AURA/NOAO ANNUAL REPORT
FY 2007
Submitted to the National Science Foundation September 30, 2007
Emission nebula NGC6334 (Cat’s Paw Nebula): star-forming region in the constellation Scorpius. This 2007 image was taken using the Mosaic-2 imager on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter- American Observatory. Intervening dust in the plane of the Milky Way galaxy reddens the colors of the nebula. Image credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, T. Abbott and NOAO/AURA/NSF NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY
NOAO ANNUAL REPORT FY 2007 Submitted to the National Science Foundation September 30, 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1 1 SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS ...... 2 1.1 NOAO Gemini Science Center ...... 2 GNIRS Infrared Spectroscopy and the Origins of the Peculiar Hydrogen-Deficient Stars...... 2 Supermassive Black Hole Growth and Chemical Enrichment in the Early Universe...... 4 1.2 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO)...... 5 The Nearest Stars...... 5 Electric Stars...... 6 A New Milky Way Satellite...... 6 The Nature of the Universe ...... 7 1.3 Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO)...... 7 Observing Programs Continue Broad Scientific and Educational Impact...... 7 2 THE GROUND-BASED O/IR OBSERVING SYSTEM ...... 9 2.1 The Gemini Telescopes—NOAO Gemini Science Center ...... 9 Support of U.S. Gemini Users and Proposers...... 9 Providing U.S. Scientific Input to Gemini...... 10 U.S. Gemini Instrumentation Program ...... 10 Gemini 2007 Science Meeting...... 11 2.2 CTIO Telescopes...... 11 Blanco 4-m Telescope...... 11 Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope ...... 12 SMARTS Consortium and Other Small Telescopes...... 12 Blanco Instrumentation ...... 13 SOAR Instrumentation...... 13 2.3 KPNO Telescopes...... 14 WIYN 3.5-m...... 14 Mayall 4-m...... 14 2.1-m...... 15 Relations with the Tohono O’odham Nation...... 15 VERITAS Project...... 16 Operations and Instrumentation Partnerships ...... 16 Deferred Maintenance and Modernization ...... 16 Site Protection...... 17 2.4 Community Access to the Independent Observatories ...... 17 MMT Observatory and the Hobby-Eberly Telescope...... 17 Keck and Magellan Telescopes...... 18 2.5 Joint NOAO-NASA Time Allocation...... 18
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2.6 NOAO Survey Programs...... 18 2.7 NOAO Data Products Program...... 18 Data Management System...... 19 Pipelines ...... 19 NEWFIRM support ...... 19 Operations ...... 20 Science Software Support...... 20 3 NOAO MAJOR INSTRUMENTATION PROGRAM...... 21 3.1 NOAO Instruments ...... 21 NOAO Extremely Wide-Field IR Imager (NEWFIRM)...... 21 SOAR Adaptive Optics Module (SAM)...... 23 MONSOON Detector Controller ...... 24 4 NOAO AND THE DECADAL SURVEY PROJECTS...... 25 4.1 Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope Program Office (GSMTPO) ...... 25 Staffing...... 25 Web Site...... 25 GSMT Science Working Group (SWG)...... 25 ELT Development Support: AURA Proposal to NSF...... 26 ELT Development Support: TMT Design and Development...... 27 ELT Site Selection: Site Testing for the Thirty Meter Telescope ...... 27 FY07 Technical Papers by GSMTPO Staff...... 27 4.2 Large-Aperture Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) ...... 28 Telescope and Site ...... 28 Training and Development...... 28 Science Collaborations ...... 29 4.3 National Virtual Observatory (NVO)...... 29 4.4 Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP)...... 30 4.5 Adaptive Optics Development Program (AODP)...... 31 UC Berkeley...... 31 CARA...... 31 Lawrence Livermore National Labs...... 32 Coherent Technology, Inc...... 32 5 PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH...... 34 5.1 Educational Outreach (EO) ...... 34 Research Based Science Education (RBSE)...... 34 Spitzer Research Program for Teachers and Students ...... 35 Science Foundation Arizona: Astro BITS...... 35 Hands-On Optics...... 35 Science Foundation of Arizona: Expanding HOO in Arizona ...... 36 Project ASTRO...... 37 Family ASTRO...... 37 ASTRO-Chile ...... 38 GLOBE at Night...... 38 Investigating Astronomy ...... 39 LSST D&D EPO Program ...... 39
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GSMT D&D EPO ...... 39 Tohono O’odham Outreach ...... 40 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) ...... 40 Astronomy Education Review (AER) ...... 40 5.2 Public Outreach...... 41 Kitt Peak Visitor Center ...... 41 Other Public Outreach ...... 42 5.3 Media and Public Information ...... 44 Media Activity...... 45 Special Information Products...... 46 Image and Information Requests ...... 46 Web-Based Outreach...... 46 6 COMPUTER INFRASTRUCTURE AND NETWORK SERVICES...... 47 6.1 Tucson...... 47 6.2 Kitt Peak...... 47 6.3 NOAO South: La Serena & Cerro Tololo ...... 48 La Serena ...... 48 Cerro Tololo...... 49 Las Campanas...... 49
APPENDICES
A NOAO2 Scientific Staff Activity B Scientific Staff Publications FY07 C Key Management and Scientific Personnel Changes D Publications Using Data from NOAO Telescopes E Observing Programs and Investigators—Semesters 2007A/B F New Organizational Partners and Collaborations in FY07 G Activities Encouraging Diversity within NOAO H Fourth Quarter Site Safety Report
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This year’s annual report tells two stories. The first is of a year of transition, following the NSF Senior Review and a serious effort to develop an implementation plan for the recommendations of that report. The second is of a year of continuation along the paths of many of the day-to-day NOAO activities. On the transition side, this report describes the dramatic change in the activities of NOAO’s GSMT effort, from a collaborator to a program office that represents the entire U.S. community. On the continuation side, this report includes the delivery of NEWFIRM, a new wide- field IR imager to be shared between the Mayall and Blanco telescopes and to carry out exciting new surveys. These two types of activities have, by necessity, become intertwined, because many of the same personnel are responsible for both, and because aspects of change and of continuation have affected every program. The fundamental product of NOAO is scientific results and accomplishments, by both the staff and the broad community. FY2007 has been an impressive year in that regard. From Gemini, we have new understanding of the evolutionary processes involved in white dwarf mergers as well as the first studies of elemental abundances in QSO emission-line regions out to z ~ 6. From CTIO, we have fundamental data on the census of nearby stars, a discovery of a new dwarf satellite of the Milky Way, and continuing efforts aimed at understanding dark energy. From Kitt Peak, we have a number of studies of dark matter, of higher redshift star-forming galaxies, and discovery of an ancient nova shell around the dwarf nova Z Cam. The reason that scientific discoveries continue is because the instrumentation on our facilities is improved and replaced regularly. Instrumentation news in this report includes the delivery of NEWFIRM, a 4096 × 4096 near-IR imager, that promises to be a state-of-the-art survey tool for projects ranging from stellar populations in local group galaxies to Lyman-alpha galaxies at z ~ 10. Following NEWFIRM in the pipeline, the community can look forward to SAM (the SOAR Adaptive Module), the Dark Energy Camera and the One Degree Imager, two wide-field optical imagers, and two new Gemini instruments (NICI and FLAMINGOS-2). The other new development that is related to new instrumentation and new observing capabilities is the development of the NOAO End-to-End (E2E) system, which will allow the distribution of raw and, in some cases, reduced data to the entire community after the proprietary period expires. This is a major step into the new era of the National Virtual Observatory and is an important precursor activity to LSST. NOAO continues to provide access to non-federally funded facilities through TSIP and continues to explore the evolution of that access—and other possible new programs–—with the perspective of a public-private system. This is becoming a more basic context for the entire NOAO program, and integration of this access within the NOAO time allocation process, including elements such as the NOAO Surveys Program and Joint NOAO-NASA time allocation, is an important part. Although much of the NOAO GSMT Program Office activity has been aimed at establishing a new role that is both helpful and viable, that effort was moving more smoothly and effectively by the end of the period of this report. The NOAO LSST effort has become a major component of the LSST project as it moves through the final stages of design and development and prepares for construction in the near future. NOAO’s outreach activities continue to be recognized as excellent world-wide, as indicated not only by the metrics presented in this report, but also by the identification of the NOAO outreach personnel to play a major role in the planning for the upcoming International Year of Astronomy. Of course, along with the accomplishments, there were also some setbacks this year, including the accidental partial destruction of GNIRS at Gemini South and the threat of a wildfire near Kitt Peak. Finally, it should be noted that, because of the change in due date for this annual report, it covers the period from October 1, 2006 through approximately September 1, 2007.
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1 SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS
1.1 NOAO GEMINI SCIENCE CENTER
GNIRS Infrared Spectroscopy and the Origins of the Peculiar Hydrogen-Deficient Stars
The Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) conducted fascinating observations, presented in 2007, of a normally rare isotope of oxygen, 18O, in the atmospheres of two classes of unusual stars. The GNIRS spectra have provided the key clue in understanding the origins of these stars. The peculiar stars in question are the hydrogen-deficient carbon (HdC) stars and their variable cousins, the R Coronae Borealis (RCrB) stars. These particular stellar types are characterized by having almost no hydrogen, but quite large amounts of carbon. Two scenarios have been suggested to account for these chemically unusual classes of H-poor yet C-rich stars. In the first, it is postulated that in the normal transition from a luminous, cool asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star to its later planetary nebula stage, a final pulse of triple-alpha helium-burning occurs in a thin shell near the stellar surface, with the observable stellar atmosphere being polluted by the products of this burning. The combination of He-burning, to produce carbon, coupled to the mass loss of a hydrogen-rich envelope in the AGB-PN transition results in the C-rich and H-poor characteristics. In the second formation scenario, a binary system consisting of a carbon- oxygen white dwarf (CO-WD) and a helium white dwarf (He-WD) merge through a combination of magnetic braking and gravitational radiation. Such a white dwarf binary system results from the evolution of two normal low- to intermediate-mass stars in a relatively close binary system. The merging sequence would release large amounts of energy that would drive nuclear reactions that could produce 18O. Using GNIRS infrared spectra obtained from Gemini-South, G. Clayton (Louisiana State U.) and an international team of observational astronomers and nuclear astrophysicists detected significant enhancements of 18O in seven HdC and RCrB stars. The overabundances of 18O are enormous, being several hundred to a thousand times larger than in the Sun, when compared to the usually more abundant 16O isotope. The spectra showing the detection of 18O via molecular absorption from 12C18O is shown in Figure 1. This absorption is detected due to the isotopic shift from absorption due to what is usually the much more abundant 12C16O, which is also indicated in the figure. In modeling the two possible formation mechanisms, Clayton and collaborators conclude that the 18O can only survive in significant quantities as a result of the binary white dwarf merger picture. In the shell helium-burning pulse, the temperatures are so hot for such a length of time as to burn virtually all of the 18O to 22Ne. This work provides key data in attempts to understand the physics involved in white dwarf mergers. Studies of such mergers provide constraints on physical processes that occur in interacting binary systems containing white dwarfs. Interacting systems with one or more white dwarfs are interesting types of objects, as binaries with more massive white dwarfs are believed to be the source of supernovae of Type Ia (SN Ia). It is the type IA supernovae that first provided evidence for an accelerating universe. Thus, understanding more about interactions in white dwarf binaries is potentially significant in shedding light on the important SN Ia progenitor systems. The full paper can be found in The Astrophysical Journal (20 June 2007 issue) with authors G. Clayton, T. R. Geballe, F. Herwig, C. Fryer, and M. Asplund.
2 SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS
Figure 1: GNIRS spectra of HdC stars (top 3 and bottom 2) and RCrB stars (the 6 in the middle) with molecular absorption from CO indicated. The bandheads due to both 12C18O and 12C16O are indicated.
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Supermassive Black Hole Growth and Chemical Enrichment in the Early Universe
A set of infrared spectra obtained from both the Gemini-South and Gemini-North telescopes have been used by a team of astronomers from the U.S. and Germany, led by L. Jiang (U. Arizona, Steward Observatory), to study the kinematics and chemistry of some of the most distant and youngest known quasars. The six quasars observed are at redshifts ranging from z = 5.8 to 6.3 and correspond to a time when the universe was only about one billion years old. Using the Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) at Gemini South and the Near-Infrared Imager and spectrograph (NIRI) at Gemini North, the team found these very young quasars to be already super-enriched in heavy elements. The quasars are also powered by extremely massive black holes. The Jiang et al. results cast new light on the assembly of black holes and the chemical enrichment of the universe less than one billion years after the Big Bang. Quasars are thought to be powered by radiation from matter accreting onto supermassive black holes at the center of host galaxies in the process of forming. Dense gas in the region surrounding the black hole moves at high velocities. It gives rise to a broad line region (BLR) in spectra that can be used as a diagnostic of several properties of the gas itself and of the central black hole. Chemical abundances in the BLR are important in understanding the history of star formation in the host galaxy. In particular, the ratio of iron (Fe) to the so-called “alpha elements,” such as oxygen or magnesium, is expected to have a strong correlation with the time since star formation began. Oxygen and magnesium (Mg), for example, are produced and ejected very quickly in massive stars, while iron comes from longer-lived binary sytems that give rise to supernovae of Type Ia (SN Ia). Hence, most Fe enrichment happens roughly a billion years after the initial formation of stars. Emission line ratios from Fe II and Mg II in the infrared spectrum of the quasars provide measurements of the chemical abundances of these elements in the quasar BLR. The abundances of heavy elements, such as Mg or Fe (characterizing the gas metallicity, Z) are found to be super-solar at Zquasar ~ 4 Zsun. The Fe II/Mg II ratio is also important in understanding chemical evolution in the early universe. Jiang et al. show that the metallicity in the BLRs of high redshift quasars is super-solar, and that there is no sign of strong evolution in metallicity between the local universe to z ~ 6 (Figure 2). The high metallicity found at this redshift indicates that extensive and Figure 2: Fe II/Mg II abundance as a function of redshift indicating no rapid star formation, followed by significant relative chemical evolution as a function of age, even as significant element enrichment, has far back as z ~ 6. occurred in quasar host galaxies in the first billion years after the big bang. The presence of very luminous high-redshift quasars in the early universe also betrays the rapid growth of black hole mass when the first generations of galaxies and quasars formed. The bulk motions of the broad-line region (BLR) are used to determine the mass of the central black hole. The full paper can be found in The Astronomical Journal (September 2007 issue) with authors L. Jiang, X. Fan, M. Vestergaard, J. D. Kurk, F. Walter, B. C. Kelly, and M. A. Strauss.
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1.2 CERRO TOLOLO INTER-AMERICAN OBSERVATORY (CTIO)
The Nearest Stars
The nearest star to the Sun is the faint M dwarf Proxima Centauri, a wide member of the alpha Centauri system. Although the census of nearby (within 10 parsecs) stars is complete for Sun-like and brighter stars, it is likely that many more faint red dwarfs remain to be discovered. None of these stars are visible to the naked eye but they are the dominant population by number and by mass in our galaxy. The RECONS (Research Consortium on Nearby Stars) group has been conducting a classical trigonometric parallax study to identify stars in the solar neighborhood. The survey uses the CTIO 0.9-m and 1.5-m telescopes within the SMARTS consortium and is led by T. Henry of Georgia State U. In the December 2006 issue of the Astronomical Journal, Henry et al. report on the identification of 25 new stars within 10 pc of the Sun. Most of these stars appear to be cool M dwarfs, but there are several L and T dwarfs, or brown dwarfs, stars that have never truly been able to sustain thermonuclear reactions in their interiors. The new stars amount to 16% of the total mass in the solar neighborhood. RECONS has also identified 33 new white dwarfs within 25 pc of the Sun (Subasavage et al. 2007), one of which may be within 10 pc. White dwarfs are faint, and a reasonably complete sample can only be drawn from the solar neighborhood. These local white dwarfs are important for constraining the underlying physics that govern the behavior of matter at high densities and for testing General Relativity.
Figure 3: The updated color magnitude diagram of the solar neighborhood. The new RECONS objects are marked as the larger filled circles.
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Electric Stars
Polars are a class of cataclysmic variables containing a highly magnetic white dwarf and a low mass main sequence companion, usually a late-type star such as an M or a brown dwarf. The two stars form a close, interacting binary system, and orbital periods are very short, just a few hours. Chromospheric activity in late-type stars (i.e., starspots, prominences) tends to decline with age, as these stars are fully convective and cannot sustain the dynamo that powers the Sun’s magnetic field. However, the secondary stars in some polars show signs of very strong activity, despite their being relatively old. Over the past two years a group of astronomers led by Styliani Kafka (NOAO) has been observing four polars and has resolved this conundrum by discovering that the activity on the late-type companion is actually triggered by the white dwarf. The very strong magnetic field of the white dwarf acts like a giant alternator and induces Figure 4: An artist’s concept of activity induced in the secondary of an interacting binary by a white dwarf electric currents in the companion, which in companion with strong magnetic field. turn produce activity such as starspots and prominences.
A New Milky Way Satellite Standard galaxy formation models predict the existence of a large population of satellite galaxies around the Milky Way. However, it is well known that the Galaxy is orbited by no more than 20 dwarfs, much fewer than the about 400 postulated by theory. One solution to this problem is to assume that the fainter dwarfs are suppressed—they never formed large amounts of stars and are mostly dark. Belokurov et al. (2006) may have found something of this kind. They used the CTIO Blanco 4-m to obtain a deep color magnitude diagram of a candidate dwarf in Boötes. They find that this object is very faint, but is much more extended than a globular cluster. It falls below the region of Milky Way globular clusters in the Kormendy diagram (which plots central surface brightness vs. absolute magnitude). Boötes appears to be a new kind of dwarf galaxy, rather than a globular cluster, although it has a single Figure 5: Color-magnitude diagram of the new dwarf satellite from Blanco data (Belokurov, et al. 2006) together stellar population (Figure 5). The SEGUE with ridgelines for the metal poor galactic globular cluster collaboration has also found several other M92. examples of faint, extended objects with
6 SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS
luminosities typical of globular clusters but much more diffuse. It may suggest the existence of a new population of “galaxies,” which further fill the parameter space of the Kormendy diagram, and demonstrates that the census of faint companion galaxies to the Milky Way may still be seriously incomplete.
The Nature of the Universe
After five years of operation, the ESSENCE supernova survey is now nearing completion. ESSENCE is aimed at improving our understanding of Dark Energy, using wide-field images taken at the Blanco 4-m with the Mosaic camera. Most of the data are now on hand and the results are starting to appear. Wood-Vasey et al. show that, assuming a flat Universe and with priors from the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations, the equation of state parameter (w) found is consistent with the dark energy being a cosmological constant (w = -1). The result is strengthened if the supernovae discovered by the similar (northern) sample from the SuperNova legacy Survey are included. The ESSENCE results are also useful for improving our knowledge of supernovae themselves and for refining their use as distance indicators. For instance Hsiao et al. have partly used the public ESSENCE data to derive K-corrections for Type Ia supernovae.
1.3 KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY (KPNO)
Observing Programs Continue Broad Scientific and Educational Impact
The telescopes of Kitt Peak National Observatory and of our sister observatories that share the lease to operate on Iolkam Duag (Kitt Peak) continue to have broad scientific and educational impact. Twenty- six telescopes currently operate on the mountain. These include those operated by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the National Solar Observatory, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, as well as many telescopes operated by individual and groups of universities. These facilities are used for basic astrophysical research and education. Those taught about the Universe range from the general public to students at all stages of their education. The students range in level from elementary through graduate school. They come from the Tohono O’odham Nation and from many countries around the world. The impact of the work enabled by Kitt Peak National Observatory continues to be broad and diverse. Kitt Peak telescopes continue to enable scientific results of the highest quality and at a rate comparable or higher than their larger 8-m cousins. For the past four years, KPNO publications have surpassed 145 refereed publications every year. The range of topics studied is extremely broad, ranging from the study of comets to the discovery of the most distant radio-loud quasar in the Universe (Cyanogen Jets and the Rotation Sate of Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2)—Farnham, T. L. et al. 2007, AJ, 133, 2001; Ground-based Visible and Near-IR Observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 During the Deep Impact Encounter—Knight, M. M. et al. 2007, Icarus, 187, 199; Discovery of a z=6.1 Radio- Loud Quasar in the NDWFS—McGreer, I. D. et al. 2006, ApJ, 652, 157; Mid-Infrared Selection of Brown Dwarfs and High-Redshift Quasars—Stern et al. 2007, ApJ, 663, 677). The study of dark matter, first discovered in normal galaxies with the help of NOAO telescopes (Rubin and Ford 1970; Rubin, Thonnard, and Ford 1980), continues to be an area of active study for researchers using KPNO facilities. Major results in 2007 included a detailed Mayall 4-m (imaging) and Keck (spectroscopy) study of the Leo I dwarf spheroidal galaxy that found less dark matter than previously associated with this galaxy (Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars. X. Extended Dark Matter or Tidal Disruption? —Sohn, S. T. et al. 2007, ApJ, 663, 960). KPNO telescopes often support space-based studies of dark matter, as they did with the COSMOS Survey’s reported three dimensional map of the mass distribution in a large volume of the nearby Universe (Dark Matter Maps Reveal Cosmic Scaffolding—Massey, P. et al. 2007, Nature, 445, 286).
7 NOAO ANNUAL REPORT FY 2007
The combination of KPNO optical and near-IR imaging data over large fields coupled with Spitzer Space Telescope mid-IR imaging continues to provide new insights in the study of galaxy evolution and the role of mergers in the mass assembly history of galaxies (e.g., The Role of Galaxy Interactions and Mergers in Star Formation at z<=1.3: Mid-Infrared Properties in the Spitzer First Look Survey—Bridge, C. R. et al. 2007, ApJ, 659, 931; The Evolving Luminosity Function of red Galaxies—Brown, M. J. I. et al. 2007, ApJ, 654, 858). When these kinds of data sets are compared with theoretical simulations of galaxies and their satellite galaxies in a dark matter dominated Universe, even stronger constraints can be placed on the relative importance of mergers in the evolution of the properties of galaxies (Evidence for Merging or Disruption of Red Galaxies from the Evolution of Their Clustering—White, M. et al. 2007, ApJ, 655, L69). Even the smallest telescope on which KPNO regularly offers observing time is still making contributions worthy of publication in Nature, as the discovery of an ancient Nova Shell around the Dwarf Nova Z Camelopardalis demonstrated (Shara, M. M. et al. 2007, Nature, 446, 159). Using groundbased images taken with the KPNO MOSAIC-1 camera on the WIYN 0.9-m telescope and UV images from the GALEX spacecraft, the newly revealed nova shell observationally links the prototypical dwarf nova Z Camelopardalis with the classical nova process. Previously completed NOAO Surveys continue to yield results at a high rate. For example, the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey, a large optical and near-IR imaging survey that completed data collection in 2003 and whose Boötes Field data products were released in 2004, has contributed to more than 60 refereed publications (http://www.noao.edu/noao/noaodeep/ndwfspublications.html). The educational impact of the operations on Kitt Peak continued at a high level of quality and activity. The KPNO telescopes supported more than 25 Ph.D. programs during FY07, including travel and observing expenses in addition to the observing time. The non-NOAO observatories on the mountain supported many others. Groups of students from all over the country, including the Santa Rosa School of the Tohono O’odham Nation and the Tohono O’odham Community College, took advantage of the PAEO nighttime observing program (three telescopes available each night) during FY07.
