Astrophysics in the next decade : the James Webb Space Telescope and concurrent facilities / edited by H. A. Thronson, M. Stiavelli, A.G.G.M. Tielens.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Thronson, Harley A.

Stiavelli, Massimo

Tielens, A. G. G. M.

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Astrophysics and space science proceedings

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

James Webb Space Telescope (Spacecraft)--Congresses.

James Webb Space Telescope (Spacecraft).

Astrophysics--Congresses.

Astrophysics.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xii, 519 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Dordrecht ; London : Springer, 2009.

Summary:

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), planned for operation in about five years, will have the capability to investigate - and answer - some of the most challenging questions in astronomy. Although motivated and designed to study the very early Universe, the performance of the observatory's instruments over a very wide wavelength range will allow the world's scientific community unequaled ability to study cosmic phenomena as diverse as small bodies in the Solar System and the formation of galaxies. As part of preparation to use JWST, a conference was held in Tucson, Arizona in 2007 that brought together astronomers from around the world to discuss the mission, other major facilities that will operate in the coming decade, and major scientific goals for them. This book is a compilation of those presentations by some of the leading researchers from all branches of astronomy. This book also includes a "pre-history" of JWST, describing the lengthy process and some of the key individuals that initiated early work on the concepts that would evolve to become the premier space observatory of the next decade.

Contents:

1 The James Webb Space Telescope / Jonathan P. Gardner and the JWST Science Working Group 1

2 Beyond the Hubble Space Telescope: Early Development of the Next Generation Space Telescope / Robert W. Smith, W. Patrick McCray 31

3 The Kuiper Belt and Other Debris Disks / David Jewitt, Amaya Moro-Martín, Pedro Lacerda 53

4 The Future of Ultracool Dwarf Science with JWST / Mark S. Marley, S.K. Leggett 101

5 Transiting Exoplanets with JWST / S. Seager, D. Deming, J.A. Valenti 123

6 The Unsolved Problem of Star Formation: Dusty Dense Cores and the Origin of Stellar Masses / Charles J. Lada 147

7 Accretion Disks Before (?) the Main Planet Formation Phase / C. Dominik 167

8 Astrochemistry of Dense Protostellar and Protoplanetary Environments / Ewine F. van Dishoeck 187

9 Extreme Star Formation / Jean L. Turner 215

10 Prospects for Studies of Stellar Evolution and Stellar Death in the JWST Era / Michael J. Barlow 247

11 Origin and Evolution of the Interstellar Medium / A.G.G.M. Tielens 271

12 Astrophysics in the Next Decade: The Evolution of Galaxies / Alice Shapley 309

13 The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and Black Holes: Current Status and Future Prospects / Timothy M. Heckman 335

14 The Intergalactic Medium at High Redshifts / Steven R. Furlanetto 357

15 Observing the First Stars and Black Holes / Zoltán Haiman 385

16 Baryons: What, When and Where? / Jason X. Prochaska, Jason Tumlinson 419

17 Observational Constraints of Reionization History in the JWST Era / Xiaohui Fan 457

18 The Frontier of Reionization: Theory and Forthcoming Observations / Abraham Loeb 481.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781402094569

1402094566

OCLC:

267206806