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Panel Reports—New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2011)

Chapter: Summary Findings

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Suggested Citation: "Summary Findings." National Research Council. 2011. Panel Reports—New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12982.

Summary Findings

TABLE I Summary of Science Frontiers Panels’ Findings: Identification of Key Science Questions and Areas of Unusual Discovery Potential

Panel	Science Questions		Area(s) of Unusual Discovery Potential
Cosmology and Fundamental Physics	CFP 1	How did the universe begin?	Gravitational wave astronomy
	CFP 2	Why is the universe accelerating?
	CFP 3	What is dark matter?
	CFP 4	What are the properties of neutrinos?
Galactic Neighborhood	GAN 1	What are the flows of matter and energy in the circumgalactic medium?	Time-domain astronomy, astrometry
	GAN 2	What controls the mass-energy-chemical cycles within galaxies?
	GAN 3	What is the fossil record of galaxy assembly from the first stars to the present?
	GAN 4	What are the connections between dark and luminous matter?
Galaxies Across Cosmic Time	GCT 1	How do cosmic structures form and evolve?	The epoch of reionization
	GCT 2	How do baryons cycle in and out of galaxies, and what do they do while they are there?
	GCT 3	How do black holes grow, radiate, and influence their surroundings?
	GCT 4	What were the first objects to light up the universe, and when did they do it?
Planetary Systems and Star Formation	PSF 1	How do stars form?	Identification and characterization of nearby habitable exoplanets
	PSF 2	How do circumstellar disks evolve and form planetary systems?
	PSF 3	How diverse are planetary systems?
	PSF 4	Do habitable worlds exist around other stars, and can we identify the telltale signs of life on an exoplanet?
Stars and Stellar Evolution	SSE 1	How do rotation and magnetic fields affect stars?	Time-domain surveys
	SSE 2	What are the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae and how do they explode?
	SSE 3	How do the lives of massive stars end?
	SSE 4	What controls the mass, radius, and spin of compact stellar remnants?