Review of Progress Toward the Decadal Survey Vision in New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (NWNH), the report of the 2010 decadal survey of astronomy and astrophysics, put forward a vision for a decade of transformative exploration at the frontiers of astrophysics. This vision included mapping the first stars and galaxies as they emerge from the collapse of dark matter and cold clumps of hydrogen, finding new worlds in a startlingly diverse population of extrasolar planets, and exploiting the vastness and extreme conditions of the universe to reveal new information about the fundamental laws of nature. NWNH outlined a compelling program for understanding the cosmic order and for opening new fields of inquiry through the discovery areas of gravitational waves, time-domain astronomy, and habitable planets. Many of these discoveries are likely to be enabled by cyber-discovery and the power of mathematics, physics, and imagination. To help realize this vision, NWNH recommended a suite of innovative and powerful facilities, along with balanced, strong support for the scientific community engaged in theory, data analysis, technology development, and measurements with existing and new instrumentation. Already in the first half of the decade, scientists and teams of scientists working with these cutting-edge instruments and with new capabilities in data collection and analysis have made spectacular discoveries that advance the NWNH vision.

New Worlds, New Horizons: A Midterm Assessment reviews the responses of NASA's Astrophysics program, NSF's Astronomy program, and DOE's Cosmic Frontiers program to NWNH. This report describes the most significant scientific discoveries, technical advances, and relevant programmatic changes in astronomy and astrophysics over the years since the publication of the decadal survey, and assesses how well the Agencies' programs address the strategies, goals, and priorities outlined in the 2010 decadal survey.

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138 pages · 7 x 10 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-44510-8
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-44511-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/23560

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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. New Worlds, New Horizons: A Midterm Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Jacqueline N. Hewitt

JACQUELINE N. HEWITT is a professor of physics and director of the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Hewitt began her career at MIT as a postdoctoral associate in the Very Long Baseline Interferometry group at the MIT Haystack Observatory. After one year as a research staff member in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University, she returned to MIT as an assistant professor of physics. Dr. Hewitt's general research interests are focused on applying the techniques of radio astronomy, interferometry, signal processing, and image processing to basic research in astrophysics and cosmology. She is currently involved in pathfinder experiments for low-frequency radio telescopes with large apertures, optimized for certain cosmological studies. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Harold E. Edgerton Award from MIT and the Maria Geoppert-Mayer Award from the American Physical Society. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Hewitt has served on many NRC committees, including the Space Studies Board, and chaired the Astro2010 Panel on Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation in the last decadal survey. She is currently a member of the Board on Physics and Astronomy.

Adam S. Burrows

ADAM S. BURROWS (NAS) is a professor at Princeton University in the Department of Astronomical Sciences. He is also director of the Princeton Planets and Life Certificate Program, on the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Center for Physics, and is a fellow of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science (PCTS). His primary research interests are supernova theory, exoplanet and brown dwarf theory, planetary atmospheres, computational astrophysics, and nuclear astrophysics. Well-known as a pioneer in the theory of exoplanets, brown dwarfs, and supernovae, he has written numerous fundamental and influential papers and reviews on these subjects during the last 30 years. He has collaborated with more than 200 co-authors on more than 350 papers and given more than 300 invited talks and colloquia. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the 2010 Beatrice M. Tinsley Centennial Professor, and a former Alfred P.
Sloan fellow. He has been a consultant for the American Museum of Natural History in New York and served as the chair of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) Advisory Board, as the co-chair of NASA's Universe Subcommittee; as the Chair of NASA's Origins Subcommittee; as a co-chair of NASA's Strategic Roadmapping Committee "Search for Earth-like Planets"; as a co-chair of NASA's Origins/SEUS Roadmapping committee; and as a primary author of NASA 2003 Origins Roadmap. He received his B.S. in physics from Princeton and his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has served as chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy for the Academies as well as serving on the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the 2010 Decadal Survey of Astronomy, the NRC Rare Isotope Science Assessment Committee, the Subcommittee on the Implementation of the DOE Long-Range Plan for Nuclear Physics.

Neil Cornish

NEIL J. CORNISH is a professor of physics at Montana State University in the Department of Physics. Previously, Dr. Cornish was a NASA research fellow at the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University. Before moving to Princeton, he was a research fellow in Stephen Hawking's group at Cambridge University in England. His research focuses on the interface between general relativity, astrophysics, and early universe cosmology. Dr. Cornish’s main area of research is the newly emerging field of gravitational wave astronomy. He is a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) scientific collaboration, and the North American Nanohertz Gravitational Observatory (NANOGrav) collaboration. Dr. Cornish received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Toronto. He served as a member on the Academies’ Astro2010 Panel on Cosmology and Fundamental Physics.

Andrew W. Howard

ANDREW W. HOWARD is an assistant astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dr. Howard is interested in the formation and evolution of planets orbiting stars other than the Sun and is particularly interested in the diversity of small planets. Prior to working at the University of Hawaii he was a research astronomer and postdoctoral fellow with the University of California, Berkeley. He has received the University of Hawaii Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research and the Cozzarelli Prize. He received his B.S. in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.A and Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University. Dr. Howard has no previous committee experience with the Academies.

