Astronomy’s To Do List

Every ten years or so, the nation’s astronomers put their heads (actually committees) together to come up with a collective wish list for the projects they’d like to see funded over the next decade. Politicians tend to like this method of setting scientific priorities, as it saves them from choosing, and Congress and the White [...]

The LSST: The whole sky in just three days.
Every ten years or so, the nation’s astronomers put their heads (actually committees) together to come up with a collective wish list for the projects they’d like to see funded over the next decade. Politicians tend to like this method of setting scientific priorities, as it saves them from choosing, and Congress and the White House generally try to follow the plan, like parents working down a Christmas list.
The latest of these “decadal surveys” was just released today by the National Research Council, and if it comes to pass, astronomers should have plenty of fun new tools to play with by 2020.
Topping the wish list are two multipurpose survey instruments: a $1.6 billion spacecraft called the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), and a $465 million ground-based observatory, to be built in Chile, called ...