2009/03/26 by N. S. Brickhouse, Brickhouse, Nancy, J. J. Cowan +22
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0903.4592
openalex publication_date 2009/03/26 · openalex created_date 2022/10/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Laboratory astrophysics and complementary theoretical calculations are the\nfoundations of astronomy and astrophysics and will remain so into the\nforeseeable future. The mission enabling impact of laboratory astrophysics\nranges from the scientific conception stage for airborne and space-based\nobservatories, all the way through to the scientific return of these missions.\nIt is our understanding of the under-lying physical processes and the\nmeasurements of critical physical parameters that allows us to address\nfundamental questions in astronomy and astrophysics. In this regard, laboratory\nastrophysics is much like detector and instrument development at NASA. These\nefforts are necessary for the success of astronomical research being funded by\nNASA. Without concomitant efforts in all three directions (observational\nfacilities, detector/instrument development, and laboratory astrophysics) the\nfuture progress of astronomy and astrophysics is imperiled. In addition, new\ndevelopments in experimental technologies have allowed laboratory studies to\ntake on a new role as some questions which previously could only be studied\ntheoretically can now be addressed directly in the lab. With this in mind we,\nthe members of the AAS Working Group on Laboratory Astrophysics (WGLA), have\nprepared this White Paper on the laboratory astrophysics infrastructure needed\nto maximize the scientific return from NASA's space and Earth sciences program.\n