Bruce Macintosh

BRUCE MACINTOSH is a professor of physics at Stanford University. His research focuses on the detection of extrasolar planets through direct imaging, and on using adaptive optics to shape the wavefronts of light for a variety of applications. Dr. Macintosh is the principal investigator of the Gemini Planet Imager, an advanced adaptive optics planet-finder for the Gemini South Telescope. Prior to Stanford he was a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he also completed his post-doctoral work. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy at University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Macintosh served as a member on the Academies’ Astro2010 Panel on Optical and Infrared Astronomy from the Ground and the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Richard F. Mushotzky

RICHARD F. MUSHOTZKY is a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) in the Department of Astronomy. Prior to joining UMD he was a senior scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. His recent research has focused on understanding the triggering mechanisms in active galaxies, the nature of ultra-luminous x-ray sources and whether they are intermediate black holes, the evolution of active galaxies across cosmic time, the nature of the innermost regions around supermassive black holes and the physics of clusters of galaxies and their use as tracers of metal production in the universe. Dr. Mushotzky is a member of the Astro-H science team, a new x-ray spectroscopic observatory being prepared for launch in early 2016 and has been involved in numerous high energy astrophysics missions most recently Swift, Chandra, XMM, and Suzaku. He received his B.S. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his M.S. and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Mushotzky’s previous service includes membership on the Academies’ Astro2010 Panel on Galaxies Across Cosmic Time, the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the U.S. National Committee for the International Astronomical Union, the Task Group on Space Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the Panel on Cooperation with the USSR in High Energy Astrophysics.

Angela V. Olinto

ANGELA V. OLINTO is the Homer J. Livingston Professor of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. She is also a member of the Enrico Fermi Institute and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Olinto's interests are in theoretical astrophysics, particle and nuclear astrophysics, and cosmology. She is the U.S. principle investigator of the JEM-EUSO space mission and a member of the international collaboration of the Pierre Auger Observatory, both designed to discover the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays. She made significant contributions to the study of the structure of neutron stars, inflationary theory, cosmic magnetic fields, the nature of the dark matter, and the origin of the highest energy cosmic particles: cosmic rays, gamma-rays, and neutrinos. Dr. Olinto has served as chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago for two terms. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society and has served as chair of their Division of Astrophysics. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has served as trustee of the Aspen Center for Physics, and is serving on the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Olinto served as a member on the Academies’ Astro2010 Panel on Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation and the Committee on Scientific Assessment of Proposed U.S. Neutrino Experiments.

Steven M. Ritz

STEVEN M. RITZ is a professor of physics and the director of the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics at the University of California (UCSC), Santa Cruz. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a recipient of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and he was a Sloan Foundation Fellow in Physics. Prior to joining the faculty at UCSC he was an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center, where he served as the Fermi (nee GLAST) Project Scientist, and an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland. Before moving to NASA he was an associate professor of physics at Columbia. He chaired the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) for National Science Foundation and Department of Energy, and he is currently the LSST Camera Project Scientist. He received his B.A. in physics and music from Wesleyan University, his M.S. in physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His prior Academies membership includes the Panel on Implementing Recommendations from New Worlds New Horizons Decadal Survey and the Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 (NWNH) Committee.

Alexey Vikhlinin

ALEXEY VIKHLININ is deputy associate director at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics of the High Energy Astrophysics Division. He is also an associate senior researcher at the High Energy Astrophysics division of Moscow's Space Research Institute. His main research area is X-ray studies of galaxy clusters and their applications for cosmology and physics of the intergalactic medium. His research also includes collaboration with the South Pole Telescope team on X-ray observations of clusters discovered by their Sunyaev-Zeldovich signal; improvements in the cluster mass calibration using weak lensing techniques; studies of interplay between stellar and gaseous baryonic components in clusters; helping theorists to improve the intracluster medium modeling in numerical simulations; also helping to make sure that a next-generation all-sky X-ray survey (e.g., SRG/eRosita or WFXT) becomes a reality. In 1995, Dr. Vikhlinin came to the United States where his main research is on X-ray studies of galaxy clusters and their application for cosmology and the physics of the intergalactic medium. He was co-awarded the 2008 Rossi Prize from the American Astronomical Society for his work on cluster cosmology and cold fronts. He received his his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the Moscow University. Dr. Vikhlinin is a member on the Academies Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

David Weinberg

DAVID H. WEINBERG is Henry L. Cox Professor and Chair of Astronomy, and Distinguished Professor of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Weinberg is an observationally oriented theorist who works on large scale structure, galaxy formation, the intergalactic medium, and observational probes of the matter and energy content and initial conditions of the universe. He joined Ohio State as an assistant professor in 1995 after postdoctoral positions at Cambridge, U.C. Berkeley, and the Institute for Advanced Study. He joined the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in 1992 and served as Project Spokesperson for SDSS-II and Project Scientist for SDSS-III. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society. Other honors include the Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award and the American Astronomical Society’s Lancelot Berkeley Prize. He was a member on the WFIRST Science Definition Team and plans to continue to contribute to the project in the future. He received a B.S. in physics from Yale University and a Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. Dr. Weinberg served as vice chair of the Astro2010 Panel on Cosmology and Fundamental Physics.

