NOAO-NSO Newsletter Issue 81 March 2005

Science Highlights Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory Probing the Bulge of M31 with Altair+NIRI A Simple Turbulence Simulator for Adaptive Optics ...... 28 on Gemini North...... 3 The Dark Energy Camera: A Progress Report ...... 30 The SuperMACHO Project ...... 5 New Filter Transmission Measurements for The Deep Lens Survey ...... 7 Mosaic II at Blanco Prime Focus...... 31 Quiet Sun Magnetic Fields at High Angular Resolution ...... 8 Other Happenings at CTIO...... 31

Director's Office Kitt Peak National Observatory The NSF Senior Review ...... 9 KPNO and the NSF Senior Review...... 32 Q&A with Jeffrey Kantor ...... 10 Conceptual Design Review for the WIYN One-Degree Imager...... 33 NOAO Gemini Science Center Gemini Observing Opportunities for Semester 2005B ...... 12 National Solar Observatory GNIRS Key Science Opportunity in Semester 2005B ...... 13 From the NSO Director’s Office...... 34 Update on the Opportunity to Use Gemini to Observe ATST Project Developments...... 35 the Deep Impact Comet Encounter ...... 14 SOLIS...... 38 Gemini Publications ...... 14 IBIS Now Available as a User Instrument ...... 40 Gemini/IRAF Project Update ...... 15 GONG ...... 41 Following the Aspen Process: The Gemini Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) ...... 16 Public Affairs & Educational Outreach NGSC Instrumentation Program Update...... 18 A Busy Time Domain for LSST at the AAS Meeting...... 44 NGSC Booth at the AAS Meeting in San Diego...... 19 Take Me to Your (Project ASTRO) Leader!...... 44

Observational Programs 2005B Standard Proposals Due 31 March 2005...... 20 NOAO Survey Program Proposals Due 15 March 2005 ...... 21 Community Access Time Available in 2005B with HET, Magellan, and MMT...... 22 The End of an Era...... 22 Observing Request Statistics for 2005A ...... 23 KPNO Instruments Available for 2005B ...... 24 CTIO Instruments Available for 2005B ...... 25 Gemini Instruments Possibly Available for 2005B ...... 26 HET Instruments Available for 2005B ...... 27 MMT Instruments Available for 2005B ...... 27 Magellan Instruments Available for 2005B ...... 27 NSF Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Request On the Cover “For FY 2006, the National Science Foundation is requesting $5.605 billion. That’s $132 million, or 2.4 percent, more than in FY 2005. This modest increase allows Astronomers led by Charles Telesco us to assume new responsibilities, meet our ongoing commitments, and employ (University of Florida) used the Gemini more staff—with little room for growth in research and education programs. South 8-meter telescope and the This means we’ll all have to keep working to leverage resources and work more productively.” Gemini Thermal-Region Camera and Spectrograph (T-ReCS) instrument to —National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement observe new details in the dusty disk NSF was one of the few science & technology agencies that would see a budget surrounding the nearby star Beta Pictoris. increase in FY 2006 under the request that the Bush Administration submitted [in The team’s mid-infrared data shows that early February 2005]. Following in the wake of Congress’ decision to cut NSF’s a large collision between planetary- budget this year, the Administration’s request would restore some, but not all of sized bodies may have occurred in orbit the agency’s budget to its former level. The numbers spell this out: in FY 2004 the NSF budget was $5,652.0 million. The current budget is $5,472.8 million. The around the star as recently as the past few request for next year is $5,605.00 million. decades. The clump where the suspected collision occurred is to the right of MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES DIRECTORATE: The the central white core, at a distance of Administration recommended an overall increase of 1.5 percent or $16.4 million 52 Astronomical Units (AU). from $1,069.9 million to $1,086.2 million. Within this directorate:

The ASTRONOMICAL SCIENCES Division’s budget would increase 1.8 percent This work was featured in the 13 January or $3.5 million from $195.1 million to $198.6 million. The budget document 2005 issue of Nature. states: “Increased support for research and instrumentation development related to the physics of the universe and cyberinfrastructure, as well as Gemini operations Image Credit: Gemini Observatory, University of and instrumentation development. Decreases for other areas of research and Florida/C. Telesco and AURA instrumentation program.”

NASA Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Request The NOAO-NSO Newsletter is published quarterly “The Vision for Space Exploration remains an Administration priority even in by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory this challenging budget environment.” P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, AZ 85726 —NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe

Editor NASA’s budget for exploration would grow substantially, while its science Douglas Isbell, funding would drop slightly, in the FY 2006 budget request released by the White House on Monday. The total NASA budget would climb 2.4 percent, from Section Editors $16.070 billion in FY 2005 to $16.456 billion. Joan Najita Science Highlights Observational Programs NASA SCIENCE: Down 0.9 percent, or $50.9 million, from $5527.2 million to Dave Bell $5476.3 million. Solar System Exploration—up 2.3 percent to $1900.5 million. Mia Hartman Observational Programs The Universe—down 0.1 percent to $1512.2 million. Earth-Sun System—down Nicole S. van der Bliek CTIO 4.3 percent to $2063.6 million. Richard Green KPNO Ken Hinkle NGSC According to NASA budget documents, “The newly organized Science Mission Sally Adams NGSC Directorate (SMD)...seeks to understand the origins, evolution, and destiny of the John Leibacher NSO universe and to understand the nature of the strange phenomena that shape it. Priscilla Piano NSO SMD also seeks to understand: the nature of life in the Universe and what kinds of Douglas Isbell Public Affairs & life may exist beyond Earth; the solar system, both scientifically and in preparation Educational Outreach for human exploration; and the Sun and Earth, changes in the Earth-Sun system, and the consequences of the Earth-Sun relationship for life on Earth.” Production Staff Hubble Space Telescope: Within the Science Mission Directorate, funding for the Hubble Space Telescope would be reduced from $215.7 million in FY 2005 to Stephen Hopkins Managing Editor $190.7 million in the request. Funding would be provided to develop a robotic Mark Hanna Digital Processing means for deorbiting the Hubble at the end of its useful life, but no money is Pete Marenfeld Design & Layout slated for a servicing mission to extend its scientific life. Kathie Coil Production Support —Excerpts from the American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News

2 March 2005 Science Highlights

Probing the Bulge of M31 with Altair+NIRI on Gemini North

Tim Davidge (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics), Knut Olsen (NOAO), Robert Blum (NOAO), Andrew Stephens (Gemini) & Francois Rigaut (Gemini)

s the closest large galaxy in the Local Group, M31 is an important stepping- stone for interpreting the stellar Acontents of spiral galaxies. Since the central regions of M31 are bright, high-quality spectroscopic observations of the integrated light can be obtained with even telescopes of modest aperture; consequently, there have been numerous papers investigating the integrated spectrum of M31. Analyses of these data have revealed evidence for stars spanning a range of ages (e.g., Davidge 1997, AJ, 113, 985; Bica, Alloin, and Schmidt 1990, A&A, 228, 23). Clearly it is important to check these results; if we cannot correctly interpret the spectra of nearby galaxies, for which we have high-quality data, our ability to interpret the integrated light from more distant systems would be brought into question.

A direct way to check the results deduced from integrated spectra is to investigate the resolved stellar content of the bulge of M31. This is a challenging task because of crowding, and it is only with the advent of adaptive optics (AO) systems on large Figure 1. The K image of the innermost M31 bulge field observed with telescopes that it has been possible to obtain Altair+NIRI. A 17.5 x 17.5 arcsec2 area is displayed, and the circle marks the the angular resolution required to resolve region in which the PSF was judged to be stable. stars on the upper portions of the red giant branch (RGB) near the center of M31.

As part of system verification for Altair+NIRI on Gemini clearly evident in the oblong shape of the stellar images near North, moderately deep J, H, and K' images were recorded of the edge of the science field. These distortions complicate fields in the disk and bulge of M31. Altair uses natural guide efforts to measure stellar brightnesses, and affect the faint stars to apply AO corrections, and the fields were selected limit of the data. To avoid these problems, a region within based on the availability of moderately bright (R < 13) AO which the point spread function (PSF) was judged to be reference stars. One field is located only 2 arcmin from the stable was selected for the photometric analysis, and the NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter nucleus, and hence probes the stellar content of the inner outer boundary of this area is indicated with the circle. regions of M31 (see Davidge et al. 2005, AJ, 129, 201). The K, H-K and K, J-K (CMDs) of stars within the stable- The K image of the bulge field is shown in figure 1, and PSF boundary are shown in figure 2. The RGB can be seen the bright central source is the guide star. The effects of clearly in both CMDs, although artificial star experiments aniosplanicity, which occurs because Altair only monitors indicate that ~10% of upper RGB stars in this field may be the atmosphere in the direction of the reference star, are blends of stars with similar brightnesses. The MK, J-K CMD

continued

March 2005 3 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 4 The CMD of bright stars in Baade’s Window, constructed constructed Window, Baade’s in stars bright of CMD The with agreement in is studies. spectroscopic integrated this and metallicity, near-solar a have to tend M31 bulge the in RGB stars that indicate data [Fe/H] = 1996, 0 (see Harris is that color a 6528, NGC for which cluster has ofglobular to the that M31 similar of portion evident this is it in RGB and 3, the that figure in shown is field bulge the of Probing the Bulge of M31 continued be possible to go deeper, and to work even closer to the the to M31. of closer nucleus even work to (30-meter) and deeper, go to large will possible it be of TMT), the on IRIS generation (e.g., telescopes next ground-based the for imagers diffraction-limited with future, the into further Looking larger a survey to possible M31. of regions inner be the of portion will it telescopes, 8-meter- class on developed being are that systems laser star the guide with However, sky. the on stars bright natural suitably with of density low studied the given be modest is systems AO can star guide that M31 of fraction The 1990, Davidge (e.g., spectra star in carbon features strongest the the then C stars, Ballik-Ramsey carbon are objects these If stars. are carbon 1.6 > J-K with stars red very the if be determine to also used could in spectra stars IFU Near-infrared individual bulge. M31 of the spectra near-infrared angular resolution high obtain to possible be will it North, on using AO-fed NIFS Gemini as such M31 with spectrographs, of (IFU) However, unit field regions integral spectrographs. of inner slit spectra the obtain traditional in to stars difficult it individual Crowding make bulge. Galactic confusion the and in stars of comparisons reliable samples more with for allow and metallicity of and logical RGB A brightest M31. the measure a permit direct of AGB will as in of this the bulge, stars spectra bulge obtain to the is step in next content stellar the of studies for ones exciting be to promise years few next The spectra. integrated from has inferred been that population young the of members brightest the be thus may M31 in stars AGB red very These formation. star recent of signatures are stars carbon as interest, of is of M31 center the near stars of red population of a similar 1990, Wood and Hughes (e.g., stars carbon are galaxy that in 1.6 > J-K with objects that indicate LMC the in (AGB) stars branch giant asymptotic M the are with interest stars red special Of very end. bright the at especially similar, very are Window Baade’s and field M31 bulge the of CMDs 3. The of figure panel right-hand the in shown is (1987, in the from data Frogel and Whitford Science Highlights AJ, 99, 191), should be present in their spectra. spectra. their in present be 191), 99, should March 2005 2 bandhead near 1.77 µm, which is one is of which 1.77 µm, near bandhead bol between -4 and -5. Studies of of Studies -5. and -4 between AJ, 112, 1487).Altair the Thus, AJ, 99, 784). The detection detection The 784). 99, ApJ, 320, 199),

poorer image quality. image poorer a have (2) and band; K the in than smaller is stable is PSF the which over area the that result the with anisoplanicity, to (1)prone data more J are the because CMD H-K K, the as as deep not go and does stars CMD contains fewer J-K K, The CMDs of M312.J-K and the K, Figure H-K, K, The field. bulge bright end. bright the at similar very are CMDs the that 320,199.) Note ApJ, 1987, Whitford and Frogel on based is latter (The Window. M The 3. Figure K , J-K CMDs of the M31 bulge and Baade’s and bulge M31 the of CMDs J-K , Science Highlights

The SuperMACHO Project

Armin Rest (NOAO) & the SuperMACHO Collaboration

n elegant way to further our understanding of dark its duration, depends upon a combination of all three matter halos and to search for astrophysical dark of these parameters. Any conclusion about the spatial matter candidates is to utilize the defining feature location of the lens population therefore depends upon the Aof the dark matter: the effect of its gravitational field. In assumptions made about its mass and velocity. The most 1986, Paczynski first suggested searching for Galactic dark prominent alternative explanations are self-lensing within matter in the form of MACHOs (MAssive Compact Halo the LMC (e.g., Graff et al. 2000, ApJ, 540, 211; Zhao et al. Objects) by searching for gravitational microlensing of 2000 ApJ, 545, L35) or contamination by variable stars and stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Several groups followed extragalactic sources such as SNe (e.g., Belokurov et al. this suggestion and established microlensing searches that 2004 MNRAS, 352, 233; Griest and Thomas 2005, MNRAS, have led to a wealth of information on stellar variability forthcoming). and constraints on Galactic structure. In particular, the MACHO group reported 13–17 microlensing events The SuperMACHO Project is an ongoing five-year toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with event NOAO Survey Program to dramatically increase the timescales (Einstein diameter crossing times) ranging from number of well-studied microlensing events in the LMC 34 to 230 days (Alcock et al. 2000, ApJ, 542, 281). (see www.ctio.noao.edu/~supermacho). This survey is being carried out with the specific goal of determining the location Two main conclusions can be drawn from these surveys: of the objects that produce the observed microlensing events (1) the complete lack of short timescale events puts a strong (Stubbs 1999, ASP Conf. Ser. 165, 503). The optical depth upper limit on the abundance of low-mass dark matter for lensing by MACHOs is essentially constant across the objects, and (2) the reported microlensing optical depth face of the LMC; whereas, the optical depth for self-lensing toward the LMC of τ = 1.2 x 10-7 exceeds that expected shows a strong spatial dependence. Significantly increasing from known visible components of our Galaxy. If it is the sample size will allow a comparison of the measured assumed that MACHOs are responsible for this optical optical depth variation across the face of the LMC and depth, then a typical Galactic halo model allows for a with the predictions of Galactic-LMC lensing models, and MACHO halo fraction of 20% (95% confidence interval of thereby constrain the location of the lensing population. 8%–50%), with MACHO masses ranging between 0.15 and 0.9 solar masses. To carry out such a test, we have been allocated 150 half- nights on the CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope through the This second conclusion, however, has been very NOAO Survey Program, distributed over five years starting controversial. The microlensing rate depends on the spatial, in 2001. Observations are carried out every other night in mass, and velocity distribution of the lenses. The primary dark time during the months of October, November, and observable quantity in any given microlensing event, December, when the LMC is most accessible from CTIO. NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

Figure 1. The image stamps on the left and middle are taken in 2002 and 2004, respectively. The difference image on the right is the result of the subtraction of these two images after they are aligned and the PSFs matched. This technique allows detection of even small flux variations in crowded fields. continued

March 2005 5 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 6 the brightness of a~23 brightness the to equivalent brightness in changes to sensitive we are that means aperture telescope and times exposure of combination Our variability. for to search analysis image difference using fields, field ofdegree square view, we monitor 68 LMC Using the 8K × 8K Mosaic II imager with its 0.33 MACHOThe Super Project continued and the National Science Foundation. Science National the and NOAO from program Survey survey the to NOAO provided the support the for grateful of very are We Program. auspices the under undertaken being is survey SuperMACHO The event. absolutely of adetected source the as variability to intrinsic out rule to and sources, microlensing necessary candidate of nature stellar normal the confirm is information follow-up. spectroscopic and/or spectroscopic photometric Multicolor and photometric multicolor cuts, shape combination light-curve a stringent of applying by goal to this aim We achieve events. microlensing of number the than larger magnitude of order an is which contamination, this eliminate to is project our of challenge main The hundred. one to close probably is limits detection our number within SNe total of The bright spectra. were obtain to which enough SNe, spectroscopically 25 have about we identified 2004, In events. more is it from them microlensing to distinguish difficult however, signal-to-noise, low At slope. falling the than steeper is slope (see 3): figure the rising asymmetric clearly also are SNe the lightcurves At signal-to-noise, high images. our in galaxy background host their of presence the by distinguishable frequently are variable SNe extragalactic dominant. AGNare and SNe like sources that enough deep go project SuperMACHO the of images the LMC, contaminations were variable sources within the biggest the which for project, MACHO the to contrast In and respectively. (SNe)fits, supernovae microlensing show lines heavy and light flux, the indicate circles and difference filled the 2). (see per events year figure The microlensing high-quality 5–10 about detect We page. Web 1). figure are to posted review a this events public passing (see and scrutinized using carefully analysis are events Candidate pipeline image an via reduction difference time real data in automated reduced are data Our Science Highlights March 2005 rd magnitude star. magnitude supernovae fits, respectively. fits, supernovae and indicate microlensing show lines circles heavy and light filled the and flux, The difference 2003. the from candidate Microlensing 2. Figure supernovae fits, respectively. fits, supernovae and microlensing show lines heavy and light the and flux, difference the Figure 3. confirmed SNe. bright Spectroscopically The indicate filled circles Science Highlights

The Deep Lens Survey

David Wittman, Tony Tyson (University of California at Davis) & Ian Dell’Antonio (Brown University)

e are leading an NOAO Survey Program designed to map the large-scale structure of the mass distribution beyond the local universe, Wusing the Mosaic CCD imagers at the Blanco and Mayall 4-m telescopes to conduct an ultradeep, multiband optical survey. After five years, the Deep Lens Survey (DLS) is 96% complete and will complete the observing phase this fall.

The DLS covers 20 square degrees in five widely separated 2-degree × 2-degree fields, with exposure times of 12 ksec in B, V, and z, and 18 ksec in R. The DLS imaging goes somewhat deeper than other wide-field surveys, but most importantly it has controlled, uniform, good image quality in the R band. This is achieved by observing inR when the FWHM is less than 0.9 arcsec, and in the other filters otherwise. The uniform good image quality enables much better control of systematics for weak lensing and for other projects for which resolution is critical (e.g., star/galaxy separation). With the BVRz filter set, the DLS has photometric redshifts accurate to 10% in (1+z). Mass map of one 2-degree x 2-degree DLS field, with black A first early science result is the discovery of a galaxy and white indicating low and high density respectively. cluster at z = 0.68 from its weak lensing shear signal alone The four highest peaks are spectroscopically confirmed at (Wittman et al. 2003, ApJ, 597, 218). Shear-selection is a key redshifts ranging from 0.19 to 0.68. advance in the study of clusters; for the first time, clusters can be identified independent of their dynamical state, baryon content, and star-formation history. Follow-up of Analysis of cosmic shear (weak lensing by large-scale a sample of 20 shear-selected clusters is proceeding, with structure) requires the greatest uniformity and control of X-ray spectro-imaging and optical spectroscopy in progress, systematics, and is ongoing. Preliminary results show a and infrared and ultraviolet imaging in the proposal stage. significant increase in cosmic shear with source redshift, The goal is a detailed comparison of all the properties of as expected when the light from higher-redshift sources shear-selected clusters versus traditionally selected clusters passes through more structure on its way to us. The shear to determine if our traditional view of clusters is biased. signal as a function of source redshift provides an important measure of the growth of structure back to roughly half A second early publication centers on the transients identified the current age of the Universe. This diagnostic provides by differencing the images (Becker et al. 2004, ApJ, 611, 418). valuable complementarity to the cosmic microwave The 12/12/12/18 ksec exposure time in each area of sky is background, which probes structure in the early universe, divided into 20 separate exposures, sometimes years apart. and supernovae, which probe the expansion history. We have identified over 4,000 solar system objects down to Together, these measures will provide a strict test of R = 23.5 and over 100 supernovae. These are posted to the cosmological models. Web in near real time, for anyone in the community to follow up. Eighteen supernovae have been followed up well enough The deep co-added FITS images in each band, photometric NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter to merit IAU circulars. In addition, the DLS produced catalogs, color jpeg images, transient lists, and user-friendly the deepest-yet general constraints on short-timescale tools are available to the community at the DLS Web site, (~1,000 sec) variability of all objects in the sky. DLS is also a dls.physics.ucdavis.edu, or its mirror at dls.het.brown.edu. pilot project for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), The FITS images are also in the NOAO Science Archive. and the pipeline software algorithm development for the DLS will feed directly into that project.

March 2005 7 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 8 quiet Sun yet obtained. the of resolution precisionspatial spectropolarimetry highest representmeasurements the resolution, these 0.6-arcsec than low-order old adaptive the optics system and was in still place. system, Nonetheless, the at better in used were ASP the of componentscompletednowDLSP, that quality the fromin expected the approach not do periods data These during seeing. regions variable of solar quiet very of measurements SeptemberIn version2003,a prototype ofDLSP the provided inferences of magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere. spectropolarimetry yields the most complete and unambiguous four Stokes polarization parameters. Among all extant in techniques, profiles line simultaneous resolved, spectrally provides itspredecessor, theAdvanced Stokes Polarimeter (ASP), which asspectropolarimetrictechnique same the on based Theis DLSP elements. magnetic small-scale and the weak detect intrinsically to necessary is field, sensitivity polarimetric small-scale high tangled and the resolve better to resolution necessary spatial is High sensitivity. polarimetric high very maintaining while achieved, be may fields internetwork the resolution of angular higher much DST, the at place in now explore this topic. to In suited combination ideally with is adaptive Telescope (DST) Solar optics systems Dunn (DLSP) NSO the Spectro-Polarimeter at Diffraction-Limited new The fields may be much previouslylarger than believed. these of energy magnetic total the that and internetwork, the of structure field magnetic tangled the resolving from far are internetwork flux increases dramatically. Thisimplies that we unsigned of amount the resolution, angular of enhancement modest a upon that suggested study observational recent A that are of considerable prominence in solar physics today. upon heating and dynamics of the solar atmosphere, are haveissues fields internetwork mixed-polarity small-scale the that influence the and process, dynamo those this of produce reality The to fields. acting be may dynamo small-scale a that local, speculate and fields internetwork the examined have also Theorists pattern. network supergranular solar quiet the of boundaries the concentrationsat flux intense the from that as that well as 11-year-periodfields, region the exceeds, of active solar even or rivals, Sun the of flux “unsigned” net the that demonstrating and structure, small-scale of wealth a revealing resolution, angular higher and sensitivity higher T paet antc u dniy |(B onsensitivity the left panel for apatch small of quiet Sun. density The flux inferred magnetic the apparent where figure, the in illustrated are results The Science Highlights Quiet Sun Magnetic Fields at High Angular Resolution scrutiny scrutiny recently. New observations have attained both regions have been subjectthe of considerable scientific heweak, small-scale fields of the quiet Sun “internetwork” March 2005 Bruce Lites (High Altitude Observatory, NCAR) Observatory, (High Lites Altitude Bruce app )| is shown at high high at shown is )| detailed information. detailed 2004, Socas-Navarro and Lites See in various regions of quiet Sunstructure. large-scale fields internetwork Sun quiet the of properties the examine will and scheduled, now are observations Such DLSP. the ofversion final capablemore much the by verified be must does not fact in regions internetwork quiet of flux unsigned net the and complexity the that suggest observations DLSP These observations recent otherwise). those suggesting of that than better 10 of factor significant flux at this sensitivity polarimetric (which is some regionsdevoidextensiveof the resolution. Note also spatial not much different from older ASP measurements at the half is measurements DLSP these of flux unsigned net the fact, most that case areoccupied lanes by strong intergranular elements. flux In the from far is it that demonstrate results |Bcontoursof with (“granulation”) intensity continuum corresponding the shows panel right stripes are caused by variable seeing. variable by caused are stripes Vertical map). this in lanes contours dark the of such most cover would (i.e., elements by occupied mixed-polarity lanes intergranular strong-field dark the all have would techniques, observational unproven but newer upon based cm Mx 32 of left, contours the with on image the generate to used (dark) map spectral the strength maximum that to 20 Mx corresponds cm so scaled density, flux the |B of Left: regions. fields “internetwork” weak very the reveal 2003 September 16 on DLSP the from Sun quiet of patch small a of Observations increase rapidly at smaller scales. Theseearly results -2 . Right: Continuum intensity from from . intensity Continuum Right: -2 superimposed. Other studies, studies, Other superimposed. app |, the unsigned apparent apparent unsigned |,the app ApJ | < 32 Mx cm Mx 32 < | 63 60 o more for 600 613, , -2 . These . DIRECTOR’SOFFICE NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

The NSF Senior Review

Jeremy Mould

hen I was a postdoc, the solar astronomer Ron Giovanelli asked me why I worked in WTucson. As a frequent visitor to the Solar Division, the forerunner of the National Solar Observatory, he had his own reasons.

“If it can be observed,” I replied, “it can be observed at Kitt Peak.” He laughed at my youthful bravado, and remarked only that it was a strong statement. In those days, the Uhuru X-ray satellite was the only observatory in space. Nowadays, NOAO would construct a more carefully worded statement, but the national observatory has similar aspirations, to provide peer- reviewed access to the finest optical/infrared (O/IR) facilities in both hemispheres for observations best done from the ground.

Reviewing our array of instruments on pages 24–27 of this newsletter, I feel that ADS citations evaluated in 2004 of papers published in the year denoted on the this is a legitimate claim. It will be defended time axis. Naturally, papers take time to attract citations, but flatten out after vigorously at the pending senior review a few years. HST data are from the STScI Newsletter volume 20, issue 2. of the NSF’s astronomy facilities for all wavelengths, as announced in January at the American Astronomical Society meeting the lead in survey astronomy. Of course, the a NASA Great Observatory, but rather to in San Diego. NSF astronomy division senior review is assert that retaining and developing NOAO’s intended to find NSF resources for design and current facilities is probably as scientifically NOAO’s 4-meter telescopes provide the development of three vital facilities for the important as retaining and developing HST, best deep survey capability around, with future, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, for the time being. Our other key metric is the the possible exception of the CFHT in the the Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope, and number of thesis students NOAO supports north. Our Gemini spectrographs, GMOS the National Virtual Observatory. And so annually, and this too is a significant portion and GNIRS, provide the best low-resolution we support the senior review. of the national total. capability at the low multi-object level. We are more patchy in high-resolution But NOAO’s case for O/IR growth from the A further community-based input to the spectroscopy, with only the classical Echelle senior review has three sides to it. The first senior review that NOAO is supporting is the and access to HIRES in the north, plus is the quality of the facilities, just described. roadmap, or Long Range Plan, for national the resurgent Phoenix, the soon-to-be- The second is demand, which you can gauge O/IR facilities, which is currently under commissioned bHROS on Gemini South, and from page 23 of this newsletter. And the development by a committee chaired by Caty future SIFS on SOAR. TSIP provides limited third is outcomes. In Astrophysics Data Pilachowski of Indiana University. Details access to high multi-object spectroscopy at System (ADS) citations, if one accepts the about this roadmap should be available in the MMT, Keck, and Magellan. T-ReCS and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as the gold the next NOAO-NSO Newsletter. Progress Michelle complement Spitzer with an order standard for observatories, NOAO performs to date by the committee is charted at www. of magnitude higher angular resolution on very creditably (see figure). noao.edu/dir/lrplan/lrp-committee.html, and bright thermal IR sources. Coming down your input is requested. the pike, we have NEWFIRM and (thanks to My point here is not to argue about how many Fermilab) the Dark Energy Camera retaining ground-based telescopes it takes to equal

March 2005 9 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 10 We have now had two and team meetings, a science meeting, team. management data strong a build to is priority second NSF. the to Our submitted been has which proposal, phase (D&D) development and design effective an with funding, starting sufficient obtaining is priority one number Our point? at this priorities your are Q. What night. clear every night, all camera gigapixel three a operate you when happens what That’s seconds! 10 a every out data of stamping DVD as new it of think can You data. processed of terabytes 30 approximately into translates which images night, per raw every of terabytes Survey 15 volume generate will Sky LSST a The Digital night. producing Sloan entire be the will to we equivalent beyond magnitude surveys; of sky orders previous several really is LSST The data LSST the for challenge? management analogies useful some are What Q. project. of the parts challenging more the of one truly is It waited. we if job not would get management done data the requirements, processing related the and volume huge data the given that, that I have worked on. The recognize LSSTdirectors project projects other in add-on an be to tends it front; up planned LSST Data Management Project Manager Project Management Data LSST Jeffrey Kantor Director’s Office March 2005 development is being being is development project’sdatamanagement somewhat a in that lot of unusual the is LSST The community. the to available data the making and archives, pipelines, processing, to it acquisition once from detector, the data leaves LSST to happens that everything My is team forresponsible LSST? responsibility for the of areas major your are What Q.

spending time with his family, and he hopes to find time in the the in time find to refereeing. and coaching soccer to hopes return to future he and family, enjoys his he with time work, from semiconductor spending Away to goods. aerospace consumer from Department to ranging manufacturing US areas the in and Defense, NASA, of industry, in in organizations background of diverse a variety a for brings worked having He project, the to technology information 2004. June the in joined effort Kantor LSST (LSST). for Telescope Survey management Synoptic data Large for the manager project the is Kantor Jeffrey of that, we will produce a construction phase proposal to to proposal phase years. five next construction the cover a produce will we that, of end At the years. to three two next for the together then put plans participants, solicited and issues critical the identified We teams. research capable very produce helped three which where GRID technology helps. technology GRID where is That data? the to processing movethe or processing the to data the move we do is: question The first. else somewhere data the ship to need the versus should observatory you the to processing close do much how regarding issue real a is There power. computing of teraflops 100 to 50 need Wewill LSST with the calculate images. accuracies stacked to from high PSF, especially ways different pretty are photometric there achieve and observations, to and trying are spread astrometric We point the of (PSF). estimation function is area research true One surveys. other this half-dozen a of from data Some precursor using creating prototypes are multiple we about. areas other all in while is studies, phase trade involves D&D the what is that We’re multiple approaches to taking some of challenges; these into pieces? tasks manageable complex these down broken you have How Q. protocols. and tools access public at looking are we Finally, pace. conventional more a at happen can pipeline data lensing like weak the Things and archiving fast. on happen to alerts needs which real-time objects, issue transient to with accuracy processing data and basic speed the sufficient through get we what to at do to looking need are we teams, the across Horizontally areas. three one of those in specialty computers, a has teams of three Each storage.) the and as communications, (such infrastructure and tools), engineering software and technology, GRID middleware databases, tools), includes and (which pipelines, applications archives, project: covers our (which in layers vertical three are There continued

Director’s Office

Q&A continued

We’re also doing a large number of technological trades, such Q. What attracted you to the LSST project? as the strengths of a relational database versus an object- I’ve always been fascinated by space and learning more oriented one compared to distributed file systems. Another about the cosmos. I did work before with NASA and the question is archiving on disks versus tape. International Space Station, and the majority of my career has been in space and science. I tried the business world, We want to make our technological selections at the end of and found that I like this more. I’m very pleased with life in the D&D phase to take maximum advantage of the positive Tucson, it’s a great town, a good size, and it has a tremendous technological trends in CPU power, disk storage, and amount to offer. I certainly enjoy the warm weather. networking. These trends suggest that hardware capability and cost should not be a limiting factor by the era of LSST Q. What sorts of secondary spin-offs might emerge from operations in 2012 and beyond. the LSST data management challenge? We anticipate that we’ll come up with some fairly innovative Q. Who are your current partners? ways to manage large databases. Some of this will be We have a number of institutional partners across the three “provenance” — all those things that allow you to assess the teams. The “Eastern” team is Harvard, Brookhaven National quality of the data after it is taken, I expect breakthroughs Laboratory, Princeton, and the University of Washington there. We don’t want to double or triple the size of the data (we sort of tagged them geographically); Johns Hopkins set in the process of doing that, and this is very applicable University just joined LSST and will probably join this to other problems. team. The “Central” team consists of NOAO, the National Supercomputing Center at the University of Illinois, the The fact that the data will be publicly available all the way University of Arizona, and the University of Pittsburgh. down to the K-12 education level is fantastic. There will be The “Western” team is the University of California-Davis, lots of things that can be done with the data from a public Livermore National Laboratory, the Stanford Linear outreach standpoint. Having the whole Universe accessible Accelerator Center, and, very shortly, the San Diego in one database will enable teachers, students, and amateur Supercomputer Center. astronomers to ask and answer lots of new questions. For example, I can envision an “LSST@Home” type of The NCSA and possibly the San Diego Supercomputer Center application for amateur follow-up of transient object alerts, will be the hosts of the data, which makes sense since they helping us decide whether they are “real” or not. are NSF-funded facilities and we will be significantly funded by the NSF, along with the DOE and private institutions. Q. How can the astronomical community get more involved in helping guide the development of the LSST Microsoft and Google are acting as independent advisors, at data management system? a consulting level of reviewing our plans for certain areas One way is through the “Science” page of the project and providing comments. They have not gone beyond that Web site at www.lsst.org. It now has a discussion forum yet, though there’s a possibility that their roles could grow. for community science participation. We hope that this They recognize the size of the data management challenge will enable the community to suggest ways to exploit the that we have, and it relates very closely to problems that they data, and to help us feed those desires back into system have attacked before. We are also in discussions of a similar requirements. Now is the time to get involved. nature with IBM.

Notable Quotes NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

“Your Nebraskan pragmatism—and your knowledge of the magician’s tricks—tilted you toward the sciences, especially astronomy. (Maybe this is why the occultists, future predictors, spoon-benders or mind readers on your show never left without having been challenged.) You were host to writers, children, intellectuals, and nitwits and served them all well, and served the audience by your curiosity and tolerance.” —Excerpt from a posthumous tribute to television talk show host Johnny Carson by comedian and author Steve Martin in the New York Times, 25 January 2005. One of Carson’s most frequent guests during his 30-year run hosting “The Tonight Show” was space scientist Carl Sagan, who appeared more than two dozen times.

March 2005 11 NOAOGEMINISCIENCECENTER TUCSON, ARIZONA • LA SERENA, CHILE

Gemini Observing Opportunities for Semester 2005B

Taft Armandroff

he NOAO Gemini Science Center (NGSC) invites and • The GNIRS facility infrared spectrograph will be offered in encourages the US community to submit proposals for semester 2005B. Four GNIRS observing modes will be Gemini observing opportunities during semester 2005B. US available: long-slit spectroscopy with resolutions R = 2,000 TGemini observing proposals are submitted and evaluated via the and 6,000; cross-dispersed spectroscopy at R = 2,000 (with NOAO Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) process. Although continuous coverage from 1 to 2.5 microns) and R = 6,000 the Gemini Call for Proposals for 2005B will not be released until (noncontinuous coverage); higher-resolution mode with March 1 for the US proposal deadline of March 31, the following R = 18,000; and IFU spectroscopy (R = 2,000 and 6,000). are our expectations of what will be offered in semester 2005B. GNIRS will undergo a short-camera lens replacement and Please watch the NGSC Web page (www.noao.edu/usgp) for the system maintenance starting in May, which will likely limit Call for Proposals for Gemini observing, which will clearly list the its availability early in semester 2005B (see the 2005B Call for capabilities that one can request. Proposals for right-ascension limits). • The Phoenix infrared high-resolution spectrograph will NGSC is pleased to inform the US community of the following suite be offered in semester 2005B. Phoenix is available only of scientifically vital instrumental capabilities that will be offered in in classical mode (in whole nights, with no three-night semester 2005B: minimum). NGSC Staff will provide training and start-up assistance to Phoenix classical observers. Gemini North • The Acquisition Camera will be available for time-series • The GMOS-North optical multi-object spectrograph and photometry in 2005B. imager will be offered in 2005B. Multi-object spectroscopy • A new visitor instrument, Hokupa’a-85, may be available in and long-slit spectroscopy (both optionally with nod-and- semester 2005B. Hokupa’a-85 is an 85-element, curvature- shuffle mode), integral-field unit (IFU) spectroscopy, and sensing adaptive optics system. It was developed by the imaging modes will be available. University of Hawaii, under the leadership of Mark Chun • The NIRI infrared imager/spectrograph will be offered in and Christ Ftaclas. Hokupa’a-85 would be offered for high- 2005B. Both imaging mode and grism spectroscopy mode resolution infrared imaging, coupled to NOAO’s ABU will be available. infrared imager. Please check the 2005B Call for Proposals. • The Altair adaptive optics (AO) system will be offered in • Classical observing will be offered only to programs with natural-guide-star mode in 2005B. Gemini plans to offer the a length of three nights or longer (except in the case following modes of Altair in 2005B: AO-enhanced infrared of Phoenix). imaging and spectroscopy using NIRI. The Altair/NIRI usable range for imaging has been extended to include the L Detailed information on all of the above instrumental capabilities band (3–4 microns). is available at www.us-gemini.noao.edu/sciops/instruments/ • Michelle is a mid-infrared (8–25 micron) imager and instrumentIndex.html. spectrograph. Michelle will be available for imaging and for spectroscopy (with resolutions of R = 200 to 3,000, and The percentage of time devoted to observations for science programs echelle spectroscopy at R ≈ 30,000). in semester 2005B is planned to be 70 percent at Gemini North and • Classical observing will be offered only to programs with a 70 percent at Gemini South. The primary use of the remainder of length of three nights or longer. the time will be instrument commissioning and system verification of NIFS and the Laser Guide Star System at Gemini North, and NICI Gemini South and bHROS at Gemini South. • The GMOS-South optical multi-object spectrograph and imager will be offered during semester 2005B. Multi-object Quick-response mode for triggered observations of targets such as spectroscopy, long-slit spectroscopy, IFU spectroscopy (all gamma ray bursts is being enhanced. A new set of procedures and optionally with nod-and-shuffle mode), and imaging modes software is being implemented that will allow very rapid triggering. will be available. Allowing for time to interrupt the program being observed, the goal is • The T-ReCS mid-infrared imager and spectrograph will to go from the trigger from an approved program to exposure start in be available in semester 2005B. Both the imaging and less than 20 minutes. The instruments available for Quick-response spectroscopic modes of T-ReCS will be available in 2005B. programs are: GMOS-North, GMOS-South, NIRI, and GNIRS.

continued

12 March 2005 NGSC

Gemini Observing Opportunities continued

We remind the community that US Gemini proposals can required to carry out their observations, with the help of the be submitted jointly with collaborators in another Gemini Integration Time Calculators at the Gemini Web site. NGSC partner country. An observing team requests time from wishes to remind the US community that a program has a each relevant partner country. Such multipartner proposals higher probability of being awarded time and being executed are encouraged because they access a larger fraction of the if the best observing conditions are not requested. The two available Gemini time, thus enabling larger programs that conditions that are in the greatest demand are excellent image are likely to have substantial scientific impact. Please note quality and no cloud cover. We understand the high demand that, starting in semester 2005A, all multipartner proposals for these excellent conditions, but wish to remind proposers must be submitted using the Phase I Tool (PIT). The PIT that programs that make use of less-than-ideal conditions are software has been modified, and back end servers installed at also needed in the queue. each National Gemini Office, to allow automatic submission of the same proposal to multiple partners. NOAO accepts Gemini proposals via the standard NOAO Web proposal form and the Gemini PIT software. We remind Proper operation of the Gemini queue requires that it be proposers that NOAO offers a tool to allow PIT submitters to populated with programs that can profitably use the full range view how their proposal will print out for the TAC (see www. of observing conditions. Gemini proposers and users have noao.edu/noaoprop/help/pit.html). become accustomed to specifying the conditions that are

GNIRS Key Science Opportunity in Semester 2005B

Taft Armandroff, Jeremy Mould & Steve Strom

Since semester 2004B, the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) has been in use for community science programs. NOAO seeks to enable the US community to further exploit the powerful capabilities of GNIRS for major scientific initiatives.

As announced in previous issues of the NOAO-NSO Newsletter, NOAO is conducting a program to enable observations with high scientific potential that require significant blocks of time with GNIRS on Gemini South (15 to 20 nights over the first two to three years of GNIRS use). Proposers must agree to make all Gemini data and ancillary information available publicly following a minimal proprietary period (less than six months). Please submit such proposals using the normal NOAO Time Allocation Committee (TAC) process, but indicate in the Abstract that your proposal is to be considered for the “GNIRS Key Science Opportunity.” The TAC will evaluate the scientific merit of these proposals. In addition, because discretionary time from the NOAO Director will be used for this program, the Director will employ the following criteria in evaluating proposals: • Intrinsic scientific merit as evaluated by the TAC • Breadth and quality of the scientific team and its demonstrated track record NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter • Enhancement of undergraduate education through involvement in research • Potential value of the archival database to other users • Plans to manage data reduction and archiving, and deliver data products, in a timely fashion. We recommend that you address the last three bullets explicitly in your proposal.

During the proposal review process for semester 2004B, NOAO selected the first program for GNIRS Key Science, “A Near- Infrared Kinematic Survey of Nearby Galaxies: Black Holes, Bulges, and the Fundamental Plane,” by Karl Gebhardt (University of Texas) and colleagues. This program was continued in semester 2005A. In addition, a second program of GNIRS Key Science, “A GNIRS Survey of Massive Galaxies at z~2.5: Stellar Populations, Kinematics, and Scaling Relations in the Young Universe,” by Pieter Van Dokkum (Yale University) and colleagues was initiated. We wish these teams great success with their GNIRS programs, and we look forward to ambitious GNIRS Key Science submissions for semester 2005B.

March 2005 13 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 14 gov ( Web siteObservatory Gemini the on eye an keep impact; comet the observe Proposals”forto “Call a issue will Gemini 2005. July 3–5 of nights the on Comet 1 Tempel observing to devoted be will telescopes Gemini both that means This 2005. July 4 on “impactor,”occur the to by planned impact are and spacecraft, “fly-by” the January by Comet 1 12 Tempel with encounter on The successfully 2005. launched been having comet, the intercept to way its on well now is spacecraft Impact Deep The 2005. Comet July in encounterwith 1 Impact Tempel Deep the of observations support to used be will telescopes Gemini The some papers are missed in the name searches, so these these so searches, name the in numbers are, ifanything, lower limits. missed are papers some Possibly journals. geophysics and physics major the as well Pacific the of AstronomicalSociety the of PublicationsAstronomicaltheof Japanof Society Icarus the include considered Astrophysics journals major The acronym. or name telescope observatory respective the searching for by System Data Astrophysics the from obtained was display this in used papers of compilation The shown. ground-based are Subaru) Telescope,and Large large,Very the (Keck, telescopes other the from Gemini, publications to refereed addition In published. year the versus plotted the of view year per papers refereed of a numbergraphical the with papers, Gemini shows figure accompanying The (see telescopes science/publications/users.html Gemini the with taken Web page that lists such papers that are based on observations peer-reviewed journals. TheGemini major Observatory maintains a in published papers catalog to is compare, and track to easy relatively also is which method, straightforward one scientific productivity, measure ways various to There are but ground-based telescopes. large, other to relation in especially time, over productivity scientific telescopes’ Gemini the chart to time opportune an results from observations. Gemini With 2004just ended, it is data should be followed by an increasing amount of published scientific collected in increase This supported. instruments S www.gemini.edu NGSC srnmcl Journal Astronomical and Update on the Opportunity to Use Gemini to Observe scientific programs of users, as well as in the numberof the in as well as programsscientificusers, of the to devoted time of percentage of terms in rapidly cience observing with the Gemini telescopes is increasing , ulctos f h Atooia Scey f Australia of Society Astronomical the of Publications deepimpact.umd.edu March 2005 , the the , AstrophysicalJournal ) for this call. More information and updates on the Deep Impact mission can be found at the Deep Impact Comet Encounter . , ). srnmsh Nachrichten Astronomische (including the , Gemini Publications Nature www.gemini.edu/ srnm & Astronomy , Publications , Science Letters Verne Smith Verne Smith , as , ), , , .-ee tlsoe, uau a oe .-ee telescope, 8.2-meter one has Subaru telescopes, 8.2-meter four hasVLT the telescopes, 10-meter two of consists Keck fourbutwayobservatories,note forsimilar thatall a lightin The number ofpapers publishedper year increasesfrom first figure.the about mentioning worth points few a are There with 8-to10-meter-classtelescopes. journal papers refereed per of year number versus the as year measured published, for rates, four Publishing observatories deepimpact.jpl.nasa. continued

NGSC

Gemini Publications continued and Gemini has two 8.1-meter telescopes. If one is interested United States share of the total time is about 40 percent. in the number of papers per telescope, the appropriate If a major country is assigned to the published Gemini normalization must be applied. The shifts in time between papers based upon such criteria as lead author, or fraction the various observatory curves are due primarily to different of coauthors, the United States share of published papers commissioning times. If this is taken into account, and the is within a percent or two of 40 percent, which shows the curves plotted over each other, the early post-commissioning expected balance between time assigned to US community behaviors are similar for all of these telescopes. Along this users and research papers published. same line, the oldest of these big telescopes, Keck, displays an interesting effect over the last three years, with a nearly Gemini remains a young observatory with an increasingly constant rate of about 150 papers published per year. This may seasoned group of users. We expect the scientific output from indicate that the Keck Observatory is a “mature” facility, with a the Gemini telescopes to continue to increase, especially as veteran user community who are well educated in the available the user community becomes more experienced with the instrument suite. If this is true, then it would be expected that set of available instruments. Already in the first month VLT will level off near 300 papers published per year within of 2005, seven Gemini papers appeared. We urge those the next few years. Gemini users who have obtained Gemini data to follow through with subsequent data reduction and analysis and, When taking into account the 10-percent time awarded to of course, to publish their results. The NOAO Gemini the hosts for each Gemini telescope, plus the approximately Science Center staff are committed to help the community 10-percent time assigned to International Gemini Staff, the at every step along the way.

Gemini/IRAF Project Update

Mike Fitzpatrick for the Gemini/IRAF Team

The Gemini/IRAF Project is a collaboration between Gemini A new version of the IRAF Command Language with error- Observatory and NOAO with the twin goals of improving and handling capabilities has also been released for testing and enhancing both the GEMINI data reduction software and the development use by the project and will become part of the underlying IRAF system that it uses. The next few months core IRAF system in a future release. The ECL, as it is known, will see at least two releases of the GEMINI package timed to provides a more complete and accurate reporting of errors support new instrument modes, and at least one core IRAF from script tasks as well as the ability for a script to trap and release needed to support the release of new applications and recover from errors. GEMINI tasks using the ECL should be system software. more resilient to crashes, or if they do fail, can at least be more descriptive about what happened. Many other enhancements The V1.8 release of the GEMINI package should be available at to the ECL have either already been implemented or are about the time of publication of this newsletter and is the fourth planned as part of future ECL development (see the IRAF major release of the package under this collaboration. This Web site for details). release is focused largely on improvements to the GNIRS package and specifically adds support for GNIRS IFU reductions. A new header-editing task, called NHEDIT, has also been developed to simplify the job of updating MEF image headers Work on a new MOS/Long-slit package has already begun in during many stages of GEMINI reductions. It features the Hilo, and a series of internal testing releases will occur before ability to do multiple edits of an image from a single call, it is made more generally available. Work on this package is as well as the ability to add and edit keyword comments, expected to continue throughout the year; the resulting package making it useful in a wide variety of applications. This task, NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter will support a wide range of current Gemini instrumentation available in the FITSUTIL external package, will also see and be easily extensible to next-generation MOS/Long-slit future enhancements. instruments. The design of a Generic IFU package was only just completed and implementation has now begun with New releases of Gemini/IRAF software will be announced on similar goals of providing a common reduction package for IFU the Gemini, NGSC, and IRAF home pages as they become instruments. A GEMINI V2.0 release planned for this summer available. For more information and progress reports, will make available the first installments of both packages as please see iraf.noao.edu and www.gemini.edu/sciops/data/ well as other compiled and script-task modifications aimed dataSoftwareReleases.html. at improving processing efficiency and meeting the project’s goals of a more robust package.

March 2005 15 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 16 provide a description of the instrument. instrument. of the adescription provide and drivers science key two the highlight briefly we Here, jul04/jul04.pdf (see the of issue 2004 July the in found be design can early basic and An case scientific months. primary the few of a discussion in Observatory Gemini the to presented be will study team’s feasibility Centre. our of results The Data Astronomy Canadian the of and University Portsmouth, Durham, of University University, and Oxford Observatory University, Hopkins Johns Anglo-Australian team: which international an the involves study, by led feasibility being this is in participating is NOAO telescope. on alarge-aperture capability multi-object existing any over gain order-of-magnitude an (~1.5-degree-diameter) more than afford wide-field would instrument an Such spectrometer. very multiplexed (~5,000-fiber), highly a of study feasibility a commissioned Observatory Gemini multi- the result, a optical As fiber-fed spectrometer. object wide-field a of development pursue the June Observatory Gemini in the that Workshop recommended 2003 Instrumentation attending Aspen community Gemini the astronomical the the them, of address members to 90 spectroscopy wide-field the and of questions, power these of importance the Recognizing components? dynamical different Galaxy’s our of formation there the to Are threads common Galaxy? our of history form the dark is galaxies What of do evolve? How and nature scales? the small is and What large on how? matter so, if and time, with of What is it Does equation the astrophysics: of state change energy? dark in questions BIG really the of some address can surveys Such astrophysics. stellar and dynamics, and evolution formation, galaxy cosmology, provide of surveys probes unique spectroscopic large result, a As and masses. content, stellar metallicities, densities, chemistry, temperatures, kinematics, dynamics, distances, example, to for objects, and astronomical Universe, of properties the fundamental shape measure that processes physical the to probe which tool with observational a powerful provides W NGSC Following the Aspen Process: The Gemini Wide-Field Arjun Dey (NOAO), Daniel Eisenstein (University of Arizona), Rosie Wyse (Johns Hopkins University) Wyse & Rosie Hopkins (Johns of Arizona), (University (NOAO), Dey Arjun Eisenstein Daniel March 2005 www.aao.gov.au/AAO/local/www/lib/newsletters/ ide-field spectroscopic surveys have the the Spectroscopy contents. its have and Universe understanding the of our revolutionize surveys to potential spectroscopic ide-field ). ). Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) Sam Barden (Anglo-Australian Observatory), for the WFMOS the Team for Observatory), (Anglo-Australian Barden Sam AAO Newsletter Newsletter AAO or planned or

recombination, their wavelength provides a robust standard standard robust a provides wavelength signatures their recombination, of are epoch the at spectrum oscillations power baryonic the the on imprinted Since tool. pre-recombination cosmological powerful current a the unlocks our also but in paradigm, in structure-formation assumptions underlying conditions the and physical universe the understanding fundamental of our both reinforces only not distribution of galaxy the power spectrum the in oscillations of the ofpresence confirmation acoustic recent observational the example, For Universe. to the of understanding surveys our shape spectroscopic and imaging the wide-field of demonstrate power (2DF) (SDSS) Survey Field Survey Two-Degree Sky the Digital and Sloan the from results Recent Sound Cosmic and Energy Dark Comparedwithother probes ofdark energy (e.g., weak lensing, instrument. this with feasible only therefore is and degrees), requires (~1h volume large a over distance) galaxies) (~million samples diameter galaxy large of angular surveys redshift the in a percent in (<3 spectrum measurement precise power A 3). ~ z and 1 ~ (z galaxy Spectrograph redshifts of range the the in of wavelength oscillations Multi-Object the acoustic measure to able Wide-Field be will (WFMOS) Gemini The for cosmography. ruler telescope (illustration by NOAO). by (illustration telescope Gemini the on concept instrument WFMOS the of Illustration -3 Gpc 3 ; i.e., several hundred square square hundred several i.e., ; continued

NGSC

Following the Aspen Process: WFMOS continued supernovae, and cluster methods), the acoustic oscillations means of piezoelectrically controlled tip-tiltable spines. This provide an independent and less model-dependent probe concept was developed by the AAO and is being implemented whose sole reliance on redshift measurements is potentially for the FMOS spectrograph on Subaru. The fibers feed more robust against systematic errors. 12 low-resolution spectrographs, based on either existing Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) or AAOmega designs, and Galaxy Genesis at least one high-resolution spectrograph. The goal is to Models dominated by Cold Dark Matter have found provide both low-resolution (R < 1,500) and high-resolution considerable success in simulating the large-scale structure (R ~ 30,000) spectroscopy across as much of the field of the Universe, but have been challenged by observations as possible. on the smaller scales of galaxies and their satellites. For example, standard models vastly over-predict the number Currently, it is not clear which telescope will host the of satellites, predict very cuspy dark matter distributions in instrument. The Gemini Observatory has requested that the the central regions of galaxies, and predict more late-time Feasibility Study Team detail the spectrograph for Gemini, merging in disk galaxies than is likely, given the stability but to also investigate the feasibility of the instrument at the of disks. The most robust way of understanding both the prime focus of the Subaru telescope. small-scale structure of dark matter and the evolutionary history of a galaxy is to observe the former directly (through Legacy Data and Community Science its influence on stellar kinematics) and infer the latter from The only way for WFMOS to tackle the key projects the chemical and dynamical fossil record encoded in the described above in a timely manner is for it to be operated light of the old stars. in campaign mode. However, we have considered multiple paths through which community involvement can be Through high-resolution spectroscopy, WFMOS will ensured. First, the community is invited to participate in the provide detailed kinematics and elemental abundances key science projects. Second, the key projects may not fill all for hundreds of thousands of representative stars in our the fibers, and there will be the possibility of assigning fibers Galaxy and our Local Group (disk galaxy) neighbors, to other sources in the regions of the sky targeted by the key which when coupled with models, will allow us to trace projects. Third, the data products from the key projects will chemical evolution, star formation, and mass assembly clearly be of invaluable use for a plethora of other projects in these systems. In its low-resolution mode, WFMOS (galaxy evolution, galactic dynamics, stellar populations, to spectroscopy of even larger samples of thick disk and halo name a few), and the databases will be open to the public. stars will constrain the merger history and substructure in Fourth, the instrument will be available as a standard user these components. instrument. After all, even a single observation results in spectroscopic observations of a sample of approximately five The Instrument thousand objects! The instrument design for WFMOS is based on that for the Kilo-Aperture Optical Spectrograph (KAOS; see www.noao. The Future edu/kaos). WFMOS is a prime-focus instrument covering Contingent on a successful review of the feasibility study, a field of view 1.5 degrees in diameter. The optical design we anticipate that this instrument will enter a conceptual delivers ~0.5-arcsec images to the 1-arcsec-diameter fibers, design phase during the latter part of 2005. In an optimistic and provides fast guiding through a wobble-plate. The focal funding scenario, we envision WFMOS to be operational on plane is populated by nearly 5,000 fibers, positioned by a telescope by the beginning of the next decade.

Notable Quotes NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

“There were a total of 2,947 first-year graduate physics and astronomy students in 2002, and 3,076 in 2003, the highest level since 1994. For US students, the most popular subfields are astronomy and astrophysics (16%), condensed matter (14%), and particles and fields (11%). Among foreign students, condensed matter (22%) is first, followed by particles and fields (10%). A quarter of all students had not yet chosen a subfield by the end of their first year.” —American Institute of Physics “AIP Report,” October 2004

March 2005 17 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 18 NICI T FLAMINGOS-2 Gemini on deployed be to 2005. in South expected is been NICI had Gemini by completed. acceptance final NICI to work the of 96 that percent reported At MKIR end the of 2004, December complete. percent 80 approximately are that NICI the of drafts delivered has MKIR addition, In instrument. integration the into for array lenslet fiber the delivered also has IfA requirements. NICI stringent the meet to intended are that mirrors deformable 85-element of batch new a produced has AO system, forthe components the providing is which (IfA), Astronomy for Institute ofHawaii The University continues. on NICI forthe AO Progress time. first the integrated system been have enclosures electronics cooled two the of one and frame, mounting enclosure cooled telescope, Gemini the to TheNICI cryostat,adaptive optics (AO)bench, mounting plate NGSC FLAMINGOS-2, under the leadership of Principal Principal Eikenberry. Steve of Investigator leadership the under FLAMINGOS-2, building is Florida of University The system. optics for South’s adaptive multiconjugate capability Gemini spectroscopic a multi-object provide also Itfield. will over a 6.1×2-arcmin spectra multi-object provide will at field Gemini 6.1-arcmin-diameter standard the a cover Gemini will It to relocated South. being before period some for multi-object be at and will North commissioned used Gemini there near-infrared it a telescopes; for Gemini imager and the spectrograph is FLAMINGOS-2 under the leadership of Doug Toomey. telescope. South NICI,building is Hilo(MKIR) in Mauna KeaInfrared Gemini the on capability coronagraphic imaging dual-beam 5-micron to 1- a provide will (NICI) Imager Coronagraphic Infrared Near The being developed in the United States, with progress since the December 2004 2004 December the since progress with States, United the in developed being Gemini telescopes in support the of for frontline science programs. instrumentation capable and Thisarticlegives innovative provide a to mission statusits updatecontinues onProgram Geminiinstrumentation Instrumentation NGSC he March 2005 sr Manual Users NGSC Instrumentation Program Update f /16 focus in imaging mode, and and mode, /16 imaging in focus and and evc Clbain Manual Calibration Service Taft & Mark Armandroff Trueblood continued

The FLAMINGOS-2 OIWFS being tested at HIA. at tested OIWFS being FLAMINGOS-2 The integrating the instrument. the integrating in progress shows 2004 December from NICI of image This NOAO-NSO Newsletter . NGSC

NGSC Intrumentation Program Update continued

FLAMINGOS-2 is in the early part of the integration phase OIWFS has undergone testing at HIA. FLAMINGOS-2 of the project. Over the last quarter, Florida received several mechanical fabrication is 95 percent complete; parts are being key flat mirrors and lenses from its optics vendors. The On- assembled for system integration and testing. Dewar wiring Instrument Wavefront Sensor (OIWFS) is being provided by is underway. At the end of December 2004, 65 percent of the the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (HIA), which based the work to FLAMINGOS-2 final acceptance by Gemini had been FLAMINGOS-2 OIWFS on the OIWFS that they developed completed. for the two GMOS instruments. The FLAMINGOS-2

NGSC Booth at the AAS Meeting in San Diego

The NOAO Gemini Science Center booth at the January 2005 AAS meeting generated a lot of discussions with the community. NGSC staff answered questions about how to apply for time on the Gemini telescopes and about instrument capabilities, and provided tutorials on the Phase II process. Brochures were also available on the Gemini instruments, the Gemini Science Archive, and how to propose for Gemini time. NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

Top left: Tom Matheson (NGSC) and Alceste Bonanos (Harvard University). Top right, foreground: Taft Armandroff (NGSC), Bruce Carney (University of North Carolina), Nancy Levenson (University of Kentucky) and Verne Smith (NGSC). Center: Jay Frogel (AURA), Bill Smith (AURA), Taft Armandroff (NGSC), and Verne Smith (NGSC). Bottom left: Robin Ciardullo (Penn State University), Taft Armandroff (NGSC), and Chick Woodward (University of Minnesota). Bottom right: Todd Boroson (NOAO) and Keivan Stassun (Vanderbilt University).

