US Astronomers Prepared a Wish List to Trace New Possible Earth-Like Planets

It is widely accepted that climate change and its impacts drag Earth into the unknown. While floods and forest fires accelerate around the globe, scientists seek new solutions, of which finding habitable planets in the universe is one of them.

Astronomers and astrophysicists in the US have prepared a guiding roadmap for the next decade in the astronomy and astrophysics fields, specifically in the studies on potentially habitable planets, black holes, and the origin of galaxies.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published the to-do list. Called Astro2020, the report is released every ten years, according to MIT Technology Review. The new report presenting a justification for two gigantic projects –the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)– underscores that a possible failure of both projects is high probability without a substantial US federal investment.

TMT International Observatory

Once completed, the GMT and the TMT will have principal light-gathering surfaces 25 and 30 meters in diameter, respectively. These ground-based observatories will be approximately 100 times more sensitive than currently operating telescopes.

A physics professor at Louisiana State University, Gabriela González –who was involved in the report– said that they aimed to provide an applicable plan that prioritizes not only cost but community support. Native Hawaiians are known to oppose the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop the Muna Kea volcano, on the island of Hawaii. Protesters have gathered to block the roads to Mauna Kea since July 2019.

However, willing researchers await the arrival of the telescope to view the endless universe in higher resolution. Described as the next-generation observatory in astronomy, the TMT will have a resolution of 12 times sharper than that of the Hubble Space Telescope.

AEI/MM/exozet

Key priorities include finding habitable planets

Three key scientific priorities announced for the coming decade as part of the Astro2020 include identifying and characterizing Earth-like exoplanets, one of the most popular research fields in astronomy recently. Human activities on the surface of the pale blue dot have considerably changed the atmosphere of our planet, and scientists wish to find planet candidates that could support complex life.

According to the second priority, astronomers will attempt to shed light on the mysterious past of the universe by scrutinizing the nature of black holes, white dwarfs, and stellar explosions. Investigations through a proposed space probe to detect and measure gravitational waves, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, or LISA, could whet our understanding regarding astronomical measurements.

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Last but not least, the third priority will aim to answer the questions of the origins and evolution of galaxies and their complex structures using spectroscopy.

Gonzales is hopeful the roadmap will make way for new scientific gains. “This community is not just astronomers. They are astronomers and the people who benefit from the astronomy,” she concluded.

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