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Gemini e o futuro da AstronomiaConsiderações do ponto do vista BrasileiroOverview of Brazilian astronomical communityIn Brazil, research in Astronomy has
developed largely from the outside. Most leading astronomers today have
graduated in different places in USA and western Europe. As a result,
Brazil has a relatively small but diversified community, that is still
strongly dependent on collaborations and support from more developed
countries. Currently, there are strategic plans to develop research at
institutional levels but not at a national level. Brazilian enrollment
in Gemini is an example of its dependency on initiatives designed
abroad: it was a window of opportunity to fill in a modest shortage of
funds needed to build the telescopes, and it was internally led by a
single public institution in the area. Overview of the Gemini and their role, present and futureGemini provides 8m class telescopes
available to partner countries. Largely recognized advantages over
similar facilities are full sky coverage, infra-red optimization and a
strong adaptive optics program. I understand that, as it becomes
obsolete in terms of aperture, Gemini high-quality, frontier oriented,
research in the future will stem from these characteristics. This
points to a process by which future instrumentation should be strongly
focused on high resolution imaging and spectroscopy in the near and mid
infra-red. As JWST is also going to focus on the same spectral region,
the Gemini facilities may have to be further narrowed in
purpose/application in order to retain some world leadership. The
original suite of ASPEN instruments already reflects this tendency, as
two of them were conceived to address the detection and analysis of
exoplanets using known techniques, but subjected to extremely high
standards (PRVS: m/s precision doppler measurements; GPI: extremely
high contrast coronagraphy), both operating in the infra-red and having
AO correction.
Excessive specialization, however, is incompatible with
telescopes/instruments to be used by large communities, with research
interests that span from Solar System dynamics to observational
cosmology, and cover the full range of wavelengths and observational
techniques. As a solution to this conflict (community interests x high
specialization), one may envision agreements to trade telescope time
between the Gemini and other leading observatories. In principle, such
agreements may accommodate both a high degree of instrument
specialization and community accessibility to a broad range of data
types. Overview of the future of AstronomyIt is impossible for me to foresee purely
technology driven revolutions in Astronomical instrumentation in the
next decade, as I lack the background on the field, and on current
progress in related areas, such as optics and electronics.
Information technology, however, is providing an ongoing revolution.
Data access and processing (including both reduction and analysis) are
becoming faster and easier. This continuing process points to a future
of extremely large and publicly available astronomical databases and
tools for their analysis. Public availability of data, irrespective of
origin, and with small or no proprietary periods (but involving
organized and large collaborations), may turn out to be the best way to
efficiently generate the most of science results, both in terms of
quantity and quality. The implementation of national and international
virtual observatories is already a reality. I understand that a
possible scenario for the future, which not only involves technology
but also institutional and political issues, is that the large
telescope/instrument facilities may function in a highly specialized,
complementary and less competitive, base among themselves. Each
telescope/instrument would then focus on a particular observational
niche, working on a campaign-like mode, with the large amount of data
from all of them being made available worldwide in very short
timescales. This scenario may be a revolution not so much in
instrumentation (although it is capable of accommodating and making the
best use of instrumental leaps), but in terms of institutional
organization. It may be desirable, or even strongly needed, at some
point in the future.
Basílio Santiago |