NOAO Newsletter NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY ISSUE 106 — SEPTEMBER 2012

Director’s Corner Performance of pODI in 2013A: What to Expect...... 27 Focus on La Serena...... 2 Instruments Offered at KPNO in 2013A...... 28 Infrared Time-Series Observations with Phoenix...... 29 Science Highlights Availability of the CTIO Small Telescopes in 2013A...... 29 Gemini Catches a Disappearing Warm Debris Disk...... 3 Community Access to the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope...... 30 Leo P: A Newly Discovered Local Group Candidate...... 4 Community Access Time Available in 2013 with CHARA...... 30 The Yellow Supergiants in the Local Group as a Diagnostic New VO Capabilities in IRAF v2.16...... 30 of the Evolution of Massive Stars...... 6 New NOAO Survey Programs Selected...... 32 Needles in a Haystack: Studying Andromeda Stellar Populations What Does System User Support Do for You?...... 33 through Those of the Milky Way...... 8 NOAO Operations & Staff System Science Capabilities NOAO Welcomes Markus Kissler-Patig LSST Project Reaches a Major Milestone...... 10 as Gemini Observatory Director...... 34 BigBOSS Status Update...... 10 CTIO through the Good and the Bad...... 34 SAM Improves Angular Resolution over a Wide Field...... 11 Celebrating CTIO’s 50th Anniversary...... 35 KOSMOS and COSMOS Updates...... 12 Students Wanted for 2013 CTIO REU Program...... 35 DECam Installation...... 13 Where Art and Astronomy Meet: Latest TSIP Proposal Results...... 15 Thoughts on an Artist Residency at NOAO May 2012...... 36 Telescope System Instrumentation Program...... 15 Kitt Peak Visitor Center Activities Highlight Once-in-a-Lifetime Events...... 39 System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Transit of Venus Event and Public Outreach on Easter Island...... 40 The Blanco ƒ/8 Secondary Mirror: 2013A NOAO Call for Proposals Due 27 September 2012...... 17 What Happened and Will It Return to Service?...... 41 System-Wide Observing Opportunities for Semester 2013A: Kitt Peak Water System Renovation...... 43 Gemini, Keck, MMT, CHARA, Subaru, and AAT...... 18 NOAO Dark Skies Education for Multiple Audiences...... 44 CTIO Instruments Available for 2013A...... 20 Bringing the Stars to Arizona Fifth Graders...... 46 Gemini Instruments Available for 2013A...... 21 Dr. R. Chris Smith Switches to Full-Time AURA KPNO Instruments Available for 2013A...... 22 Head of Mission in Chile...... 47 Keck Instruments Available for 2013A...... 23 Remembering 45 Years with KPNO...... 48 MMT Instruments Available for 2013A...... 23 Hector Rios Retires after 39 Years Supporting KPNO...... 48 AAT Instruments Available for 2013A...... 23 Recent Staff Changes on Kitt Peak...... 49 CHARA Instruments Available for 2013...... 24 Kenneth Michael Merrill Observing with the CTIO Blanco 4-m Telescope 21 February 1947–31 March 2012...... 50 in 2013A and Beyond...... 24 Staff Changes at NOAO North and South Proposing for DECam in 2013A...... 24 (16 February 2012–15 August 2012)...... 51 DECam Commissioning and Science Verification...... 25 The DECam Ultraviolet (u) Filter...... 25 Observing at WIYN in 2013A...... 26 Late Breaking News: pODI First Light

The WIYN One De- gree Imager with a partially populated fo- cal plane (pODI) has Superimposed on this issue’s cover are been installed on the scenes of two recent solar events that were captured as the Sun silhouetted WIYN telescope, seen observatory facilities on Kitt Peak, first light, and commis- part of the Tohono O’odham Nation: sioning is beginning. (Background image) From a distance of 50 miles away on Mt Hopkins, Scott So far, performance Gottilla of the MMT Observatory is as predicted. In shot this spectacular view of the just a few hours of solar eclipse setting behind Kitt Peak operation (during a National Observatory on Sunday, bad monsoon year), 20 May 2012. (Image credit: Scott Gottilla, MMT Observatory.) we have seen images with FWHM as small (Foreground images: left) Venus is as ~0.7 arcsec. Read less than an hour into its transit of noise and full well ca- the Sun as viewed from the NOAO pacity are about as we Tucson patio. (Right:) Venus nears measured in the lab. the completion of its transit as the Initial measurements Sun sets behind the National Solar Unguided 30 second r' band exposure of M11, taken by T. Boroson and D. Harbeck on of sensitivity give the 6 August 2012. Central 9 detectors, covering 24-arcmin square, are shown. Observatory’s McMath-Pierce Solar following zero points Telescope on Kitt Peak. The portion of this final transit of the century for the four SDSS filters: g' is 26.68, r' is 26.56, i' is 26.11, and z' is 25.14. These are the that was visible to the United States magnitudes of an object at 1.0 airmass that give 1 detected electron per second. occurred 5 June 2012. (Image credits: (Left) Peter Marenfeld & (right) Gary More up to date information will be posted on the NOAO Web site before the 2013A Poczulp, NOAO/AURA/NSF.) proposal deadline. To share in the commissioning experience with the ODI team, take a look at their blog at podideployment.blogspot.com.

Tod R. Lauer, Editor

David Silva NOAO Director’s Office Tod R. Lauer Science Highlights Jane Price, Ken Hinkle NOAO System Science Center Betty Stobie Science Data Management Nicole S. van der Bliek CTIO Timothy C. Beers, Cheri Marks-Murphy KPNO Stephen Pompea Education & Public Outreach The NOAO Newsletter Dave Bell, Mia Hartman System Observing is published semi-annually by the David Sprayberry NOAO System Technology Center National Optical Astronomy Observatory William Gressler LSST Project P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, AZ 85726 Patricia Knezek WIYN [email protected] Production Staff Publication Notes Barbara Fraps Managing Editor Peter Marenfeld Design & Layout This Newsletter is presented with active Kathie Coil Production Support links online at www.noao.edu/noao/noaonews.html If you are receiving a paper copy but would prefer not to, please let us know at [email protected].

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 1 Director’s Corner

Focus on La Serena David Silva

Events in La Serena have captured my attention much of the time since coordinated and safe way has been a major challenge, but one that all the last Newsletter. have overcome jointly. Work on the DECam Community (calibration) Pipeline at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications ac- Accidents that led to serious personnel injuries and equipment damage celerated and delivery of an operational system should be in time for at the Blanco 4-m telescope and one of the CTIO infrastructure improve- the commissioning and science verification. Above all this hovers the ment projects were most unfortunate reminders that safety and risk man- Dark Energy Survey, a major international, multi-agency, multi-organi- agement must remain the highest priority for all NOAO activities at all zation collaboration. Many interfaces, many meetings, and many hours times. Both accidents were promptly and thoroughly reviewed by inter- have gone toward delivering a revolutionary capability to attack major nal and external panels, whose reports were provided to NSF, the Depart- problems on the science frontier. We have learned many technical and ment of Energy, and the Chilean authorities as applicable. An exter- organizational lessons that can be applied to the Big Baryon Oscilla- nal panel also reviewed the safety process and culture within tion Spectroscopic Survey (BigBOSS) and the Large Synoptic the Blanco enclosure with a particular focus on the Dark Survey Telescope (LSST) projects. It is an exciting time for Energy Camera (DECam) installation. Many helpful rec- NOAO and its user community. ommendations emerged from these reviews, and we are in the process of applying them in Arizona and Chile. Speaking of LSST, the recent decision by the Nation- The DECam project, which has had no serious safety al Science Board to move LSST into the final design issues to date, is also serving as a model for building phase opens the door to a possible construction start in new safety procedures and an improved culture of safe- fiscal year 2014. NOAO remains the lead institution for ty throughout NOAO. Fortunately, the three injured the Telescope and Site Facilities design, development, people have or will recover completely. The process of and construction team and is involved in various aspects repairing and returning the Blanco secondary mirror to of LSST data management. Of course, LSST is not just a service is discussed elsewhere in this Newsletter. telescope, it is an end-to-end system for the production of open-access science data products. NOAO remains excited about Significant personnel matters in Chile also demanded my attention. As hosting and operating the telescope and data management components in Arizona, reduced funding from NSF regrettably forced NOAO to re- to be located in Chile and aspires to play a significant role in supporting duce the number of Chile-based employees. I am sorry to say that Dr. the general US research community during LSST science operations. Eric Mamajek decided to return to the University of Rochester. Else- where in this Newsletter is an article about the NOAO South director Other instrument projects progressed as well, including the SOAR Adap- transition. Maintaining a strong team with excellent leadership remains tive Optics Module (SAM, a ground-layer AO system), the CTIO Ohio a high priority and requires continuous attention. State Multi-Object Spectrograph (COSMOS), and TripleSpec 4. SAM and COSMOS should be released for science operations during 2013 if On a happier note, completion of the Blanco facility improvement proj- all goes well, while TripleSpec is on its way toward delivery in 2014. ect and installation of the Dark Energy Camera has been proceeding smoothly since work restarted after the Blanco secondary mirror ac- CTIO in general, and the Blanco 4-m telescope in particular, have a cident. At times, the installation team has included NOAO personnel long history of enabling scientific excellence. On balance, activities in from both Arizona and Chile, working side-by-side with personnel from the last six months have laid a strong foundation for continuation of Fermilab. Bringing all these people together and managing them in a that proud tradition.

(Image credit: Tim Abbott/NOAO/AURA/NSF

2 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 Science Highlights

Gemini Catches a Disappearing Warm Debris Disk Carl Melis (University of California, San Diego)

arl Melis (UCSD), Ben Zuckerman (University of California, stage of terrestrial planet formation (Kenyon & Bromley 2005; Melis et Los Angeles), Joseph Rhee (California Polytechnic), Inseok Song al. 2010; see also artist’s conception in Figure 2). Remarkably, two epochs (University of Georgia), and Simon Murphy and Michael Bessell of measurements from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) C(Australian National University) used Thermal-Region Camera Spec- show that the excess mid-infrared emission has all but disappeared leav- trograph (T-ReCS) observations at Gemini South to capture the rapid ing only a weak (~3 times the stellar photosphere) excess at a wavelength disappearance of a substantial, warm, dusty debris disk orbiting a nearby, of 22 mm (Figure 1). Measurements made after the WISE epochs us- young, Sun-like star (Melis et al. 2012a). This system, TYC 8241 2652 1, ing the SpeX spectrograph at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, the was originally identified in their search of the Infrared Astronomical Sat- Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrograph (PACS) for the Herschel ellite (IRAS), AKARI, and other catalogs for stars hosting mid-infrared Space Observatory, and T-ReCS are consistent with the WISE data (Fig- emission in excess of what one would expect from the star alone and ure 1: note especially the 2012 T-ReCS data), indicating that the mid- hence indicative of orbiting circumstellar dust. The rapid disappearance infrared emission from the dust orbiting this star has been consistently of a debris disk has not been seen or predicted before, and thus is an im- depleted to barely detectable levels since at least early 2010. In short, the portant test of mechanisms that control their evolution. substantial, dusty debris disk orbiting TYC 8241 2652 1 vanished in less than two years. Figure 1 shows how the T-ReCS-measured mid-infrared emission of this source evolved from being a factor of ~30 times the stellar photospheric flux before 2009, to being ~13 times the photospheric flux in early 2009, to being barely detectable after 2010. At the time of its discovery, TYC 8241 2652 1 was the dustiest main sequence star known. (Figure 2 shows an artist’s conception of this exceptionally dusty system; it has since been superseded by V488 Per, see Zuckerman et al. 2012.) The copious amounts of dust that were present suggest a system undergoing an active

BV J HK 12 25 60 160

0.1 Tycho-2 2MASS IRAS (1983) AKARI (2006) T-ReCS (May, 2008) T-ReCS (Jan, 2009)

Flux density (Jy) 0.01 WISE (Jan and Jul, 2010) SpeX guider (Apr, 2011) Figure 2: Artist’s conceptualization of the dusty TYC 8241 2652 1 system as it might have ap- SpeX spectrum (Apr, 2011) peared several years ago when it was emitting large amounts of excess infrared radiation. Herschel PACS (Jul, 2011) With a fractional infrared luminosity of 11%, TYC 8241 2652 1 was the dustiest main sequence T-ReCS (May, 2012) star known at the time of its discovery. Since the disappearance of its dusty belt, an even dustier system has been identified (Zuckerman et al. 2012). (Image credit: Gemini Observa- 11 0 100 Wavelength ( m) tory/AURA, artwork by Lynette Cook.)

Figure 1: Spectral Energy Distribution of TYC 8241 2652 1. Measurements and the associated TYC 8241 2652 1 itself is a young star in the nearby, southern star-form- epoch (for mid- and far-infrared data) are indicated in the legend. The solid brown curve is a ing associations. Optical spectroscopic data confirm the youth of this synthetic stellar photosphere for a 4950 K effective temperature star that is fit to the optical source through strong lithium absorption, mild Hα emission, and kine- and near-infrared data. The dotted line is a blackbody fit to the 12 mm and 25 mm IRAS excess matics consistent with either of the Lower-Centaurus-Crux association data points—the temperature of this blackbody is 450 K and it suggests that roughly 11% of (10–20 Myr old: e.g., Torres et al. 2008, Song et al. 2012) or the TW the optical and near-infrared starlight was being reprocessed into the mid-infrared by orbiting Hydrae association (TWA, ~8 Myr old: e.g., Zuckerman & Song 2004). dust. The solid black line is the sum of the photosphere and the 450-K blackbody. Fitting a blackbody to the WISE and Herschel measurements suggests a dust temperature of roughly The Gemini data alone show that a dramatic event occurred between 200 K and a fractional infrared luminosity of 0.1%. Some vertical error bars, e.g., those of the 2008 and 2010 that emptied the TYC 8241 2652 1 inner planetary system two earlier epochs of T-ReCS measurements, are smaller than the point sizes on the plot; for dust reservoir. Such a rapid disk evolution timescale and flux diminish- these measurements, the uncertainty is comparable to or less than 10% of the correspond- ment is unheard of (see Meng et al. 2012 for a discussion of weaker mid- ing measurement. Horizontal lines through each data point represent the filter full-width at infrared variability for warm debris disk stars) and is in contrast to mod- half-maximum. els suggesting very long timescales for the evolution of debris from the

continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 3 Gemini Catches a Disappearing Warm Debris Disk continued

the dusty disk or runaway accretion driven by a gas disk component that 10.8 drags on the dust grains (Melis et al. 2012a). Neither model is without problems, but they are at least capable of getting close to a 1- to 3-year disk removal timescale (more details can be found in Melis et al. 2012a). Science Highlights 11.0 This discovery is part of a long-term effort by Carl Melis, Ben Zucker- man, Inseok Song, and Joseph Rhee to discover and characterize some

11.2 of the dustiest terrestrial-planet-forming star systems currently known (e.g., BD+20 307, Song et al. 2005; EF Cha, Rhee et al. 2007; HD 23514, (magnitudes) V

m Rhee et al. 2008; HD 15407, Melis et al. 2010; V488 Per, Zuckerman et al. 2012; HD 131488 and HD 121191, Melis et al. 2012b). The major goal of 11.4 this research is to study and understand the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets around stars of various masses (e.g., Melis et al. 2010, Melis et al. 2012b). The search continues with the recent release of the 11.6 WISE database and ongoing monitoring of known, warm excess stars like TYC 8241 2652 1. 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 References Figure 3: All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) V-band measurements of TYC 8241 2652 1. Data Jackson, A.P. & Wyatt, M.C. 2012, accepted to MNRAS (arXiv1206.4190) points and associated uncertainties were extracted from the ASAS project (Pojmanski et al. Kenyon, S.J. & Bromley, B.C. 2005, AJ, 130, 269 2002). The abscissa is the heliocentric Julian date (spanning from roughly 2000.9 to 2009.9) Melis, C. et al. 2010, ApJL, 717, 57 while the ordinate is apparent visual magnitude. The horizontal dotted line is the median of Melis, C. et al. 2012a, Nature, 487, 74 all plotted values. The colored vertical dashed lines correspond to the various epochs of mid- Melis, C. et al. 2012b, ApJ, submitted infrared measurements (from left to right, respectively): AKARI (green), first and second T-ReCS Meng, H.Y.A. et al. 2012 ApJL, 751, 17 (red and purple), and first WISE (gold). Pojmanski, G. et al. 2002, Acta Astronomica, 52, 397 Rhee, J. et al. 2007, ApJ, 671, 616 terrestrial planet formation process (Jackson & Wyatt 2012). It is worth Rhee, J. et al. 2008, ApJ, 675, 777 noting that the disk is unlikely to be blocked from view as any structure Song, I. et al. 2005, Nature, 436, 363 capable of blocking the disk light should also block out stellar light, and Song, I. et al. 2012, AJ, 144, 8 the star is photometrically very stable as the disk has faded (Figure 3). Torres, C.A.O. et al. 2008 in Handbook of Star Forming Regions Mechanisms that might act to rapidly remove small dust grains orbiting Zuckerman, B. & Song, I. 2004, ARA&A, 42, 685 around TYC 8241 2652 1 involve either a collisional avalanche within Zuckerman, B. et al. 2012, ApJ, 752, 58 NL

Leo P: A Newly Discovered Local Group Candidate John Salzer & Katherine Rhode (Indiana University)

ohn Salzer, Katherine Rhode, and their students at Indiana University, ed close to the HI coordinates. Leo P has an observed HI velocity of used the KPNO 4-m, WIYN, and 2.1-m telescopes to carry out the 264 km/s, similar to the well-known Local Group dwarf Leo I (velocity = first optical observations of a new, nearby dwarf galaxy. This object 285 km/s, distance = 250 kpc) that is located ~7° away on the sky. Sub- Jis the lowest-mass system known with current star formation. In com- sequent observations with the Expanded Very Large Array led by John bination with its unusually high gas to stellar-mass ratio and its ultra- Cannon (Macalester College) verified the HI detection and revealed an low metallicity, this makes it one of the most extreme objects in the local HI size of ~2 arcmin. universe. The discovery team has designated it as Leo P, with P standing for “pristine.” It may shed light on the long-standing “missing satellites” ALFALFA team members at Indiana University (IU) were notified quick- problem (e.g., Klypin et al. 1999). ly of the possible discovery of a dwarf galaxy in the HI data. Within a month of the initial discovery, they used scheduled time on three Kitt Leo P was first discovered as a low-velocity HI source in the ongoing Peak telescopes to observe the new source. The first observations were Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) Survey being carried out with obtained in March 2012 on the KPNO 2.1-m telescope using time al- the Arecibo 305-m radio telescope (Giovanelli et al. 2012). The extreme located to the NOAO Survey program called ALFALFA Hα. Salzer and sensitivity of the Arecibo telescope allows it to detect very low-mass HI IU graduate student Angela Van Sistine obtained narrowband Hα images 5 systems (e.g., Leo P has an HI mass of only 3×10 M if it lies at 1 Mpc). of the target and detected an HII region in Leo P. Subsequent analysis Cross-matching of the HI detection with imaging data from the Sloan suggests that this nebula is ionized by a single late-O or early-B type star. Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) showed an extended, faint blue source locat- continued

4 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 Science HighlightsScience Leo P: A Newly Discovered Local Group Candidate continued

