A&M University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Washington, University of Michigan, Yale University, Princeton University, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, The Ohio State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University of Cincinnati, University of California, Santa Cruz
Language: English
Subfield: Instrumentation
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
OpenAlex ID: W4396589129