1/25/2022 Jessica Raley for ICASU
Written by Jessica Raley for ICASU
Last November, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s, colloquially known as the “Astro2020 decadal” or simply “the decadal.” This report, commissioned by the National Academies, contains the priorities and recommendations of the astronomy and astrophysics communities for the next decade. The National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and NASA use the decadal report to make strategic decisions about funding for fundamental science research, as well as to determine which missions and instruments will be built or upgraded in the coming years.
For researchers at the Illinois Center for Advanced Studies of the Universe (ICASU), Illinois Physics and Illinois Astronomy, the Astro2020 decadal is cause for optimism.
ICASU Director and Physics professor Nicolás Yunes says, “The recommendations in the decadal look very promising for Illinois, and for ICASU in particular. The report provides clear evidence that the astrophysics and cosmology communities at large value the research we are doing here at UIUC, and that our faculty members are working at the cutting edge of science, where the potential for exciting new discoveries is greatest. Starting this year, we should begin to see new calls for proposals to work on the priorities identified by the decadal, which means new opportunities for faculty, students, and postdocs here at Illinois.”
On a practical note, the decadal recommends increased funding for research priorities many ICASU members are actively involved in, putting emphasis on two large-scale programs: ground-based and space-based gravitational wave detectors (Cosmic Explorer and LISA respectively), and the next generation cosmic microwave background experiment (CMB-S4).
Professor of Physics and Astronomy Joaquin Vieira is particularly excited about the strong endorsement of CMB-S4.
“The Astro2020 decadal report is fantastic news for CMB research. Illinois Physics, ICASU, and NCSA have a large footprint within the CMB-S4 project, and this report is a green light for us to proceed with building our dream experiment over the next decade," says Vieira, who directs the Center for Astrophysical Surveys (CAPS) at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Yunes adds, “The decadal’s endorsement of gravitational wave physics is very exciting. Advanced LIGO and its partners in Europe and Japan have already made the first discoveries, but for precision gravitational wave astrophysics, we will need better and bigger detectors, which got a big push from the decadal.”
Yunes served on the Panel on Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation. This panel evaluated reports issued by decadal science panels, and then prioritized missions and detectors that could address the most important scientific questions of the next decade. Many other ICASU members participated in the decadal process by contributing white papers that informed the decadal panels’ decisions.
Other research areas represented at ICASU were also discussed in the decadal process. These additional priorities include radio observations through the Event Horizon Telescope, a far-infrared probe, time-domain astronomy and multi-messenger follow up, as well as an increase in launch opportunities for ultra-long duration balloon missions. Increased focus on these areas would benefit a number of missions with ICASU involvement, including the Teraherz Intensity Mapper (TIM), SPIDER, and Taurus.