Figure 2: Color-magnitude diagram constructed from point spread function photometry of the stars in Leo P measured in the WIYN telescope images (see Figure 1). The plot includes Figure 1: BVR color composite image of Leo P obtained with the WIYN telescope. The field all objects within the galaxy that have photometric uncertainties in B-V less than 0.25 mag. of view of this image is 2.4 by 2.5 arcmin and the orientation is N-up, E-left. The lower The upper main sequence and red giant branch stars are indicated. The dashed line indi- (southern) portion of Leo P is dominated by a clump of blue main-sequence stars, indicating cates the 50% completeness limit for the data. Note the well-defined upper main sequence very recent star formation has occurred. The brightest object in Leo P (located within the and the under-populated red giant branch. clump of blue stars) is an HII region that appears to be photo-ionized by a single B-type star. The upper portion of the galaxy has very low surface brightness but includes a number of The combination of the upper main-sequence photometry and the pres- redder stars, presumably RGB members in Leo P. The total size of the galaxy at this sensitiv- ence of a single HII region constrains the distance to between roughly ity level is ~90 arcsec. 400–700 kpc, suggesting that Leo P is an outlying member of Local Group. However, at this distance one would expect to see a more ex- Rhode and IU student Michael Young then imaged Leo P with the Mini- tensive red giant branch with a tip at much brighter magnitudes than Mosaic camera on the WIYN 3.5-m telescope through optical broad- was observed. Applying the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) distance band (BVR) filters. Excellent image quality (0.6–0.8 arcsec PSF FWHM) method to the CMD results in a distance estimate of 1.0–1.5 Mpc (de- resolved the galaxy into stars. Figure 1 shows the color composite image pending on which stars are used to represent the TRGB). The problem of Leo P. The light from this galaxy is dominated by young, blue stars, par- with the larger distance is that several of the upper main-sequence stars ticularly in its southern (lower) half. The HII region is the brightest object would then be luminous enough to be hosting HII regions, which is not in the clump of blue stars. The brightest individual stars are V ~ 22; PSF- observed. Hence, the current situation regarding the distance is rather fitting recovers photometry for stars as faint as V ~ 25. A color-magnitude enigmatic: the nearer distance requires that Leo P have a very unusual diagram (CMD) for the brighter stars in Leo P is shown in Figure 2. The star-formation history to account for the under-populated RGB, while CMD reveals a well-defined, upper main sequence, but a weak or under- the greater distance appears to violate basic stellar and nebular astro- populated red giant branch. physics. This distance ambiguity might be resolved with deeper photo- metric observations. Finally Salzer, IU graduate student Nathalie Haurberg, and John Cannon utilized part of a scheduled run on the KPNO Mayall 4-m telescope in Regardless of the final distance, Leo P is an amazing object. Adopting a April 2012 to obtain a spectrum of the HII region in Leo P, which re- fiducial distance of 1.0 Mpc for the purpose of discussion, Leo P has a vi- veals the very metal-poor nature of this dwarf system (Figure 3). The sual absolute magnitude of MV = -8.1. The HI-to-stellar mass ratio is 2.6, velocity of the HII region matches that of the HI gas. Preliminary esti- making Leo P one of the most gas-rich galaxies in the nearby Universe. mates based on this spectrum, plus a subsequent deep spectrum obtained It is the lowest-mass system known that is actively making stars at the with the Large Binocular Telescope by collaborator Evan Skillman (Uni- current time. Its ultra-low metal abundance indicates that it is relatively versity of Minnesota), indicate that Leo P has an oxygen abundance of unevolved chemically. The location of Leo P in the periphery (or just log(O/H)+12 < 7.2, comparable to the lowest extragalactic sources known outside) the Local Group, coupled with its high gas content, suggests that (hence the use of the term “pristine”). More comprehensive analysis of it has not yet traveled inside the virial radius of either the Milky Way or the spectroscopic data is underway. Andromeda. The emerging evolutionary scenario is one in which Leo P continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 5 Leo P: A Newly Discovered Local Group Candidate continued

has lived on the outskirts for most or all of its existence. Perhaps a re- cent encounter is responsible for the current round of star formation? It would appear that prior to this modest burst of star formation Leo P was a rather inconspicuous low-surface-brightness dwarf galaxy. It is unclear Science Highlights whether it would have been detectable as having any optical counterpart in the SDSS data if it had been observed pre-burst.

The ALFALFA survey has detected dozens of ultra-compact HI clouds (e.g., Giovanelli et al. 2010) with velocities that place them in or near the Local Group. It has been proposed that these objects represent mini- 9 halos (objects with dark matter masses <10 M) that have lost most, but not all, of their baryons. The existence of such objects could help reduce the discrepancy between theory and observation that is com- monly referred to as the “missing satellite” problem. Leo P may represent a prototype system for the category of low-mass dark matter halos with Figure 3: Spectrum of the HII region in Leo P, obtained with the KPNO 4-m Mayall telescope. small baryon fraction. The prospects for detecting other such systems— The flux scale is in units of erg/s/cm2/Å. Key nebular emission lines are labeled; note the presumably in much lower surface-brightness states—lurking in other clean detection of the temperature-sensitive [O III] λ4363 line. The spectrum indicates a ultra-compact HI clouds detected in ALFALFA bodes well for the future very low metal abundance for Leo P, comparable to or lower than the lowest metallicity resolution of the “missing satellites” problem. extragalactic sources known. A paper detailing the optical imaging observations described above has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal (Rhode et al. 2012). In ad- References dition to the Indiana University astronomers mentioned herein, col- Giovanelli, R., Haynes, M.P., Kent, B.R., & Adams, E.A.K. 2010, ApJ, 708, laborators on this project include Riccardo Giovanelli, Martha Haynes L22 and Elizabeth Adams (Cornell University); Evan Skillman and Kristen Giovanelli, R., et al. 2012, ApJ, (submitted) McQuinn (University of Minnesota); and John Cannon and Elijah Bern- Klypin, A., et al. 1999, ApJ, 522, 82 stein-Cooper (Macalester College). Rhode, K.L., et al. 2012, ApJ, (submitted) NL

The Yellow Supergiants in the Local Group as a Diagnostic of the Evolution of Massive Stars Maria R. Drout (Harvard University)

aria R. Drout (Harvard); Kathryn F. Neugent, Phil Massey, to the blue. The lifetime of the YSG phase is only on the order of tens of and Brian Skiff (Lowell Observatory); and Georges Meynet thousands of years, thus these stars are very rare. (Geneva Observatory) used the MMT and CTIO Blanco 4-m Mtelescope to identify hundreds of new, yellow supergiants (YSGs) in M33 The incredibly short lifetime of the YSG phase is the main reason this and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The YSGs are evolved massive portion of the H-R diagram is ideal for observational tests of evolutionary stars whose numbers and locations on the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) codes. The YSG lifetimes predicted by the models for stars of various diagram provide a stringent test for models of massive star evolution. masses can be used to predict the relative number of stars that should The luminosity distributions of these newly identified populations were appear in various luminosity bins. However, these predicted lifetimes are found to be in excellent agreement with that predicted by the latest highly sensitive to uncertain model parameters (mass loss, overshooting, generation of Geneva evolutionary models, thus resolving a previous and rotationally induced mixing), and because of their short duration, disagreement between observations and single-star models in this region even small variations can dramatically change the predicted relative of the H-R diagram. number of stars. Indeed, previous studies (Drout et al. 2009, Neugent et al. 2010) found large discrepancies between the relative number of The Yellow Supergiant Phase yellow supergiants observed as a function of mass and those predicted by

The YSG phase (F- & G-type; defined as the region where 7500 K >eff T > many, single-star evolutionary models, with the models over-predicting 4800 K and log L/L ≥ 4) is a short-lived, transitional phase. Stars with the number of high luminosity YSGs by a factor of 100 or more. It

initial masses between ~9 M and 40 M briefly pass through this region thus seemed prudent to characterize the YSG population of additional of the H-R diagram while transitioning either from the main sequence galaxies (at various metallicities) in the hopes of shedding additional to the red supergiant (RSG) phase or, in some cases, from the red back light on these discrepancies. continued

6 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 Science HighlightsScience The Yellow Supergiants in the Local Group continued

Identifying the Supergiants One large hurdle that must be overcome is, ironically, identifying the preparation) show excellent agreement with the observed locations of supergiants. When one looks toward a local group galaxy at the colors our YSGs, as well as the relative number of YSGs at various luminosities. and magnitudes of YSGs, a majority of stars observed will not be These models therefore represent a drastic improvement over previous bona-fide supergiants, but rather foreground yellow dwarfs. In these generations. Unfortunately, it is not possible to identify one physical studies, the modest radial velocities of M33 and the LMC were used cause for this improved behavior; rather, it is likely due to a combined to distinguish extragalactic supergiants based on their radial velocities effect of modified initial compositions, opacities, rotation prescriptions, and the luminosity-dependent OI λ7774 triplet (see Figure 1). Here, and RSG mass-loss rates. Clearly, there are still unanswered questions, the Hydra and Hectospec multifiber spectrographs on the Blanco 4-m such as the role of binarity and variability. However, the identification telescope and the MMT, respectively, were invaluable. They provided of representative populations of these stars serves as a necessary first spectra of ~3000 YSG candidates in only a handful of nights. In the step for future studies of massive star evolution in this portion of the end, the program identified 121 probable YSGs in M33 and 317 in the H-R diagram. LMC. This corresponds to a foreground contamination of ~80% in the directions of both galaxies.

300

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-200 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 Figure 2: The population of newly identified M33 YSGs, as well as several newly identi- X/R fied M33 RSGs, plotted with the newest generation of rotating Geneva evolutionary models Figure 1: Observed radial velocity minus expected M33 velocity (based on M33’s rotation (z = 0.014 are shown as solid lines while z = 0.006 are shown as dashed lines). The vertical curve and the location of the object in the disk) versus X/R (proxy for location within M33 black lines designate the YSG region. (Drout, M.R. et al. 2012, ApJ, 750, 97. Reproduced by disk) for the YSG candidates. Green points represent stars whose spectra show a strong permission of the AAS.) OI λ7774 feature. Bona-fide supergiants should lie along zero on the vertical axis while foreground dwarfs make up the strong diagonal band. (Drout, M.R. et al. 2012, ApJ, 750, 97. Reproduced by permission of the AAS.) References Drout, M.R., Massey, P., & Meynet, G. 2012, ApJ, 750, 97 Neugent, K.F., Massey, P., Skiff, B., & Meynet, G. 2012, ApJ, 749, 177 Testing the Evolutionary Models Drout, M.R., Massey, P., Meynet, G., Tokarz, S., & Caldwell, N. 2009, ApJ, After placing the newly identified YSG populations on the H-R 703, 441 diagram (see Figure 2), it is apparent that the latest generation of Ekstrom, S., et al. 2012, A&A, 537, A146 Geneva evolutionary tracks (Ekstrom et al. 2012, Chomienne et al. in Neugent, K.F., et al. 2010, ApJ, 719, 1784 NL

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 7 Needles in a Haystack: Studying Andromeda Stellar Populations through Those of the Milky Way

Science Highlights Rachael L. Beaton, Steven R. Majewski & Richard J. Patterson (University of Virginia)

he Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda’s are drawn from only a single population of dSph galaxies. The M31 Stellar Halo (SPLASH) is systematically exploring the system dSph population remains unexplored and becomes a key test bed to of dwarf spheroidal satellites (dSph) in the Andromeda galaxy understanding the MW observations. T(M31) through a unique two-phase approach: (1) deep imaging with the Mayall 4-m + Mosaic led by graduate student Rachael Beaton (U. of To date, the team has complementary imaging and spectroscopic Virginia) and (2) highly efficient spectroscopic follow-up with Keck II + datasets for 16 of the 30 known M31 dSph galaxies. Studying the M31 DEIMOS led by Erik Tollerud (Yale). Dwarf spheroidal satellites within stellar populations in color-magnitude space (CMD) is a challenge the Local Group include the least luminous galaxies known and provide due to the superposition of the dominant foreground MW dwarfs critical tests of theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Studies of over the “needle in the haystack” M31 red giant branch (RGB) stars. the Milky Way (MW) satellites have revealed a surprising absence of a The SPLASH survey uniquely identifies the target RGB stars using the trend between galaxy luminosity and total mass spanning five orders of Washington+DDO51 filter system. magnitude of luminosity, suggesting that galaxy formation is effectively 7 stochastic at these mass scales (~10 M). These conclusions, however,

Figure 2: Demonstration of the Washington+DDO51 giant selection technique on the M31 dSph, Andromeda V. The top row illustrates all of the stars detected in the Mosaic field-of- view (CMD, left; Spatial, right). In the CMD, we have labeled some of the major features: Figure 1: The Washington+DDO51 filter system permits separation of stars of the same orange = TriAnd MW substructure, blue = MW dwarf sequence, and teal = AndV RGB. In temperature into their respective luminosity classes using the DDO51 filter. The top figure the middle row, we apply an RGB selection indicated in blue. In the bottom row, we add demonstrates the sensitivity of the Mgb feature to the surface gravity of the star. The bot- the Wash+D51 selection using the color-color diagram. The combination of RGB and color- tom figure illustrates giant selection in the color-color diagram. The MW dwarfs form a color selection greatly enhances the contrast between the dSph and the underlying M31 characteristic “swoosh” and the giants are generally above it. stellar halo background. continued

8 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 Science HighlightsScience Needles in a Haystack continued

The DDO51 filter is centered on the surface-gravity-sensitive Mgb triplet, which for the same temperature will separate dwarf and giant stars, providing a drastically cleaner sample of candidate dSph mem- ber stars than a selection in color-magnitude space alone. Figure 1 demonstrates the Washington+DDO51 method by comparing the stel- lar spectrum of a dwarf and a giant star of the same spectral type (top panel). Using the photometric method, the spectral difference results in a fainter DDO51 magnitude in a dwarf star than that of a giant. This difference is illustrated in the bottom panel of Figure 1, which displays the color-color diagram. The MW dwarf stars form a characteristic “swoosh” as a function of temperature, whereas the giants form a swath above the “swoosh.”

An application of the method is illustrated in the panels of Figure 2 for Andromeda V (AndV), which is a dSph representative of the median properties (size, luminosity, mass) seen in our sample. The top row of Figure 2 displays the full field CMD (left) and the RA-Dec spatial dis- tribution (right). AndV is easily identified as the overdensity in the lower right of the spatial distribution. The middle row demonstrates selection of the RGB in the CMD (left) and the resulting spatial distri- bution (right), which shows a stronger contrast between the dSph and Figure 3: (Left) Results of fitting a King radial profile to the resulting stellar distribution of the underlying background (a combination of the smooth M31 stellar AndV selected in Figure 2 (highlighted in orange). (Right) We compare the SPLASH-derived halo and foreground MW dwarfs). In the bottom row of Figure 2, an profile (orange) to a comparable profile by McConnachie & Irwin (2006, teal). This com- additional selection in color-color space is applied to select high-like- parison emphasizes the improvements enabled by the Washington+DDO51 method. We lihood giant stars (left), showing the resulting stellar distribution made emphasize that the increased contrast between the dSph and the backgound substantially by applying both sets of selection criteria (right). The resulting contrast improves the tracing of the dwarf into larger radial bins. between AndV and background is again increased. This increase in contrast permits far more precise measurement of the size and shape of and Beaton). Nearly 50% of the Mayall 4-m fields have complementary the dSph than with RGB selection alone. Keck + DEIMOS follow-up spectroscopy that permits careful identifica- tion of RGB stars in the underlying M31 stellar halo. The SPLASH sur- The resulting best fit King profile for AndV is shown in the left panel vey will begin its next phase of implementation this fall with a recently of Figure 3 and, in the left panel, is compared to the corresponding accepted NOAO Survey program to obtain J and Ks imaging using the fit by McConnachie & Irwin (2006). Figure 3 illustrates how reducing NEWFIRM wide-field infrared imager in each of the 80 SPLASH survey the MW foreground substantially reduces the noise in the most distant fields (Co-PIs Guhathakurta and Beaton). Combined with the optical radial bins. In the process of fitting a radial profile to a dSph, the outer- Washington+DDO51 photometry, this will permit identification of in- most bins set the background stellar density, which in turn dramatically termediate stellar populations both in the dSphs and in the M31 stellar affects the resulting best-fit profile. Thus, the SPLASH method provides halo, which provides constraints on the merger history of the M31 halo unparalleled ability to study the M31 dSphs on a par with those of the and the star formation histories of the dSphs. MW. Beaton is currently in the process of finalizing radial profile fits for the 16 dSphs that have both photometry and spectroscopy. The fit- Acknowledgments ting process, developed in the PhD thesis of Ostheimer (2003), takes This work benefits tremendously from the help of the night assistants great care to understand all of the errors inherent in the fitting process. at the Mayall 4-m telescope, including, but not limited to: Hal, George, Jenny, Karen, and Ed. With the NEWFIRM runs approaching, we look The observational effort required to study the dSphs is enormous. Each forward to many more productive nights at the Mayall. Mayall 4-m + Mosaic field requires three hours of on-sky time (including calibration overheads). Despite its observational expense, the method is References invaluable for a detailed analysis of the M31 dSphs. The M31 dSph sam- McConnachie, A.W., & Irwin, M.J. 2006, MNRAS, 365, 1263 ple, however, represents only 20% of the larger SPLASH M31 halo survey Majewski, S.R., Ostheimer, J.C., Kunkel, W.E., & Patterson, R.J. 2000, AJ, that uses a pencil beam sampling approach to study the overall halo out 120, 2550 to 165 kpc (projected). This represents seven individual Mayall 4-m ob- Ostheimer, J.C., Jr. 2003, PhD Thesis serving runs over five years led by Beaton, first as an undergraduate and Tollerud, E.J., et al. 2012, ApJ, 752, 45 NL now as a graduate student at the University of Virginia (PIs Majewski

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 9 System Science Capabilities LSST Project Reaches a Major Milestone Sidney Wolff (LSST Corporation)

“National Science Foundation Will Advance the Large Synoptic Survey extensive data management system. DOE, through a collaboration Telescope.” This was the title of a press release issued by the NSF on led by its SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, will be responsible 18 July 2012 that marks a major milestone in the long process toward for development and delivery of the large-format camera. The Re- what we hope will be a construction start for the Large Synoptic Survey public of Chile, through an agreement with Universidad de Chile, Telescope (LSST) Project. The telescope itself will be an 8-m wide-field will provide the observing site for the LSST telescope.” survey telescope that will survey the entire sky approximately twice per week. The telescope will be equipped with a 3-billion-pixel digital With this approval by the National Science Board camera. As the press release states, the LSST Project is much (NSB), the earliest that construction funding could more than just a telescope and a camera. The proj- begin is FY 2014. NSB approval is necessary ect will conduct a 10-year survey of the sky in six but is not sufficient to achieve a construction wavelength bands. Taking advantage of advances start. The Director of NSF must first decide in computer science and technology, the project when to propose including the new start will then deliver data products to the commu- for this Major Research Equipment and nity that will, in the words of the press release, Facility Construction (MREFC) proj- “propel astronomy ever further into the era of ect in his budget request; a request for data-enabled science.” funding then has to be included in the budget that the President submits to Again, quoting from the press release: Congress; and Congress must appropriate the funds. The project also must continue to “With approval from the National pass the external reviews required to es- Science Board, the National Science tablish readiness for construction. Foundation (NSF) Director will ad- vance the Large Synoptic Survey Tele- The project team has worked hard to scope (LSST) to the final design stage. reach this milestone, and we very much This action permits the NSF Director appreciate the sustained efforts by staff at to include funds for LSST construction in DOE and NSF to support the LSST Project a future budget request…. The LSST was the and to establish what is proving to be an excellent first-ranked ground-based large initiative in the 2010 partnership. We also very much appreciate the contri- National Academy of Sciences decadal survey in astronomy and as- butions made by our partners in the project—NOAO for the telescope trophysics…. NSF and DOE have recently signed a formal Memo- and site work, SLAC for the camera, and the National Center for Super- randum of Understanding delineating the scope of the agencies’ computing Applications for data management—to bring designs, cost- responsibilities throughout the lifetime of the project. NSF will be ing, and schedules to the level of maturity required to meet the rigorous responsible for development of the site and telescope, as well as the standards for advancing to the final design phase.

