Science Vision for European Astronomy

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Science Vision for European Astronomy
16 June 2008

• A first step in the Building of a European
  Astronomy
• For the Science Working Group Catherine Turon,
  Observatoire de Paris, GEPI-UMR CNRS 8111

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Milestones to Science Vision

• March 2006 start of Science Vision (SV)4 panels
  SVWG 50 scientists
• Dec 2006 first draft of the report public
• 23-25 Jan 2007 Poitiers symposium (228
  participants from 31 countries)
• Dec 2006 - March 2007 inputs from the community
• March - Sept 2007 sharpening of the scientific
  requirements improvement of the balance across
  the 4 areas
• Sept 2007 publication of the report

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Ambitious Plans

• European astronomy plans through 2025
• Would require several GEuro new
  investment/operations
• EU may fund a modest fraction (cf FP7)
• Bulk of the support to come from funding agencies
• Funding agencies request comprehensive plan
• Covering all of astronomy, ground and space,
  including links with neighbouring fields
• Founded ASTRONET to develop this plan together
  with entire European astronomical community
• Prototype for equivalent of US Decadal Surveys

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Developing the Science Vision

• Identify a few broad questions
• Identify recent progress and progress expected
  from already planned facilities
• Identify open key questions
• Identify means to solve them
• Observations, simulations, laboratory
  experiments, interpretation and theory
• Identify key types of facilities needed to make
  progress
• Twenty year horizon
• Make use of available documents
• National plans, ESAs Cosmic Vision, ESA-ESO
  studies

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Four broad questions

• Do we understand the extremes of the Universe?
• How do galaxies form and evolve?
• What is the origin and evolution of stars and
  planets?
• How do we fit in?
• Set up of a panel per question A to D

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For each broad question

• A brief introduction with the science background
  and the recent progress
• The identification and summary of key science
  questions
• The description of the most promising approaches
  to make progress
• The identification of Essential and Complementary
  facilities for key observations

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Structure of the Report

• Introduction
• Astronomy in society, and role of technology, the
  future
• Four chapters for four broad science questions
• A Do we understand the extremes of the Universe?
• B How do galaxies form and evolve?
• C What is the origin and evolution of stars and
  planets?
• D How do we fit in?
• Recommendations
• List of abbreviations and web-links

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For each broad question

• A chapter organised in a similar way
• Brief introduction
• Summary of key open questions
• Most promising approaches and facilities
  described
• Science vision is input to Roadmap
• Existing facilities and those under construction
  named
• Not yet approved projects described (mostly)
  generically
• Specific proposals/projects to come in or after
  the Roadmap

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Science Vision Working Group

• Appointed by the Funding Agencies
• Four supporting panels (about 50 persons in
  total)
• Good distribution of expertise, gender,
  nationalities
• Panel chairs and co-chairs
• A John Peacock, Claes Fransson
• B Jacqueline Bergeron, Robert Kennicutt
• C Leonardo Testi, Rafael Rebolo
• D Oscar von der Luhe, Therese Encrenaz
• Members at large
• Michael Bode, Reinhard Genzel, Michael Perryman,
  Alvio Renzini,
• Rashid Sunyaev, Catherine Turon, Tim de Zeeuw
  (chair)

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Astronomical Research - I

• Ambitious
• study of everything beyond the Earth
• Difficult
• Objects far away, hence small and faint
• In situ measurements only possible in the Solar
  System
• Huge numbers of objects, all different
• Emitting signal at various wavelengths
• Linked to other sciences
• Mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer
  science, laboratory experiments, geophysics, and
  biology

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Astronomical Research - II

• Combining various types of observations is
  crucial
• Imaging, spectroscopy, photometry, astrometry
• Whole range of wavelengths
• Electromagnetic/neutrinos/gravitational waves
• Detailed observations with large telescopes
• Global understanding from large and/or deep
  surveys performed with smaller telescopes

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Astronomical Research - III

• Theory and numerical simulations are crucial
• Maximise the scientific return on data collected
• Improve models with new observations
• Formulate incisively the need for new
  observations thanks to models
• Improve underlying fundamental physics
• Astronomy is now a leading science astronomical
  discoveries inspire other fields

