Re: what are astrophysicists trying to achieve?

Hello there - 

I hope you guys aren't freezing to death as much as we are, here.  Let me
tell you, if something needs to be studied, it's better self-warming
mechanisms for those of us who live in sub-zero temperatures.

The question you ask is a philosophical one, really.  Astrophysicists are
trying to advance many things, all at once.  Some are trying to better our
understanding of how the universe came to be - how it grew, how it spread,
how it came to be where it is today, and where it's going.  Others are
trying to understand how to harness the chemistry and the physics of the
large-scale processes that occur in, say, star-forming regions.  Primordial
nucleosynthesis.  That sort of thing.  Others are concerned with
spectroscopy, in particular.

Can we justify it, on an expense basis?

That's a good question.

In my experience, when I worked for the NRC's HIA, we often discussed this
regarding our own department.  One thing that always came up was that
oftentimes, our discoveries could be applied in other fields - nuclear
medicine, for one.  Advancements we made in the technology we applied to,
say, noise-reducers for our radio-telescope could perhaps be adapted and
applied to other technology in the medical field.  Our work in spectroscopy
could benefit medical science as well.  

As for the rest, well, mankind has always been driven to find out where it
came from and where it's going.  In some ways, astrophysicists are
scientific philosophers.  In that way, they push at the outer limits of
human scientific understanding.  That, in itself, is a worthwhile endeavor.
The discoveries they make, and the research they push and pioneer
may benefit a field - chemistry, physics, mathematics, medical sciences,
biology, philosophy...  and so on.

The question you ask is one that all researchers face, in one shape or
form, at some point in their career.  We all dread it.  It does need to be
asked, however, as it forces us all to search for a wide variety of
applications in all we do.  THAT is the beauty of human ingenuity.

Best wishes,

Marie-Helene