March 2005 19 OBSERVATIONALPROGRAMS NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

2005B Standard Proposals Due 31 March 2005

Todd Boroson

tandard proposals for NOAO-coordinated observing time for semester 2005B (August 2005 – January 2006) are due by Thursday evening, 31 March 2005, midnight MST. The facilities available this semester include the Gemini North and South telescopes, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (now including SOAR), Kitt Peak National Observatory, and community-access time with the SHobby-Eberly Telescope, Magellan I and II, and MMT.

Proposal materials and information are available on our Web page (www.noao.edu/noaoprop/). There are three options for submission:

• Web submissions—The Web form may be used to complete and submit all proposals. The information provided on the Web form is formatted and submitted as a LaTeX file, including figures that are “attached” to the Web proposal as encapsulated PostScript files.

• E-mail submissions—As in previous semesters, a customized LaTeX file may be downloaded from the Web proposal form, after certain required fields have been completed. “Essay” sections can then be edited locally and the proposal submitted by e-mail. Please carefully follow the instructions in the LaTeX template for submitting proposals and figures.

• Gemini’s Phase-I Tool (PIT)—Investigators proposing for Gemini time only may optionally use Gemini’s tool, which runs on Solaris, RedHat Linux, and Windows platforms, and can be downloaded from www.gemini.edu/sciops/P1help/p1Index.html.

Note that proposals for Gemini time may also be submitted using the standard NOAO form, and proposals that request time on Gemini plus other telescopes MUST use the standard NOAO form. PIT-submitted proposals will be converted for printing at NOAO, and are subject to the same page limits as other NOAO proposals. To ensure a smooth translation, please see the guidelines at www.noao.edu/ noaoprop/help/pit.html.

The addresses below are available to help with proposal preparation and submission:

Web proposal materials and information www.noao.edu/noaoprop/ Request help for proposal preparation [email protected] Address for thesis and visitor instrument letters, as well as consent [email protected] letters, for use of PI instruments on the MMT Address for submitting LaTeX proposals by e-mail [email protected] Gemini-related questions about operations or instruments [email protected] www.noao.edu/gateway/gemini/support.html

CTIO-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected] KPNO-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected] HET-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected] MMT-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected] Magellan-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected]

20 March 2005 Observational Programs

NOAO Survey Program Proposals Due 15 March 2005

Todd Boroson

ollowing a review by the AURA Observatories Council, the NOAO Survey Program will be • Proposals will be reviewed by a separate Survey accepting proposals for new surveys to start in Panel, prior to being considered by the merging Fthe 2005B and 2006A semesters. This program supports Time Allocation Committee (TAC) for inclusion large observational projects that allow the identification into the ranked lists for the available telescopes. of complete, well-defined samples that can yield both They will be evaluated on scientific merit, conclusions based on statistical analysis of the survey data broader impact to society, the credibility of their itself, and also provide important subsets for more detailed management plan, the effectiveness of their data observations with larger telescopes. In the four years distribution plan, and the value of proposed (1999–2002) in which surveys were solicited, 15 were deliverables to community. Separate grades in accepted. All but four of these will have been completed by each of these areas will be combined to determine the start of semester 2005B. a final ranking.

Investigators must have submitted letters of intent a. Note that “broader impact,” the NSF’s to propose for the NOAO Survey Program to second criterion, can be effectively [email protected] by 15 February 2005 to be eligible to addressed by the inclusion of propose for a new NOAO Survey Program. Letters coinvestigators from non-PhD-granting should have included the broad scientific goals of institutions. the program, the membership of the survey team, the telescope(s) and instrument(s) to be requested, b. Note that for most surveys, reduced, the approximate amount of telescope time to be calibrated images are a desirable requested, and the duration of the proposed survey. deliverable, as opposed to catalogs of Full proposals are due 15 March 2005. objects. Following recommendation for support by the NOAO TAC, NOAO Changes or clarifications to the guidelines for the Survey may negotiate an agreement on the Program include the following: deliverables, the manner in which they will be distributed to the community, and • All telescopes on which NOAO allocates time are the schedule for delivery with successful available for surveys except for the Gemini, Keck, proposers. and Magellan telescopes. • It is imperative that proposers carefully and • The nominal cap for the survey program is explicitly justify the number of nights requested, 20 percent of the telescope time. Large including allowance for integration time on (>4.2 meter), medium (3.5 meter – 4.2 meter), program objects and calibration exposures, as and small (<3.5 meter) telescopes are considered well as the appropriate overheads. No increase separately. Survey allocations may exceed the cap for the expected weather statistics should be for small telescopes if the overall oversubscription included. We intend to grant time that includes an rate is low. increase based on statistical weather information that should allow most surveys to complete their • The maximum period over which survey observations. Surveys will be given one chance—

observations are carried out is three years in their penultimate year—to justify an additional NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter (formerly five). An exception may be made for supplemental allocation if they have suffered from time-domain surveys that require longer time technical problems at the telescope or weather coverage. significantly worse than average.

• The deadline for survey proposals is For further information on the NOAO Survey Program, see 15 March 2005. The proposal form is longer and www.noao.edu/gateway/surveys/. somewhat different than the regular proposal form, and it includes questions about management plan and data distribution. The current version of the form is available at the NOAO Web site.

March 2005 21 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 22 in particular. We welcome Letizia’s participation in the the in participation NOAO Letizia’s TAC evolving process. continually welcome We TAC meetings particular. Institute Science in Telescope scientific Space of the and general organization in the with experience who brings over TACthe Stanghellini, handing job to Letizia is He research. and work spend Observatory to Virtual on time more duties TAC his from down stepping is an Dave of end era. the marks 2005B, cycle, proposal upcoming The someone from TAC’s the many opinion. with call disagreed who a many, fielding editing occasionally and meetings, comments, TAC running panel together—finding members, thing whole the held who person the remained Dave Pole. South the at one once, telescopes including, time different 23 on dark time out than gave it rather time; bright and lines discipline along it TAC; NOAO divided the was became committee The us. of with rest along the evolved he and guy, Committee versatile a Allocation is Dave Time (TAC). Peak Kitt the ran Young De B As a result of awards made through the National Science Foundation’s Telescope System Instrumentation Program Program Instrumentation following the System at Telescope community astronomical Foundation’s general the Science to 2005B: in available National facilities is time the telescope program, through earlier similar made a and (TSIP) awards of result a As always, investigators are encouraged to check the NOAO Web site for any last-minute changes before starting aproposal. starting before NOAO the changes check to Web last-minute for any site encouraged are investigators always, be might HIRES with time though be can found in to 2005B at we be 2005B, end the As available expect ofsection. A Gemini. of this list in instruments through available offered be not will telescopes Keck the with time community-access General Observational Programs Community Access Time Available in 2005B with HET, c we osrig rpsl wr tpd on typed Dave nitrogen, or just gas were forming in plates your bake proposals and you had if you to observing typewriters specify were going to when ack MT Observatory— MMT • Telescopes— Magellan • Telescope— Hobby-Eberly • March 2005 Hectospec, Hectochelle, and ARIES. For further information, see see information, For further ARIES. and Hectochelle, Hectospec, MegaCam, offered: are being in 2005B. Four new instruments of Observatory telescope the MMT 6.5-meter see instructions, proposal and instrumentation on available information updated For Observatory. Campanas Las at telescopes Clay and Baade 6.5-meter the with proposals, observing writing for instructions Spectrographs. and Low-Resolution instrumentation see and HET Medium-, on High-, information the latest the include For instruments at and integration Available for (HET) available Telescope be to time. Hobby-Eberly expected set-up are hours 76 9.2-meter-effective-aperture about 2005B, the During with Observatory. McDonald available are year scheduled www.noao.edu/gateway/het/ Twelve nights of classically scheduled observing time will be available with the the with available be will time observing scheduled classically of nights Twelve A total of seven nights will be available for classically scheduled observing programs programs observing scheduled for be classically available A will of total nights seven Magellan, and MMT The End of an Era About 16 clear nights of community-access queue observations per fully fully per observations queue community-access of nights clear 16 About Todd &Dave Bell Boroson . Todd Boroson task task of matching up researchers nights on with telescopes. and an immeasurable (very large) contribution to the difficult I’d like to Davethank for his many years of dedicated service Bistro, Le of owner the from and schedulers, telescope and directors observatory NOAO, at staff processing proposal TACand TACmembers, past and current all of behalf On Dave De Young addressing members of the 2005A Galactic panels. www.noao.edu/gateway/magellan/ www.noao.edu/gateway/mmt/ . .

Observational Programs

Observing Request Statistics for 2005A Standard Proposals

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March 2005 23 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 24 ������ ���� ����� �� ������������ ����� ��� � � ����������� ��������� � � � �������������� ��������� � � ��������������������� ����������� � ������������� � � ���� � � � ����� � � ������ � � ����������� � ������ � � ��������������� � � ������ � � � ��������� � ����������� ���������� � � �������� ������������ ���� ���� ��� � ��������� � � ��������� ������������������������� � ������ ��������� ����� ������������������ � ����� � ����������� � � ������ � ����������� ���������� ������������������ ����� � ���� � � ���� ������������������� � ���������� �� �������������������� � ����� � ����������� � ���������� � � ����� ���������� ���� ���������� ��� � ������������ � � ��������� � � ��������� ������������������ � � ��������������������� ������������������ ��������������������������������� � � ���������� ��������������������������������� � � ���������� �������� � ��������������������������� ���������� � ������������ ����� �� ��� � ����� � ����������� � ���������� � ������������ ���������� ������������������ ����� � ���� � � ���� ������������������� � ���������� �������������� ������ �� ��� � ����� � ������������� ������������������ � � ������ ����� ����������������� ���� � ������ � ����������� �������������� � ����������� ������ �������������� ������ �� ��� � ����� � ������������� ������������������ � � ������ Observational Programs ������������������������ ������������������������ � � � � � � � � March 2005 � � ��� ��� ��������� ��������� KPNO Instruments Available for 2005B ���������� ��������������������������� ���� �������� ��������� ���� � ���������� � � ��������� ���� �������� ���������� ���� � ���������� � � ��������� ���� ������������������ ��� � ���������� � � ��������� ����������������� � �������������������������������� � � ������� �� � ���������� ���� �� � ���������� ���� � ���� � ������� ������������� �� � � � � � ������������� ������������ �� �� ���������� � ����������� � � ���� � � � � � � � Observational Programs

CTIO Instruments Available for 2005B

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March 2005 25 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 26 ������������������������������ � � � ������ � ������������ �� � ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� � � � � � � � � � � � ������������ � � � � ������������������� � � � �������������������� � � �������� � � � ����������������� � � � ������� � ���� �������������� � ������������������ � ��������� ����� ����������� � � ��� � � � � �������������� � � � ���������� � ��������� ������������ �� �� ����� ������� � � � � ����� � � � � ����� � ������������������������� ����������� � ������������������� � ����� � � � � � ����������� � � ���� � � � ������������������ � � � ���������� � �������������� � � � ����������� � � � �� � � � ����������� � � � � ����� � ������������������������� � ���������������������� � ����������� � � �������� � � � ����������������� � � � ������� � Observational Programs �������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������� ���������������� � � � ������������ ��� ������������������������� � � March 2005 � Gemini Instruments Possibly Available for 2005B � �������������� � � �������������� � ���� � ��������� � ���� � ��������� � ���������������� � �������������������� ������� ������� � ��������������� � ������� ������� � ��������������� � ��� �� ���������� ����� � μ μ � μ ������������������ � ������������������� � � �� ������ ��� � ��������������� � � ������ � � ���� � �� � � �� μ � � �� � ������������� � � ����� �� ��� � � ��������� � � ������ � ��� � ����� ������������������ � ����������� � ��� ������� � ����� � �� � μ ������������� �������������������� � � ������ ����� ��� � � ������ � �� ����� ��� � � ������ � �� � � ����������� � �������� ������ � �������� * �� � ����� ����� ������������� � � � � � ��� ���� � � ����� � � Observational Programs

HET Instruments Available for 2005B

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MMT Instruments Available for 2005B

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Magellan Instruments Available for 2005B � � ��������� ����������� ��������������� ������� ����� � � � � ���������

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March 2005 27 CTIO/CERROTOLOLO INTER-AMERICAN OBSERVATORY

A Simple Turbulence Simulator for Adaptive Optics

Sandrine Thomas

hile the adaptive optics (AO) community fights daily to I have used disks of simple BK7 glass from Rolyn and hair spray correct the distortions introduced by the atmosphere from Schwarzkopf with good results, though many brands might or by the liquid inside human eyes, I concentrated my give similar results. This product contains a component called Wefforts in making physical turbulence simulators to create those Amphomer, which resembles a resin. A first layer of resin is perturbations. Such physical turbulence simulators are needed for deposited onto the glass that creates the low frequencies of the engineering work and optimization of AO-driven instruments. distortion. A second layer put on a few minutes later creates the high frequencies. The aim is to create distortion with a Kolmogorov The SOAR telescope in Chile is dedicated to high angular spectral behavior similar to that of Earth’s atmosphere. resolution. For this reason it will be equipped with an AO instrument, the SOAR Adaptive Module (SAM), that will be able When the resin is dry, the Amphomer layer is protected by putting to improve the image quality by a factor of 2 to 5 in the visible, another disc in front of the first one, separated by circular shims. thanks to a partial correction of the first few kilometers of the It is sealed under the pressure of an outside mechanical ring. atmosphere. TurSim is the turbulence simulator designed for SAM, and consists of telescope emulation with transparent Phase Screen Characteristics turbulent phase screens in its pupil. From an image taken in the focal plane of our telescope simulator (see figure 1), one can draw a very qualitative conclusion: the Over the past few decades, the need for phase screens in astronomy behavior of the distortions of the image due to the phase screens increased with the number of AO systems. Several different are very similar to the ones seen due to atmospheric turbulence technologies, using both reflective and refractive methods, have with a real telescope. been developed. (For a nice review of these technologies, see Butler 2003, SPIE 4839, 623–34.)

