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Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2326985· OSTI ID:2326985
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  1. California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); National Academy of Sciences
  2. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  3. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  4. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  5. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)
  6. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  7. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  8. Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
  9. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  10. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
  11. Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  12. Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)
  13. The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
  14. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
  15. Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ (United States)
  16. Univ. of Cincinnati, OH (United States)
  17. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

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.

Research Organization:
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
DOE Contract Number:
SC0019513
OSTI ID:
2326985
Report Number(s):
DOE-NAS--19513
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS