Associated Universities, Inc. unites the resources of universities, research organizations and the Federal Government in the planning, construction, and operation of forefront scientific facilities that promote discovery and education while expanding our knowledge of the physical world.
Portfolio Review
Community Forum
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Mark Morris, Professor, UCLA
Posted on: May 2, 2013
As a user of many of the forefront observatories of our time [including the Keck Observatory, HST, GBT, SOFIA, JVLA, Herschel, Chandra, XMM, and soon, ALMA], I am truly dismayed that the GBT -- a critically important element of this remarkably effective array of probes into our universe -- is being considered for retirement while it remains at the apex of its productivity. Modern astrophysical research demands multiple-wavelength approaches to most questions, and the GBT is a prime resource for the radio regime in many different areas of inquiry. Its scientific capabilities CANNOT be replicated elsewhere; although there is obviously some overlap with the VLA for a limited range of applications, the filled aperture is essential for many others. The GBT is the ideal vehicle for studying pulsar timing, time-domain astronomy, the astrochemistry of large molecules, solar system bodies, and the large-scale gas content of galaxies and galaxy clusters, to name only a few areas with which I am familiar. Shutting down the GBT would represent a woeful loss to the numerous productive scientists working in all these areas, and more. To single out astrochemistry, I would have to say that with ALMA coming on line and promising to do so much in the millimeter regime, it would be a heavy loss not to have continued sensitive access to emission from molecules at centimeter wavelengths. We grow new eyes, but retire our ears? I personally expect to continue being an avid user of the GBT until either I or it be retired from active duty.
