The New Great Observatories Science Analysis Group

A Science Analysis Group on scientific advances

enabled by a fleet of future Great observatories.

A joint initiative commissioned by the Physics of the Cosmos, Cosmic Origins, and Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Groups (PAGs), recommended by the NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee, and sponsored by the NASA Astrophysics Division.

The 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy & Astrophysics (Astro2020) has placed pursuit of a new constellation of Great Observatories as the top national priority for the future of space astrophysics. The report envisions a new strategy for the development of these large missions in the form of the Great Observatories Mission & Technology Maturation Program (GOMaP), whose first entrants are to be a ~6m IR/O/UV Observatory optimized for imaging and spectral characterization observations of exoplanets as well as general astrophysics, followed (with equal priority) by a high spatial and spectral resolution X-ray Great Observatory, and a Far-Infrared Great Observatory. These future Great Observatories will follow JWST and Roman, the next Great Observatories.

In motivating this visionary recommendation, Astro2020 cited the 2019 Report from the Great Observatories Science Analysis Group (SAG-10), a cross-PAG initiative charged with analyzing the scientific benefits of simultaneity and panchromatic coverage enabled by contemporaneous flight of NASA’s first Great Observatories (Hubble, Compton, Chandra, and Spitzer). Astro2020 specifically notes that “overlapping or near-simultaneous wavelength coverage is particularly impactful”, and that the GOMaP is partly intended to “ensure the needed cadence for panchromatic capabilities”.

In response to Astro2020’s prioritization of the GOMaP and its first mission entrants, NASA will create new precursor science programs to lower risk and inform science & architecture trades, fund maturation of enabling technologies, and conduct analyses of alternative architectures prior to any formal start of mission pre-formulation. Meanwhile, NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos, Cosmic Origins, and Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Groups (the PhysPAG, COPAG, and ExoPAG, respectively) are charged with fostering critically-needed community interaction with all stages of this process.

To that end, several cross-PAG initiatives specifically related to the GOMaP and the IR/O/UV, X-ray, and FIR Great Observatories are being proposed. The first of these is the New Great Observatories Science Analysis Group. The goals of this proposed cross-PAG SAG are to analyze and answer the following questions:

To what degree can the Key Science Questions from Astro2020 be advanced by the flight of current, imminent, and future IR/O/UV, X-ray, and FIR Great Observatories? In particular, what discoveries in the Astro2020 Priority Areas might be uniquely made possible by coordinated use of X-ray through FIR space observatories using powerful and varied instruments? What gaps require contemporaneous flight of several or even all of these observatories, and to what degree is asynchronous panchromatic coverage sufficient? How might gaps be closed by the notional future multi-scale multiwavelength mission portfolio, including future explorers and probes?
In the scenario that any or all of these missions not be launched, or should their missions see minimal overlap, what are the corresponding scientific impacts with regards to loss of discovery space or inability of the community to address the priority areas of Astro2020?

The SAG will aim to provide a report to NASA by Early 2024. The audience of the Report is intended to be the astronomical community as a whole, GOMaP and Science Leadership at NASA Headquarters and Centers, and indeed stakeholders and policymakers, including in Congress.

We are now soliciting members of the astronomy, planetary science, and aerospace engineering communities who are interested in participating in this SAG. US Citizenship or US Institutional Affiliation is NOT required to participate in the SAG. In alignment with NASA’s core value of inclusion, the SAG will be committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all participants, and will invite candidates from all backgrounds to contribute fully, including in SAG-wide leadership roles. If interested, please fill out the below form by January 15, 2023. Questions may be addressed to the PhysPAG, COPAG, and ExoPAG Chairs (Grant Tremblay: grant.tremblay@cfa.harvard.edu; Janice Lee: janice.lee@noirlab.edu; Ilaria Pascucci: pascucci@arizona.edu, respectively).

This page serves as a community-run portal for the SAG. Although this is a formal NASA SAG, this website is not run by NASA.

Visit NASA’s Website for this SAG here.

While the SAG has already begun work, you are still welcome to express interest in joining (on a rolling basis) here!

Name

First Name

Last Name

Institutional Affiliation

Email

Your email will always be kept private.

Brief expression of interests & experience

This can be very brief, and it is not a quiz! You can write as little or as much as you like. Example: "I am specifically interested in analyzing how a fleet might advance high redshift black hole science", etc.

Interest in SAG Leadership?

The SAG will be made better by inclusive, broad participation across many communities in academia and industry. To that end, we invite you to self-nominate for a potential leadership role within the SAG. If you are not chosen, it doesn't mean you're not valued or worthy!

I am interested in potentially co-chairing a working group within the SAG

I am interested in potentially co-chairing the SAG as a whole

Read the SAG-10 Great Observatories Report

This SAG is modeled after the immensely successful SAG-10 Report, commissioned by the PAGs in 2018. The report was highly influential among the Astro2020 steering committee, and the Decadal Survey indeed cited the report multiple times in motivating the Great Observatories Mission & Technology Maturation Program. Read the SAG-10 Report now.