Phase Screens—Techniques In the reflective category, one finds deformable mirrors (DM), liquid crystal modulators (LC; Birch et al. 1997, SPIE 3126, 185–90; Gordon et al. 1997, Appl. Opt. 36, 1517–24), or rotating mirrors with distorted surfaces. DM and LC are also used as correctors and have given satisfactory results so far. Transmissive phase screens have the advantage of leading to more compact simulators, especially when more than one layer is considered. Figure 1. Image of a monochromatic point source with the simulated The first and most natural technique is to use fluid simulators— telescope, without phase screen on the left and with phase screen with air or water—which are complex in practice. Clever ideas on the right. These graphs show the degradation of the image such as photosculpture (Navarro and Moreno-Barriuso 2000, Opt. quality when putting phase plates in the beam. The aperture is Let. 25, 236–38), laser writing, near index matching (Rhoadarmer about 8 millimeters on the phase screen for an r0 ±500 millimeters and Angel 2001, Appl. Opt. 40, 2946–55), and sodium-silver ion (λ = 633 nanometers). exchange (Butler et al. 2003, Proc SPIE 4839, 623-634) have been explored with success. To characterize the screens more quantitatively, I used the Fried

parameter r0 defined as λ/α, where α is the seeing. I measured this

The drawback of these techniques is their high cost and complexity. r0 by three means: the modal representation, the power spectrum Therefore, I focused on easy ways to make cheap phase screens, representation, and the optical transfer function (see Thomas and discovered that a phase plate with reasonable characteristics 2004, SPIE 5490, 766–73). The turbulence model used is based on can be fabricated by depositing multiple layers of ordinary hair the Kolmogorov law. spray onto a glass substrate. continued

28 March 2005 CTIO

A Simple Turbulence Simulator for AO continued

All three methods demonstrate a reasonable match of rotating phase screens, and the re-imaging lens. The our phase screens to the Kolmogorov law. The average re-imaging lens images the phase screens at the SOAR measured value of r0 over six disks is 500 ±100 micrometers telescope pupil location. at 633 nanometers. An average Fried diameter of about r0 ≈330 micrometers is reached when using two phase We plan to use both monochromatic and polychromatic screens. The uncertainty is due to the imperfect sources. The monochromatic source will be either a diode homogeneity of the phase screens leading to variations of laser or a UV LED (emitting at about 370 nanometers) r0 over the disk. However, this imperfection is negligible. mounted directly in the TurSim box. The polychromatic source will be a white LED with a pinhole. Several configurations of seeing, from bad to good, can be simulated Implementation by either putting one or two phase screens in the beam and/ The SOAR telescope emulation, called TurSim, will have or by changing the re-imaging lens. two of these phase screens introduced in the pupil plane. TurSim is composed of three modules: the sources, the The disks rotate to simulate the wind. In order to get a better sampling of the turbulence statistic, the rotation speed of the two disks differs slightly for one another.

TurSim will be used in three distinct operational modes. These different modes call for different degrees of flexibility, as far as the sources, the seeing configuration and the phase screen motion are concerned:

• Laboratory experiments—All the components of the system will be easily reachable and changeable. For maximum flexibility, different configurations of seeing will be provided using different lenses, power supplies, and sources.

• AO Bench development—After the previous tests, some parameters are fixed, such as the rotation of the disks. Since we are working with the real instrument, no optical table is used. The different configurations now come in modules, still allowing flexibility in the tests.

• At the telescope—For this mode, only one source and one configuration of seeing will be used. TurSim will allow for quick checks of the AO performance of SAM at the telescope.

TurSim is a fairly simple instrument that will give us a lot of flexibility throughout the difficult process of testing SAM Figure 2: The prototype simulator installed in the laboratory, in the laboratory as well as on the telescope. with the disks mounted on a rigid platform, as they will NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter be mounted in the TurSim module for SAM. Each disk is connected to its own DC motor, with variable speed.

March 2005 29 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 30 Survey (DES) consortium. This group—consisting of group—consisting This consortium. Energy (DES) Dark the Survey called group a by submitted, was intent C a Design and Development phase, searching for additional additional for searching phase, Development and Design a At present, into proceeding the is consortium simultaneously many provided which suggestions. useful Committee, User’s NOAO the to made also were Presentations built. be instrument the that recommended which panel, expert external an by reviewed of variety science projects by wide the general community. a The for was proposal useful be also will that instrument an Theto DESsubmitted proposal NOAO in describes 2004 July area Web DES at site the (see similar a over Survey, Sky Digital Sloan the than data of set deeper a producing years, five over time Blanco the of -> surveys 19 surveys. The DESSNAP/DESTINY wouldoccupy 30 LSST-PanSTARRS percent -> Blanco Survey -> Energy Surveys Dark Legacy CFHT ESSENCE, of track the along neatly the fits capability than new the efficient as science, less in and 10 LSST; factor a but II, Mosaic + the Blanco than efficient more 10 of factor a nearly being by sky), of area times area collecting (telescope A-Omega in (LSST); Camera SynopticBlancoLargetelescope theTelescopetheSurvey Energy and Dark the (DECam) would hemisphere, bridge the gap (2009–2014)in time between southern the In focus. prime Blanco for the camera CCD mosaic large very a build Lawrence to NOAO, with collaboration and in Berkeley, Laboratory—proposes, at National Berkeley California of University the Fermilab, the University of the Illinois, University of Chicago, CTIO for the Blanco 4-meter telescope. A single letter of letter single A telescope. 4-meter Blanco the for in instrument new major a develop to Opportunity 2003 November of Announcement an issued TIO March 2005 The Dark Energy Camera: AProgress Report www.darkenergysurvey.org) . Alistair Walker Alistair

camera and its subsequent use—please send any input to to input [email protected] the any send of use—please subsequent capabilities its and the camera on community astronomical the are design from suggestions and comments DECam solicit to actively continue the to at relating highlighted issues key Several development. archive and pipeline the to contribution major a NEWFIRM making be also earlier NOAOwill instrument). the infrared (and DECam the accommodate possible improvements Peoples for the Blanco telescope to optimally John Director Project ( contact should partners NOAO. on of with a Agreement Memorandum Prospective iterating and required, resources the out round to partners aur meig f h Aeia Atooia Scey in San Diego. Society Astronomical the American the at of booth meeting exhibit January NOAO the at featured was by Fermilab provided Camera Energy Dark the of model full-sized A [email protected] www.ctio.noao.edu/telescopes/dec.html. www.ctio.noao.edu/telescopes/dec.html. ). CTIO staff members are reviewing reviewing are members staff CTIO ). . We CTIO

New Filter Transmission Measurements for Mosaic II at Blanco Prime Focus

Sean Points & Nick Suntzeff

he Mosaic II imager, used at the Blanco 4-meter To simulate the response of the individual Mosaic II telescope prime focus, takes filters that are 146 × 146 filters, we make scans of the filters in red and blue light at millimeters and 12-millimeter thick. Narrowband filter tilts ranging between -12 to +10 degrees. These scans Tinterference filters working in a fast beam normally have are made using the CTIO Ocean Optics SD2000 Fiber a blue-shifted transmission curve from that produced in a Optic Spectrometer in the CTIO Optics Lab in La Serena. parallel or near-parallel beam. The amount of wavelength The curves are combined and then processed using the shift can be as much as ~20 angstroms for the f/2.67 f-ratio simulation code to produce final transmission curves. (f/2.87 if using the Prime Focus Atmospheric Dispersion To date, we have measured the V, R, I, old I, and [O III] Corrector) of the Blanco 4-meter prime focus. filters and are in the process of measuring the remaining filters. Current filter transmission curves can be found at Because the wavelength shift depends on filter design, the www.ctio.noao.edu/~points/FILTERS. thickness of materials used, and their indices of refraction, we cannot simply predict the filter transmission curves in Once the remaining filters are measured and processed, we will a fast beam. Therefore, we simulate the response of the update the main CTIO Optical Imagers and Filters Web page Mosaic II filters in a fast beam, using software written (www.ctio.noao.edu/instruments/optical_instruments.html). by George Jacoby.

Other Happenings at CTIO

CTIO REU/PIA Program 2005 On January 17, eight undergraduate students (six US and two Chilean students) arrived in La Serena to participate in the 2005 CTIO REU/PIA program. Prácticas de Investigación en Astronomía (PIA) is a CTIO-funded program providing the opportunity for two Chilean students to participate in the undergraduate summer program at CTIO, similar to the NSF’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.

This year’s students are Sonia Aggrawal (Haverford College), Claire Bendersky (Mt. Holyoke College), Ben Brandvig (University of Washington), Elizabeth Mills (Indiana University), Laura Pérez (Universidad de Chile), Dylan Semler (Macalaster College), Alexander Carver (University of Wisconsin–Madison), and Omar Valdivia (Universidad de Concepción).

Apart from carrying out a scientific research project in collaboration with CTIO staff members, the students participate in seminars by the CTIO staff, an observing run at the CTIO 0.9-meter telescope, and a tour of Gemini South and SOAR. Perhaps most significantly, the students have the unique opportunity to live abroad and work at an international observatory, experiencing Chilean culture while living and working with their Chilean counterparts. For more information on this program, see

www.ctio.noao.edu/REU/ctioreu_2005/REU2005.html. NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

Sabbaticals at CTIO David Spergel, theoretical astrophysicist from Princeton University, was on sabbatical at CTIO from last August through mid-January. During this time he was fully immersed in the Chilean scientific environment, participating in conferences and schools, and giving many lectures. Here in La Serena, the highlight was a series of five Cosmology lectures given in a single week. Since many of the audience rarely venture outside the cosmic backyard, this was a fascinating overview of the field.

Just as David was nearing the end of his stay, Abhijit Saha, astronomer from NOAO North, arrived in La Serena. While spending five months at CTIO, Abi will continue to work on LSST operation simulation models, and he will participate in CTIO observatory support functions, such as the calibration of Mosaic II. We are delighted to have this intensive time with Abi.

March 2005 31 KPNO/KITTPEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY

KPNO and the NSF Senior Review

Richard Green & Buell Jannuzi

s discussed in the NOAO Director’s section, the National undergraduate astronomy education, and cost effectiveness. We Science Foundation (NSF) Astronomical Sciences Division are preparing to make that case clearly and forcefully. has announced that they will be holding a Senior Review Aof many of their currently operating facilities around the middle It is your voice, however, that must ultimately be heard for the of this calendar year. There is no doubt that consideration of the continuing value of proposal-driven access to Kitt Peak telescopes. level of continuing national investment in telescopes on Kitt Peak Do you see a successful proposal for Mayall or WIYN telescope will be a part of the review. With the Astronomy Division’s stated time as a useful or even essential component of your research target of reprogrammed funding to support development of new program? Are you anticipating new observing opportunities with major initiatives from the Decadal Survey, the review panel will in NEWFIRM, IRMOS, QUOTA, or the upgraded Hydra+Bench all likelihood consider the entire range of possibilities for KPNO, spectrograph? Were you planning on making KPNO data a part from full funding to no further base support in the NOAO budget. of your graduate student’s thesis work or advanced undergraduate The initial impact of any decision will probably be felt no earlier training? Do you think that, in principle, wide-field 4-meter than FY 2007. The practical consequence will be the pace and telescopes continue to play a vital role in the system of US telescopes degree of privatization of the public share of current facilities. for which time can be won by competitive proposal? If your answer is yes to any or all of these questions, we would like to hear from We are certain that KPNO will receive high marks on criteria you. A thick appendix of personal expressions about the future such as scientific productivity (papers produced and citation rates value of national time on Kitt Peak telescopes will be a powerful per observing night awarded), support of technical innovation statement to the panel. With thanks, we anticipate your e-mails to in university instrument groups, impact on graduate and [email protected] or [email protected].

“Don’t mess with Kitt Peak—we have aerial protection!” The observatory served as a striking backdrop for a photo flyby last November of F-16s from the Arizona Air National Guard. We are grateful for their permission to share the image with you.

32 March 2005 KPNO

Conceptual Design Review for the WIYN One-Degree Imager

Richard Green & Patricia Knezek (WIYN)

n expert review panel has given the WIYN One- outcomes—the first lots of both (complementary) designs Degree Imager (ODI) project a “green light” to produced devices that image. proceed with preliminary design and further Adetector development. Dennis Crabtree (NRC-HIA) Their constructive suggestion was that the Preliminary served as the chairman of the review, which was held Design Review be scheduled when the project can in Tucson 6–7 January 2005. He was joined by John demonstrate a likely expectation for full production of Geary (SAO) and Stephen Holland (Lawrence Berkeley science-grade devices. The project goal is to hold the review Laboratory), who have expertise in CCD and controller near the end of this calendar year, pending successful development; Tom O’Brien (Ohio State University), who outcome of upcoming foundry runs. is experienced in the mechanical design of astronomical instrumentation; and Lynn Seppala (Lawrence Livermore Other useful recommendations included early investment National Laboratory), who is the optical designer in technology leading to large filter production; timely responsible for the current baseline design of the Large completion of the optical design to initiate purchases of the Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). large elements with long lead times; characterization of the as-built telescope over the full field of view to assure good The review panel’s most important conclusion was that “the optical performance; gaining further experience with the conceptual designs presented in the review material appear CCD version of the Monsoon controller; attending to some likely to meet the scientific and technical requirements specific mechanical design considerations; and, carefully as presented.” scoping the software efforts required. The report contains a wealth of other technical and staffing recommendations The panel’s view was that the highest risk lay in developing that will be very valuable to the project and to the WIYN the new CCD architecture for orthogonal transfer Board, to whom the report was delivered. arrays (OTAs) to the point of routine production of sufficient devices to meet the required performance. The success of community projects like this one depends They recognized that the highly productive interaction on careful and constructive reviews. The WIYN between the PanSTARRS team plus MIT Lincoln Labs Consortium is very grateful to this panel for their time and and the WIYN project plus Semi-Conductor Technology their thoughts, which will lead to real improvements in the Associates and Dalsa was proceeding rapidly with positive design and execution of this exciting instrument. NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

An image from the STA/Dalsa device (left) and the MIT Lincoln device (right). All 64 cells on the STA device work, but one of them is not turned on in this image due to limited control of the clock voltages through the logic circuit. The MIT device has four dead cells, although another OTA from the MIT run has all 64 cells operable at once.