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Astronomical Research - IV

• Requires a variety of tools and expertise
• Ground-based telescopes and space missions
• Theory and simulations
• Computing expertise and high performance
  computing resources
• Data processing of increasingly large volumes of
  data
• Techniques to easily access huge archival
  datasets very detailed data for one object or
  data for huge samples of objects (VO techniques)
• Laboratory experiments to characterise materials
  (solid or gas) analysis of extra-terrestrial
  material

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Ground-based Telescopes
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Satellites in Orbit
Integral
Hubble Space Telescope
Rosetta
Mars-Express
CoRoT
XMM-Newton
Venus Express
SOHO
Also Chandra, Spitzer, SWIFT, Akari,
Spirit/Opportunity, MRO, Messenger,
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Under Development
Gaia
Sofia
JWST
Herschel
Planck
GTC
ALMA
LBT
BepiColombo
VST
VISTA
VLT(I)
LOFAR
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Angular Resolution Sensitivity
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Astronomy and Society

• Important for society and culture
• Rotundity of the Earth, the Earth not at the
  centre of the Solar System, Solar System not at
  the centre of the Galaxy
• Existence of other worlds, development of life
• Origin and evolution of the Galaxy, of the
  Universe
• Asteroid impacts
• Navigation, mobile phones
• Important for education
• Requires simultaneously curiosity, imagination
  and rigorous reasoning
• Attracts young people to physical sciences
• Many universities opening astronomy departments
• Many exciting discoveries to come

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Panel A Do we understand the extremes of the
Universe? (1)

• Evolution of the dark-energy density with
  cosmological epoch
• Consistent picture of dark matter and dark energy
• Now and to-morrow
• Planck
• Direct dark matter detection experiment --gt
  ASPERA
• Future
• SKA
• X-ray survey satellite
• Wide field optical-IR imaging telescope in orbit
• ELT
• Cherenkov Telescope Array

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Panel A Do we understand the extremes of the
Universe? (2)

• Polarisation of the cosmic microwave background
• Direct detection of astrophysically-generated
  gravitational waves
• Now and to-morrow
• Planck
• Virgo-Ligo
• Future
• CMB polarisation satellite
• LISA

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A The extremes of the Universe (3)

• Studies of regions near the event horizon of
  super-massive black holes
• Astrophysics of compact objects and their
  progenitors
• Origin and acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays
  and neutrinos
• Now and to-morrow
• XMM-Newton
• 8-10 m class telescopes interferometers
• Pierre Auger observatory
• Future
• High throughput X-ray satellite X-ray survey
  satellite
• ELT
• Cherenkov Telescope Array
• Sub-mm-VLBI ALMA

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B How do galaxies form and evolve? (1)

• Map the growth of matter density fluctuations in
  the early Universe
• Detect the first stars, black holes, and galaxies
  and discern the first seeds of galaxies
• Determine the evolution of the galaxy cluster
  mass function and constrain the equation of state
  of the dark energy
• Now and to-morrow
• Planck, LOFAR, ALMA,
• JWST, XMM-Newton
• Future
• high throughput X-ray satellite
• ELT
• SKA

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B How do galaxies form and evolve? (2)

• Make an inventory of the metal content of the
  Universe over cosmic time
• Measure the metallicity of the warm-hot phase of
  the intergalactic medium
• Now and to-morrow
• 8-10m tel., HST
• JWST, XMM
• Future
• High throughput X-ray satellite
• 4-8 m space UV
• Detection of gamma-ray bursts

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B How do galaxies form and evolve? (3)

• Understand the connection between black hole and
  galaxy growth
• Obtain a complete history of our Galaxy early
  formation and subsequent evolution
• Now and to-morrow
• 8-10m tel., HST
• ALMA, Herschel
• Gaia
• Future
• High throughput X-ray satellite
• ELT
• 4-8 m cooled IR tel. FIR space interferometer
• SKA
• Wide-field O-IR imager, Wide-field multi-spectro

