Joint Astrophysical Colloquium
Highly Constrained Site Selection and Protection for Major Observatories on the Moon
Martin Elvis (Center for Astrophysics - Harvard & Smithsonian)
Thursday 11/05/2023 @ 11:30, Sala IV piano Battiferro
Proposals for major new lunar observatories, many of them presented at this meeting, are often demanding in their site selection criteria. As a result there are only a few special locations on the Moon at which most can function optimally. Several examples are given including for a farside low frequency radio array, a far-IR telescope, and a gravitational wave interferometer. Much is at stake as all of these facilities will make our present capabilities seem puny. The astronomically valuable properties of the sites are fragile and easily disturbed by other activities on the Moon. Yet without those other activities the infrastructure needed to build large astronomy facilities will not exist. Anticipating the need to protect these sites will require astronomers to perform careful site surveys, define levels of acceptable interference, propose technical mitigation steps where feasible, and work with other scientists who need lunar sites for their research. Astronomers will then be well-positioned to work with policy experts to implement measures that preserve these sites of extraordinary scientific interest.