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2 THE GROUND-BASED O/IR OBSERVING SYSTEM
2.1 THE GEMINI TELESCOPES—NOAO GEMINI SCIENCE CENTER
Support of U.S. Gemini Users and Proposers
The NOAO Gemini Science Center (NGSC) supports the U.S. community’s access to the International Gemini Observatory’s two 8.1-m telescopes. This support work includes informing the U.S. community of Gemini observing opportunities, answering questions about all aspects of Gemini from U.S. proposers and users, performing technical reviews for all Gemini proposals submitted to the NOAO TAC, providing assistance with U.S. Phase-II submissions for programs selected for Gemini telescope time, interfacing with Gemini on the implementation of U.S. programs, and providing certain types of operational support for Gemini. Observing opportunities on Gemini South were affected by a serious accident involving GNIRS in April 2007. The accident forced GNIRS out of service for the rest of 2007, and the NOAO infrared spectrograph Phoenix, which had been removed from the Gemini-South telescope in March 2007 (after having been a visiting instrument since 2002), was returned to the telescope. NOAO and NGSC helped to arrange the return of Phoenix to Gemini South, where it will remain available to the Gemini user community at least through the end of 2008A. The loss of GNIRS led to the need for a “Special Call” for replacement proposals to be submitted to replace GNIRS time requested for 2007B. The time from the Special Call deadline, through TAC ranking, selection, and being made ready for implementation on the Gemini-South telescope was unusually short and required special efforts from NOAO/NGSC staff, NOAO TAC members, and Gemini staff. However, the entire process went smoothly and all of the GNIRS time was replaced by TReCS, Phoenix, and GMOS-South programs. The U.S. community continued to show a strong demand for Gemini observing time, with 136 proposals to Gemini North in 2007B and 133 proposals to Gemini South. The total time requested was 166 nights on Gemini North and 210 nights on Gemini South, resulting in oversubscription factors of 2.6 for the north and 4.8 for the south. The proposals submitted to Gemini North consisted of 48 for GMOS-North, 31 for NIRI, 12 for NIFS, 15 for Michelle, and 13 for TEXES. The Gemini North total also included time trades with Keck and Subaru, with 11 proposals submitted for HIRES on Keck, and 1 and 5 proposals for SuprimeCam and MOIRCS, respectively, on Subaru. The NIRI and NIFS proposals included requests to use the Altair AO system, with 16 of the NIRI and 9 of the NIFS programs requesting AO. Of these AO proposals, 8 requested the Laser Guide Star (LGS) for a total of 16 requested nights using the laser. The Gemini South proposals contained 35 for GMOS-South, 38 for TReCS, and 38 for Phoenix. As the GNIRS accident occurred after the 2007B deadline for proposal submission, there were also 22 programs submitted for GNIRS. The Gemini observing process requires the submission of a Phase-II file once an observing program is approved. NGSC staff perform reviews of all U.S. program Phase-II submissions. The Phase-II file must describe an observation completely and error free, since the commands in this file are uploaded directly to the telescope and instrument when the observation is executed; any errors in the execution would result in lost telescope time. Few users submit a correct Phase-II initially, so this critical and complex process usually requires multiple iterations and communications between the NGSC staff contact and the program PI. NGSC organized a booth for the January 2007 AAS meeting held in Seattle, Washington. The booth featured displays on how to propose for Gemini observing time, details of all of the available instruments, and tutorials by NGSC staff with users on preparing Phase-II programs. Numerous users and other astronomers visited the booth and interacted with the NGSC staff. A meeting of all of the partner National Gemini Offices (NGO) was held in Iguaçu, Brazil on 15 June 2007; the meetings are held every 18 months, and this was the third such meeting of all of the NGO
