Current State of Astrophysical Opacities: A White Paper.

Availability of reliable atomic and molecular opacitytables is essential in a wide variety of astronomical modeling: the solar and stellarinteriors, stellarand planetary atmospheres, stellar evolution, pulsating stars, and protoplanetary disks, to name a few. With the advancement of powerful research techniques such as helio- seismologyand asteroseismology, solar neutrino-flux measurements, exoplanetsurvey satellites, three-dimensional hydrodynamic atmospheric simulations (including non-LTE and granulation effects), high-performance computing of atomic and molecular data, and innovative plasma experiments the accuracy and completeness of opacitytables is being taken to an unprecedented level. The goal of the second Workshop on Astrophysical Opacitieswas to gather opacitydata producers and consumers from both the atomic and molecular sectors to contribute to solving outstanding problems and to develop more effective and integrated interfaces. In this review we attempt to summa- rize the discussion at the workshop and propose future directions for opacityresearch.