BigBOSS Status Update David Sprayberry, Arjun Dey & Timothy Beers

he Big Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BigBOSS) proj- Community Workshop in September 2011 to investigate the range of ect, led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, aims to community science projects that could be undertaken with the Big- create a powerful, new, spectroscopic capability for the KPNO BOSS instrument (see www.noao.edu/meetings/bigboss). A white paper T4-m Mayall Telescope. The BigBOSS instrument, a 5000-fiber optical expressing the community’s interest in BigBOSS was submitted to the spectrograph with a 3-degree field of view, will undertake an unprec- NSF’s Portfolio Review Committee (Pilachowski et al. 2012; available at edented galaxy redshift survey to constrain various cosmological pa- ast.noao.edu/sites/default/files/BigBOSS_PortfolioReview_final.pdf). The rameters and also will be available for community science programs (see Department of Energy (DOE) office of High Energy Physics held an in- bigboss.lbl.gov/ and Schlegel et al. 2011, arXiv 1106.1706). dependent peer review of the project concept in December 2011, which the project passed with flying colors (see the March 2012NOAO Newslet- NOAO worked closely with the BigBOSS project over the last year to ter, p. 13). Members of the NOAO scientific staff continued to participate advance the scientific and technical aspects of the project, and to ensure in BigBOSS workshops (the most recent being held on 30 May–1 June that the community interests are properly represented. NOAO held a 2012 and 16–20 July 2012) to refine survey strategy, target selection, and

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10 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Capabilities Science BigBOSS Status Update continued

data management and to work toward ensuring that the broader scientif- ic interests of the overall community are represented. NOAO organized a Community Science Advisory committee led by Dr. Constance Rockosi (University of California, Santa Cruz) to help with the latter task. This committee is charged with developing science cases and survey strategies for a variety of galactic and extragalactic studies. These would in turn inform NOAO’s discussions with the BigBOSS project on how best to satisfy the community’s scientific aspirations.

Finally, NOAO organized a dedicated engineering team to work on the BigBOSS-Mayall interface, under the leadership of Dick Joyce (Mayall telescope scientist) and David Sprayberry (project manager). The team has been engaged in various aspects of the project, including the plans for readying the telescope and the building to host the instrument, the optical design of the corrector, and the hardware and software interface requirements. NOAO is investigating the delivered image quality of the Rendering of the Mayall 4-m telescope showing how the major components of the BigBOSS current system and the state of the telescope drives and mirror support instrument would be installed. Image credit: Michael Sholl, Lawrence Berkeley National system. The engineering team’s first tasks are to identify, with the Big- Laboratory. BOSS team, all the interface points between BigBOSS and the observato- ry infrastructure and to determine what modifications might be needed. The goal is to complete these initial steps in time for the BigBOSS Con- ceptual Design Review, which is likely to be in mid 2013. NL

SAM Improves Angular Resolution over a Wide Field Andrei Tokovinin

he SOAR Adaptive Module (SAM) is designed to improve an- gular resolution by compensating for turbulence in the lower atmosphere. SAM uses an ultraviolet laser guide star (LGS) to Tderive the wavefront correction. Additional details of SAM’s expect- ed performance may be found at www.ctio.noao.edu/new/Telescopes/ SOAR/Instruments/SAM/ao_sam_performance.html.

After closing the LGS loop for the first time in April 2011, the laser sys- tem was thoroughly tested and improved where necessary. This process is not yet finished, but substantial progress has been achieved. The large size of the projected LGS—the main factor that prevents stable opera- tion of SAM—is caused mostly by the man-made turbulence from the heat dissipated by the electronics installed near the laser launch tele- scope. After fixing this trivial oversight, SAM will be back on the sky to continue its commissioning.

The adaptive optics worked stably on two nights during the SAM com- missioning in 2012, delivering substantial gain in resolution over the whole 3-arcmin field. Apparently, turbulence in the high atmosphere was weak on those nights. Results obtained on 6 March 2012 are pre- sented at the SAM Web site (www.ctio.noao.edu/new/Telescopes/SOAR/ Figure 1: Full-frame image of NGC 6496 in the I band with 120-s exposure recorded with Instruments/SAM/recent_results/march2012.html). Observations of the SAM on 8/9 May 2012. The 15”×12” fragments compare resolution in the closed loop globular cluster NGC 6496 obtained on 8/9 May 2012 are highlighted (upper, FWHM 0.26”) and open loop (lower, FWHM 0.51”) with the same exposure and in- here (see Figure 1). tensity scale at two locations in the field. continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 11 SAM Improves Angular Resolution continued

The seeing on May 8 was good, between 0.5" and 0.6" as inferred from the open-loop images, despite strong wind, When the loop was closed, the resolution improved to 0.4" in the V band and to 0.25–0.30" in the I band. Figure 1 compares the image quality in the 120-s exposures of NGC 6496. The 15"×12" fragments at the center and near the edge of the field in closed loop (upper) and open loop (lower) are dis-

System Science Capabilities System played on the same intensity scale. Clearly, source confusion is the major contributor to photometric errors in this crowded field. Image sharpening by SAM helps to get deep and accurate photometry (see Figure 2).

We anticipate making a call for science verification (SV) proposals with SAM once the outstanding technical issues have been resolved. The SV program will use the SAM imager (4096 pixels, 45mas pixels, BVRIHα filters). NL

Figure 2: Color-magnitude diagram of NGC 6496 derived from the SAM data (from L. Fraga et al., in preparation).

KOSMOS and COSMOS Updates Jay Elias & David Sprayberry

he Kitt Peak Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (KOSMOS) The collimator assemblies for both instruments were completed by the and the Cerro Tololo Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph end of July 2012, and acceptance testing of those assemblies will take place (COSMOS) are nearly identical spectrographs being developed when the cameras are also completed. The camera assemblies still need Tsimultaneously for use in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres on two triplets and two doublets (one of each for each system) to be rece- the Mayall and Blanco telescopes, respectively. Problems being experi- mented. A firm schedule is not available at this time, but it is clear that enced by a third party vendor have continued to delay delivery. We now KOSMOS will not arrive on Kitt Peak in time for its first scheduled com- anticipate beginning to commission KOSMOS during the fall, with plans missioning run in late September 2012. to make it available in semester 2013A. Because KOSMOS will not have been commissioned by the time proposals are due, prospective users We are adopting the following policy for requesting KOSMOS, because should propose for the R-C Spectrograph and indicate their interest in us- the first telescope run will occur after the deadline for proposal submis- ing KOSMOS instead, following the rules described below. DECam com- sion, and commissioning will be incomplete when the Telescope Alloca- missioning and recommissioning of the Blanco ƒ/8 secondary mirror will tion Committee meets. (Please see the 2013A Call for Proposals for the affect when COSMOS is commissioned; we do not expect it to be available definitive rules; this is the same policy as was set for 2012B in the March for science use in semester 2013A. 2012 Newsletter):

Capabilities • Proposers should only write proposals that can be carried out with the Information on the instrument capabilities can be found in the R-C Spectrograph. “KOSMOS and COSMOS Updates” article on page 12 of the Septem- • Proposers who would be interested in using KOSMOS if it becomes ber 2011 NOAO Newsletter (www.noao.edu/noao/noaonews/sep11/ available should indicate this in their technical section and describe how pdf/104syssci.pdf). The most current information on the KOSMOS/ their proposal would be adapted to the KOSMOS capabilities found at COSMOS capabilities as well as relevant technical documentation can www.noao.edu/nstc/kosmos/ for the same amount of observing time. be found at www.noao.edu/nstc/kosmos/. • If KOSMOS is ready for shared-risk use during 2013A, we will contact scheduled observers and confirm their continued interest. We may end Schedule and Proposal Policy up making only a subset of capabilities available during the semester The September 2011Newsletter article and a follow-up article in the (e.g., long slit but not multi-object spectroscopy mode). March 2012 Newsletter reported that we were waiting for final delivery of the optics, which had been figured but not cemented or assembled at the Because the two instruments are nearly identical mechanically, COSMOS vendor. Since then, a continuing series of issues with the cemented lens integration has been proceeding largely in parallel with KOSMOS; per- assemblies have further delayed final delivery of the completed camera formance of the two should be nearly identical as well. COSMOS com- and collimator assemblies. missioning will take place following DECam commissioning at CTIO and recommissioning of the repaired ƒ/8 secondary mirror, probably late in semester 2013A.

12 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Capabilities Science DECam Installation Timothy Abbott & Alistair Walker

ismantling an almost 40-year-old, working telescope for the in the process. The injured personnel are fully recovered, and the us- installation of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) combines ability of the mirror is being assessed. Considerable attention already the demands of a normal shutdown for realuminization of the had been applied to safety and procedure development for the instal- Dprimary mirror or minor upgrades with those of a full-scale telescope lation shutdown, but we decided to perform a thorough review of all construction project. our operating and safety procedures, including an external review. As a result, our normal working rules were refined in a variety of ways and Safety Considerations augmented by more modern procedures. The CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope was taken offline for installation of the DECam cage on 20 February 2012. Distressingly, we experienced an All work is now subject to a job hazard analysis (JHA), which is a for- incident on that same day when the ƒ/8 secondary mirror was dropped malized study and discussion of the risks to personnel or equipment onto its apex and damaged, injuring two members of our personnel and the means of amelioration. Any heavy lifting has an associated

Figure 1: The Blanco telescope after the removal of the old prime focus cage and before the Figure 2: The DECam prime focus cage being installed on the telescope. (Image credit: Timothy installation of DECam. The primary mirror is protected under the grey cover (right of center). Abbott, CTIO/AURA/NSF.) Personnel are moving the prime focus cage cart around beneath the telescope, the old cage is the black cylinder below them in the picture, the DECam cage has yellow strong backs on it ing to zenith, the prime focus cage was stripped of as much mass as above them. (Image credit: Timothy Abbott, CTIO/AURA/NSF.) possible, and access platforms were installed. All material removed was weighed to facilitate rebalancing later. A corrosion-removing critical lift plan (CLP). Any complex procedure has an associated pro- compound was applied to all the linkages between the prime focus cedure description document. All of these documents are archived and cage and the top ring. available online. Before removing the primary mirror, we established its optical axis An open stop-work policy has been instituted, in which any worker with respect to the telescope using a tool to locate the mirror’s vertex may call for a work stoppage, for any reason, until their concerns are and a target on the old prime focus corrector. Precisely remountable addressed. All observatory systems are regularly inspected for safety, crosshairs on this fiducial were then used to align the new cage. After and recommendations are distributed and followed up. New lockout/ removal, the primary mirror was moved as far from the telescope as tagout procedures have been implemented. Work that is identified to possible on the dome floor and protected with a robust, steel cover. carry any significant risk to personnel is attended by other personnel qualified to make the appropriate emergency response if it is required. DECam is significantly more massive than the old prime focus cage, so we compensated by adding counterweights on the bottom of the The Installation Cassegrain cage and reinforcing the cage to carry sufficient lead. The The telescope was parked at zenith, clamped, and had the drives weight of the telescope now is increased by ~10%. disabled for the prime focus cage exchange so that the majority of forces involved were symmetrically balanced around the vertical. We An earthquake-unsafe condition when exchanging the prime focus could then remove the prime focus cage and lower it down vertically cages was defined in which the dome crane would be attached to a through the telescope with the primary mirror removed. Before mov- prime focus cage while the cage was either attached to the telescope

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NOAO Newsletter September 2012 13 DECam Installation continued System Science Capabilities System

Figure 4: DECam under the telescope and ready for installation. (Image credit: Timothy Abbott, CTIO/AURA/NSF.)

Figure 3: The installation crew listens to a briefing before installing the populated DECam cage. Staff from CTIO, KPNO, and Fermilab are present. sions applied to the spider legs were tuned by using strain gauges and (Image credit: Timothy Abbott, CTIO/AURA/NSF.) an influence matrix with the boundary condition that none should go into compression at any telescope orientation. Removing the old cage itself, or being moved up or down inside the telescope. During these was uneventful. Worries that bolt threads might be corroded, bound, phases, a significant earthquake could have had disastrous consequenc- or damaged proved unfounded. Although some hammering was neces- es. Such phases were required to be completed within one working day sary, retaining pins were removed without significant difficulty. to minimize the risk. The DECam cage was first installed using a lighter configuration with- The prime focus spider has 12 legs—four upper, four lower diagonals, out the corrector. We practiced the maneuvers required to align it, then and four center legs—and is over-constrained. Careful attention must we removed it and integrated the optics. Turnbuckles used to attach be paid to alignment, and the tensions on each leg balanced. The ten- the spider legs to the telescope top ring were cleaned and one thread reworked. The final cage position was displaced from the previously es- tablished optical axis less than 600 microns and tilted less than 7 arcsec.

Counterweights calculated to leave the telescope ~500 kg bottom heavy were installed, and the telescope was released from its declination re- straints. We drove the telescope small distances from zenith and mea- sured the imbalance using motor drive current. Balance of better than 8 kg out of 110,000 kg was achieved. Friction was found to have in- creased by ~20%. Similar maneuvers were then carried out in the hour angle axis. The telescope is now balanced and can be moved to any required position.

By July, we were dressing the telescope with the liquid nitrogen, glycol, compressed air, vacuum lines, and other utilities. The nitrogen lines are ~100 mm in diameter and, when empty, weigh 7.4 kg per meter. Cable wraps will allow free movement around the hour angle, declination, and top ring axes. The empty hoses and brackets will add some 600 kg to the total weight of the telescope. The installation ends with fine tuning the telescope control system and installing the imager; then, we can com- mission the instrument. Figure 5: The modified Blanco Cassegrain cage. The Cassegrain cage of the V. M. Blanco 4-m telescope has been modified to carry 5.5 tons of lead to counterweight the new DECam in- First light for DECam is anticipated to occur around the end of Sep- stalled on the prime focus. The DECam installation is nearing completion with first light ex- tember 2012. NL pected near the end of September. (Image credit: Timothy Abbott, CTIO/AURA/NSF.)

14 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Capabilities Science Latest TSIP Proposal Results David Sprayberry

SF informed NOAO late in fiscal year (FY) 2011 that the Tele- time will be allocated as 10 nights in semester 2013A, 10 nights in semes- scope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP) would be funded ter 2013B, and 7 nights in semester 2014A. As with all prior TSIP time, for $2 million to support a new round of System Improvement the time will be awarded through the standard NOAO time allocation Nor System Access proposals. In addition, $0.9 million of FY 2010 fund- process by the NOAO Time Allocation Committee (TAC). Keck time ing remained uncommitted after the prior year’s competition. NOAO through TSIP has been both very popular and very productive for the published a solicitation for new proposals on 29 July 2011 for the total US community throughout the history of TSIP, and we fully expect this $2.9 million available. Three proposals were received by the deadline of pattern will continue. 4 November 2011. The three proposals requested total funding of $4.7 million, for an oversubscription rate of 1.62. In addition to the existing facility instruments at Keck, the community will have access to the newly commissioned (and TSIP-funded) wide- The review process was delayed somewhat by the late withdrawals of three field Multi-Object Spectrograph for Infrared Exploration (MOSFIRE). members of the review panel for various reasons. A reconstituted review MOSFIRE began commissioning in semester 2012A and was available panel met in Tucson on 5 March 2012 and unanimously recommended for shared-risk proposals in semester 2012B. CARA anticipates that funding one of the three proposals. On 15 May 2012, the NSF formally MOSFIRE will be a fully supported facility instrument beginning with accepted this recommendation. The successful proposer was the Califor- semester 2013A. It represents an exciting capability not available cur- nia Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA), which operates the rently to the open-access US community on any other 8- to 10-m-class W. M. Keck Observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawai’i. telescope, and we are very excited that it will be available for all of this new allotment of TSIP observing time. CARA has been awarded the entire $2.9 million to support the construc- tion, integration, and commissioning of the Keck Cosmic Web Imager Unfortunately, the FY 2012 NSF budget included no TSIP funding, so blue channel (KCWI), a moderate-resolution, optical, integral-field spec- there will be no call during the current fiscal year. In addition, the FY trograph. The preliminary and detailed design phases of KCWI have 2013 NSF budget request includes no funding for TSIP. While Congress been supported by prior TSIP awards; the preliminary design phase is has not yet appropriated a budget for the NSF for FY 2013, it is unlikely complete, and the detailed design phase is proceeding essentially on that TSIP funds will be added back in if the NSF did not request them. schedule. KCWI is scheduled for delivery and commissioning in the first We therefore do not expect to issue a proposal call for FY 2013 either. half of calendar year 2014. Further funding for TSIP proposals is dependent on the outcome of the NSF Portfolio Review currently underway. In return for this funding, CARA will make available 27 nights of ob- serving time on the Keck telescopes to the general US community. The

Telescope System Instrumentation Program Robert Blum

he Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP) has been available to the open-access astronomy community in the US through one of the most visible and effective optical-infrared (OIR) pro- NOAO. As a result, the TSIP program helped build the US OIR Sys- grams funded by NSF since TSIP’s inception in 2002. For many tem in two fundamental ways: through the development and deploy- TUS astronomers, TSIP is “the System,” and while the System encom- ment of cutting-edge capabilities and by expanding the base of users passes a great deal of capabilities and facilities across a large range of with access to world-best facilities. A recent report by the NOAO- apertures and wavelengths, TSIP is one of the key programs that have organized System Roadmap Committee shows that the US OIR Sys- enabled its development. tem has become wildly successful (see ast.noao.edu/about/committees/ system-roadmap), and part of this success is no doubt due to TSIP. TSIP was established following the 2000 Decadal Survey, Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium. The idea was to ensure that Funding for TSIP over its 10 years has totaled $33M. Apart from a a new generation of large-aperture telescopes built by non-federal en- small fraction used to manage and oversee the program (<1%), all of tities would be well instrumented and thus follow through on their this funding flowed to non-federal US institutions. A summary table enormous scientific potential. In parallel, these same facilities, ben- shown at ast.noao.edu/system/tsip/more-info/funding-summary details efiting from federal investment in instrumentation, would make time the awards made over the last decade. Approximately 450 nights of

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NOAO Newsletter September 2012 15 Telescope System Instrumentation Program continued

observing time have been gained for the open-access community in TSIP also contributed in a major way to two near-infrared, multi- exchange for the federal funding. Of these nights, 92 nights remain to object spectrographs, the MMT and Magellan Infrared Spectrograph be allocated: 40 on WIYN with the One Degree Imager, 25 on the Large (MMIRS) for Magellan/MMT and the Multi-Object Spectrograph for Binocular Telescope (LBT) once two pairs of instruments are available Infrared Exploration (MOSFIRE) for Keck. MMIRS was built by the (possibly beginning in 2013), and 27 on Keck that are to be allocated Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. After an initial stint at through semester 2013A (see “Latest TSIP Proposal Results” in this is- the MMT, MMIRS was recommissioned at Magellan where it has been sue). In all, 116 science papers in refereed journals have been published used for several years already. MOSFIRE, at Keck, was one of the largest