March 2005 33 NATIONALSOLAROBSERVATORY TUCSON, ARIZONA • SAC PEAK, NEW MEXICO

From the NSO Director’s Office

Steve Keil

Fulfilling the Decadal Survey Goals—A Roadmap for Solar Physics be utilized to achieve the science goals. The SSWG submitted its In 2000, the Decadal Survey recommended the Advanced final report in September 2004 on the properties of the three best Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) as the top priority for ground- candidate sites: Big Bear Lake, California; Haleakala, Hawaii; and based solar physics in the United States. The Decadal Survey also La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. recommended the development of the Frequency Agile Solar Radio Telescope (FASR), the expansion of the SOLIS instruments into All three of the final sites offer exceptional opportunities for solar a three-station global network, and the formation of a National observing programs. Both Haleakala and La Palma would allow Virtual Observatory. The scientific rationale for each of these the ATST to meet its high-resolution and coronal science goals. facilities and capabilities is compelling, and their technological However, the site survey data indicate that it is Haleakala that will feasibility is well established. In addition to these forefront maximize the scientific return of the ATST. Haleakala also had the initiatives, several other major solar projects are either in progress largest number of hours of excellent seeing (r0 > 12 centimeters), or in the evaluation stage by other nations. the conditions from which we expect the majority of scientific breakthroughs. At the current telescope height, Haleakala has many

Each of these new facilities for solar physics is characterized by hours of good seeing (r0 > 7 centimeters). Haleakala was also the uniquely powerful capabilities, while in combination they can be best coronal site as determined by the sky brightness monitor. This viewed as the key components of an integrated approach to the will permit the ATST to observe coronal structures and measure investigation of the Sun. Fortunately, the solar physics community coronal magnetic fields during extended periods of time and with has long recognized the complementary nature of advanced uninterrupted annual coverage. ground- and space-based facilities with an open approach to the sharing of capabilities, data, and expertise. This recognition La Palma also had many hours of excellent seeing, but somewhat less is even more relevant now given the funding challenges that the than Haleakala. La Palma was also coronal but significantly less often community faces. than Haleakala, mainly due to the Sahara dust season that occurs on La Palma during the summer months. Big Bear exhibited the most In view of the revolutionary facilities on the horizon, it is timely for stable seeing site with many hours of fair to good seeing, but few hours the solar community to develop a roadmap for our science objectives of excellent seeing. Big Bear was seldom coronal during the testing and the roles of our current and planned facilities in the achievement period and thus did not meet the coronal science requirements. The of these objectives. The roadmap will show a coherent and unified SSWG report clearly indicated that Haleakala is the best available approach by the international solar community that, in turn, will site to enable the ATST to achieve the principal goals of observing strongly support our efforts in seeking resources. Toward this end, and understanding magnetic fields at their fundamental spatial we would like to form an international Solar Roadmap Working scales and at all heights in the solar atmosphere. Group over the next two months. I invite interested parties to please contact me (505-434-7039 or [email protected]) with opinions and ideas After a careful analysis of the SSWG final report, the ATST Science on how to proceed. Working Group officially recommended Haleakala as the site most capable of fulfilling the science goals of the ATST. In early  December, the AURA Solar Observatory Council (SOC) voted to approve our site selection and prepared a resolution for presentation ATST to the AURA Board in support of Haleakala as the prime ATST A large segment of the solar research community has formed site. The SOC also endorsed La Palma as a viable alternate site. On a collaboration prepared to move into full-scale development, 6 January 2005, the AURA Board endorsed the SOC resolution, and construction, and scientific utilization of the ATST. Over the the project is now working toward building the ATST on Haleakala. past few years, the Science Working Group (SWG) has defined the science requirements for the ATST and has conducted experiments Funding is still a fundamental issue for the ATST. We will or developed models and simulations in order to understand continue to seek scientific and funding partnerships both the essential functionality of a telescope that could meet these nationally and internationally. Several international groups requirements. In parallel with the SWG effort, a Site Survey including the Kiepenheuer Institute for Solar Physics in Freiburg, Working Group (SSWG) carried out a careful site-testing program Germany; the Institute for Astrophysics in the Canary Islands, to identify a site at which the full capabilities of the telescope could Spain; and the Arcetri Observatory in Italy, have been active in

continued

34 March 2005 NSO

From the NSO Director’s Office continued the ATST design and development phase. In addition, project manager. We look forward to working with Jeremy 14 European institutions joined together on a proposal as we advance the ATST into the construction phase. to the European Union Framework 6 Program for participation in the ATST project. The proposal was not  selected for funding, but plans are being made to refine the proposal and pursue other funding avenues. We SOLIS will also begin vigorous pursuit of partnerships in Asia. John H. Marburger III, OSTP Director and Science Advisor to President Bush, honored the NSO (and NOAO) with a visit to Following an extremely positive peer review of the Kitt Peak. He toured the new SOLIS facility and the McMath- construction-phase proposal in the fall and an independent Pierce facility, where he saw the adaptive optics system and financial review in February of the proposed construction the California State University-Northridge (CSUN)-NSO costs, the ATST project started its journey through the infrared camera in action. In addition, the Minority Senior NSF Major Research Equipment Facilities Construction Staff Assistant to the House Committee on Appropriations, (MREFC) review process. This includes consideration by Michael Stephens, visited the NSO/Kitt Peak facilities. Both the MREFC screening panel, review by the NSF director, these distinguished visitors expressed a thoughtful interest and review by the National Science Board. The project in the observational solar research conducted by the NSO. will also conduct a Systems Design Review in late March and hopes to follow it up with implementation of vendor In SOLIS developments, I am pleased to note that new design completion contracts for the major subassemblies. reduction methods have been developed and implemented that correct for the strong fringe pattern present in vector After a careful search using several outside consultants, spectromagnetograph observations of the important Jeremy Wagner has been selected as the new ATST project 1083-nanometer line. In addition, the integrated sunlight manager. Jeremy was serving as ATST deputy project spectrometer will soon be in operation after completion manager and had much of the responsibility for tracking of the fiber installation. In other developments, the the work breakdown structure, budget, and schedule. Air Force Research Laboratory group at Sac Peak and He is intimately familiar with the project and its needs. the SOLIS project are exploring possible synergistic Jeremy has experience with several solar projects and as activities that will be of benefit to both programs, and I project manager for SOLIS. He has also managed NSO am confident that a productive collaboration will emerge Tucson/Kitt Peak operations for many years. Please join from their discussions. For more information (and great me in congratulating Jeremy on his new role as our ATST pictures), see the following SOLIS update by Jack Harvey.

ATST Project Developments

Thomas Rimmele, Jeremy Wagner & the ATST Team

n early December, Deputy Project Manager Jeremy 2004 workshop in Tucson, and a resolution endorsing it Wagner was named ATST project manager, and by the Solar Observatory Council (SOC), which met in on 06 January 2005, the AURA Board of Directors Tucson, 6–7 December 2004. Iendorsed the selection of Haleakala, Hawaii, as the best site for building the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope “The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope will be the world’s NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter (ATST). The construction-phase proposal continues to premier observatory for studying the detailed processes that progress through the review process, and the project team occur on the Sun,” said William Smith, AURA’s president. continues to develop ATST designs as preparation are made “It is therefore appropriate that we have chosen a premier site for Systems Design Review (SDR) in late March 2005. that will host this facility.”

Site Selection The recommendations followed the review of a second year The AURA Board’s endorsement of Haleakala as the of site survey data from Haleakala; Big Bear Lake, California; primary site for ATST followed an earlier recommendation and La Palma, Canary Islands. If approved, Haleakala will by the ATST Science Working Group during an October be developed in conjunction with the University of Hawaii’s

continued

March 2005 35 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 36 director. “To finalize the site selection, we will consult consult will we selection, site the finalize “To for director. forward project ATST step and director major a NSO Keil, Stephen ATST,”says is recommendation site “This preclude availability. circumstances Haleakala’s should alternatives acceptable be would Bear Maui. and Big Palma La that on indicated also site survey The the at meters) 3,056 (elevation Observatory for Astronomy (IfA), Institute the which Mees operates Solar ATST Project Developments continued issues were discussed for all telescope subsystems. Particular forissues were subsystems. telescope all discussed Particular operational and interface, Design, (Rutherford Laboratories). Terrett Appleton David and Wallace Patrick and Ltd.), the ATST involving Sciences Mayer Chris staff, (Observatory A Telescope Control System workshop was held in November, Software in simulations flow-works review. spring for the with preparation design mechanical a for to a develop Inc. contract Xinetics We with noware working concepts. cooling potential one of the 1illustrates Figure requirement design. spacing actuator thermal 5.1-millimeter the our retaining achieve while to able eventually was of a the spacing. actuator practicality 5.1-millimeter Xinetics to analysis thermomechanical the understand needs cooling and and 2) parameters; address and deformable- thermal a perform subscale 1) the twofold: was work The completed analysis. and design thermal mirror has Inc. Xinetics Wavefront Correction issues design explore Haleakala.” to particular and studies impact environmental begin will we endorsement, their have we Once NSF. with Figure 1. A potential cooling concept for the ATST ATST the for concept cooling mirror. potential deformable A 1. Figure NSO March 2005 nelig C cmuiain pooo, h ATST the protocol, communications ICE the implements candidate underlying release This 2005. January in available candidate release second the with in development, continues Services Common the ATST of release alpha The released. interface been have documents control and document versions requirements first design OCS The the of observation. and the to experiment corresponding current identifier access an by tracked and passed between the OCS, VI, and and Configurations other systems are (VI). identified instrument” interactive “virtual ATST the with both implements complex and interactions handles observations, preplanned now and been has extended design (OCS) System Control Observatory The work 2005. March in design Sciences by Observatory delivered be will Preliminary spot. blind zenith the through of the synchronization mount and enclosure, and movement signal, guide fixed a of lack the about raised were concerns acceptable limits 85 to 90 percent of the time. of the percent 90 85 to limits acceptable within temperature surface M1 the keep will substrate, M1 75-millmeter-thick temperature, the with combined approach, ambient this that the indicates from five Analysis are minutes. made every corrections departs temperature surface M1 the As intervals. five-minute over it temperature, averaging air ambient the measures constantly and it ambient, then below 1ºC to the subcooled with surface out optical starts M1 It period. observing the over as needed corrections makes and day the for profile surface temperature optical the controlling of M1a temperature uses that predicted has been developed of method “reactive” A March. late in SDR the at presented and soon completed be will This analysis print-through. support of reduction significant a in result and points tripods support additional provide tripods small These and M1. the of surface rear system the and actuators axial the support between lateral updated the M1 is being that developed includes at Hofstadter Analytical 75-millimeter-thick the of model element finite detailed A temperature. surface M1 optical of the control thermal to millimeters 100 for strategy ofdevelopment and a “reactive” from 75 millimeters, thickness substrate mirror M1 the reducing 24, to 6 from supports increasing lateral of include number the changes significant most the of Some review. design conceptual 2003 have August the that since changes occurred of review comprehensive a December provide early to in held was workshop Assembly M1 An M1 Assembly event and name the and services. components, and containers continued

NSO

ATST Project Developments continued

The Air Force is building a new mirror coating facility at “conditioned air” approach, in which chilled water is fed to Haleakala to service the 3.67-meter Advanced Electro- fan-coil units that produce cool air that in turn is circulated Optical System (AEOS) telescope. Although the ATST M1 within the dual-skin walls of the enclosure. A general system is slightly larger, the Air Force has expressed a willingness layout was created and costed by M3. A follow-up contract to allow ATST to also use this facility, and ATST personnel was placed to evaluate an alternate “all liquid” solution, which have been working closely with their Air Force counterparts, incorporates glycol-cooled plate-coil units that are mounted providing detailed specifications on the ATST M1 and to the exterior the building. The results from this second discussing the logistics of mirror movement, handling, and study will be followed by a trade study to select a baseline stripping/cleaning within the facility. solution from these two concepts. This solution will then be included in the enclosure DRD.

Documentation and Interface Control The Conisio electronic document management system used by ATST was upgraded to Version 6.1 Service Pack 1 (SP1) over the 2004 holiday break. At the same time, a replication server for the Sunspot staff was configured and installed into the Sunspot network in January. The Conisio 6.1 SP1 release has significant improvements over the earlier releases, with speed of access and the ability to have multiple vaults for the same project (i.e., replication) being the high points. Conisio enables team members to easily submit a file for review, and the responsible engineer(s) to easily review and approve the file, or return it for further work. With the upgrade to 6.1 SP1 now complete, work on the automatic notifications of these state changes (which work via the regular e-mail system) for Figure 2. Current ATST layout design. configuration and interface control has commenced.

Upcoming Milestones Enclosure Our efforts are focused on continuing to make progress on The design of the ATST enclosure continues to mature. designs while preparing for the Systems Design Review. The design requirements document (DRD) is nearing Subsystem Preliminary Design Reviews are scheduled for completion, and interface control documents are being the Telescope Control System and the Common Services generated in-house. In October, an enclosure workshop in February and March, respectively. At this writing, was held in Tucson. Attendees included engineers from documentation to support the construction proposal review Gemini, NSO, NOAO, and M3 Engineering. The purpose of process is being prepared, for example, for a review in mid the review was to discuss the overall enclosure design layout, March of the construction proposal Basis of Estimate. We thermal details, control system design, safety implications, continue to update our Web site and encourage anyone and general contracting ideas. Many useful suggestions interested to visit it periodically for the latest information. and ideas came out of this meeting, including simplification of the proposed control architecture, and a high priority on getting definitive soil data for foundation design.

In parallel with this, M3 Engineering was placed under

contract to design and evaluate the thermal control NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter system for the enclosure exterior. The baseline design is a

March 2005 37 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 38 expressed interest in the NSO program of solar research research solar of program NSO the in interest expressed Both onAppropriations. Committee House the to Assistant S line since September 2003. A strong fringe pattern is seen seen is pattern fringe strong A 1083-nanometer 2003. the September since line with observations been regular has (VSM) acquiring spectromagnetograph vector SOLIS The the provided SOLIS of predecessor the herequired. that observations 1083-nanometer and the line, with I made He observations in points” “dark small as prominent particularly are points a bright the conduct that to out turns It time campaign. real observational in multiwavelength located were points bright the where know to “bright needed He of atmosphere. physics solar the the in points” on research did career, prior Jersey), his (New Holtin Rush of Congressman Representatives of Congress. House US the the research of for member current used a facility by astronomical national only the likely most was was This note, installed predecessor. now its of side home is the SOLIS formerly which science” of top and on building “government the interesting an In by SOLIS. made are magnetograms how vector about detail to in know wanted and polarimetry Stokes with familiar was Dr. Marburger particular. weather in SOLIS by exemplified space research of applications practical the and general, in Figure Figure 1. John H. III, Marburger to Advisor Science President pcrmgeorp i vsbe n h upr et at of part left upper photograph. the the in visible is spectromagnetograph vector the of end back The Tower. SOLIS Peak Kitt the of top on located mounting SOLIS the to next standing Bush, NSO n ltr y ihe Sehn, ioiy eir Staff Senior Minority Stephens, 1) Marburger Michael by figure later H. (see and Bush John President to by Advisor Science visited III, recently was OLIS March 2005 Jack Harvey & the SOLIS Team &the Harvey Jack SOLIS

using this preliminary reduction are now being made made being now observations are reduction routine preliminary and this well using instrument. surprisingly previous the worked with It done be to used similar what reduction, to simple very a attempted Henney Carl He I by line. work, Scientist this Stimulated SOLIS Program 1083-nanometer the using SOLIS with made observations solar reducing the for method new In a described (NASA/NSO) results. useful 2004 obtain to December developed be to would have procedure reduction elaborate an that thought Rockwell we pattern, strong the this of Because in VSM. the in used detector cameras hybrid in reflections 100-micron-thick multiple to the due wavelength this at data in are often the birthplaces of coronal mass ejections. mass of coronal birthplaces the often are structures Such cavity. filament lighter a within streamer the of axis the along lies filament dark long, A streamer. coronal large a of base the is that area darker a contour indicates dark adjacent The Earth. at storms geomagnetic recurrent send frequently features These high-speed flows. which wind solar from disk) the on coronal texture a (lighter of hole boundary approximate the white outlines The contour filaments. solar are structures elongated Dark points.” “dark tiny to down size in ranging regions active solar are blobs Dark features. weak show to enhanced was image this of contrast The 2005. January 18 on observed line absorption I 1083-nmHe the of strength The 2. Figure NOAO-NSO

Newsletter , Harrison Jones Jones Harrison , continued NSO

SOLIS continued available at the SOLIS Web site. Examples are shown in figures 2 and 3. A surprise in these observations is a notable increase in sharpness compared to observations made with the predecessor instrument. The reason for this unexpected improvement is not clear.

