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Astronomy 4800 – Space Science: Practice & Policy

ASTR 4800 - Space Science: Practice & PolicyToday: The Astrophysics Roadmap & the Astro2020 Decadal Survey

– Next Class: Solar & Space Physics Decadal Survey. Guest lecture by Prof. Dan Baker, Director of CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric & Space Physics.

– Reading: Summary of report on class website for Oct. 28.

Astronomy 4800 – Space Science: Practice & Policy

Space in the News: NASA Just Unveiled the Spacesuit to be Worn by First Woman on the Moon

Presenter : Silas Peppley

Astrophysics Roadmap and

Astro2020 Decadal Survey

Presenter: Trevor Reece

T h r e e B i g Q u e s t i o n s

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Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

● Launched April 18, 2018

● Provides large sample of transiting planets orbiting close to nearby stars

● Gives precise measurements of planet size

● Focuses on brightest main sequence stars

● Highly elliptical orbit, takes twice as long as the moon

LUVOIR Surveyor Large UV/Optical/Infrared

● Two possible designs○ LUVOIR-A: 15 meter diameter primary telescope miror

○ LUVOIR-B: 8 meter diameter

● Large sunshade to protect the telescope from unwanted sunlight

● Could analyze structure and composition of exoplanet atmospheres and

surfaces

● Could detect biosignatures in planets’ atmospheres○ CO2 CO O2 O3 H2O CH4

● Proposed launch in the late 2030s

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Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)

● Detect and measure gravitational waves produced by compact binary

systems and mergers of supermassive black holes

● Three spacecrafts, each containing:○ Two telescopes

○ Two lasers

○ Two test masses

● Arm length originally proposed to be 5 million km, current proposal is 2.5

million km

● Detectors must constantly keep track of changing distances between each

other

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

● 18 hexagonal mirror segments

● 6.5 meter diameter

● Will observe from long-wavelength visible light through the mid-infrared

● Planned launch date of March 30, 2021

Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA)

● 66 high-precision antennas, wavelength range: 9.6 - 0.3 mm

● Mixture of 12 meter and 7 meter dishes

● Elevation of 16,000 feet

● Can capture details about first stars and galaxies

● Can see near the center of the galaxy

● Directly images the formation of planets

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)

● Wide-field survey reflecting telescope, an 8.4 meter primary miror

● Located in Chile, with a wavelength range of 320-1060 nanometers

● Will be used to:○ Study dark energy and dark matter by measuring weak gravitational lensing

○ Map small objects in the solar system (near-Earth asteroids, Kuiper belt objects)

○ Detect novae, supernovae, gamma ray bursts, quasar variability, and gravitational lensing

○ Map the Milky Way

● Will be useful for detecting the optical counterparts to gravitational wave

events

● Was top-ranked large ground-based project in 2010 decadal survey

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Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics

(GAIA)

● Launched in 2013

● Designed to look at a billion stars many times over the course of 5 years to

precisely chart their positions, distances, movements, and changes in

brightness

● Aimed to create a three-dimensional map of the galaxy

Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)

● Launched June 3, 2017

● Devoted to studying the thermal and non-thermal emissions of neutron stars

in the soft X-ray band

● Wants to be able to accurately measure the radius of a neutron star

Class Exercise

What space missions or categories

would you (personally) choose as

the highest priority and why?

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Topics at the Decadal Survey

● Stars, the sun, and stellar populations

● Enabling foundation for research

● Optical and infrared observations from the ground

● Radio, millimeter, and submillimeter observations from the ground

● Electromagnetic observations from space

● State and the profession of societal impacts