System Science Capabilities System based on TSIP time allocated through NOAO. This is an impressive 32 TSIP projects completed under the program. TSIP contributed about papers per 100 nights (and 39 per 100 nights of Keck time). half of the $12 million needed for this state-of-the-art instrument. It is unique among the ground-based, near-infrared, multi-object spec- Unfortunately, the TSIP program has been eliminated by the astronomy trographs as it was designed with a cryogenic, configurable, slit unit; division (AST) of NSF in current planning budgets through 2013, at no thermal cycling of a fore Dewar is required to change slit masks. least, owing to severe constraints on federal spending. A final $2 mil- MOSFIRE is being commissioned at Keck and will be offered for sci- lion allocation was made by NSF in fiscal year 2011. The award was ence in 2012; see irlab.astro.ucla.edu/mosfire/ for details, including made near the end of the fiscal year, and the solicitation, review, and commissioning results. NSF approval cycle was completed in May 2012. Rounding out the decade of instrumentation developed with TSIP Nevertheless, over ten years, TSIP has been very successful in its mis- are the OH-Suppressing Infra-Red Imaging Spectrograph (OSIRIS), sion. Many of the key instruments currently (or soon to be) deployed a near-infrared integral-field spectrograph for Keck (in service since on the US, non-federal, large aperture telescopes were built or up- 2005); the Magellan Adaptive Secondary project; and the One Degree graded with TSIP funding. The final TSIP award was made to Keck Imager for WIYN. OSIRIS is used with an adaptive-optics system at for the development of the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI, result- Keck (www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/osiris/) providing high angular reso- ing in the 27 nights mentioned above). KCWI is an optical integral- lution data cubes at modest spectral resolution. The Magellan Adaptive field spectrograph and the TSIP funding will be used to complete de- Secondary is being commissioned by Steward Observatory in 2012– sign, construction, and commissioning of the instrument. The current 2013 at Magellan. All the hardware is in Chile in preparation for full plan will deliver a blue channel with a red channel option that can on-sky commissioning later in 2012. The system is expected to be used be added at a later time. The team will present its detailed design for with near-infrared and mid-infrared instruments as well as a dedicated formal review in 2012. Details can be found on this public Web site: optical imager that will achieve high angular resolution images in vis- www.srl.caltech.edu/sal/keck-cosmic-web-imager.html. ible wavelengths at very high speed to take advantage of exceptional seeing. The One Degree Imager (ODI) was deployed at WIYN in July Another complex and highly capable spectrograph being com- of this year in a “partial focal plane” mode (filling nearly one fourth of pleted with TSIP funding is the BinoSpec instrument for the MMT the available one-degree field of view). The “pODI” is based on cutting- (www.mmto.org/node/60). BinoSpec is being built by the Harvard edge orthogonal transfer array (OTA) technology. It is hoped that a Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and is a dual-channel (red and full focal plane can be developed in the future as the OTA technology blue), optical, multi-object spectrograph. The instrument should arrive matures and WIYN secures additional funding. at the MMT in 2013. Two other successful programs were funded by TSIP that have not as The Ohio State University astronomy department is delivering two cop- yet resulted in new instruments. Keck was funded to do a design for ies of a third, large, optical spectrograph supported by TSIP. The Multi- a Next Generation Adaptive Optics (NGAO) system for high contrast Object Double Spectrographs (MODS) will be deployed at the LBT. imaging. The design has been completed and Keck is working on de- The first one, MODS 1, is already commissioned and doing science for veloping a funding path for the full system. Observing nights flowed the LBT partnership, while the TSIP-funded MODS 2 should arrive in to the community for this project, just as for the projects mentioned Arizona in 2012. MODS 1 and 2 are nearly identical spectrographs, above. Finally, Steward Observatory made MMT time available in ex- both with red and blue channels to cover the optical wavelength regime. change for general operations funds under a System Access proposal See www.astr onomy.ohio-state.edu/MODS/ for details. (which has now ended). Steward used much of this funding to support and improve their adaptive optics capabilities at the MMT. (See the The Carnegie Observatories used TSIP funding in two cycles to upgrade FY11 Program Announcement and Proposal Solicitation at ast.noao. both wide- and narrow-field channels of its Inamori-Magellan Areal edu/sites/default/files/TSIP-AO-2011new.pdf for a description of the Camera and Spectrograph (IMACS), a multi-object imaging spectro- System Access and System Improvement categories of TSIP proposals.) graph for Magellan. The upgrades resulted in significant throughput enhancements as well as operational efficiencies. Both are in regular NOAO is proud to have helped develop and execute TSIP over the last use and IMACS remains a major workhorse instrument at Magellan. decade and is very grateful to NSF/AST for supporting it. NL

16 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments 2013A NOAO Call for Proposals Due 27 September 2012 Knut Olsen, Verne Smith & Dave Bell

Proposals for NOAO-coordinated observing time for semester 2013A There are four options for submission: (February–July 2013) are due by the evening of Thursday, 27 Septem- ber 2012, midnight MST. Web Submission – The Web form may be used to complete and submit all proposals. The information provided on the Web form is formatted The facilities available this semester include the Gemini North and and submitted as a LaTeX file, including figures that are “attached” to the South telescopes; Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (includ- Web proposal as encapsulated PostScript files. ing SOAR); Kitt Peak National Observatory (including WIYN); com- munity-access time with the Keck 10-m telescopes, the MMT 6.5-m File upload – A customized LaTeX file may be downloaded from the telescope, and the CHARA interferometer; as well as time available on Web proposal form after certain required fields have been completed. the Subaru 8.2-m telescope and the 4-m Anglo-Australian Telescope “Essay” sections can then be edited locally and the proposal submitted by through exchange programs. uploading files through a Web page atwww.noao.edu/noaoprop/submit/ .

A formal Call for Proposals is available at ast.noao.edu/observing/ Email submission – A customized LaTeX file may be downloaded from proposal-info as a self-contained, downloadable portable document the Web proposal form after certain required fields have been completed. format (PDF) document that contains all information necessary to “Essay” sections can then be edited locally and the proposal submitted by submit an observing proposal to NOAO. Included in this document email. Carefully follow the instructions in the LaTeX template for sub- are the following: mitting proposals and figures. Please use file upload instead of email if possible. • How to prepare and submit a proposal for an observing program • Deadlines Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT) – Investigators proposing for Gemini time only are encouraged to use Gemini’s tool, which runs on Solaris, Red- • Descriptions of classes of programs, such as normal, survey, or long- Hat Linux, Windows, and Mac platforms and can be downloaded from term, as well as the criteria of evaluation for each class www.gemini.edu/sciops/observing-gemini/proposal-submission/phase-i-tool-pit. • Who may apply, including special guidelines for thesis student propos- als or travel support for classical observing on the Gemini telescopes Note that proposals for Gemini time may also be submitted using the standard NOAO form, and proposals that request time on Gemini plus • Changes and news or updates since the last Call for Proposals other NOAO facilities must do so using the standard NOAO form. PIT- • Links to System facilities Web pages submitted proposals use a PDF attachment for the proposal text sections that closely mimic the standard NOAO form—be sure to use the correct • How to acknowledge use of NOAO facilities in your papers PDF template. To ensure a smooth import of your proposal, follow the guidelines at www.noao.edu/noaoprop/help/pit.html. Previous information on various Web pages that contain all of the infor- mation within the Call for Proposals document also remains available at Help with proposal preparation and submission is available via the ad- www.noao.edu/noaoprop. dresses below:

Web proposal materials and information www.noao.edu/noaoprop/ TAC information and proposal request statistics www.noao.edu/gateway/tac/ Web submission form for thesis student information www.noao.edu/noaoprop/thesis/ Request help for proposal preparation [email protected] Gemini-related questions about operations or instruments [email protected] www.noao.edu/usgp/noaosupport.html CTIO-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected] KPNO-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected] Keck-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected] MMT-specific questions related to an observing run [email protected]

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 17 System-Wide Observing Opportunities for Semester 2013A: Gemini, Keck, MMT, CHARA, Subaru, and AAT Knut Olsen, Dave Bell & Verne V. Smith

emester 2013A runs from 1 February 2013 to 31 July 2013. The • ALTAIR adaptive optics (AO) system in natural guide star (NGS) mode, NOAO System Science Center (NSSC) encourages the US commu- as well as in laser guide star (LGS) mode, with sky coverage limited by nity to propose for observing time using all of the ground-based, the need for natural AO or tip/tilt guide stars. A mode that uses LGS Sopen-access, system-wide facilities available during this semester. Ob- along with fast guiding from the peripheral wavefront sensor yields serving opportunities on telescopes other than those of KPNO, CTIO, improved image quality with 100% sky coverage. ALTAIR can be used WIYN, and SOAR are summarized below. with NIRI imaging, NIFS IFU spectroscopy, NIFS IFU spectral corona- graphy, and GNIRS. The Gemini Telescopes • Michelle, a mid-infrared (7–26 μm) imager and spectrometer that System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System The US user community has about 70 nights per telescope per semester includes an imaging polarimetry mode, will likely not be available in on the Gemini North and Gemini South telescopes, which represents the 2013A. largest piece of open-access observing time on 8-m-class telescopes. The • All of the available instruments and modes are offered for both queue Gemini Observatory provides unique opportunities in observational and and classical observing, except for LGS, which is available as queue operational capabilities, such as the ability to support both classically- only. Classical runs are offered to programs that are one night or longer and queue-scheduled programs. and consist of integer nights. • Details on the use of the LGS system can be found at www.gemini.edu/ NOAO strongly encourages US proposers to consider classical programs, sciops/instruments/altair/?q-node/10121, but a few points are empha- which can be as short as one night, on the Gemini telescopes in an ef- sized here. Target elevations must be >40 degrees, and proposers must fort to increase interactions between US users and the Gemini staff and request good weather conditions (Cloud Cover = 50%, or better, and to increase observing directly with the telescopes and instruments. We Image Quality = 70%, or better, in the parlance of Gemini observing also encourage queue observers to visit Gemini to see the operation first- conditions). Proposals should specify “Laser guide star” in the Re- hand. NOAO will cover the travel costs for thesis student observers to sources section of the Observing Proposal. Because of the need for observe at or visit Gemini. good weather, LGS programs must be ranked in Bands 1 or 2 to be scheduled on the telescope. US Gemini observing proposals are submitted to and evaluated by the NOAO Time Allocation Committee (TAC). The formal Gemini “Call Gemini South: for Proposals” for 2013A will be released in early September 2012 (close • GMOS-South: Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph and imager. Sci- to the publication date of this Newsletter issue), with a US proposal ence modes are MOS, long-slit spectroscopy, IFU spectroscopy and deadline of Thursday, 27 September 2012. As this article is prepared imaging. Nod-and-Shuffle mode is also available. well before the release of the Gemini Call for Proposals, the following • GeMS+GSAOI: Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics System with list of instruments and capabilities are only our expectations of what the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager. GeMS continues to un- will be offered in semester 2013A. Please watch the NSSC Web page dergo commissioning, with a system verification (SV) call expected (www.noao.edu/nssc) for the Gemini Call for Proposals, which will list during 2012B. It is expected that GeMS+GSAOI will be available in clearly and in detail the instruments and capabilities that will be offered. shared-risk mode in 2013A. • FLAMINGOS-2: Florida Multi-Object Imaging Near-Infrared Grism NSSC anticipates the following instruments and modes on Gemini tele- Observational Spectrometer version 2. FLAMINGOS-2 is under re- scopes in 2013A: pair, following the discovery of a cracked lens inside the instrument (www.gemini.edu/node/10351). The instrument is expected to return Gemini North: to the telescope late in 2012B or early in 2013A, when it will resume • NIFS: Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrometer. commissioning. FLAMINGOS-2 is expected to be available through a • NIRI: Near Infrared Imager. special call for system verification proposals, but will likely not be of- • GMOS-North: Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph and imager. Sci- fered for regular use in 2013A. ence modes are multi-object spectroscopy (MOS), long-slit spec- • NICI: Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager. NICI may be available troscopy, integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy and imaging. Nod- for general user proposals in 2013A, with availability depending on the and-Shuffle mode is also available. GMOS-North currently features progress of GeMS and FLAMINGOS-2 commissioning and SV. red-sensitive e2v CCDs, which may be replaced by higher efficiency • All modes for GMOS-South and NICI are offered for both queue and Hamamatsu CCDs in 2013A. However, users should plan on the exist- classical observing. As with Gemini North, classical runs are offered to ing CCDs being available. programs with a length of at least one or more integer nights. • GNIRS: Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph offers a wide variety of spectroscopic capabilities including long-slit (single order) spectros- Detailed information on all of the above instruments and their respec- copy within the 1.0–5.4 μm range. The instrument can be used with tive capabilities is available at www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/ adaptive optics over most of its wavelength range. instrumentIndex.html. continued

18 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments System-Wide Observing for Semester 2013A continued

Gemini proposals can be submitted jointly with collaborators from other • Keck Telescopes Gemini partners. An observing team requests time from each relevant A total of 10 nights of classically scheduled observing time will be avail- partner. All multi-partner proposals must be submitted using the Gemi- able with the 10-m telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna ni Phase I Tool (PIT). We encourage proposers for US-only time to con- Kea. All facility instruments are available. For the latest details, see sider using the PIT, as it reduces the effort needed behind the scenes to www.noao.edu/gateway/keck/. process Gemini proposals, although the NOAO Web-based form contin- • MMT Observatory ues to be available. Up to six nights (but no dark or grey nights) of classically scheduled observing time are expected to be available on the MMT in 2013A. Efficient operation of the Gemini queue requires that it be populated Only bright-time requests (more than 10 days from new moon) will be with programs that can effectively use the full range of observing con- considered. MMT is using the TSIP funds to finish development of the ditions. Gemini proposers and users have become increasingly expe- Binospec optical multi-object spectrograph. For further information, rienced at specifying the conditions required to carry out their obser- see www.noao.edu/gateway/mmt/. vations using the online Gemini Integration Time Calculators for each instrument. NSSC reminds you that a program has a higher probability AAT Access through CTIO Exchange Program of being awarded time and of being executed if ideal observing condi- In 2012B, CTIO and the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) tions are not requested. The two conditions that are in greatest demand started a program to exchange time between the CTIO 4-m telescope and are excellent image quality and no cloud cover. We understand the the 4-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). This program is expected to natural high demand for these excellent conditions, but wish to re- continue in 2013A, with up to 10 classically scheduled nights on the AAT mind proposers that programs that make use of less-than-ideal condi- available to the NOAO community. All AAT instruments are available to tions are also needed for the queue. this program. NOAO users may also apply directly for AAT time through the AAO’s open call. NOAO accepts Gemini proposals via either the standard NOAO Web proposal form or the Gemini PIT software. For additional instructions CHARA Optical Interferometer Array Access and guidelines, please see www.noao.edu/noaoprop/help/pit.html. About 50 hours will be available during calendar year 2013 on CHARA. Observations will be carried out by CHARA staff. Proposals must be Subaru Access through Gemini Exchange Program submitted by the standard 2013A deadline of 27 September 2012. This We expect 4–8 nights of classical observing time to be available on Suba- one-time call for CHARA proposals covers all of the calendar year 2013. ru through an exchange program with Gemini. All current instruments are expected to be available, including COMICS, FMOS, FOCAS, HDS, Summary of Instruments Available IRCS, MOIRCS, and Suprime-Cam. Application for the time is made Lists of instruments that we expect to be available in 2013A can be available through the normal proposal process, using the Gemini PIT or found following this article. As always, investigators are encouraged to the NOAO Web form. check the NOAO Web site for any last-minute changes before starting a proposal. TSIP Open-Access Time on Keck and MMT As a result of awards made through the National Science Foundation If you have any questions about proposing for US observing time, Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP), telescope time is feel free to contact Letizia Stanghellini ([email protected]), Dave Bell available to the general astronomical community at the following facili- ([email protected]), or Verne Smith ([email protected]). NL ties in 2013A:

Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA Credit: Carnegie Institute for Science Credit: Rick Peterson/W.M. Keck Observatory

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 19 CTIO Instruments Available for 2013A

Spectroscopy Detector Resolution Slit CTIO BLANCO 4-m [1]

SOAR 4.1-m OSIRIS IR Imaging Spectrograph [2] HgCdTe 1K×1K, JHK windows 1200, 1200, 3000 3.2', 0.5', 1.2' Goodman Spectrograph [3] Fairchild 4K×4K CCD, 3100–8500Å 1800, 3600, 7200, 12,600 3.0'

CTIO/SMARTS 1.5-m [4,5] CHIRON e2v CCD 4K×4K, 420–870nm 80,000 (with image slicer) 2.7" fiber System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System

Imaging Detector Scale ("/pixel) Field CTIO BLANCO 4-m [1] DECam Optical Imager LBL 62-CCD mosaic, 2K×2K 0.27 2.0 degrees diameter

SOAR 4.1-m SOAR Optical Imager (SOI) e2v 4K×4K Mosaic 0.08 5.25' OSIRIS IR Imaging Spectrograph HgCdTe 1K×1K 0.33, 0.14 3.2', 1.3' Spartan IR Imager [6] HgCdTe (mosaic 4-2K×2K) 0.068, 0.041 5.2', 3.1' Goodman Spectrograph [3] Fairchild 4K×4K CCD 0.15 7.2' diameter

CTIO/SMARTS 1.3-m [4,7] ANDICAM Optical/IR Camera Fairchild 2K×2K CCD 0.17 5.8' HgCdTe 1K×1K IR 0.11 2.0'

CTIO/SMARTS 0.9-m [4,8] Direct Imaging SITe 2K×2K CCD 0.4 13.6'

[1] In 2013A, instruments using the Blanco 4-m telescope ƒ/8 secondary mirror likely will not be available to users following the Blanco ƒ/8 secondary incident. Please see www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/blanco-f8-secondary-incident for news and developments. [2] The spectral resolutions and slit lengths for the OSIRIS imaging spectrograph correspond to its low-resolution, cross-dispersed, and high-resolution modes, re- spectively. In the cross-dispersed mode, one is able to obtain low-resolution spectra at JHK simultaneously. [3] The Goodman Spectrograph is available in single-slit mode. The resolutions given are the maximum resolution achievable using the narrowest 0.46" slit. Imaging mode also is available; the instrument has its own set of U, B, V, and R filters, but it also is possible to install any of SOI 4×4-inch filters. [4] It is likely, based on the current situation, that the small telescopes can be operated during 2012B and 2013A, albeit with reduced service. If no new partners are found, we face closure of the telescopes altogether by the end of or in the months following 2013A. Please see the article “Availability of the CTIO Small Telescopes in 2013A,” by van der Bliek, Smith & Bailyn in this Newsletter issue. [5] Service observing only. [6] Spartan is available in the low resolution mode. The high resolution mode is commissioned, but has seen very little use. Spartan should be preferred to OSIRIS for most imaging applications. [7] Service observing only. Note that data from both ANDICAM imagers is binned 2×2. [8] Classical observing only.

20 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Gemini Instruments Available for 2013A*

GEMINI NORTH Detector Spectral Range Scale ("/pixel) Field NIRI 1024×1024 Aladdin Array 1–5μm 0.022, 0.050, 0.116 22.5", 51", 119" Broad and narrow filters NIRI + Altair (AO- Natural or Laser) 1024×1024 Aladdin Array 1–2.5μm + L Band 0.022, 0.050 22.5", 51" Broad and narrow filters GMOS-N 3×2048×4608 e2v deep 0.36–1.0μm 0.072 5.5' depletion CCDs R~670–4400 5" IFU NIFS 2048×2048 H2RG 1–2.5μm 0.04×0.10 3"×3" R~5000 NIFS + Altair (AO- Natural or Laser) 2048×2048 H2RG 1–2.5μm 0.04×0.10 3"×3" R~5000 GNIRS 1024×1024 Aladdin Array 0.9–2.5μm 0.05, 0.15 50", 100" slit (long) R~1700, 5000, 18,000 5"–7" slit (cross-d)

GEMINI SOUTH Detector Spectral Range Scale ("/pixel) Field GMOS-S 3×2048×4608 EEV CCDs 0.36–1.0μm 0.072 5.5' R~670–4400 5" IFU NICI 1024×1024 (2 det.) 0.9–5.5μm 0.018 18.4"×18.4" Aladdin III InSb Narrowband Filters GSAOI + GeMS 4×2048×2048 H2RG 0.9–2.4μm 0.02 85"×85" Broad and narrow filters

EXCHANGE Detector Spectral Range Scale ("/pixel) Field MOIRCS (Subaru) 2×2048×2048 HAWAII-2 0.9–2.5μm 0.117 4'×7' R~500–3000 Suprime-Cam (Subaru) 10×2048×4096 CCDs 0.36–1.0μm 0.2 34'×27' HDS (Subaru) 2×2048×4096 CCDs 0.3–1.0μm 0.138 60" slit R<90,000 FOCAS (Subaru) 2×2048×4096 CCDs 0.33–1.0μm 0.104 6' (circular) R~250–7500 FMOS (Subaru) 2048×2048 HAWAII-2 0.9–1.8μm 0.216 30' diam R=600, 2200 COMICS (Subaru) 6×320×240 Si:As 8–25μm 0.13 42"×32" R~250, 2500, 8500 IRCS (Subaru) 1024×1024 InSb 1–5μm 0.02, 0.05 21"×21", 54"×54" R~100–20,000 IRCS+AO188 (Subaru) 1024×1024 InSb 1–5μm 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 12"×12", 21"×21", 54"×54" R~100–20,000 * Availability is subject to change. Check the NOAO and Gemini Calls for Proposals and/or the Gemini Web pages for up-to-date information.