Work on calibrating the VSM vector magnetograms was continued under the leadership of Christoph Keller. During the process of measuring some of the signals that drive the polarization modulators, it appears that a connecting cable failed. This resulted in no useful vector magnetograms being made after the third week of November. Repair of this cable, and replacement of Figure 3. Eight days of 1083-nm He I images (410 arcsec in the entrance slit and calibration polarizers, is currently size) that show a large active region crossing the solar disk in underway. Work on the common guider for both the mid-January 2005. The active region emerged as a compact and VSM and full-disk-patrol instruments has continued. rapidly developing bundle of magnetic flux, as suggested in the first two images. The first of at least five major flare eruptions The SOLIS Integrated Sunlight Spectrometer (ISS) occurred about 12 hours before the January 15 image, and the was still being tested during the fall quarter. A fiber- second flare occurred about five hours after the image. Similarly, optic feed bundle has been constructed and delivered the image on January 16 was made about 17 hours after and by a vendor and installed in February. This will allow before major flares. The January 17 image was seven hours after regular solar observations to commence using the ISS. a major flare and the January 19 image was about 12 hours after During the quarter, we started discussions with the Air and before major flares. The complex, changing patterns of dark Force Research Laboratory personnel at Sacramento and light features in these images are manifestations of energy Peak about combining SOLIS and the Improved Solar storage and violent release processes. This active region caused Observing Optical Network (ISOON) activities in a severe geomagnetic storm in the Earth’s atmosphere. mutually beneficial ways.

Notable Quotes

“The fundamental nature of the Universe is too important to not demand a second opinion.” —British Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees, commenting on two complementary results concerning the cosmology of the distant universe from the 2dF and Sloan sky surveys, during a press briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in San Diego,

11 January 2005. NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

March 2005 39 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 40 lines, as well as in the chromospheric calcium and sodium sodium and calcium chromospheric the in as well as iron lines, 6302-angstrom and 6301-angstrom I Fe the in made were Observations spectropolarimetry. diffraction-limited do to retarder variable crystal liquid a with paired was IBIS In a recent collaboration with 5)the High Altitude Observatory, II; Fe – angstroms 7224 4) II. –Ca angstroms 8542 I; Fe – angstroms 7090 D Na – angstroms 5896 1) channels: spectral five of one in observe presently can IBIS program. of aparticular needs on the based chosen be can line spectral each for sampling spectral The prominences. as such features fainter of studies and seeing possible both short times to exposure the freeze atmospheric resolution detector of full 0.085 per the arcsec pixel. Thismakes at possible are milliseconds 20–100 of times exposure throughput, high of its on Because bench. optical setup adjacent the (UBF) filter birefringent universal the as well as filters K II has Ca and also G-band with instrument conjunction in The used been profile. line the each at in images wavelength spectral separate the de-stretch image to and used channel is align This continuum image. white-light a spectral each diffraction-limited with simultaneously a features produces now that instrument The structures. chromospheric and at look been flares, to dynamics, runs has granular observing IBIS of series 2003, a in June successfully in used installation its Following procedures. operational the and sessions have produced a several describing document training through 4. been have port DST the at on staff system observing The optics adaptive high-order of upgraded resolution spectral is a Theinstrument fed milliangstroms. by25–40 the recently with images spatial-resolution high- produces that instrument Fabry-Perot dual a is IBIS T NSO instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST). (DST). Telescope Solar Dunn the at instrument user a as community the to Spectrometer available now is (IBIS) BI-dimensional Interferometric he March 2005 IBIS Now Available as aUser Instrument 1 ; 2) 6302 angstroms – Fe I; 3) I; Fe – angstroms 6302 2) ; Kevin Reardon (Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory) Astrophysical (Arcetri Reardon Kevin

40 arcsec, and the tick marks on the inset images are at at are images inset the intervals. on 1-arcsec marks tick the and one arcsec, 40 with obtained magnetogram 50-millisecond exposure. snapshot The full image) field of single full view is approximately on a box and by (outlined image white-light version the magnified of a show insets The seen. be to start can granulation “quiet” the in structures magnetic weak the but is magnetograms, individual resolution the of summing spectral the by The degraded time. exposure 50-millisecond by made angstroms 6302 summing at up 32 obtained 2004. individual magnetograms, each image obtained magnetogram with a a white-light December is wideband a in is right the on image The IBIS channel. reference left the with obtained the with on image obtained The images Two the community as well. as community the to available mode this make and performance polarimetric the optimize to needed be will engineering Further lines.

GLOBALOSCILLATIONNETWORKGROUP

EL TEIDE • UDAIPUR • LEARMONTH • MAUNA LOA • BIG BEAR • CERRO TOLOLO

The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) Program

John Leibacher & the GONG Team

e continue to make excellent progress with the generation of local helioseismology science data products, the production of near real-time images of the farside of the WSun from GONG’s network will soon be realized, and we are on track for the creation of a well understood zero-point for the magnetograms within the year. We have passed a design review for the replacement shelter, and are making progress toward the acquisition of the full data stream from the sites in near-real time.

Overall, the network has been operating very well, which is great, as we were privileged to welcome members of the Senate Appropriations VA/HUD-Independent Agencies subcommittee staff to the Udaipur site this January. All six sites are now capturing and transferring the 200 × 200 compressed images used for the generation of farside maps back to Tucson, and the pipeline processing is in place, though still undergoing some tuning before routine maps will be available on the Web.

We are moving ahead with a new design for the instrument’s Candido Pinto, the new GONG assistant instrument scientist, magnetogram modulator circuitry. A new microcontroller design holding down the fort. will allow greater control of the switching between the two states of polarization and will reduce the systematic GONG magnetogram October 18, just after the shelter received a fresh coat of paint. It instrumental zero point error to 0.3 gauss over time (at least one looks marvelous! The first task was to troubleshoot the tracking day) to make them more useful for potential field extrapolations and problem that appeared during repair of the earlier turret pitch studies of large-scale field changes. An internal review team approved motor problem. The fix involved adjusting an extremely large motor the proposed prototype design, and sample microprocessors are amplifier bias signal, which did not allow the turret stability necessary being evaluated. Development of the prototype will continue over for the guider to lock. Next up was a problem involving the timing the next several months, culminating in a Prototype Design Review signals used to synchronize the system, which was tracked to a faulty scheduled for July. A prototype magnetic field pipeline to apply the global positioning system (GPS) receiver. With the instrument zero-point correction, merge, temporal average, produce synoptic running again, the scheduled tasks could begin. A major project maps, and make the data available will be developed during this was the installation of a full set of earthquake protection equipment. same period. A Magnetogram Users Group (MUG), established Two days were required to secure the optical table, electronics rack, to help define the specifications of the processing, met at the and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) cabinets with the new AGU meeting in December and will meet in Tucson with the hardware. Now, all of the GONG instruments in regions with a program staff at the beginning of March. history of earthquakes have been fitted with restraints on the heavy equipment. The alignment of the optical system was disturbed by the The program welcomes the newest GONGster, Candido Pinto, installation, requiring a full optical realignment. Some repair work a recent PhD from the University of Arizona Optical Sciences to the shelter where cables entered through the wall was required department, as the group’s Assistant Instrument Scientist. to prevent further rainwater leakage to the interior. The camera, Candido is taking over for Jeff Sudol, who is leaving to pursue a camera power supplies, amplifier chassis, and UPS were replaced, teaching career. and the PM was completed November 3.

During the August PM to El Teide, electrical checks of the turret Operations revealed some abnormal readings. A decision to replace the turret Operations activities during the last quarter of 2004 focused on before the onset of winter was deemed prudent to decrease the preventive maintenance (PM) visits to Udaipur and to El Teide risk of equipment damage, downtime, and the necessity of a turret in order to change the light-feed turret. The Udaipur PM began replacement under much harsher conditions. The trip was planned continued

March 2005 41 NOAO-NSO Newsletter 81 42 trip. The noisy lens slide was also replaced and the remote the and replaced also was slide lens noisy The trip. previous the during found problem a eliminate to order in installed were supplies power camera the to modifications latest The electronics. the in adjusted be not could and line absorption the on centered well not was bandpass the that filter oven was changed itbecause previously had been noted the meantime, the In weather. bad of periods extended by The replacement went well, butalignmentthe was hampered forNovember,early immediately followingUdaipur the PM. GONG continued nua oinain f h GN iae wl improve will images GONG the of orientation the angular of determination the basis. into frequent data these a of on Incorporation network the around obtained are now being scans drift Noon scans. automated drift noon the of implementingprocessing in made been has Progress the of delivery and collection frequencies. data of between reduction latency further the allow will This testing. undergoing and complete is module rejection image automated the of cumulative the Installation days. 86 maintaining at products data calibrated for is backlog team reduction data The (ending 92 through 90 31 May 2004)are now available. months GONG Mode for maps. flow frequencies subsurface of rotations consecutive 38 provide will task that of Completion 2013–2017). rotations 2004, April 25 – 2004 February 13 (90–92, months GONG backlog. When our that is of done, we rotations will start processing two the latest last available the in fill to 85) (month are consecutive. We need to complete one last GONG month now completed ring diagram analysis of 30 Carrington rotations, 25 weof have which difficulties, hardware some After Data Processing and Analysis spare and temperature the returned to normal the setting. the install to able was staff Site camera. the behind board a on mounted The fan cooling failed a minimal. be to was found was problem data the on impact and temperature higher a at restabilized temperatureFortunately, the operatingrange. normal its of out high went camera Loa Mauna temperatureCCD theon-site The an spare. of with replaced was and bad went drive DLTsystem caching a Loa, Mauna and a replacement workstation was shipped and installed. At the data failed disk workstation on SUN the Bear, Big at impact Also resulted. No headers fact. the image after The corrected be date. could correct the to register year the Bear.imagesfromBigsomeon It byresetting corrected was stamp dateerroneous an include note of events other few A decisionthe for an early replacement. validated which discovered, was motor pitch the to damage significantTucson, in disassembled was turret Teide El the few days, the team was able to complete the alignment. Once monitoring terminal was restarted. By extending stay their a GONG March 2005

in intensity and velocity as of afunction disk position. obtained rings from derived frequenciescomparisons ofand, rotations; uninterrupted from flow meridional near-surface the solar of determination flows; meridional the deep the and of radius measurements flare time-distance and helicity characteristics; the kinetic investigating subsurface global of models; between relationship dynamo sensitivity modern the to several on testing inversions include been working These has projects. staff scientific GONG The Doppler Imager data as afiducial. GONG data, the and will eliminatein our need north for SoHO/Michelson solar of position estimated the of accuracy the Advisory Committee (SAC). Scientific GONG the joined has Laboratory) Sciences Space the group. Janet Luhmann (University of California, Berkeley the SOLIS facility scientist, act aswill an ex-officio member of California, Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory). Carl of Henney, (University Li Yan and University), (Stanford Hoeksema ToddCenter), Flight Space MarshallHathaway(NASA Dave TomaObservatory), Altitudede (HighGiuliana Laboratory), membershipinitial consistsNick ofForceArge (Air Research The UsersMagnetogramGroup(MUG). a formed thushave work on the design of a magnetogram-processing pipeline. We begun havemuch-improvedwe GONG, frommagnetograms produce should modulator the to upgrade planned the Since n te ag o vrain i te rvl ie corresponds to 0.8seconds.) time travel the in variations of range the and to month corresponds to a flow GONG of approximately 10 meters per second, 36-day-long each emphasize forthe changes. (A travel time difference of 1 values second the subtracted from been has average this and right, the is on shown interval time this over time travel in difference average The megameters.) 48 to 33 of depths to propagate waves and south directions between points 8° to 12° apart. (These the difference in the time for waves to propagate in the north the below flow surface from May 1995 through July 2001. This figure shows (north/south) meridional the in Changes continued

GONG

GONG continued

US Senate Appropriations subcommittee and NSF staff visiting Udaipur in January. Left to right: Brajesh Kumar, Ashok Ambastha, John Kamarck, Allen Cutler, Curt Suplee, Rachel Jones, P. Venkatakrishnan, Rebecca Benn, and Sudhir Gupta. NOAO-NSO 81 Newsletter

The Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society has organized a series of summer schools to cover various aspects of solar physics. The inaugural summer school in 2005 focuses on helioseismology, and is being hosted by the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colorado. See www.hao.ucar.edu/summerschool for more information.

March 2005 43 EDUCATIONALOUTREACH PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH

A Busy Time Domain for LSST at the AAS Meeting

he Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) project was featured in a press briefing at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in San Diego on 11 January 2005, based partly on a news release announcing that funding Tfrom a private donor has enabled the LSST Corp. to award a contract to the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab to acquire the glass for the telescope’s primary mirror (see www.lsst.org/News/0501/050111.shtml). This news was reported by the Associated Press and the Arizona Daily Star.

Project Director Tony Tyson briefed the media and astronomy public information officers at the AAS meeting on the LSST’s major science goals, and Suzanne Jacoby of LSST Corp. discussed a variety of public outreach programs being developed to maximize the appeal of the huge data stream expected to flow nightly from this “telescope for everyone.” (See photos.)

Phil Pinto of the University of Arizona gave a featured talk on the LSST at the meeting on the following afternoon, in addition to a cohesive set of 28 poster papers that day on the project, and a lively exhibit booth throughout the meeting. PDF files of the talk and all of the posters are available at www.lsst.org/Meetings/AAS/LSST_AAS.shtml.

Take Me to Your (Project ASTRO) Leader!

ighteen event leaders were trained at four recent “Family ASTRO” workshops conducted by NOAO Eeducational outreach staff. The training workshops included instruction on how to best use several Family ASTRO kits, including Night Sky Adventure, Race to the Planets, and the newest kit, Cosmic Decoders, which uses color filters to teach about how alien messages might be decoded (see photo). The local Family ASTRO participants came from a variety of community-based organizations in and around Tucson, such as the US Park Service at Sabino Canyon, Discovery Park in Safford, the Arizona Virtual Academy, Flandrau Planetarium, Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, and three elementary schools in Tucson Unified School District.

44 March 2005