Related papers: Spacecraft Telecommunications
Ground-based telescopes coupled with adaptive optics (AO) have been playing a leading role in exoplanet direct imaging science and technological development for the past two decades and will continue to have an indispensable role for the…
At low redshifts powerful radio sources are uniquely associated with massive galaxies, and are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes. Modern 8m -- 10m telescopes may be used used to find their likely progenitors at very high…
Observational astrophysics uses sophisticated technology to collect and measure electromagnetic and other radiation from beyond the Earth. Modern observatories produce large, complex datasets and extracting the maximum possible information…
The next generation Very Large Array project (ngVLA) would represent a major step forward in sensitivity and resolution for radio astronomy, with ability to achieve 2 milli-arcsec resolution at 100 GHz (assuming a maximum baseline of 300…
We imagine that large neutrino telescopes will be built and that distant neutrino sources of high energies and fluxes exist. Some possible, if difficult, uses to which they might be put are described; including (i) detecting neutrino…
General relativity offers a classical description to gravitation and spacetime, and is a cornerstone for modern physics. It has passed a number of empirical tests with flying colours, mostly in the weak-gravity regimes, but nowadays also in…
The bulk of the present-day stellar mass was formed in galaxies when the universe was less than half its current age (i.e., $1 \lesssim z \lesssim 3$). While this likely marks one of the most critical time periods for galaxy evolution, we…
The Sun is an active star that can have a direct impact on the Earth, its magnetosphere, and the technological infrastructure on which modern society depends. Among the phenomena that drive "space weather" are fast solar wind streams and…
High Definition Astrometry (0.1 - 1.0 micro-arcseconds) will open a new window into neighboring planetary systems. For the first time, the realm of temperate terrestrial worlds will be explored. This includes Earth Analogs, thereby allowing…
I present the various capabilities of upgraded and next generation radio telescopes, in particular their ability to detect and image distant star forming galaxies. I demonstrate that e-MERLIN, EVLA and LOFAR can detect systems similar to…
Gamma-ray observations give us a direct view into the most extreme environments of the universe. They help us to study astronomical particle accelerators as supernovae remnants, pulsars, active galaxies or gamma-ray bursts and help us to…
There is an opportunity to advance both solar system and extrasolar planetary studies that does not require the construction of new telescopes or new missions but better use and access to inter-disciplinary data sets. This approach…
Rocket technology, originally developed for military applications, has provided a low-cost observing platform to carry critical and rapid-response scientific investigations for over 70 years. Even with the development of launch vehicles…
Various sign-posts of recent star-formation activity, such as water and methanol maser emission or magnetically active low-mass young stars, can be detected with Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) radio arrays. The extremely accurate…
This paper presents a review of the history, motivation and current status of high energy neutrino telescopes. Many years after these detectors were first conceived, the operation of kilometer-cubed scale detectors is finally on the horizon…
One of the primary mechanisms for inferring the dynamical history of planets in our Solar System and in exoplanetary systems is through observation of elemental ratios (i.e. C/O). The ability to effectively use these observations relies…
Gigantic neutrino telescopes are primarily designed to search for very high energy neutrino radiation from the cosmos. Neutrinos travel unhindered over cosmological distances and therefore carry unique undistorted information about its…
We are at the dawn of a new golden age for radio astronomy, with a new generation of facilities under construction and the global community focussed on the Square Kilometre Array as its goal for the next decade. These new facilities offer…
The study of transient phenomena in a multimessenger context is expected to remain a major pillar of astrophysical discovery in the decades ahead. Supernovae, Kilonovae, Black-Hole formation, Novae, GRBs, and tidal disruption events are…
Significant advances in the discovery and characterization of the planetary systems of nearby stars can be accomplished with a moderate aperture high performance coronagraphic space mission that could be started in the next decade. Its…