Table Of ContentNew Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
New Worlds,
New Horizons
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Committee for a Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Board on Physics and Astronomy
Space Studies Board
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National
Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National
Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report
were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract NNX08AN97G between the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, Contract AST-0743899 between the National Academy of Sciences and
the National Science Foundation, and Contract DE-FG02-08ER41542 between the National Academy of Sciences
and the U.S. Department of Energy. Support for this study was also provided by the Vesto Slipher Fund. Any
opinions, fndings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and
do not necessarily refect the views of the agencies that provided support for the project.
Cover: Complexity abounds in the universe, especially during the birth phases of stars and planetary systems. The
M17 region, also known as the Omega Nebula, in the constellation Sagittarius is rich in massive stars, including
those recently formed and already impacting their environment (bright nebulous regions—e.g., back lower), as
well as those still in the process of formation within cold dense clouds (dark regions—e.g., front center). Provinces
such as this within our galaxy and others allow astronomers to understand and quantify the cycling of matter and
energy within the cosmic ecosystem. The image depicts mid-infrared emission at 3.6- to 24-micrometer wave-
lengths as detected by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, although the region has been studied from high-frequency
gamma-ray to low-frequency radio energies. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Dedication (p. xxxiii): Photo courtesy of American Astronomical Society.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee for a Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
New worlds, new horizons in astronomy and astrophysics / Committee for a Decadal Survey of Astronomy
and Astrophysics, Board on Physics and Astronomy, Space Studies Board, Division on Engineering and Physical
Sciences.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-309-15802-2 (case bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-309-15799-5 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-309-15800-8 (pdf)
1. Astronomy—Research—Forecasting. 2. Astrophysics—Research—Forecasting. 3. Research—International
cooperation. I. Title.
QB61.N385 2011
520.72—dc22
2010044515
This report is available in limited quantities from the Board on Physics and Astronomy, 500 Fifth Street,
N.W.,Washington, DC 20001;
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
COMMITTEE FOR A DECADAL SURVEY OF
ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ROGER D. BLANDFORD, Stanford University, Chair
MARTHA P. HAYNES, Cornell University, Vice Chair
JOHN P. HUCHRA, Harvard University, Vice Chair
MARCIA J. RIEKE, University of Arizona, Vice Chair
LYNNE HILLENBRAND, California Institute of Technology, Executive Offcer
STEVEN J. BATTEL, Battel Engineering
LARS BILDSTEN, University of California, Santa Barbara
JOHN E. CARLSTROM, University of Chicago
DEBRA M. ELMEGREEN, Vassar College
JOSHUA FRIEMAN, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
FIONA A. HARRISON, California Institute of Technology
TIMOTHY M. HECKMAN, Johns Hopkins University
ROBERT C. KENNICUTT, JR., University of Cambridge
JONATHAN I. LUNINE, University of Arizona and University of Rome,
Tor Vergata
CLAIRE E. MAX, University of California, Santa Cruz
DAN McCAMMON, University of Wisconsin
STEVEN M. RITZ, University of California, Santa Cruz
JURI TOOMRE, University of Colorado
SCOTT D. TREMAINE, Institute for Advanced Study
MICHAEL S. TURNER, University of Chicago
NEIL deGRASSE TYSON, Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural
History
PAUL A. VANDEN BOUT, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
A. THOMAS YOUNG, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired)
Staff
DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director, Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA)
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Astro2010 Study Director and Director, Space Studies
Board (SSB)
BRANT L. SPONBERG, Senior Program Offcer, BPA (until December 2009)
ROBERT L. RIEMER, Senior Program Offcer, BPA
