NSN Webinar Series: Overview of the Decadal Survey in Astronomy
Channel: NASA Night Sky Network
Date: 2022-06-22

Dr. Eliot Quataert joined the Night Sky Network on Tuesday, June 21, 2022,  when he discussed the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics, released in late 2021, that identifies the most compelling science goals and presents an ambitious program of ground- and space-based activities for future investment in the next decade and beyond.

An Overview of the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Every decade, the National Academy of Sciences, at the request of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy, and NASA,  undertakes a survey of astronomy and astrophysics.   The purpose of the survey is to identify the most exciting science questions for the coming decade and to prioritize which telescopes the federal government should invest in to best address those questions.  Previous decadal surveys have recommended and ultimately led to some of your favorite national  telescopes:  e.g.,  the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Array.  A second goal of the survey is to assess the state of the profession, e.g., the diversity of the field, the balance of funding across large and small projects, and other related topics.   In this talk I will describe the decadal survey process and the major recommendations of the 2020 Decadal Survey.   The scientific opportunities in the coming decade are tremendously exciting and cover topics ranging from the search for life on other planets to studies of collisions of black holes and neutron stars with both gravitational waves and light.  The project recommendations made by the 2020 Decadal survey are likely to shape the major astronomical projects that NSF and NASA undertake in the coming decades. 


About Our Speaker
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Dr. Eliot Quataert is a Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and the Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy at Princeton University.  Dr. Quataert is an astrophysics theorist who works on a wide range of problems, including stars and black holes, plasma astrophysics, and how galaxies form.  He has received a number of national awards for his research, including the Warner Prize of the AAS, the Packard Fellowship, a Simons Investigator award from the Simons Foundation, and elected membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.  Dr. Quataert is also a highly regarded teacher and public lecturer.


Resource Links:

Decadal Survey: Interactive Overview
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/26141/interactive/

NSN Webinar Series Page: Current & Upcoming Event Schedule:
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/news-display.cfm?News_ID=707

Recording will be posted to YouTube as well as the NSN (NSN member login required):  
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=708

Night Sky Network 
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/

Astronomical Society of the Pacific
https://astrosociety.org/