Laboratory Astrophysics White Paper (original) (raw)

Proceedings of the NASA Laboratory Astrophysics Workshop

2013

SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, technical, or historical information from NASA programs, projects, and missions, often concerned with subjects having substantial public interest. 0 TECHNICAL TRANSLATION. Englishlanguage translations of foreign scientific: and technical material pertinent to NASA's mission. Specialized services that complement the STI h g r a m Office's diverse offerings include creating custom thesauri, building customized databases, organizing and publishing research results ... even providing videos.

Roles and Needs of Laboratory Astrophysics in NASA's Space and Earth Science Mission

2009

Laboratory astrophysics and complementary theoretical calculations are the foundations of astronomy and astrophysics and will remain so into the foreseeable future. The mission enabling impact of laboratory astrophysics ranges from the scientific conception stage for airborne and space-based observatories, all the way through to the scientific return of these missions. It is our understanding of the under-lying physical processes and the measurements of critical physical parameters that allows us to address fundamental questions in astronomy and astrophysics. In this regard, laboratory astrophysics is much like detector and instrument development at NASA. These efforts are necessary for the success of astronomical research being funded by NASA. Without concomitant efforts in all three directions (observational facilities, detector/instrument development, and laboratory astrophysics) the future progress of astronomy and astrophysics is imperiled. In addition, new developments in experimental technologies have allowed laboratory studies to take on a new role as some questions which previously could only be studied theoretically can now be addressed directly in the lab. With this in mind we, the members of the AAS Working Group on Laboratory Astrophysics (WGLA), have prepared this White Paper on the laboratory astrophysics infrastructure needed to maximize the scientific return from NASA's space and Earth sciences program.

Laboratory Astrophysics and the State of Astronomy and Astrophysics

2009

Laboratory astrophysics and complementary theoretical calculations are the foundations of astronomy and astrophysics and will remain so into the foreseeable future. The impact of laboratory astrophysics ranges from the scientific conception stage for ground-based, airborne, and space-based observatories, all the way through to the scientific return of these projects and missions. It is our understanding of the under-lying physical processes and the measurements of critical physical parameters that allows us to address fundamental questions in astronomy and astrophysics. In this regard, laboratory astrophysics is much like detector and instrument development at NASA, NSF, and DOE. These efforts are necessary for the success of astronomical research being funded by the agencies. Without concomitant efforts in all three directions (observational facilities, detector/instrument development, and laboratory astrophysics) the future progress of astronomy and astrophysics is imperiled. In addition, new developments in experimental technologies have allowed laboratory studies to take on a new role as some questions which previously could only be studied theoretically can now be addressed directly in the lab. With this in mind we, the members of the AAS Working Group on Laboratory Astrophysics, have prepared this State of the Profession Position Paper on the laboratory astrophysics infrastructure needed to ensure the advancement of astronomy and astrophysics in the next decade.

State of the Profession Considerations for Laboratory Astrophysics

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 2019

Issues and Overview of the Impact on the Field Astrophysics advances, in part, through continual improvements in observational capabilities, such as collecting area and spatial resolution of telescopes, and corresponding advances in the associated spectroscopic instrumentation. However, our understanding of the underlying processes that control the observed properties of the Cosmos is lacking relative to these improvements. The relevant processes include atomic, molecular, dust, ice, surface, condensed matter, plasma, nuclear, and particle physics as well as planetary science. Observations by new facilities invariably find that the scientific return of our astronomical explorations is hindered by shortcomings in our understanding of these processes that drive the cosmos. The study of these processes is known as laboratory astrophysics, a term encompassing both theoretical and experimental research. Many of the recent and upcoming astronomical flagship facilities are $1B class investments by NSF, NASA, and other international science organizations, such as the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Maximizing the scientific return of these facilities hinges, to a large extent, on significant advances in laboratory astrophysics that go beyond our current capabilities. Achieving these advancements will require robust laboratory astrophysics support by NSF, NASA, national laboratories (such as the Department of Energy [DOE] and Department of Defense [DOD]), universities, and beyond. Here, we highlight a few of the many astrophysical advances that will become possible with robust laboratory astrophysics support. We provide examples for all 8 thematic areas identified in the Call to the Astronomy & Astrophysics Community for Science White Papers (Astro2020 Decadal Survey), using the numbering system given there for the thematic areas. The focus here mostly on atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) laboratory astrophysics only reflects the research expertise for many of the authors of this white paper. The other areas in laboratory astrophysics are equally important. 1. Planetary Systems Exoplanets: Over 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered to date. Observational constraints have limited these primarily to planets more massive than Earth or with smaller separations from their host stars. Most planets are unlikely to transit across their host stars from our perspective, precluding the use of eclipse or transit methods. Hence, future searches for Earth-like planets will be dominated by detecting Doppler shifts in the stellar spectrum induced by the orbital motion of the planet. These studies will require visible and IR spectrometers calibrated to an accuracy of a few parts in 10 9 or better and with a stability on the order of decades. Commercially available Th/Ar calibration lamps are contaminated by ThO, iodine lamps affect the measured stellar spectra, and thus new alternatives are needed, with U/Ne being one such proposed lamp. Laser frequency combs can achieve stability to ~ 1 part in 10 18 but they are not yet turnkey devices for observatory use. It is anticipated that lamps will be in use for some time as references for radial velocity measurements in exoplanet studies. In order to enable our ability to detect exoplanets with masses and orbits similar to Earth's, significant advances are needed in AMO laboratory astrophysics. Exoplanetary atmospheres: Clues to the habitability of exoplanets are provided by their atmospheres (Seager & Deming 2010, Wakeford et al. 2018). As a planet passes in front of its host star, the star light is filtered by the planet's atmosphere, yielding spectroscopic data. The planned 2021 launch of the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) will open up the near-and midinfrared (IR) range to spectroscopy of planetary atmospheres. But our ability to interpret exoplanetary atmospheres is limited by shortcomings in our understanding of the underlying molecular and condensed matter physics that generates the observed spectra (Fortney et al.