BRIAN D. DEWHURST, Program Offcer, Aeronautics and Space Engineering
Board (until July 2009)
JAMES C. LANCASTER, Program Offcer, BPA
DAVID B. LANG, Program Offcer, BPA
v
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
TERI THOROWGOOD, Administrative Coordinator, BPA (from November 2009)
CARMELA CHAMBERLAIN, Administrative Coordinator, SSB
CATHERINE GRUBER, Editor, SSB
CARYN J. KNUTSEN, Research Associate, BPA
LaVITA COATES-FOGLE, Senior Program Assistant, BPA (until October 2009)
BETH DOLAN, Financial Associate, BPA
vi
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
SCIENCE FRONTIERS PANELS
Panel on Cosmology and Fundamental Physics
DAVID N. SPERGEL, Princeton University, Chair
DAVID WEINBERG, Ohio State University, Vice Chair
RACHEL BEAN, Cornell University
NEIL CORNISH, Montana State University
JONATHAN FENG, University of California, Irvine
ALEX V. FILIPPENKO, University of California, Berkeley
WICK C. HAXTON, University of California, Berkeley
MARC P. KAMIONKOWSKI, California Institute of Technology
LISA RANDALL, Harvard University
EUN-SUK SEO, University of Maryland
DAVID TYTLER, University of California, San Diego
CLIFFORD M. WILL, Washington University
Panel on the Galactic Neighborhood
MICHAEL J. SHULL, University of Colorado, Chair
JULIANNE DALCANTON, University of Washington, Vice Chair
LEO BLITZ, University of California, Berkeley
BRUCE T. DRAINE, Princeton University
ROBERT FESEN, Dartmouth University
KARL GEBHARDT, University of Texas
JUNA KOLLMEIER, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington
CRYSTAL MARTIN, University of California, Santa Barbara
JASON TUMLINSON, Space Telescope Science Institute
DANIEL WANG, University of Massachusetts
DENNIS ZARITSKY, University of Arizona
STEPHEN E. ZEPF, Michigan State University
Panel on Galaxies Across Cosmic Time
C. MEGAN URRY, Yale University, Chair
MITCHELL C. BEGELMAN, University of Colorado, Vice Chair
ANDREW J. BAKER, Rutgers University
NETA A. BAHCALL, Princeton University
ROMEEL DAVÉ, University of Arizona
TIZIANA DI MATTEO, Carnegie Mellon University
HENRIC S. W. KRAWCZYNSKI, Washington University
vii
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
JOSEPH MOHR, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
RICHARD F. MUSHOTZKY, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CHRIS S. REYNOLDS, University of Maryland
ALICE SHAPLEY, University of California, Los Angeles
TOMMASO TREU, University of California, Santa Barbara
JAQUELINE H. VAN GORKOM, Columbia University
ERIC M. WILCOTS, University of Wisconsin
Panel on Planetary Systems and Star Formation
LEE W. HARTMANN, University of Michigan, Chair
DAN M. WATSON, University of Rochester, Vice Chair
HECTOR ARCE, Yale University
CLAIRE CHANDLER, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
DAVID CHARBONNEAU, Harvard University
EUGENE CHIANG, University of California, Berkeley
SUZAN EDWARDS, Smith College
ERIC HERBST, Ohio State University
DAVID C. JEWITT, University of California, Los Angeles
JAMES P. LLOYD, Cornell University
EVE C. OSTRIKER, University of Maryland
DAVID J. STEVENSON, California Institute of Technology
JONATHAN C. TAN, University of Florida
Panel on Stars and Stellar Evolution
ROGER A. CHEVALIER, University of Virginia, Chair
ROBERT P. KIRSHNER, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Vice
Chair
DEEPTO CHAKRABARTY, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SUZANNE HAWLEY, University of Washington
JEFFREY R. KUHN, University of Hawaii
STANLEY OWOCKI, University of Delaware
MARC PINSONNEAULT, Ohio State University
ELIOT QUATAERT, University of California, Berkeley
SCOTT RANSOM, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
HENDRIK SCHATZ, Michigan State University
LEE ANNE WILLSON, Iowa State University
STANFORD E. WOOSLEY, University of California, Santa Cruz
viii
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Staff
DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director, Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA)
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Astro2010 Study Director and Director, Space Studies
Board (SSB)
BRANT L. SPONBERG, Senior Program Offcer, BPA (until December 2009)
ROBERT L. RIEMER, Senior Program Offcer, BPA
DAVID B. LANG, Program Offcer, BPA
CARMELA CHAMBERLAIN, Administrative Coordinator, SSB
CATHERINE GRUBER, Editor
CARYN J. KNUTSEN, Research Associate, BPA
LaVITA COATES-FOGLE, Senior Program Assistant, BPA (until October 2009)
BETH DOLAN, Financial Associate, BPA
ix
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