Rainer Weiss

RAINER WEISS (NAS) is a Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Previously Dr. Weiss served as an assistant physics professor at Tufts University and has been an adjunct professor at Louisiana State University since 2001. Dr. Weiss is known for his pioneering measurements of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation, his inventions of the monolithic silicon bolometer and the laser interferometer gravitational wave detector and his roles as a co-founder and an intellectual leader of both the COBE (microwave background) Project and the LIGO (gravitational-wave detection) Project. He has received numerous scientific and group achievement awards from NASA, an MIT excellence in teaching award, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, the National Space Club Science Award, the Medaille de l’ADION Observatoire de Nice, the Gruber Cosmology Prize, and the Einstein Prize of the American Physical Society. Dr. Weiss is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and he is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the New York Academy of Sciences, and Sigma Xi. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. in physics from MIT. Dr. Weiss is a member of the NAS and has served on nine NRC committees from 1986 to 2007 including the Committee on NASA Astrophysics Performance Assessment; the Panel on Particle, Nuclear, and Gravitational-wave Astrophysics; and the Task Group on Space Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Eric M. Wilcots

ERIC M. WILCOTS is a professor and associate dean at the University of Wisconsin (UW), Madison in the College of Letters and Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from University of Washington before serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Dr. Wilcots served as chair of the Department of Astronomy at UW-Madison before becoming an associate dean in the College of Letters and Science. He is an observer with broad expertise in the gas content and evolution of galaxies and galaxy groups and the impact of massive stars on the evolution of galaxies. This work includes understanding the distribution and kinematics of neutral hydrogen in and around galaxies, the impact of massive stars on their environment, and the role of active galactic nuclei in the evolution of galaxy groups and structure. He brings knowledge about radio, optical, and infrared astronomy. Dr. Wilcots has served on the Users, Visitors, and Program Advisory Committees for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He was also a member of the Associated Universities, Inc., Committee on the Future of Radio Astronomy and is now a Trustee of the AUI Board. He was a member of the Science Working Group for the International Square Kilometer Array project and remains a member of the board of the Southern African Large Telescope. He has also served on the board of the Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-National Optical Astronomical Observatory consortium. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from University of Washington before serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He was a member of the Academies Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics and was previously a member on the, Astro2010 Panel on Galaxies Across Cosmic Time.

Edward L. Wright

EDWARD L. WRIGHT (NAS) is the David Saxon Presidential Cahir in Physics and professor at the department of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At UCLA, Dr. Wright has been the data team leader on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), a co-investigator on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), an interdisciplinary scientist on the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the principal investigator on the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Dr. Wright is well-known for his Cosmology Tutorial website for the informed public, and his web-based cosmology calculator for professional astronomers. He earned his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University. He has served on the Academies Beyond Einstein Program Assessment Committee, the committee to study Autonomy Research in Civil Aviation, the committee to study NASA’s planned Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope – Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets program (WFIRST-AFTA), and the committee for Review of the Federal Aviation Administration Research Plan on Certification of New Technologies into the National Airspace System. As well, Dr. Wright currently serves on the committee on Achieving Science Goals with CubeSats.

A. Thomas Young

A. THOMAS YOUNG (NAE) is executive vice president, retired, at Lockheed Martin Corporation. He is also former chair of the board of SAIC. Mr. Young was previously the president and chief operating officer of Martin Marietta Corporation. Prior to joining the industry, Mr. Young worked for 21 years at NASA where he directed the Goddard Space Flight Center, was deputy director of the Ames Research Center, and directed the Planetary Program in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters. Mr. Young received high acclaim for his technical leadership in organizing and directing national space and defense programs, especially the Viking program. He is currently an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a fellow of the American Astronautical Society. Mr. Young is a member of the NASA Advisory Council. He earned his B.S. in engineering from the University of Virginia and M.S. in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Young’s Academies service includes current membership on the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Committee on Achieving Science Goals with CubeSats. His prior NRC membership includes the Committee on Survey of Surveys: Lessons Learned from the Decadal Survey Process, the Committee on the Assessment of the Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (AFTA) Mission Concepts, the Planning Committee on Lessons Learned in Decadal Planning in space: A Workshop, the Committee on the Planetary Science Decadal Survey: 2013-2022, the Panel on Implementing Recommendations from New Worlds, New Horizons Decadal Survey, the Committee on the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010, and the Space Studies Board as vice chair.

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Review of Progress Toward the Decadal Survey Vision in New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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New Worlds, New Horizons: A Midterm Assessment

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Review of the draft United by Nature assessment

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