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offices. This particular meeting followed directly the second Gemini Science and Users meeting held at the same location over the four previous days. The NGO meeting focused primarily on technical discussions concerning Gemini instruments, software, observing, data reduction, and user support. The U.S. NGO was represented at the meeting by NGSC staff and V. Smith (Director, NGSC), who gave a presentation titled “How can we help users produce Gemini science?” NGSC provided observing support and maintenance for the NOAO-built Phoenix high- resolution infrared spectrograph on Gemini South. Phoenix was used in classical-only mode, with support astronomers provided by NGSC (staff members K. Hinkle, R. Blum, and V. Smith provided Phoenix support in FY07 for 27 nights from October 2006 to March 2007). Phoenix was removed from Gemini South in March 2007; however, the loss of GNIRS in April 2007 resulted in Phoenix being returned to the telescope in May 2007. During its continued use on Gemini South at least through the end of 2008A, Phoenix will be operated in queue mode, along with other Gemini instruments. NGSC staff members K. Hinkle and V. Smith helped train Gemini astronomers at the telescope so that Gemini now supports the continued use of Phoenix on Gemini South. In addition to the Phoenix nights, NGSC staff spent 64 nights visiting Gemini telescopes in 2006B and 2007A. In an AURA Observatory Council initiated review of the NOAO TAC process, V. Smith attended the ad hoc committee’s meeting on 9 November in Pasadena and gave a presentation on how U.S. Gemini proposals are handled by the NOAO TAC.
Providing U.S. Scientific Input to Gemini
The U.S. Gemini Science Advisory Committee (SAC), which serves as NGSC’s community-based advisory committee met in Tucson on 4–5 October. V. Smith briefed the SAC on the status of the Gemini telescopes and instruments, the U.S. instrumentation effort, and current scientific and technical issues. In addition, future observational and scientific opportunities on Gemini were discussed, while the SAC considered how the priorities of the U.S. community should be presented to the Gemini leadership. The current SAC membership can be found at www.noao.edu/usgp/staff.html. Two members of this group also serve on the NOAO Users’ Committee, which met in Tucson on 5–6 October (with a morning session overlap between the SAC and Users’ Committee), while three SAC members served on the Gemini Science Committee (GSC). The GSC met twice in FY07, the first time in Hilo from 25–26 October and again on 23–24 April in Tucson. V. Smith represented NOAO/NGSC at both meetings. In preparation for the April GSC meeting and May Gemini Board meeting, V. Smith organized a meeting of U.S. Gemini Board and U.S. GSC members, as well as NSF representatives, on 19 April in Chicago. The Gemini Operations Working Group (OpsWG) met twice in FY07, first in La Serena on 30–31 January and again in Melborune, Australia on 30–31 July. V. Smith represented the United States at both meetings and serves as the current chair of this committee.
U.S. Gemini Instrumentation Program
There are two components to the U.S. Gemini Instrumentation Program. One component consists of instruments being built or designed by NOAO for use on Gemini. These projects are discussed in the Major Instrumentation Program section of this report. The other component is U.S. Gemini instruments being built at other U.S. institutions under an AURA contract awarded by NOAO, with NGSC technical and managerial oversight. FY07 progress on two such instruments is described below.