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C Origin and evolution of stars and planets (1)

• Determine the initial physical conditions of star
  formation. Evolution of molecular clouds.
  Formation and mass distributions of single,
  binary or multiple stellar systems and stellar
  clusters.
• Unveil the mysteries of stellar structure and
  evolution, also probing stellar interiors
• Now and to-morrow
• 8-10 m tel., HST, XMM, Herschel, JWST
• Gaia
• ALMA, large mm single dish telescope
• Future
• ELT, IR space interferometer
• Next-generation UV-X mission, SKA
• High precision space photometry long-term
  monitoring

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C Origin and evolution of stars and planets (2)

• Understand the life cycle of matter
• Determine the process of planet formation
• Now and to-morrow
• 8-10 m tel., HST, XMM
• Herschel, JWST
• ALMA, large mm single dish telescope
• Future
• ELT
• Space NIR interferometer
• Next-generation UV-X mission
• SKA

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C Origin and evolution of stars and planets (3)

• Explore the diversity of exo-planets, in relation
  with the characteristics of their host stars
• Determine the frequency of Earth-like planets in
  habitable zones --gt direct imaging with the
  long-term goal of spectroscopic characterisation
  and the detection of biomarkers in their
  atmospheres
• Now and to-morrow
• 8-10 m telescopes, HST, JWST
• Gaia
• Future
• High precision space photometry long-term
  monitoring
• Next-generation high precision RV instrument
• Space NIR interferometer
• ELT

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Panel D How do we fit in? (1)

• Understand the physical processes in Solar System
  plasmas
• Develop a unified picture of the Sun and the
  heliosphere
• Understand the mechanisms for Solar variability
  and transient activity impacts on the Earth
• Now and to-morrow
• SOHO, Stereo, Hinode, ACE, Cluster, SDO, Ulysses
• One metre-class solar telescopes (THEMIS, SST,
  GREGOR)
• Future
• High ecliptic Solar space mission
• Radio spectral imaging at centimetre to metre
  wavelengths
• Large-aperture (3-5m) g-b solar telescope with
  AO
• Medium-aperture (1-2m) EUV-X satellite
• Fleet of spacecrafts for 3-scale study of the
  magnetosphere
• Next-generation g-b radars

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Panel D How do we fit in? (2)

• Understand the role of turbulence and magnetic
  fields in the evolution of the primordial nebula
• Determine the dynamical history and the
  composition of trans-Neptunian objects, asteroids
  and comets
• Now and to-morrow
• Genesis and Rosetta
• ALMA, LOFAR
• Future
• Exploration of minor bodies, NEO

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Panel D How do we fit in? (3)

• Constrain the models of internal structure of
  planets and satellites surface-atmosphere
  interactions
• Understand the origin and evolution of Titans
  atmosphere
• Searches for liquid water at the surface and
  subsurface of Mars and liquid water oceans below
  the surface of Europa and other outer satellites
• Now and to-morrow
• Mars and Venus Express, other Mars missions
  ExoMars
• Cassini, Bepi Colombo
• Future
• Space missions to the outer Solar System --gt
  Jovian system, in particular Europa, --gt
  Saturnian system, in particular Titan and
  Enceladus
• Mars sample return mission exploration of other
  terrestrial planets
• JWST ELT

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Science Vision is input to Roadmap

• Answering key science questions requires
• Optimal use of existing facilities those being
  constructed!
• Next generation optical and radio telescopes
• Specific space observatories/missions (cf Cosmic
  Vision)
• Targeted surveys, and investigation of
  time-domain
• Supported by theoretical program, numerical
  simulations and laboratory experiments
• Integrated vision is part of a world-wide
  endeavour
• Involves other communities and (space) agencies
• Opportunity for Europe to take leading role

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Europes Quest for the Universe

• The Science Vision report is the result of inputs
  from the whole community
• It has been a key input for the Infrastructure
  Roadmap
• The goal is to enable Europe to have a leading
  role in astronomy

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Merci pour votre attention