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 21 KPNO Instruments Available for 2013A

Spectroscopy Detector Resolution Slit Length Multi-object Mayall 4-m R-C CCD Spectrograph [1] T2KA/LB1A CCD 300–5000 5.4' single/multi KOSMOS [2] e2v CCD 2400 up to 10' single/multi Echelle Spectrograph [1] T2KA CCD 18,000–65,000 2.0' single FLAMINGOS [3] HgCdTe (2048×2048, 0.9–2.5μm) 1000–1800 10.3' single/multi Phoenix [4] InSb (512×1024, 1–5μm) 50,000–70,000 30" single WIYN 3.5-m Hydra + Bench Spectrograph [5] STA1 CCD 700–22,000 NA ~85 fibers

System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System SparsePak [6] STA1 CCD 400–13,000 IFU ~82 fibers 2.1-m FLAMINGOS [3] HgCdTe (2048×2048, 0.9–2.5μm) 1000–1900 20.0' single Phoenix [4] InSb (512×1024, 1–5μm) 50,000–70,000 60" single

Imaging Detector Spectral Range Scale ("/pixel) Field Mayall 4-m CCD MOSAIC 1.1 8K×8K 3500–9700Å 0.26 35.4' NEWFIRM [7] InSb (mosaic, 4, 2048×2048) 1–2.3µm 0.4 28.0' WIYN 3.5-m pODI [8] 12K×12K central + 4 (4K×4K) distributed 3600–9500Å 0.11 24'×24' central WHIRC [9] VIRGO HgCdTe (2048×2048) 0.9–2.5µm 0.10 3.3' 2.1-m CCD Imager [10] STA2 CCD 3300–9700Å 0.305 10.2'[RA]×6.6'[DEC] FLAMINGOS [3] HgCdTe (2048×2048) JHKs 0.61 20.0' WIYN 0.9-m CCD MOSAIC 1.1 [11] 8K×8K 3500–9700Å 0.43 59'

[1] T2KA is the default CCD for RCSP and ECH. T2KB now serves as T2KA’s backup. LB1A may be requested for RCSP if appropriate. [2] PIs should write proposals using the capabilities offered by RCSP. If the science requirements could be met by the initial capabilities of KOSMOS, PIs should spe- cifically indicate an interest in adapting the proposal for KOSMOS when writing the Technical Description section. See page 16 of the March 2012NOAO Newsletter for more details. [3] FLAMINGOS Spectral Resolution given assuming 2-pixel slit. Not all slits cover full field; check instrument manual. FLAMINGOS was built by the late Richard Elston and his collaborators at the University of Florida. Anthony Gonzales is currently the PI of the instrument. [4] See "Infrared Time-Series Observations with Phoenix" in this NOAO Newsletter and www.noao.edu/kpno/phoenix before preparing a proposal. [5] One-degree field with two fiber bundles of ~85 fibers each. “Blue” (3") and “Red” (2") fibers. See "Observing at WIYN in 2013A" in this NOAO Newsletter that refers to block scheduling of this instrument. [6] Integral Field Unit, 80"×80" field, 5" fibers, graduated spacing. See "Observing at WIYN in 2013A" in thisNOAO Newsletter that refers to block scheduling of this instrument. [7] Permanently installed filters include J, H, Ks. Seewww.noao.edu/ets/newfirm for further information, filter availability, and the policy on filter changes. [8] pODI will be available for shared-risk science observing from 1 March 2013. See "Performance of pODI in 2013A: What to Expect" in this NOAO Newsletter for information about the instrument’s anticipated capabilities and performance and www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html for any updates. [9] WHIRC was built by Margaret Meixner (STScI) and collaborators. Potential users requiring WTTM are advised to contact KPNO support staff for details on its current status before making a proposal and check www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html for any updates. See "Observing at WIYN in 2013A" in this NOAO Newsletter that refers to block scheduling of this instrument. [10] STA2, with MONSOON Controller, is now the default CCD for CFIM; T2KB will serve as backup. Updated lab characteristics available shortly; contact KPNO support staff for further details. [11] Availability at WIYN 0.9-m is strongly dependent on Mayall 4-m scheduled use.

22 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Keck Instruments Available for 2013A

Detector Resolution Spectral Range Scale ("/pixel) Field Keck-I HIRESb/r (optical echelle) 3x MM-LL 2K×4K R~30k–80k 0.31–1.0µm 0.19 70" slit LRIS (img/lslit/mslit) Tek 2K×4K, R~300–5000 0.31–1.0µm 0.135 6'×8' 2×e2v 2K×4K OSIRIS (near-IR AO img/spec) 2048×2048 HAWAII2 R~3900 0.97–2.4µm 0.02–0.1 0.32"–6.4" MOSFIRE (near-IR img/mos) 2048×2048 HgCdTe R~4000 0.97–2.4µm 0.18 6.1', 46 slits

Keck-II DEIMOS (img/lslit/mslit) 8192×8192 mosaic R~1200–10,000 0.41–1.1µm 0.12 16.7'×5' ESI (img/low-disp/optical echelle/IFU) MIT-LL 2048×4096 R~1000–6000 0.39–1.1µm 0.15 2'×8', 4.0"×5.7" (IFU) NIRSPEC (near-IR echelle) 1024×1024 InSb R~2000, 25,000 1–5µm 0.14, 0.19 42", 12" & 24" slit lengths NIRSPAO (NIRSPEC w/AO) 1024×1024 InSb R~2000, 25,000 1–5µm 0.014, 0.018 3.96", 1.13" & 2.26" NIRC2 (near-IR AO img) 1024×1024 InSb R~5000 1–5µm 0.01–0.04 10"–40" MMT Instruments Available for 2013A

Detector Resolution Spectral Range Scale ("/pixel) Field BCHAN (spec, blue-channel) Loral 3072×1024 R~800–11,000 0.32–0.8µm 0.3 150" slit RCHAN (spec, red-channel) Loral 1200×800 R~300–4000 0.5–1.0µm 0.3 150" slit Hectospec (300-fiber MOS, PI) 2 2048×4608 R~1000–2000 0.38–1.1µm R~1K 60' Hectochelle (240-fiber MOS, PI) 2 2048×4608 R~34,000 0.38–1.1µm R~32K 60' SPOL (img/spec polarimeter, PI) Loral 1200×800 R~300–2000 0.38–0.9µm 0.2 20" ARIES (near-IR imager, PI) 1024×1024 HgCdTe 1.1–2.5µm 0.04, 0.02 20", 40" SWIRC (wide n-IR imager, PI) 2048×2048 HAWAII-2 1.0–1.6µm 0.15 5' MAESTRO (optical echelle, PI, 4096×4096 R~28,000–93,000 0.32–1.0µm 0.15 shared-risk) MMTPol (AO n-IR polarimeter, PI) 1024×1024 HgCdTe 1–5µm 0.043 25" PISCES (wide n-IR imager, PI) 1024×1024 HgCdTe 1–2.5µm 0.026–0.185 0.5'–3.2' AAT Instruments Available for 2013A

Detector Resolution Spectral Range Scale ("/pixel) Field AAOmega + 2dF (392-fiber MOS) 2×e2v 2024×4096 R~1300–8000 0.37–0.95µm R~1.3K–8K 120' AAOmega + SPIRAL (512-element 2×e2v 2024×4096 R~1500–10,000 0.4–0.95µm 0.7"/fiber 22.4"×11.2" IFU) IRIS2 (near-IR img/spec/mos) 1024×1024 HgCdTe R~2400 0.9–2.5µm 0.45 7.7'×7.7' UCLES (cross-dispersed echelle) 2K×4K EEV2 or R~45K–100K 0.38–1.1µm 0.16, 0.18 MITLL3 UHRF (ultra-high resolution echelle) 2K×4K EEV2 R~300K, 600K, 0.3–1.1µm 0.03, 0.05, 0.10 940K

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 23 CHARA Instruments Available for 2013

Beam Combiner Resolution Spectral Range Beams The CHARA Array consists of six 1-meter-aperture Classic, Climb Broadband H or K 2 or 3 telescopes with baselines from 30 to 330 meters. MIRC 40 H or K 6 VEGA 6000/30,000 45nm in 480–850nm 2 or 3 PAVO 30 630–900nm 2

System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System Observing with the CTIO Blanco 4-m Telescope in 2013A and Beyond Nicole van der Bliek & R. Chris Smith

he March 2012 NOAO Newsletter announced the start of the in- should be largely normal. DECam will be the only instrument offered stallation of the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco on the Blanco 4-m telescope for 2013A, providing maximal access to 4-m telescope. Much progress has been made since then, and this exciting, new facility instrument. Twe expect to commission the camera during semester 2012B. In the B semesters during the five years of DES observations (2012– We suggest that you read two other DECam-related articles in this is- 2017), the community will have access to DECam roughly one week sue: “DECam Installation,” by Timothy Abbott and Alistair Walker, re- per month in September through January. Although community access ports on the installation of the DECam; “DECam Commissioning and is limited during the survey period, the DES will be providing imaging Science Verification,” by Alistair Walker and Dara Norman, presents an data in all available filters over 5000 square degrees, which is much of outlook on the commissioning and science verification process with the sky available in the B semester. This data will have a one-year only DECam. proprietary period. So if your observation involves imaging of selected fields during the B semester, it is possible that the data you need will be Regular science observations should begin by the end of semester taken by the DES and will be available after one year. 2012B, starting with the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and several observ- ing programs that were allocated time through the 2012B NOAO Time We expect to recommission the Blanco ƒ/8 secondary mirror and ƒ/8 Allocation Committee (TAC). instruments, the Infrared Side Port Imager (ISPI) and Hydra, during 2013A. In addition, we will commission the Cerro Tololo Multi-Object DES observations are concentrated in September through January for Spectrograph (COSMOS) as soon as it is available for installation on the duration of the survey, with some half-night observations in Febru- the Blanco 4-m telescope (see the “KOSMOS and COSMOS Updates” ary. Therefore, community access in the A semesters, starting in 2013A, article elsewhere in this Newsletter for more information).

Proposing for DECam in 2013A

The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) will be commissioned during September through November 2012, mostly after the 2013A observing proposal deadline (see other DECam articles in this Newsletter). Basic information about the instrument and its capabilities, including an exposure time calculator, has been posted at the CTIO Web site at www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/dark-energy-camera-decam.

This site will be updated with new information as commissioning progresses. Please check the site regularly in September to find the latest information on preparing to observe with this new facility instrument.

24 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments DECam Commissioning and Science Verification Alistair Walker & Dara Norman

DECam Commissioning First light of DECam is expected 28 September 2012. This will mark the is an important part of its validation testing. The DES Project also will culmination of an intensive eight months of installation activities and be evaluating the DES pipeline at the National Center for Supercomput- ten years since the first discussions of building a very wide-field camera ing Applications (NCSA) in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, and carefully for the Blanco Telescope prime focus took place. It also coincides with evaluating image quality and photometric performance, essential com- the 50th anniversary of CTIO, representing an exciting new phase for the ponents that are prerequisites for the success of the DES. observatory as we move into a future that in less than another decade should see the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) providing a simi- Science Verification lar quantum leap in performance. NOAO has set aside observing time for science verification (SV) of DECam, consisting of scientifically motivated observations that thor- The DECam commissioning plan has grown to an 80-plus-page docu- oughly test the scientific operations of the instrument, while also pro- ment. Tests will take place in two phases separated by an off-sky “break,” ducing imaging data products with high, immediate, and archival science proceeding from basic verification of optical, electronic, mechanical, and value. Two parallel SV programs will be run to provide for broad cover- software performance to determining how well the three-square-degree age of the capabilities of the DECam system for the community. The camera can do precision photometry. Nominally, commissioning will SV program for the DES will test the specific capabilities in DES survey transition into science verification on 19 November 2012. mode and ensure that the camera meets DES specifications. The com- munity SV programs will test a broad range of observing capabilities in An important part of commissioning will be evaluating the user interface order to ensure that the camera meets community requirements and is and tweaking it if necessary so that astronomers observing with the cam- producing data products that can serve the wide range of observational era will be able to learn its use quickly and observe efficiently. Although uses that are required for an NOAO facility instrument. DECam is a more complex camera than the Mosaic II instrument it re- places, we are trying to make it intuitive to operate. Its many features The call for DECam science verification proposals from the community include near real-time performance feedback. Because this is an NOAO was highly successful, resulting in 24 submitted proposals. The proposed facility instrument, we want to provide observers with a first-class instru- scientific targets/topics are broad and include near-earth objects, Kuiper ment with high-quality documentation and support. Belt objects, variable stars, stellar populations, stellar kinematics, low surface brightness galaxies, and weak gravitational lensing high redshift The Commissioning team includes NOAO and Dark Energy Survey galaxy environments. Proposal principal investigators are from interna- (DES) Project scientists, with a significant fraction of data analysis oc- tional institutions. The SV for DECam is currently scheduled for Novem- curring off-site. An important deliverable is the Community Pipeline ber 2012. Ranking of proposals will be done by an internal SV allocation (CP), which will be operated by the Science Data Management group committee and will be completed at the end of July with a preliminary based at NOAO in Tucson. Running commissioning data through the CP schedule expected in early August.

The DECam Ultraviolet (u) Filter Alistair Walker

he Dark Energy Camera (DECam) was delivered with five filters: four of these approximate the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) g, r, i, and z passbands, and the fifth approximates a Y filter cover- ingT the one-micron region (see Figure 1). The filters were built by Asahi Spectra.

CTIO initiated contact with possible vendors for the supply of a u filter and placed an order with Asahi Spectra last December. Asahi announced on 16 July 2012 that they had completed the u filter and provided the response and uniformity data plotted in Figures 2 and 3. This is a very difficult filter to make due to the short wavelengths of its bandpass. Each of the ~100 layers per side of the substrate are required to be very thin, and the filter must block light over a very wide wavelength range. How- ever, the quality of the filter is truly outstanding, with the as-built values for the transmission, uniformity, and blocking all substantially exceeding Figure 1: Transmissions of the DECam g, r, i, z, and Y filters. the specifications. continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 25 The DECam Ultraviolet Filter continued System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System Figure 2: Transmission (%) of the DECam u filter measured by Asahi. Figure 3: Uniformity of the DECam u filter.

The DECam CCDs are not particularly sensitive in the ultraviolet, and shortward of 400 nm; however, we will be able to measure the system the anti-reflection coatings on four of the five optical elements of the new response (telescope optics, filter, CCDs) accurately using the DECam prime focus corrector also cause a roll-off in the transmission. This all Calibration System (DECal), and will post the results when they become means that by approximately 330 nm there is zero throughput. Our avail- available. The first measurements using DECal are scheduled to be made able measurements of the CCDs and optics are not particularly reliable during DECam commissioning. NL

Observing at WIYN in 2013A Patricia Knezek

he WIYN 3.5-m telescope will be entering an exciting science traditional static imaging and coherent guiding where Orthogonal time in 2013A as it returns to a more normal observing semes- Transfer Arrays (OTAs) outside of the inner 3 × 3 array of OTAs are ter after a couple of semesters of severely constrained science used to offset things like wind-shake, will then take place beginning Ttime. This semester will reflect the culmination of a number of changes in October 2012 and continue through February 2013. We plan to of- at WIYN during this summer and fall, so please read this article care- fer pODI to the entire community on a shared-risk basis beginning 1 fully to make sure you are prepared when you write your proposal. Be- March 2013. In this context, shared-risk means: cause the changes may still be happening when this Newsletter issue is published, we strongly recommend that you visit the WIYN status Web (1) All aspects of the instrument, including the PPA, may not be fully page, www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html, prior to proposing, for the lat- tested. Therefore, (a) observers should be prepared to confirm the mea- est updates and links to current information. surements they make (surprising results, especially), (b) some things may not work, and (c) everything will be inefficient. pODI The partially populated focal plane of the One Degree Imager (called (2) Part of the reason for having shared-risk observing is to improve pODI) was delivered to WIYN in July 2012. This optical imager offers the instrument by allowing real scientific observations. The ODI team significant enhancements in field of view, pixel scale, throughput, and -ef will work with the observers to help them get what they can from the ficiency from our venerable imager, MiniMo. Note that pODI is actually instrument, but observing may have to be interrupted if a repair or a system—we will be providing not only the instrument and the raw data, modification cannot wait. At a minimum, the ODI team (and the ob- but also pipeline-processed data products, tools to access the data and servatory) will expect detailed feedback at the end of the run. data products, and access to the archived data. This part of the system, known as the “Pipeline, Portal, and Archive” (PPA), represents a signifi- (3) When proposals are written, and even when time is assigned, we cant step forward in what WIYN can offer its community. The details will not have complete information about the detailed capabilities of about the expected capabilities and performance of pODI are given in the pODI. We will do our best to set expectations appropriately all through accompanying article by Todd Boroson elsewhere in this issue. the process, but the possibility exists that some aspect of the system will not be ready. Observers should not be surprised if the schedule has to Engineering verification of pODI is scheduled to take place until mid- be adjusted dynamically. September 2012. Scientific commissioning of two operational modes, continued

26 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Observing at WIYN in 2013A continued

Other Instrument Availability in 2013A There are several key things to note about the availability of the other uled based on proposal pressure and support availability, with a mini- WIYN instruments in 2013A: mum of six weeks between changes of Hydra to other instruments on the Hydra port. • In anticipation of the use of pODI for optical imaging, we do not plan • Principal investigators with programs that rely on the WIYN Tip-Tilt to offer MiniMo in 2013A except as a backup if an issue arises with Module (WTTM) for improving delivered image quality should con- pODI. tact the support scientists for WHIRC prior to proposing. • Only about one half of the February nights will be available for science • As a reminder, two new filters have been installed in WHIRC. One observations because pODI commissioning will continue into Febru- replaces the original CO filter and the second, a CN filter, replaces the ary 2013 (the first month of 2013A). red-shifted Paschen-b filter. • All other WIYN instruments will share the second Nasmyth port, known as the Hydra port. Thus, SparsePak+WHIRC, WHIRC+Visitor Again, please see www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html for more details and Instruments, and Hydra will be block scheduled. Hydra will be sched- updates. NL

Performance of pODI in 2013A: What to Expect Todd Boroson

he new WIYN instrument pODI (the One Degree Imager with a partially-filled focal plane) will be offered for shared-risk -ob serving in semester 2013A (see “Observing at WIYN in 2013A” Telsewhere in this issue). The pODI was trucked to the telescope in July. The integration and testing work is nearing completion, and we believe that we have sufficient time between then and the start of semester 2013A to complete the commissioning.

