Astronomers' wish list for ten years

The past decade has been a dazzling decade in the development of astronomy and astrophysics. Astronomy and astrophysics have made breakthroughs in many areas.

However, understanding the universe is not so easy, it often requires expensive and huge tools, and it is inseparable from the cooperation of many astronomers. From a more realistic point of view, this also means a lot of money invested.

To that end, every ten years, a large number of astronomers and astrophysicists participate in a ten-year survey, prioritizing the areas of research they consider most important and the hardware facilities needed. The most recent survey, titled "The Road to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics in the 2020s," was released by the National Academy of Sciences in late 2021.

The latest report of the Decade in Astronomy is "The Road to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics in the 2020s." (Photo: National Academy of Sciences)

Compiling the report was a huge undertaking with 20 participants on the main committee and more than 1,000 scientists contributing to the final report. The final report contains 615 pages, which is not easy to read.

But that's why the report is influential. It gives us a more complete picture of what the key scientific challenges of astronomy and astrophysics will be over the next decade, what kind of "wish lists" astronomers will have, and what kind of research they can bring.

Three sciences

In its report, the commission identified 24 key scientific questions for the next generation of astronomy. These issues are divided into three main themes, all of which are sciences of the largest scale, and the facilities on the wish list are all designed to solve specific problems under these topics.

The first is the study of the terrestrial world. As the discovery of exoplanets has experienced explosive growth, the number of known planets outside the solar system has doubled approximately every two years. Of the more than 5,000 known exoplanets, hundreds are somewhat similar to Earth, and they may also support the emergence of life.

A major goal for the next decade is to build new large telescopes on the ground and in space, equipped with instruments capable of "sniffing" the atmospheres of Earth-like planets, trying to detect representative special gases, such as oxygen produced by microorganisms.

The second is to promote multi-messenger astronomy. This is a relatively new field of astrophysics that synthesizes information about gravitational waves, elementary particles, and electromagnetic radiation to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental astrophysics of the universe.

This will require not only new scientific tools, but also more project opportunities for researchers to collaborate and share data to learn more about cosmic explosions and the merger of dense objects such as neutron stars and black holes.

The final topic is the study of the origin and evolution of cosmic ecosystems, particularly galaxies and massive black holes at their centers.

By looking at extremely distant galaxies, astronomers can also go back in time. Therefore, to understand these large and complex systems, scientists need huge optical telescopes to find distant galaxies in the young universe, and also use radio telescopes to peek into their centers, revealing more secrets of black holes.

Wish list for astronomers

The report also includes hundreds of astronomy projects, which also have some particularly exciting highlights.

Schematic diagram of the timing of medium- and large-scale plans and projects recommended and supported by the Ten-Year Survey. (Photo: National Academy of Sciences)

For example, the report recommends building the next generation of observatories in space. One of the flagship missions currently planned for launch in the 2040s will be an optical telescope with a giant mirror of 6 meters in size, which will be 8 times larger than Hubble's mirror and could be used to study the terrestrial planets of other planetary systems and have the opportunity to detect life. The report also recommends the construction of two smaller space telescopes, one suitable for operation in the wavelength range of infrared and X-rays.

But orbit is not the only goal of astronomers. There is also hope for the construction of a giant optical telescope with a diameter of 25 to 30 meters on Earth, which is equivalent to 5 to 7 times the collecting area of today's largest telescope.

The report also calls for the construction of a new array of 263 radio telescopes that will span the entire United States. This array has the ability to produce precise radio images with a sensitivity of up to 10 times that of any previous facility and 20 times sharpness of the original. This allows scientists to look deeper into the universe and discover objects that were previously undetectable.

Another item on the wish list is the construction of microwave telescopes in Chile and Antarctica to map the afterglows of the Big Bang.

The next decade

Science is not just the pursuit of knowledge. As part of the ten-year survey, astronomers and astrophysicists also used the opportunity to examine the current state of the industry and make more recommendations for research and education.

Even if only a small part of the final wish list becomes a reality, it will not only broaden our understanding of the universe, but also have the opportunity to lead to a more diverse academic environment and promote greater exploration.

#创作团队:

Written by: Gaviota

Typography/Design: Wenwen

#参考来源:

https://theconversation.com/astronomys-10-year-wish-list-big-money-bigger-telescopes-and-the-biggest-questions-in-science-179243

https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/26141/interactive/

#图片来源:

Cover image: ESA

Top image: ESO

Illustration: ESA, NASA