Astrophysics in the Next Decade

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.Proceedings of the Astrophysics in the Next Decade : JWST and Concurrent Facilities conference.§This professional conference is the "must-attend" meeting to discuss the astrophysics to be enabled by JWST and concurrent facilities during the next decade. This meeting is designed to be of interest and value to the broad astronomical community, who will be preparing science investigations for these facilities.§This meeting, which is hosted by STScI and NASA/GSFC and sponsored by Northrop Grumman, will engage the broad science community in a discussion of science enabled by JWST and concurrent orbital and ground-based facilities. It will describe and stimulate work on the theoretical foundations for astrophysics in the next decade. During 2008, we will produce a reviewed and edited book containing a compilation of the talks and synopses of the discussion periods. We plan that this book will be written in a graduate level pedagogical fashion to yield a reference text of lasting value for astronomers who will be developing investigations for the JWST and other concurrent facilites. §Scientific Organising Committee:Crystal Brogan, NRAODale Cruikshank, NASA/ARCEwine van Dishoeck, Univ. LeidenAlan Dressler (chair), Carnegie Obs.Richard Ellis, CaltechRob Kennicutt, Cambridge Univ.Rolf Kudritzki, Univ. HawaiiAvi Loeb, HarvardJohn Mather, NASA/HQYvonne Pendleton, NASA/HQMassimo Stiavelli, (JWST SWG liason) STScIPeter Stockman, (LOC liason) STScILeonardo Testi, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (Arceti)Xander Tielens, NASA/ARCMeg Urry, YaleJeff Valenti, STScINASA 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.