Anticipated Capabilities and Performance for pODI Focal Plane: The approximately one-degree-square focal plane will hold 64 detectors in an 8 × 8 array. Only 13 of these locations will be populated in pODI (Figure 1). Each detector consists of an 8 × 8 array of “cells,” and each cell contains 480 (x-axis) × 496 (y-axis) pixels. Each pixel is 0.11 arcseconds square. The gaps between cells are approxi- mately 3 arcseconds in the x-axis and 1 arcsecond in the y-axis. The gaps between detectors are approximately 31 arcseconds in x and 20 arcseconds in y. The central 3 × 3 detector region is effectively about 23 arcminutes on an edge, with a grid of gaps within it. Each of the outly- ing fields is approximately 8× 8 arcminutes. There is some vignetting beyond a field radius of 0.5 degrees.

Detector performance: The detectors have the performance of typical thinned, back-illuminated, low-resistivity CCDs. The quantum efficien- cy (QE) is quite good in the ultraviolet and blue, with a broad peak be- tween 600 and 700 nm, and a drop to the red (see Figure 2). Read noise Figure 1: Black squares indicate the locations of the 13 populated detectors in pODI focal plane. and gain vary from cell to cell (each cell has its own amplifier), with read noise in the range of 7–9 electrons. Full well is 65,000 electrons or greater. The overall dark current is low, though these detectors have one Filters: The filters for ODI are very large and very expensive. Initially, significant problem: the amplifiers glow when active. The amplifiers we have four that cover the entire field, SDSS g', r', i', and z'. We will will be active when a cell in a detector is used for a guide star. Thus, we have a number of inserts that hold CCD Mosaic filters over the central imagine that the standard mode will be to integrate with the amplifiers 3 × 3 detector region. These will permit an unvignetted field of about off in the central 3 × 3 detector region, and to use the outer fields for 18 arcminutes square. guide stars. Additionally, there is a less critical, low-level charge transfer efficiency problem; exposures of a minute or more ought to eliminate Operations modes: ODI is designed to work in one of three modes: this. The entire focal plane will read out in about 30 seconds. (1) static imaging, in which the detectors are operated as CCDs,

continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 27 Performance of pODI in 2013A continued

is shifted based on a guide star that is being monitored within that patch. The pODI will only support the static imaging and coherent guiding modes, primarily because of the amplifier glow. ODI was de- signed to deliver excellent image quality. In static imaging mode, it should deliver typical WIYN images, median of 0.7 arcseconds in R. Coherent guiding should provide a small improvement, removing the effects of telescope shake and the lowest-level atmospheric turbulence. Ultimately, local guiding is aimed at producing fully tip-tilt corrected images over the entire 1-square-degree field. That will have to wait for the next generation of detectors.

Data Reduction: Because of the large data volume (2 GB/image for the full ODI), a complete data management system, integrated with the instrument, is being developed as a separate project. There will be System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System an automated pipeline to remove instrumental signature, an archive from which to retrieve your own proprietary or non-proprietary data, and a portal that will allow you to search for data and examine it. Much of this will be hosted by the Pervasive Technology Institute at Figure 2: Quantum efficiency graph for pODI. Indiana University. There will also be an ODI IRAF package.

and the guide signal is fed to the telescope; (2) coherent guiding, in For additional information: If you are interested in proposing to use which a single guide signal is used to provide fast motion correction pODI in semester 2013A, get the latest information from the WIYN (10–20 Hz) to the entire focal plane; and (3) local guiding, in which or NOAO Web site. By the beginning of September, we will have the focal plane is divided into a number (up to 256) of independent obtained some on-sky images, and we will post information about regions, each corresponding to an isokinetic patch, and each of these pODI’s performance with frequent updates. NL

Instruments Offered at KPNO in 2013A Lori Allen & Patricia Knezek

EWFIRM and Phoenix were successfully recommissioned in ing of two modes of operation, static imaging and coherent guiding, will 2012A and have been used since in multiple observing pro- take place through February 2013. grams. Both instruments are being offered in 2013A as well: NNEWFIRM on the Mayall 4-m telescope and Phoenix on the Mayall 4-m We expect to release pODI for shared-risk use beginning 1 March 2013. and 2.1-m telescopes (see the article “Infrared Time-Series Observations Please see the article “pODI Performance in 2013A: What to Expect” with Phoenix” elsewhere in this issue). elsewhere in this newsletter for information on the capabilities and an- ticipated performance of pODI. Details about what shared-risk observ- There have been a few additional changes since last semester. On the ing entails and additional information about scheduling constraints in Mayall 4-m, KOSMOS should be available on a shared-risk basis late in the 2013A semester are included in the article “Observing at WIYN in 2013A; it is tentatively scheduled for commissioning in mid semester. 2013A” elsewhere in this issue. Proposers should plan to use the R-C Spectrograph, but indicate if they are interested in using KOSMOS, should it be available. MARS has been All instruments other than pODI will now share the Hydra port, thus, pulled from service, as it is unusable in its current state. It will not be some block scheduling is necessary. In anticipation of the use of pODI repaired, but we hope to provide a red-sensitive CCD for KOSMOS by for optical imaging, we do not plan to offer MiniMo in 2013A except as a sometime in 2013B. The GoldCam CCD spectrograph on the 2.1-m tele- backup if an issue arises with pODI. scope was pulled from service after it developed a serious degradation in performance. A replacement CCD has been acquired, and an upgrade of Proposers are strongly urged to visit the KPNO "Telescopes and Instru- the instrument is planned. ments" Web page (ast.noao.edu/observing/current-telescopes-instruments) and/or the WIYN status Web site (www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html) for WIYN received delivery of the partially-populated focal plane of The the latest updates prior to proposing. One Degree Imager (called pODI) in July 2012. Scientific commission-

28 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Infrared Time-Series Observations with Phoenix Ken Hinkle & Dick Joyce

hoenix, the NOAO high-resolution near-infrared (1–5 μm) No other high-resolution, infrared spectrograph is on a telescope as ac- spectrometer, has returned to Kitt Peak after a decade sojourn cessible as the 2.1-m telescope. at Gemini South. Phoenix will be offered in semester 2013A on Pboth the KPNO 4-m and 2.1-m telescopes. A test and evaluation run was held at the 2.1-m telescope in early June 2012 to confirm that all the components survived the shipment from South America. The full 12 wavelength range of 1 through 5 μ������������������������������������m����������������������������������� was observed to calibrate perfor- 10 mance. These data will be used to tune the integration time calculator on the Phoenix Web page. Note that observations on the 2.1-m tele- 8 scope are limited to declinations between +70��������������������������° �������������������������and -30�����������������°, ���������������and no adjust- ment of the position angle (PA) is possible. 6 4 Some of the objects observed in June 2012 were previously observed using Phoenix at the 2.1-m telescope in the late 1990s. The accom- 2 panying figure shows the spectrum of the peculiar post-AGB object 0 R CrB observed in the region of He I 10830 Å. The lower level of the 1.5 9220 9230 9240 9250 10830-Å transition is metastable 20 eV above the ground state. As a result, this infrared line probes processes normally only accessible in the vacuum ultraviolet. Dramatic changes between the R CrB spectra 1 are obvious. We believe this is due to the combination of a supersonic hot wind off the central object and episodic formation of dust in the circumstellar medium. 0.5 These spectra highlight the capability of Phoenix for time-series obser- vations on the 2.1-m telescope. Observations sampling intervals longer 0 than a few days are extremely difficult to obtain on large telescopes. 9220 9230 9240 9250 Phoenix on the 2.1-m telescope has a limiting K-band magnitude in the range of 8–9. A large number of objects are available for which time Spectra of the R CrB He I 10830-Å line taken with Phoenix at the 2.1-m telescope, spanning a series of various spectral features in the near-infrared might profitably time interval of more than a decade. be observed.

Availability of the CTIO Small Telescopes in 2013A Nicole van der Bliek, R. Chris Smith & Charles Bailyn

he Small and Moderate Aperture Telescope System (SMARTS) It is likely that the small telescopes can be operated during semesters consortium has had more than nine successful years operating 2012B and 2013A, albeit with reduced service. If no new partners are the CTIO small telescopes and providing service to consortium found, we face closure of the telescopes altogether by the end of or in the Tmembers, as well as to the US astronomical community through the months following 2013A. NOAO Time Allocation process. The most notable change in services foreseen for 2013A is that the 1.0-m Several key members withdrew from the consortium during the last year telescope will no longer be available. In addition, there will no longer due to their financial situation, creating a severe financial problem for the be any daytime support, which will limit the number of hours per night SMARTS consortium itself. We have alerted the community in earlier available for observations. For 2013A, SMARTS will likely be accepting issues of the NOAO Newsletter and during the workshop at the May 2011 proposals for Chiron (1.5-m), ANDICAM at the 1.3-m, and user time meeting of the AAS that SMARTS is in need of new partners. Please on the 0.9-m telescope. SMARTS will not accept any R-C Spectrograph see the SMARTS Web page for more information at: www.ctio.noao.edu/ proposals for 2013A. noao/content/joining-smarts.

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 29 Community Access to the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope Andrea Kunder

o you feel like spectroscopy tonight? How about 392 spectra interface will let me get a rapid and straight-forward data reduction. The in one shot? Some of the best spectroscopic capabilities in AAT instrument scientists have been very responsive and their Web site the southern skies come from the Anglo-Australian Telescope is remarkably clear and organized. I am happy as a lark. You could be as D(AAT), and NOAO now has community access to this telescope, includ- well. Apply for time. ing access to all of its facility instruments (four different spectrographs). See the 2013A NOAO Call for Proposals for the specific number of nights I have applied almost every semester for time on the AAT to use AAO- available. AAT time in 2013A and beyond will be classically scheduled, mega with its 392 fibers covering a 2-degree field of view. It was only last so users will need to travel to beautiful Australia to do the observations. semester, when I applied through the NOAO time allocation process, that Details on the AAT instruments available in 2013A can be found in the I was granted a half night, which will allow me to obtain radial veloci- “AAT Instruments Available for 2013A” article in this Newsletter and at ties of about 1000 stars in the Galactic Bulge to search for cold stream www.aao.gov.au/astro/aatukst.html.

System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System signatures. The automatic data reduction pipeline with a graphical user

Community Access Time Available in 2013 with CHARA Steve Ridgway

NOAO and Georgia State University are announcing a fourth opportunity for observations with the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) optical interferometer array at Mt. Wilson Observatory. About 50 hours will be available during calendar year 2013. Observations will be carried out by CHARA staff.

Requests should be submitted using the standard NOAO proposal form by selecting “CHARA” in the telescope list and entering “nights requested” as a decimal assuming 10 hours/night (e.g., 1.6 nights = 16 hours). Proposals must be submitted by the standard 2013A deadline of 27 September 2012. This one-time call covers all of calendar year 2013, as opposed to the six-month period of February–July 2013 for other resources in the 2013A proposal cycle. For more information, see www.noao.edu/gateway/chara/.

New VO Capabilities in IRAF v2.16 Mike Fitzpatrick

he recent Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) v2.16 The Fundamentals release provides improved 64-bit platform support as well as a Interfacing with the VO has two requirements that one would not nor- number of new features designed to better integrate IRAF with mally associate with IRAF: the ability to handle extensible markup lan- Tthe tools and remote data/services found in the Virtual Observatory guage (XML) documents and the ability to manage universal resource (VO), or custom access to data from non-VO remote archives. This locators (URLs). VO data services normally return an XML document work was partly funded by the Virtual Astronomical Observatory called a “VOTable” as a standard query result. The VOTable contains (VAO) to increase user uptake by getting VO tools and services into either the data itself (e.g., from catalog services) or a table of URLs to the desktop analysis systems that astronomers already are using in a image or spectral data that can be filtered to select data appropriate for seamless manner. The benefit to IRAF is that we are able to use VO data downloading and analysis. Likewise, queries for data are often done and services to build tools that augment the analysis an astronomer can as a URL containing parameters, and the interchange of data between do using data from a traditional observatory, as well as improved sup- desktop tools in a VO workflow is by means of URL, even if the data port in all tasks for distributed data, catalogs, and list-processing—all itself is local to the machine. important capabilities needed for IRAF processing of complex mosaic continued imagers and in pipelines.

30 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments New VO Capabilities in IRAF v2.16 continued

Since the goal is to allow all tasks to use these data in a seamless manner, we had to first make VOTables and URLs a natural type that all IRAF tasks used and understood. The system architecture forces all tasks to use a common interface to open files, so it was possible to recognize a URL as an input name and retrieve the file before passing it on to the task, recognize a VOTable and convert it to an already-supported format, or combine the two in the case of allowing a task to operate on a URL returning a VOTable directly. The result is that with only a few system changes, all tasks (even those in external packages) are enabled with the new functionality. An automatic caching system helps support these changes to avoid repeated download of URLs (or file conversions), while still allowing the URL to be passed between tasks in higher-level scripts as easily as if it were a local filename.

More practically, this means that all IRAF v2.16 tasks now support URLs as valid input. For example: cl> display http://iraf.noao.edu/votest/dpix.fits cl> tinfo http://iraf.noao.edu/votest/usno-b.xml

These (working) examples point to static files, but a parameterized URL such as those found while browsing a data archive’s Web site works just as well, allowing the user to copy and paste from the Web page directly A background image of M33 obtained at the KPNO 4-m telescope augmented with VO data. into an IRAF session. Red contours are 21-cm data from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey, blue labels are NASA/IPAC Extra- galactic Database sources, and yellow boxes are Hubble Space Telescope observations within We also took this opportunity to expand the definition of IRAF @-files the field. (M33 image credit: Phillip Massey, Lowell Observatory.) from being simple ASCII lists of image names to other things that also logically define a list of images: a VOTable of image URLs, the Flexible pages). These changes are completely backwards compatible with Image Transport System (FITS) files in a directory, the extensions in existing code. a Multiple Extensions FITS (MEF) file, or combinations of these. For example: To help navigate the thousands of available VO Resources (i.e., data ser- vices), the VO package has tasks to do keyword searches (filtered by ser- @mef.fits Expand extns in an MEF file vice type, bandpass, etc.) and manage the results in a user-defined local @mef.fits[1-12] Select extns 1 thru 12 database for use with the VO/IRAF data access tools. This lets a user cre- *.fits[filter?=’V’] Select images by filter value ate a list of preferred data providers and query only those of interest, e.g., @votable.xml Select image URLs in a VOTable selecting which subset of the many SDSS data releases should be queried. @directory List images in a directory @@directory Expand images in a directory While Resource lists specify what should be queried, the VO also requires some specification ofwhere on the sky to look for data. In IRAF, the The double “@@file” syntax permits lists of extensions to be created auto- natural thing to do is to ask for data contained within some image field, matically from existing lists of MEF image names. Additional syntax can so image names can be used along with object names or explicit positions be used to select from within an expanded list automatically, e.g., by some in all data query tasks. Tasks will automatically derive the particulars specific range of rows or extension numbers or based on some header of what the VO service requires from the image headers, resolve object keyword value. These expansions happen in the task automatically and names (using VO services), or convert coordinates as needed. Lists of provide a powerful method of creating logical lists without the explicit positions and resources can be specified to do large queries in parallel, expansion and clean-up required of the old @-file syntax. and standard TABLES tasks can collate the results because the VOTable results are supported directly. VO/IRAF Capabilities Although IRAF now has the basic functionality required for VO sup- The VOTOOLS package uses these low-level query tasks to provide other port, we want to hide the complexity of the VO and its protocols as utilities as well. TheDSS task will display an image of an object given only much as possible and keep the task interface familiar to users. To this its name, the NEDOVERLAY task might then be used to overlay known sources within the field, the task can further decorate end, a new VO package is part of the IRAF v2.16 core system to supply RADIOOVERLAY tasks that can be used for VO functionality rather than requiring the the display with contours of the 21-cm radio background, and the ge- neric task can access a data table from a published paper user to deal with the URLs and XML directly. A VOTOOLS subpackage GETCATALOG is meant to be a toolbox of tasks that provide lower-level functional- for additional markings, all using only data from VO services. Similarly, ity used in building new science applications; a replacement for the an image obtained the night before at the KPNO 4-m telescope could be augmented with the same overlays (see figure), and VO catalogs can eas- CL, called VOCL, is now the default command interpreter in order to provide interoperability with other VO desktop applications (and Web ily be accessed to do photometric analysis or to combine optical data with

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NOAO Newsletter September 2012 31 New VO Capabilities in IRAF v2.16 continued

images from other wavebands. Our hope is that these initial basic tools messages that allows a SAMP-enabled Web site to interact more closely will inspire feedback to prioritize what additional utilities are needed and with IRAF. what science tools can and should be built in the coming months. Development of the VO/IRAF capabilities is ongoing, and we are excited Lastly, the VO defines a desktop messaging protocol SAMP( ) that allows to work with users to help them understand how VO services can help arbitrary workflows to be created between applications. This protocol has them with their science objectives or to develop new tools. Please feel been implemented in the new VOCL. A new samp command lets IRAF free to contact me ([email protected]) with comments or questions. send messages to other SAMP-enabled applications that provide func- tionality not found in the system itself, for instance to use TOPCAT as a References table visualizer or even to send messages to other IRAF sessions on the iraf.noao.edu IRAF Web Site same machine. Users can define for themselves what IRAF should do iraf.noao.edu/voiraf VO/IRAF Detailed Information when it receives a particular message type, thus using IRAF to extend the bit.ly/vo_iraf VO/IRAF Video Introduction capabilities of another application or for instance to define a set of IRAF http://bit.ly/bpvl3Q TOPCAT Table Visualization Tool NL System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments Telescopes Observing:System

New NOAO Survey Programs Selected Tod R. Lauer

hree new NOAO survey programs have been initiated, with ob- spheres of the exoplanets. The overall goal is to understand the composi- servations beginning in the second semester of 2012. Eleven pro- tion of these objects and how it relates to their other physical properties posals were submitted in response to an announcement of op- as well as those of their primaries. Tportunity for new survey programs. Puragra Guhathakurta (University of California, Santa Cruz) and NOAO surveys are observing proposals that require the generation of a 14 co-investigators will study the halo of M31 under their proposal, large, coherent data set in order to address their scientific research goals. “NEWFIRM Survey of Intermediate Age Populations in M31’s Halo: Surveys may run for up to three years and can receive larger blocks of A Test of LCDM.” The team will receive 26 nights of time on the time than are usually awarded in the standard observing-time allocation NEWFIRM wide-field infrared imager, spread over two years, at the process. In return for the large allocation of resources, the survey teams KPNO Mayall 4-m telescope. NEWFIRM images will be used to ob- are required to deliver their reduced survey data products to the NOAO tain stellar photometry of asymptotic red-giant and normal red-giant Science Archive (NSA) for follow-on investigations by other interested stars in the M31 Halo. The NEWFIRM photometry will be combined astronomers. A key part of the evaluation of the survey proposals is un- with optical photometry already obtained with Mosaic at the May- derstanding the likelihood that interesting follow-on investigations can all 4-m telescope and spectroscopy obtained with Keck/DEIMOS to be done with the data products that will not be conducted as part of the measure the age, metallicities, and alpha-abundances of the popula- primary scientific goals of the survey team, itself. tion of M31’s halo. This in turn will help to understand the formation of the halo, itself. Overall, the Survey Telescope Allocation Committee graded the propos- als in three categories, with the final grades comprising a weighted sum Michael Wood-Vasey (University of Pittsburgh) and seven co-investi- of 50% for quality of the primary scientific goals, 25% for the archival gators will generate a near-infrared (IR) Hubble diagram of local Type research value of the data products, and 25% for the credibility of the Ia supernovae (SNe) through their proposal, “Type Ia Supernovae in the survey management plan. Near-Infrared: A Three-Year Survey toward a One Percent Distance Measurement with WIYN+WHIRC.” The program has been granted Jean-Michel Desert (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astronomy) and 72 nights of time with the WIYN High-Resolution Infrared Camera, six co-investigators will study the atmospheres of exoplanets under their to be spread over three years. The goal is to observe 144 SNe over proposal, “Comparative Exoplanetology of Hot-Jupiter Prototypes.” The 0.02 < z < 0.1 to validate recent work that SN Ia are especially good team was awarded 20 nights of time on the Gemini Multi Object Spec- “standard-candles” in the near-IR. A subset of 30 SNe will be imaged trograph (GMOS), split between Gemini North and South, during the out to late times in their light curves to study their entire evolution in duration of their three-year program. The exoplanet sample comprises color over time. SN Ia Hubble diagrams were used to discover the ac- ten “hot Jupiter” prototypes. These systems are in close, transiting orbits celerated expansion of the Universe and, later, to begin to characterize around their primaries. Transmission spectra obtained during the tran- the dark-energy equation-of-state. The overall goal of this survey is sits will be used to measure a variety of chemical species in the atmo- to further refine and enhance the use of SN Ia as cosmological probes.

