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Future of Astronomy

Future of Astronomy. Astronomy 315 Professor Lee Carkner Lecture 25. Yerkes Observatory 1897. The Future of Astronomy. What would we like to understand better? Formation of initial galaxies Properties and numbers of extrasolar planets Formation and evolution of black holes.

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Future of Astronomy

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  1. Future of Astronomy Astronomy 315 Professor Lee Carkner Lecture 25

  2. Yerkes Observatory1897

  3. The Future of Astronomy • What would we like to understand better? • Formation of initial galaxies • Properties and numbers of extrasolar planets • Formation and evolution of black holes

  4. Problems and Solutions • We want to study fainter objects • We want better detail • We want to study a broad range of astrophysical phenomena • Use multiwavelength telescopes

  5. Key Initiatives • While much science is done with small and common instruments, there are several large and expensive new projects that we hope will lead to big breakthroughs • Three of these are: • A Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope

  6. Webb Space Telescope • See earliest galaxies • View protoplanetary disks • View planets • To be launched in June 2014 • Cost: 4.5 billion dollars

  7. Webb Format • Want to be both high performance and “cheap” • Telescope needs to be cool and so is deployed away from Earth with a large sun shield • To get large mirror to fit in small launch vehicle, mirror folds up

  8. International X-ray Observatory • Joint venture of NASA, ESA, and JAXA • Would have collecting area ~10 times larger than current X-ray telescopes • Would be able to get high resolution X-ray spectra of: • Black hole accretion disks • Hot interstellar X-ray gas • Launch: 2020?

  9. Telescope Properties • The light gathering power of a telescope depends on its area Area = pr2 • The resolution of a telescope depends on its diameter (d) and the wavelength (l) of light observed qR = (1.22 l) / d • Determines how close two objects can be and still be resolved (smaller qR is better)

  10. Future Ground Based Telescopes • Larger size means spectroscopy and imaging of fainter objects • Extremely Large Telescopes

  11. Current Plans • California universities are building the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) • The ESO has plans for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) of 42 meters • Each will cost about 1 billion dollars

  12. Extremely Large Telescopes • Success of large telescopes depends on adaptive optics • ELT’s would complement space telescopes • For follow up observations that require greater sensitivity

  13. HobbyEberlyTelescope1997

  14. Telescope Trends • 21st century astronomy versus 20th century astronomy: • Information technology integral

  15. Next Time • Meet in planetarium • No homework or downloads

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