Pretty much everything you mentioned sounds extremely interesting, and I sincerely hope that our generation is able to surmount some of those questions, if not all, so that our descendents can benefit from us just like we did from those which came before us.

Thanks for great info,
Anthony

thanks for your comment. One point you mention, the danger that somebody publishes your discovery first, indeed puts some pressure on astronomers to publish their results quickly. Despite global collaborations, there are usually competing groups, working on similar fields as yourself.

To your question: this extra attention is received by all topics that are of high interest for the general public, i.e. things you could expect to read in a daily newspaper, or to watch on TV. Many astronomers agree that there are currently two key subjects:
One is cosmology, with all the questions it raises: What is dark matter? What is dark energy? What exactly happened during the Big Bang? Why does the universe exist? or similar. While most of the work done here is by theorists, experiments (in particle physics and astronomy) are needed as well.
The other is called exoplanets, planets around other stars. The question behind this is how probable is the existence of life (other than ourselves) in the universe. Just imagine astronomers would found Earth-like planets within the habitable zones around many other stars… then, from a statistical viewpoint, it would be just normal if many of them have developed some form of life, maybe similar to the life forms we know from our own planet.

Michael

After reading your post, it seems to me that the worth of an astronomer, and for that matter, most other scientists as well, is measured partly by their perceived contributions to the community, and eventually the world, through their work.

Obviously, in our rapidly growing global society, the number of intellectuals who seek to uncover the mysteries of the universe are much greater than in the days of the ancient astronomers.

The pressures they faced, be they religious or lack of education among the masses, are mostly no longer present, but the pressures of today surely include having your discovery being presented by someone else first if you are not quick to publish your material, or have it plagiarized by a less-honorable individual.

I am certainly no expert in any field of science, and I claim no great knowledge of astronomy in particular, but what do you think are some of the areas that are receiving extra attention from astronomers who are seeking to have their name known for being the one who found some new, groundbreaking, data?

Anthony Harbo