Our understanding of the universe has been revolutionized by observations of the cosmic microwave background, the large-scale structure of the universe, and distant supernovae. These studies have shown that we are living in a strange universe: 96% of the present day energy density of the universe is dominated by so-called dark matter and dark energy. But we still do not know what dark matter and dark energy actually are. This book presents lectures from the 186th Course in the Enrico Fermi International School of Physics entitled New Horizons for Observational Cosmology, held in Varenna, Italy, in July 2013. Topics covered at this school included: cosmic microwave background anisotropies; galaxy clustering; weak lensing; dark energy; dark matter; inflation; modified gravity; neutrino physics; reionization; galaxy formation; and first stars. The anticipated release of Planck data at the end of 2014 will provide a more complete view of temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background, and the reporting of other important results is also expected soon. These new data will undoubtedly address fundamental questions about the universe. This book prepares the ground for future work which may answer some of these exciting questions.

Radio surveys play an important role in observational cosmology. However, until recently the surveys have been either of wide area but with low sensitivity or of small area with high sensitivity. Both limit the kinds of cosmology that can be carried out with radio surveys. This situation has been revolutionised in the past few years by the availability of new, large-area, high-sensitivity radio surveys at both low and high radio frequencies. These significant improvements allow studies based on both the statistics of the surveys themselves and multiwavelength follow-up of the galaxies and AGN responsible for the radio emission. It is therefore an opportune time to summarise progress in this field with a workshop. This book comprises the proceedings of the `Observational Cosmology with the New Radio Surveys' workshop, held on Tenerife, January 13-15, 1997. Topics covered include: lessons learned and important results from earlier surveys, descriptions of some of the new surveys, clusters of galaxies and large-scale structure, radio source evolution, CMB studies, gravitational lensing and multiwavelength studies of distant radio sources.

The author introduces the reader to the growing cult community of amateur stargazers, then presents a wide range of solo and group observation projects that require only simple binoculars, hand-held telescopes, or computer/telescope linkage. 60 star maps and photos.

Evaluation of the Implementation of WFIRST in the Context of New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics assesses whether the proposed Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (AFTA) design reference mission described in the April 30, 2013 report of the AFTA Science Definition Team (SDT), WFIRST-2.4, is responsive to the overall strategy to pursue the science objectives of New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics, and in particular, the survey's top ranked, large-scale, space-based priority: the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). This report considers the versions of WFIRST-2.4 with and without the coronagraph, as described in the AFTA SDT report. The report compares the WFIRST mission described in New Worlds, New Horizons to the AFTA SDT WFIRST-2.4 design reference mission, with and without the coronagraph, on the basis of their science objectives, technical complexity, and programmatic rationale, including projected cost. This report gives an overview of relevant scientific, technical, and programmatic changes that have occurred since the release of New Worlds, New Horizons, and assesses the responsiveness of the WFIRST mission to the science and technology objectives of the New Worlds report.

Spectacular experimental advances in observational cosmology have helped raise cosmology to the status of a genuine science, and it is now possible to test many speculative theoretical issues and to obtain reliable values for the key parameters defining our observable universe. This book has emerged from selected lectures given at the Mexican School on Gravitation and Mathematical Physics by leaders in their field. Conceived as both a broad survey and as topical coverage of the latest developments, it will benefit graduate students and newcomers to this field and provide researchers in the field with a modern source of reference.

"Riveting."—Science A Forbes, Physics Today, Science News, and Science Friday Best Science Book Of 2018 Cosmologist and inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) experiment, Brian Keating tells the inside story of the mesmerizing quest to unlock cosmology’s biggest mysteries and the human drama that ensued. We follow along on a personal journey of revelation and discovery in the publish-or-perish world of modern science, and learn that the Nobel Prize might hamper—rather than advance—scientific progress. Fortunately, Keating offers practical solutions for reform, providing a vision of a scientific future in which cosmologists may finally be able to see all the way back to the very beginning.

Since the 1960s, astrophysical discoveries have blossomed, due to the emergence of powerful and new observational tools. Among them, a fantastic improvement of the sharpness of astronomical images, obtained with ground based optical telescopes, has been the result of two revolutions: adaptive optics and optical interferometry. Written for a general audience, interwoven with fascinating details about the evolution of vision and optics, this book tells a personal story of these revolutions in observational astronomy, born two centuries ago and blossoming in the past fifty years. With the construction of the Very Large Telescope in Chile, Europe played a leading role where young scientists, joining creative astronomers and engineers, have developed a superb creativity. Today, incredibly sharp images of exoplanetary systems and black hole environments are obtained and reveal new questions about Earth-like objects or fundamental physics. The author has been one of the actors of this adventure. His first-hand testimony is opening the future to new horizons.

Every 10 years the National Research Council releases a survey of astronomy and astrophysics outlining priorities for the coming decade. The most recent survey, titled New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics, provides overall priorities and recommendations for the field as a whole based on a broad and comprehensive examination of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context. Panel Reportsâ€"New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics is a collection of reports, each of which addresses a key sub-area of the field, prepared by specialists in that subarea, and each of which played an important role in setting overall priorities for the field. The collection, published in a single volume, includes the reports of the following panels: Cosmology and Fundamental Physics Galaxies Across Cosmic Time The Galactic Neighborhood Stars and Stellar Evolution Planetary Systems and Star Formation Electromagnetic Observations from Space Optical and Infrared Astronomy from the Ground Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation Radio, Millimeter, and Submillimeter Astronomy from the Ground The Committee for a Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics synthesized these reports in the preparation of its prioritized recommendations for the field as a whole. These reports provide additional depth and detail in each of their respective areas. Taken together, they form an essential companion volume to New Worlds, New Horizons: A Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The book of panel reports will be useful to managers of programs of research in the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over the agencies supporting this research, the scientific community, and the public.

,This is the updated, widely revised, restructured and expanded third edition of Léna et al.'s successful work Observational Astrophysics. It presents a synthesis on tools and methods of observational astrophysics of the early 21st century. Written specifically for astrophysicists and graduate students, this textbook focuses on fundamental and sometimes practical limitations on the ultimate performance that an astronomical system may reach, rather than presenting particular systems in detail. In little more than a decade there has been extraordinary progress in imaging and detection technologies, in the fields of adaptive optics, optical interferometry, in the sub-millimetre waveband, observation of neutrinos, discovery of exoplanets, to name but a few examples. The work deals with ground-based and space-based astronomy and their respective fields. And it also presents the ambitious concepts behind space missions aimed for the next decades. Avoiding particulars, it covers the whole of the electromagnetic spectrum, and provides an introduction to the new forms of astronomy becoming possible with gravitational waves and neutrinos. It also treats numerical aspects of observational astrophysics: signal processing, astronomical databases and virtual observatories.