Astronomy’s wish list
Here are a few particularly exciting highlights from the hundreds of items on the wish list.
First, the report recommends spending US$1 billion on developing technology with which to build the next generation of “great observatories” in space. The flagship of these missions – to be launched in the 2040s with an eye-popping price tag of $11 billion – would be an optical telescope with a massive 20-foot (6-meter) mirror. This mirror would be eight times bigger than Hubble’s and would be designed to study Earth-like planets in other solar systems – and potentially detect life. The report also recommends building two smaller space telescopes to work at infrared and X-ray wavelengths, each at a cost of $3 billion to $5 billion.
But orbital efforts are not the only aims of the report. The report also asks for funds to build a giant optical telescope on Earth with a diameter of 80 to 100 feet (25 to 30 meters). That’s five to seven times the light-collecting area of today’s largest telescope. Two proposals are competing to build this telescope, which would cost close to $2 billion.
The report also calls for the National Science Foundation to spend $3 billion on a new array of 263 radio telescopes that would span the entire U.S. This telescope array could produce radio images with 10 times the sensitivity and 20 times the sharpness of any previous facility, allowing scientists to see deeper into the universe and discover previously undetectable objects. Another item on the wish list is a $650 million pair of microwave telescopes in Chile and Antarctica that would map the afterglow of the Big Bang.
This kind of money is needed to achieve scientific goals of this scope.
State of the profession
Science is more than just the pursuit of knowledge. As part of recent decadal surveys, astronomers and astrophysicists have taken the opportunity to gaze inward and judge the state of the profession. This includes looking at diversity and inclusion, workplace climates and the contributions of astronomers to education and outreach.
These fields are overwhelmingly white, with people from minority backgrounds making up only 4% of faculty and students. In an appendix to the report, teams suggested a number of remedies for the lack of diversity and equity. These included ideas such as better mentoring to reduce the high attrition rate for minority students, along with funding for bridge programs to help minorities get established early in their careers and to treat harassment and discrimination as forms of scientific misconduct.
If even a small part of the wish list becomes reality, it will not only increase our understanding of the universe, but also – just as importantly – lead to a more diverse and compassionate astronomy and astrophysics community.
Chris Impey, University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of Arizona
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