32 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 System Observing: System Observing: Telescopes & Instruments What Does System User Support Do for You? Knut Olsen

he suite of ground-based optical/infrared telescopes that are oper- • SUS provides US users the first tier of support for questions submitted to ated by, owned by, or in partnership with US institutions, makes up the Gemini Helpdesk (www.gemini.edu/sciops/helpdesk/) on any aspect the US System. NOAO provides the astronomical community (us- of Gemini data or observing. SUS has fielded ~1800 Helpdesk questions Ters) with a single point of entry into the System for those facilities that have from the Gemini community. at least some US public access. NOAO’s System User Support (SUS) group manages this access for users and is the home of the US National Gemini Proposal technical reviews, Phase II support, and Helpdesk support form Office, which provides user support for the US share of Gemini. So what the core Gemini-related responsibilities for SUS. But SUS has had a big does all this actually mean? Here are some of the highlights of what SUS impact on the use of Gemini in other ways. staff members do. • SUS staff member Ken Hinkle led the team that built the Phoenix in- strument at NOAO. The high-resolution near-infrared spectrometer, Time Allocation Process Phoenix, was in use at Gemini South as a visitor instrument from 2002 SUS helps support the NOAO Time Allocation Committee (TAC). In to 2010. Ken supervised the transport and installation of Phoenix and semester 2012B, NOAO provided access to telescopes at the following participated in its maintenance. Several SUS staff members helped to locations: observe Phoenix programs in the queue and provided on-site support for classical observers. Phoenix remains the fourth most heavily pub- • Kitt Peak (Mayall 4-m, 2.1-m, WIYN 3.5-m, and 0.9-m), lished Gemini instrument by programs granted US time, behind only the • Cerro Tololo (Blanco 4-m and the Small and Moderate Aperture Gemini Multi Object Spectrograph (GMOS) North, GMOS South, and Research Telescope System), the Near-Infrared Imager (NIRI) in its number of publications. • Cerro Pachón (the Southern Astrophysical Research 4.1-m and Gemini South 8-m), • SUS staff helped to commission the NOAO-built Gemini Near Infrared • Mauna Kea (Gemini North 8-m and Subaru 8-m), Spectrograph (GNIRS) at Gemini South. SUS staff also participated in • Mount Hopkins (MMT 6.5-m), commissioning many other Gemini instruments, including the Near-In- • Mount Palomar (Hale 5-m), and frared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS), the Altitude Conjugate Adap- • Siding Springs (Anglo-Australian Telescope 4-m). tive Optics for the Infrared Laser Guide Star system (ALTAIR LGS), and the ongoing commissioning of the second Florida Multi-Object Imaging The TAC group fielded 393 proposals for time on these telescopes for Near-Infrared Grism Observational Spectrometer (FLAMINGOS-2). 2012B and worked with 48 committee members from the community who • SUS organized the first Gemini Data Reduction Workshop, held in graciously agreed to read the proposals and rank them scientifically. SUS Tucson in July 2010. The highly successful workshop brought together took these rankings, worked with the individual partner observatories to experts on Gemini data reduction from the Gemini Observatory and schedule successful proposals, and provided feedback to the proposers. NOAO, users with Gemini data in hand, and potential Gemini users. The experts guided users through the reduction process and helped with US Gemini Activity specific questions, while the users pointed out gaps in procedures and The twin Gemini 8-m telescopes, which are operated by an international documentation for the experts. The format of the workshop was cop- partnership, provide the lion’s share of public access to large apertures for ied by other Gemini partners in South America and in Australia, and the the US astronomical community. Much of the time on Gemini is spent op- knowledge collected at the workshops will form the basis of data reduc- erating in queue mode, which attempts to match the observing conditions tion cookbooks to be provided to Gemini users. and timing with the requirements of the programs in the queue. While this mode allows great flexibility in scheduling, it puts a greater burden of • SUS staff provide supporting work and guidance to Gemini through ser- preparation on the user and requires special effort on the part of the users vice on a number of Gemini committees, including the Science and Tech- to understand their data. SUS helps users make the best use of the US share nology Advisory Committee (STAC), the Operations Working Group, the of Gemini. Here are some of the ways in which SUS provides help: International Time Allocation Committee (ITAC), and the Data Reduc- tion Working Group. These and other committees provide avenues for • SUS staff perform a technical review on every Gemini proposal that is community input into Gemini. The newly formed STAC has the particu- submitted to the NOAO TAC. These reviews are done to make sure that larly important role of informing Gemini on its future instrumentation the proposals are feasible, the instrument and exposure times requested strategy. The US members of the STAC are working hard to ensure that are correctly configured, appropriate guide stars are available, overheads Gemini’s future direction is well-informed by the US community opin- have been correctly included, and the observing conditions are appropri- ions and needs. ate for the proposals’ goals. Most of these reviews occur after the proposals have been submitted, but SUS staff welcome proposers to ask for technical I hope that this article has given you a better idea of how the NOAO Sys- reviews before the proposal deadline—contact [email protected] if interest- tem User Support group is trying to help you, the user of facilities available ed. SUS has conducted ~3500 technical reviews of Gemini proposals. through NOAO. • SUS staff provide help in setting up Phase II submissions with the Gem- ini Observing Tool and check the submissions for accuracy once users I would like to close by welcoming Letizia Stanghellini as the new Head declare them ready to be reviewed. Every successful Gemini proposer of Program for SUS, starting September 1, as my responsibilities within must construct a Phase II submission containing the precise definition NOAO are shifting. Letizia is a current SUS staff member and the former of all observations that are meant to be taken for the program as well as head of the NOAO TAC, and thus brings a great deal of experience to the detailed instructions for the mountain observer. SUS has helped users set role. I have enjoyed my time as head of the group, but I am looking forward up ~1000 Phase II submissions. to seeing the work of SUS from the perspective of a user!

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 33 NOAO Operations & Staff NOAO Welcomes Markus Kissler-Patig as Gemini Observatory Director Knut Olsen

OAO as a whole and the NOAO System Science Center (NSSC) specifically would like to extend a very warm welcome to Dr. Markus Kissler-Patig, who began work as the Gemini director Non 1 August 2012.

As the home of the US National Gemini Office, NOAO and NSSC look forward to working with Markus to meet the aspirations of the US Gemi- ni community. Fred Chaffee and Nancy Levenson have delivered over the past year new, red-sensitive CCDs on GMOS-North and new, more user- friendly software to handle proposals and observation configurations. They have also put Gemini on a firm path to deliver the GeMS wide-field adaptive optics system, the FLAMINGOS-2 near-infrared multi-object spectrograph, and the Gemini Planet Imager to users in 2013. NOAO and NSSC are eager to help Markus lead these efforts to completion, to work with him on setting a medium- and long-term strategic course for instrumentation, and to help Gemini engage the US community as we enter a period that will see DECam, ALMA, LSST, and other major proj- ects in operation alongside our existing observatories.

New Gemini Director Dr. Markus Kissler-Patig outlined his vision for the Gemini Observatory at the Gemini Science Meeting, held in San Francisco in July 2012. While the San Francisco weather was often cool and cloudy, NOAO looks forward to working with Markus to achieve a bright, clear future. (Image credit: Peter Michaud, Gemini Observatory.)

CTIO through the Good and the Bad R. Chris Smith

his year brings the 50th anniversary of the naming of the Cerro in the dome, in addition to a strengthening of the review processes for all Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) as well as the high- activities involving major equipment. We invited an external panel of ex- light of the installation of the largest focal plane in the Southern perts to review the safety processes and procedures used in and around THemisphere and the lowlight of one of the most serious accidents in the Blanco, leading to further changes and reinforcements in the safety CTIO’s 50-year history. culture at CTIO, ones that have provided added security for both our staff and instrumentation during the complex process of the Dark En- The accident with the ƒ/8 secondary mirror for the Blanco 4-m telescope ergy Camera (DECam) installation. It has been a costly process, but we in February 2012, the details of which are described elsewhere in this have learned much in the follow-up to the accident and have built those Newsletter as well as online at the CTIO Web site, resulted in the injury of lessons into our current and future operations activities. two of our staff members as well as severe cracks in the center of the ƒ/8 mirror. Fortunately, both of our staff members recovered quickly, and it In the shadow of the accident, however, we moved forward with an appears that there is a path forward for fixing the ƒ/8 mirror. eye on building the future of CTIO, which includes the installation of DECam and all of its related support systems. DECam is not “just” an Our response has been focused not only on the return of our staff and instrument we are installing on the telescope. The 570-megapixel imager the mirror, but also on what we can learn from this accident and how requires a broad set of supporting systems to be installed throughout the we can do better. We performed a thorough internal investigation into Blanco, including an instrument handling facility to support work on the the cause of the accident and found that it was a chain of events and fac- camera, a heavy-duty cooling system to feed liquid nitrogen continu- tors, all of which combined to lead to the event. The recommendations ously to the prime focus cage, an upgraded telescope control system to from the investigation led to a reinforcement of coordination and chain slew the telescope rapidly and precisely to take advantage of DECam’s of command in order to prevent unplanned and uncoordinated activities fast readout, an upgraded computer room to host the racks of DECam

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34 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff CTIO through the Good and the Bad continued and related hardware, and upgraded communications links to handle the smoothly since its initial steps in late 2011 (see articles on DECam in- data transfer, not to mention the data pipeline that will be installed in stallation and commissioning and science verification elsewhere in this Tucson to process the DECam data for the NOAO community. Newsletter).

This effort is by far the most complex project the engineering and techni- We are looking forward to first light around the time this Newsletter is cal support team at CTIO has ever undertaken since the construction released, so be sure to “watch this space” for the exciting results that will of the Blanco itself. However, with the support of our teammates from be coming as we turn on DECam and turn it loose on the bountiful skies Kitt Peak as well as our partners from Fermilab and other Dark Energy of the Southern Hemisphere. NL Survey (DES) institutions, the installation has moved forward relatively

Celebrating CTIO’s 50th Anniversary Andrea Kunder

early half a century ago, in November 1962, Cerro Tololo was advancement of research in the Magellanic Clouds, the brightest globular chosen and named as the site for the first modern international clusters, and the cluster- and nebulae-rich Carina-Centaurus Milky Way observatory in Chile—ultimately creating a scientific legacy: the region, to name a few. CTIO continues to be at the forefront of state-of- NCerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). As we approach the the-art science, and this will be highlighted at the kick-off event for the 50th anniversary of our observatory, there is cause for celebration and rev- 50th Year Celebration: the inauguration and first light celebration of the erie. An ambitious 50th Year Celebration is in the works, where we will Dark Energy Camera (DECam), currently planned for November 2012. look forward as our scientific facility today faces an entirely new set of priorities, challenges, and opportunities, and we will look back on the Our 50th Year Celebration will consist of many of the same fun activities many scientific achievements for which CTIO paved the way. that the community has enjoyed during the past half century: first light of a new, cutting edge instrument, a stimulating scientific symposium, a CTIO has far surpassed its mission to provide world-class astronomical mountain bike race, Tololo staff and family activities, and an extensive observations of the celestial objects in the southern sky. Today, Tololo is a outreach event for the general public. More details will follow—keep household name in the observational astronomy community, known for your eyes open! contributing to the discovery of the accelerating universe and leading the

Students Wanted for 2013 CTIO REU Program Katie Kaleida

he Cerro Tololo Inter-American Ob- Participants must be enrolled as full-time undergraduate students during servatory (CTIO) offers six Under- the REU program and must be citizens or permanent residents of the graduate Research Assistantships in United States. TLa Serena, Chile, during the Chilean sum- mer (northern winter semester) through The program will run for 10 weeks, from approximately 21 January to the NSF- funded Research Experiences for 29 March 2013. A one-week observing run on Cerro Tololo and a field Undergraduates (REU) program. The CTIO trip to another observatory in Chile are included in the program, and a REU program provides an exceptional op- modest stipend and subsidized housing are provided. In addition, the portunity for undergraduates considering a students usually attend the American Astronomical Society (AAS) winter career in science to engage in substantive research activities with sci- meeting to present their research the year following their REU program, entists working at the forefront of contemporary astrophysics. Student in this case the 2014 AAS meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, just participants will work in close collaboration with members of the CTIO outside of Washington, D.C. scientific and technical staff on specific research projects such as galaxy clusters, gravitational lensing, supernovae, planetary nebulae, stellar Complete applications, including applicant information, official tran- populations, star clusters, star formation, variable stars, and interstel- scripts, and two or three letters of recommendation should be submitted lar medium. The CTIO REU program emphasizes observational tech- no later than 1 October 2012. More information and the program appli- niques and provides opportunities for direct observational experience cation can be found at: www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/REU. Women and can- using CTIO’s state-of-the-art telescopes and instrumentation. didates from underrepresented minorities in the sciences are particularly encouraged to apply.

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 35 Where Art and Astronomy Meet: Thoughts on an Artist Residency at NOAO May 2012 Jane Grisewood & Judy Goldhill

NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO ike most artists, we are engaged in the questions surrounding who we are and why we are here, and how to express these concerns through individual and collaborative practice. We are London based, working across different media, exhibiting both in the UK and internationally. For some time, we had been independently interested in the art-science connection in our work, in particular, astronomy and astrophysics Land the realm beyond our own planet. In order to realize and develop the relationship, we explored the possibility of an artist residency at an ob- servatory. After much discussion, it was clear to both of us that such a pre-eminent research, development, and educational center as the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) would be the perfect environment to provide an opportunity to facilitate our aims, alongside offering a wealth of resources that would trigger ideas and actions. Communications with enthusiastic NOAO staff led to meeting the new director of Kitt Peak National Observatory, Timothy Beers, and the head of program for Education and Public Outreach, Steve Pompea, in Tucson, in October 2011. Proposals and discussions followed, and at the end of April this year, we arrived back in Tucson to take up the first artist residency working at the headquarters of NOAO on the University of Arizona campus and at Kitt Peak in the spectacular mountains in the Schuk Toak District of the Tohono O’odham Nation some 55 miles southwest of Tucson.

Jane Grisewood: “Seeing” in the Dark Observing the night sky from the inner sanc- tum of the great domes and telescopes (27 in all) protruding from the vegetation at the Kitt Peak National Observatory was breath- taking—stillness and silence in the darkness interspersed with the whirring sounds of devices opening and rotating. Through the powerful telescopes and complex technology, I could see images of unimaginably distant objects billions of light years away, and I was seeing into the past. It was like being in a time machine, displacing me from my earth-bound temporality. I was able to experience first- hand remote galaxies and exostars, planets and super moons, asteroids and sunspots—en- tropic, and always changing in cycles, phases, rotations, and eclipses.

The complexities of the temporal dimension and liminality of space, the fact that everything is in flux, was the catalyst behind the residency at NOAO, and it has been an exhilarating and transformative experience revealing oppor- tunities for new thoughts and applications to inspire my art practice. I spent many years in book publishing before returning to university to study fine art, culminating in a practice- based PhD, titled “Marking Time,” in 2010 at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. My practice is concerned with time, memory, and movement and includes dura- tional work extending to performance, instal- lation, and video, as well as works on paper. I’m interested in investigating in-between transient spaces, recording through drawings, (Top) Journals, sketchbooks, notes, drawings, and photographs—a record of Jane’s time at Kitt Peak and NOAO headquarters notes, and photographs interventions that (image credit: Jane Griesewood); (bottom left) outside the Glaspey House on Kitt Peak, Jane draws globular clusters and capture a moment in time whilst simultane- spectra from previous nights’ observations at the WIYN 3.5-m and Mayall 4-m telescopes (image credit: Jane Grisewood); ously tracing its passing. I work across media, (bottom right) Jane recording on Kitt Peak, drawing with graphite, and creating video with a camera strapped to her body but throughout, drawing is key—drawing in (image credit: Judy Goldhill). continued

36 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff Where Art and Astronomy Meet continued

“Spectrum Study 1,” 16”x 23”, oil on paper. A drawing of an echelle spectrum observed at the Mayall 4-m telescope (image credit: Jane Grisewood. its broadest sense—drawing as a verb, as pro- photographic projects—black paint, black pig- cess, operating through the line. ment, black objects, charcoal lines on black pa- per—all making the night environment ideal The phenomenal encounters at Kitt Peak were for my ongoing investigation into darkness, “Eclipse Study,” 23” x 16”, oil on paper (image credit: intensified further by “observing the observ- blackness, and the depth of black in a scien- Judy Goldhill. ers” and the subsequent instructive conversa- tific context. Ideas for art works ran riot when tions that occurred throughout the residency. I was shown an intense black material devel- what it can do or be. I’m hoping to develop the It was a privilege to be in the control rooms oped to absorb optimum light, which was the project further and continue this collaboration. with the astronomers and telescope operators “blackest black” I had ever seen. Defined by who shared their knowledge and time while its absence of light, black paradoxically en- The residency has been provocative in pushing working through the night, in the dark, search- ables us to see light. The light from celestial my thought processes into another dimension ing for data. The spectra from distant stars objects and the information we glean from the and in enabling an ongoing dialogue between appeared on the monitors as minimal lines telescopes would not be possible without the art and astronomy with NOAO through the that translated into a wealth of information, blackness of night. I became increasingly con- generous and enthusiastic response from every- from size and temperature to composition and scious during the residency of the significance one. Through a variety of media, I’ll be extract- properties that could one day determine intel- and implications of “seeing” in the dark, and ing from the hundreds of drawings and photo- ligent life elsewhere. The learning curve was it became an apt metaphor for my experience graphs that filled my notebooks to make a new steep, and within days I had been animatedly at NOAO. Every night, without light, I would body of work that might reflect this awe-inspir- briefed on wavelengths and spectrographs, ab- draw the moon in graphite on black paper and ing cosmological temporality. A temporality sorption lines and emission lines. The line has take still and moving images of what appeared where things are continually shifting: expand- been a consistent theme in my work as a means to be black sky, which on closer examination ing and imploding, repelling and attracting, ap- of recording time and movement through a re- revealed traces of starlight. pearing and disappearing. petitive drawing process. I was absorbed in www.janegrisewood.com the various manifestations of the spectra, and An added highlight during the time in the puzzling over how to render them as draw- downtown headquarters was the collaboration Judy Goldhill: Imaging Light ings, paintings, and/or installations that would extending to a wider drawing field. Scientists Whilst I was transferring planes at Dallas Inter- convey their significance. With high defini- and engineers drew in my notebooks as a way national Airport, my luggage was pulled apart tion, 3-dimensional, and manipulated images of answering my queries on subjects from stel- by security personnel. I had a total of five cam- everywhere, it is the simplicity of the minimal lar evolution and symbiotic stars to dark energy eras: a pinhole with a 5 × 4 film back, medium black and white marks that catches my atten- and black holes. The teaching aspects of my format and panoramic analogue cameras, and tion—like fingerprints, or DNA—where the practice extend to drawing in other disciplines, two digital single-lens reflex cameras with ac- invisible can be made visible. outside the fine art context, where it can be used companying lenses, encased in a secure black to inform and describe as a means of commu- box. My entry to the US was somewhat guard- My work is predominantly black (and white), nication. This was a valuable contribution to ed, but on explaining about my upcoming artist with color seeping into only a few specific my work, defining not what drawing is, but residency on which I was about to embark, the

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NOAO Newsletter September 2012 37 Where Art and Astronomy Meet continued

ing topic for me over the last few years while I have been photographing volcanoes, the Suf- folk coast, and The Holy Land. All the while I have felt challenged to explore the energy and movement of landscape in relation to the skies and the changing, shifting patterns of the Earth.

NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO To be present in the landscape, to listen and ob- serve, to react to the syntax of place has gained a place in my art. Part of what I aspired to in Arizona was to find ways of representing the granite mountain in relation to seeping arcs of sun, moon, and stars topped by that sky-pyra- mid of blue light: the whole a daily drama acted out on the sky-island of Kitt Peak.

For some time I have been trying to articulate the capture of movement from stillness, and of making the invisible visible. This theme slowly began to represent itself to me whilst taking pictures on Kitt Peak. I was attracted to move- ment, a definite rhythm in the embrace of sky, land, and domes, echoing the knowledge that everything in the universe has some rotation. I swiftly realized that I had neither the skills nor technological patience to be an astro-photog- rapher, nor was I going to be able to capture anything of the night sky, despite being in the presence of these magnificent telescopes, the result of which was purely data.

Experiencing the nightly observations in the telescopes, the mechanical parts in action, the whirling of the telescopes, the screeching of the domes as they moved like prehistoric crea- tures was extraordinary. My challenge was to translate this cycle photographically, to convey something of the telescoping of time, time vari- ability. Using photographic processes, I want- ed to utilize the parallels with astronomy and photography, from the initial glass plates that were used in astronomy, to the current CCDs, equivalent to the tiny CCD in my digital cam- era. I was experimenting with a pinhole cam- (Top) Detrick Branson (NSO) at the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope (image credit: Judy Goldhill); (bottom left) photograph era while photographing both the WIYN One of ODI using a pinhole camera (image credit: Judy Goldhill); (bottom right) Judy photographing the computer room at the Degree Imager (ODI) and the computer room NOAO headquarters (image credit: Jane Grisewood). at NOAO, the reception point for all the data acquired on Kitt Peak. The pinhole, an early, primitive photographic device, staring long and guards were so enthusiastic. “How cool, can we work. As a result, I have not only turned to hard at the behemoths of current technologi- carry these bags for you?” I wish they had, they landscape but also to the poetics of technol- cal expertise, grappling with light from distant were very heavy. ogy embedded in the land, so that prior to my galaxies, stars, moon, sun, and the office illu- residency at NOAO, I had been photographing mination, whilst simultaneously pushing the I have been a portrait photographer all my nuclear power stations in the UK. This resulted boundaries of darkness, before the pixilation life, having learned photography at art school in an exhibition in London earlier this year. and noise of the digital camera takes over. as part of my undergraduate sculpture degree. Several years ago, I returned to art school to I have been harboring hopes that I could come Concurrently, I photographed staff in the cor- complete an MA in Fine Art at Central Saint to grips with the depiction of landscape in rela- ridors at NOAO. This has resulted in what I Martins, using photography as the basis of my tion to the cosmos. This has been a develop- hope will be a rich portfolio of images, taken

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38 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff Where Art and Astronomy Meet continued on long exposures from the corridor peering into the subtle diversity of offices, dimly lit by the glow of computer, green neon strips against the harsh sunlight. I also interviewed those staff to gain an understanding of their contri- bution within NOAO. The time and generosity of experience shown to me by all I came across was quite unrivaled, whilst at the same time, I learned so much from each of their experiences and specialties. I was struck, coming from the UK, how deprived we are of the night sky, and how looking up barely figures in our lives, and how the enthusiasm and love of the subject is so overwhelming that it is passed down, predomi- nantly from father to son, a baton to discover more of the deep dark space. When collated and complete, the set will be published in maga- zine form.

I found that this residency has offered me a chance to renew and continue my theme of photographing plant and technological equip- ment that generates the unseen in our lives, in terms of energy and thought. I have returned with more ideas and photographs than I could have ever dreamed of, material and data to in- Judy photographing in the mirror workshop at the NOAO (image credit: Jane Grisewood). form my work and challenge existing ideas. www.judygoldhill.com NL

Kitt Peak Visitor Center Activities Highlight Once-in-a-Lifetime Events Rich Fedele

his spring was a busy one for the Kitt Peak Visitor Center. With the annular solar eclipse in May and the Venus transit in June, guests from all over the United States flocked to Kitt Peak to par- Tticipate in educational offerings.

For the first time ever, we conducted the Great Eclipse Road Show, which was a three-day, motor-coach travel program to northern Arizona to view this wonderful celestial event. The event sold out months in advance, and the trek northward included stops at Lowell Observatory, Meteor Crater (Figure 1), and the final destination of Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo Reservation where the observation took place. Forty-nine lucky guests got to experience the event, perfect weather, and a location that was hard to beat. Rest assured, everyone left with this event implanted in their memories. The trip was organized by Public Outreach Program Coor- dinator Robert Martino who was assisted by Emily Berkston and docent Vance Tanner. Comments from some of the participants included:

“The whole experience was absolutely outstanding. The organization and Figure 1: Participants and tour guide of the Great Eclipse Road Show in Meteor Crater. (Image fluidity was incredible; one of the best weekends I’ve ever spent.” credit: Robert Martino, NOAO/AURA/NSF.)

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NOAO Newsletter September 2012 39 Kitt Peak Visitor Center Once-in-a-Lifetime Events continued

“Best road trip ever! Thank you a zillion times over. Well paced—science for all levels so very approachable—fun—learned a ton.”

“Very enjoyable trip, just about right time. Very informative, wonderful leaders.” NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO “I thank all those responsible for this wonderful trip. I worked seven years at the state museum and this program brought many good memories.”

“Very well organized, great attention to detail!”

Closer to home and at the same time, we had another eclipse event taking place on Kitt Peak with over 50 participants who got to experience the eclipse first hand. Staff conducted a number of hands-on activities such as making eclipse viewing boxes and learning about moon phases. Most participants stayed after the event and were treated to a special star-gaz- ing opportunity with the three visitor center public telescopes. This event was coordinated by Ross Dubois and assisted by a number of Nightly Observing Program staff.

One month later, over 96 people from all over the United States and as far away as the United Kingdom converged on Kitt Peak for the Venus transit (Figure 2). Activities included Kinesthetic Astronomy, Moon balls, Solar telescope observations, and much more. We included a key- note talk and book signing by The New York Times best-selling author, Andrea Wulf, who wrote the book Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens. Overall, our guests were treated to perfect weather and got to see the event of a lifetime. The program lasted over four hours and ended with stargazing at one of the three visitor center public tele- Figure 2: Venus Transit program guests gathering at Kitt Peak on “Sunset Hill” for one last look scopes. All in all, guests and staff left the mountain tired but totally as the Sun touches the horizon to the northwest. At that location, sunset occurred before the fulfilled for such an event of a lifetime. NL end of the transit. (Image credit: Robert Martino, NOAO/AURA/NSF.)

Transit of Venus Event and Public Outreach on Easter Island Katie Kaleida & Jackie Faherty

ine astronomy postdocs from the Chilean mainland traveled to Easter Island to celebrate the rare transit of Venus across the Sun on 5/6 June 2012 and to conduct a series of astronomy outreach Nactivities over three days, leading up to viewing the transit. Jackie Fa- herty, NSF International Postdoctoral Researcher at the Universidad de Chile and organizer of the outreach event, gathered a team of postdocs from multiple institutions in Chile, including the Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica, Universidad Andrés Bellos, and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. This team, dubbed “Equipo Hetu’u” (Star Team) in Rapa Nui (the language of Easter Island natives), spent two days

Figure 1: Equipo Hetu’u at the Ahu Tahai site on Easter Island the day of the 2012 Venus transit as the Sun was just setting below the horizon. From left to right: Isabelle Gavignaud, Francisca Muñoz, Santiago Gonzalez, Jackie Faherty, Milena Bufano, Patricio Roja, Katie Kaleida, Helene Flohic, David Rodriguez, Francisco Förster Burón, David Murphy. (Image credit: Jackie Faherty, NSF International Postdoctoral Researcher, Universidad de Chile.)

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40 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff Transit of Venus Event on Easter Island continued

Figure 2: A crowd of approximately 1000 people gathered at the Ahu Tahai site to watch the Figure 3: By combining second contact measurements taken across the globe by participating 2012 Venus transit. A large fraction of Easter Island school children visited by Equipo Hetu’u school groups, the distance to the Sun was successfully measured. The calculated distance of earlier in the week participated. Together with students in a global school network (including 151±20 million km is consistent with the known value of 152.25 million km. Filled circles show schools in the US, Europe, Australia, Iran, Japan, Colombia, and China) the Easter Island stu- successful viewings taken by participating groups, unfilled circles are the expected values for dents measured the distance to the Sun using second contact timing measurements. (Image groups that were weathered out. (Image credit: Jackie Faherty, NSF International Postdoctoral credit: Jackie Faherty, NSF International Postdoctoral Researcher, Universidad de Chile.) Researcher, Universidad de Chile.) giving astronomy talks and doing hands-on demonstrations at the Museo people attended the transit event, an outstanding turnout for an island Antropológico Padre Sebastián Englert. In the final day-and-a-half lead- with a population of ~5000! Many attendees brought their own tele- ing up to the transit, the team visited science classes in the majority of scopes with solar filters and a variety of projection devices, in addition the schools on the island to spread the message about this once-in-a- to the eclipse glasses and equipment brought by Equipo Hetu’u. The lifetime transit event and how to view it safely. For the final transit event, local students measured the time of first contact, along with 12 other school groups from across the world were solicited to measure first and school groups from countries that included the US, Columbia, Japan, second contact (ingress exterior and ingress interior) marking the start Australia, and Iran. This combined effort led to a calculated distance of the transit. The Easter Island students were linked with other groups between the Earth and Sun of 151±20 million kilometers (the actual around the world to reproduce the measurement first made/proposed by distance during the transit was 152.25 million kilometers). For more Edmund Halley in the late 1600s. information on the Easter Island Venus Transit outreach events, see www.das.uchile.cl/~drodrigu/easter/index_en.html. For the math be- The clouds that had threatened to block the view of the transit mi- hind the measurement, see David Rodriguez’s blog: strakul.blogspot. raculously parted before the transit began, and people showed up in com/2012/05/measuring-distance-to-sun-with-transit.html NL droves to the designated viewing area, Ahu Tahai. An estimated 1000

The Blanco ƒ/8 Secondary Mirror: What Happened and Will It Return to Service? Eric Mamajek & Jay Elias

n accident occurred at the CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope on the of the long shutdown of the Blanco 4-m telescope for the Dark Energy morning of 20 February 2012 that involved the telescope’s ƒ/8 Camera (DECam) installation. secondary mirror. The ƒ/8 mirror had been loaded onto its cart, Awhich tipped over with the mirror face hitting the floor. Two staff mem- The mirror itself is a convex optic of Cer-Vit glass, approximately 1.32 bers were injured and the secondary mirror was damaged. One staff meters in diameter, weighing 369 kg, and containing 43 circular light- member suffered fractures in his foot, while another had severe bruising weighting cavities on the backside. The mirror was inside its main cell, to his leg. Thankfully, both recovered and returned to work in the weeks which contains the active control mechanisms, when the accident oc- after the accident. The accident took place inauspiciously on the first day curred. The cell also suffered considerable damage. continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 41 The Blanco ƒ/8 Secondary Mirror continued

An accident investigation led by NOAO Risk Manager Chuck Gessner, North optics lab in Tucson. An initial decision based on the optical tests concluded that the mirror was loaded incorrectly onto the cart. The cart will be made on whether it is necessary to refigure the mirror, and, if was subsequently destroyed to avoid such accidents in the future, and a so, the suitable method (e.g., ion beam polishing vs. generating a new new cart will need to be designed and fabricated. Following the NOAO surface). accident investigation, an external safety review was ordered by NOAO Director David Silva to offer recommendations on workplace safety in A special wooden crate containing foam padding was designed and fab- NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO preparation for the DECam installation project. CTIO has implemented ricated at the La Serena workshops for transporting the mirror, its test the recommendations of the internal accident investigation and external cell, and related equipment to Tucson. The mirror was packed in the new review and has built upon the experience to improve safe practices and crate in early June 2012 and shipped safely to Tucson. procedures in the Blanco telescope and throughout the observatory. An optical test setup is being constructed at the NOAO North optics lab NOAO North Optical Engineer Gary Poczulp led the effort to character- that will contain the ƒ/8 mirror, a flat mirror with a 36-in diameter, and a ize and stabilize the damage to the mirror. An assessment of the ƒ/8 sec- Hindle sphere with a 100-in diameter. Work on these fixtures was largely ondary mirror showed that complete by mid-July; prep- the visible damage appeared aration of the secondary to be isolated to (1) the cen- mirror and installation of tral ~8-in-diameter region the optics follows. The test of the mirror that took the setup gives measurements of brunt of the impact, and the optical surface errors for (2) three small regions on all three components. The the rear where the mirror’s surface errors for the flat cell makes contact with the mirror and Hindle sphere mirror (the “hard points”). (which are significant) must The damaged central region be subtracted to determine generally coincided with the the errors in the secondary central light-weighted cav- itself. This will be accom- ity on the backside of the plished by carefully rotating mirror. The damage to the the secondary about its opti- three hard points was highly cal axis by a modest amount confined; it was isolated to (~45 degrees each time), re- regions the size of thumb- aligning it, and repeating the prints, or smaller. If the measurements. mirror returns to service, the cell can be reoriented so The next step is to repair the that the cell contacts at three center section. This involves new points. This image shows damage to the central region of the ƒ/8 secondary mirror from the 20 February 2012 accident. grinding out the damaged The overlaid centimeter ruler shows the size of the damaged area. A single crack propagated outside of the cen- center section, leaving a The cracks were drilled tral light-weighted region is visible at the 10 o’clock position. The cracks were subsequently drilled out, etched spherical interface, and out, and hydrofluoric (HF) with HF acid, and filled with epoxy to stabilize the mirror. The small, dark blotches are regions that contained then cementing a matching acid was applied to smooth microfractures unrelated to the accident that were stabilized two decades ago. The entire region in the image Cer-Vit plug into the cen- (etch) these regions so that is within the central obscuration. (Image credit: Patricio Schurter, NOAO/AURA/NSF.) tral hole. The plug should further crack propagation be polished smooth and be would not occur. Epoxy was used to fill the cracked regions, further sta- flush to the rest of the mirror to facilitate cleaning and coating, but the bilizing the mirror. The stabilization work was conducted in the ground- plug does not require a good optical figure. Unless the initial testing leads floor bay of the 1.5-m telescope building, out of the way of the DECam to a decision to generate a new surface, the mirror would be retested at installation activities continuing in the Blanco dome. this point, in order to verify the figure after repair. The re-measurement would either confirm that the mirror can be sent back to Chile or provide The question on everyone’s mind is, “When will we get the f/8 focus back final guidance for the refiguring. and working again?” The ƒ/8 focus provides a critical part of the science capability of the Blanco telescope. Hydra, the Infrared Side Port Imag- The accident to the secondary mirror also caused damage to the mir- er (ISPI), and (soon) the CTIO Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph ror cell. While this is in principle fairly straightforward to repair, some (COSMOS) and TripleSpec are all Cassegrain focus instruments that engineering is required to modernize mechanisms and sensors for which depend on the ƒ/8 secondary. The plan for recovery is described below. direct replacements are no longer available. The secondary mirror cart must also be replaced with a safer design. These repairs should begin as The visible damage to the front of the mirror is isolated, fortunately, to a soon as CTIO engineering staff are available following the DECam instal- region within the confines of the central obscuration when mounted in lation and could be completed about the time that the repaired secondary the Blanco 4-m telescope. However, the state of the optical figure of the mirror arrives in Chile (in a best-case scenario). Once both the repaired rest of the mirror is not known and requires optical testing at the NOAO mirror and mirror cell are available, they can be integrated, installed in

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42 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff The Blanco ƒ/8 Secondary Mirror continued the telescope, and tested. The integration process will involve commis- the mirror cell repair. A clear idea of the scope and duration of remain- sioning the interfaces with the new DECam prime focus cage and new ing tasks could be possible by January 2013 (approximately), at which telescope control system. time a status review would be held before shipping the mirror (either to be refigured, if needed, or to Chile, if not). We will continue to keep the We should have a good idea by early September whether refiguring of community up-to-date on the progress with the ƒ/8 recovery effort at the the ƒ/8 mirror will be needed. By mid-October, we hope to have a better CTIO Web site: estimate of when the mirror can be shipped to Chile and to have begun www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/blanco-f8-secondary-incident. NL

Kitt Peak Water System Renovation John Dunlop

he renovated water plant came on line into the new work with new automated valves in place and the Region 9 EPA office was in- just in time for the monsoon rains. The and energy-efficient pumps installed to help volved throughout the process to ensure con- water storage tanks were almost empty, reduce costs (Figure 2). An automated control formance with the new regulations. Tand the level of the backup water storage pond system was also installed to help improve the was very low. For over 50 years, the mountain water processing quality and assist in reducing With the advent of the monsoon rains, the water processing plant has been providing Kitt the staff efforts. New test equipment was put plant has gone online and water quality testing Peak with a reliable source of potable water to meet a multitude of water needs. The plant has had difficulties meeting the new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality regula- tions during the past few years, despite minor improvements to the plant.

Potential renovation costs were anticipated to be quite high, but the NSF provided almost a million dollars from the American Reinvest- ment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) to pur- sue this work. Tucson staff of NOAO worked with a local environmental engineering firm to evaluate the plant and design a new processing system that would meet the new EPA regula- tions. After a minor setback in bidding, Phoe- nix-based Hunter Contracting Company was awarded the project through a competitive bid process during the summer of 2011. Figure 1: (Left) A deteriorated, primary wide-flange steel beam that had supported the steel floor of the Kitt Peak sedimentation building. (Right) The new steel floor of the sedimentation building. (Images credit: CFO Staff, NOAO/AURA/NSF.) NOAO Facilities Engineer Kate Foster and other KPNO staff members have worked closely with the contractor for the last six months to oversee the renovation of the wa- ter processing and sedimentation building systems. This work had to be closely coordi- nated to minimize the impact to visitors and mountain operations. The contractor’s effort involved removal of all piping, pumps, and related water-processing equipment in the water processing and sedimentation buildings during some cold winter months. In the sedi- mentation building, this included removal and replacement of the significantly deteriorated steel floor system where steel wide-flange beams were found to be delaminating (Figure Figure 2: (Left) The original deteriorated pipes and water processing items that were removed and (right) the new piping and 1). Major piping changes were incorporated automated equipment that replaced the old in the Kitt Peak pump house. (Images credit: CFO Staff, NOAO/AURA/NSF.) continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 43 Kitt Peak Water System Renovation continued

has shown that it is performing well. The Kitt structure system, but there are other sections of tank upgrades. With this renovation, the plant Peak plant operators are increasing their certi- the water system that will require renovation in will continue to provide Kitt Peak with a reli- fication levels to meet the EPA regulations re- the coming years. It is anticipated that funds able source of potable water for many years to quired for continued operation of the renovated from the joint use fee paid by tenants of Kitt come. NL plant. The ARRA funding was critical in help- Peak will help to complete other water system ing KPNO to upgrade this key mountain infra- repairs and some of the required water storage NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO

NOAO Dark Skies Education for Multiple Audiences Constance E. Walker & Leonor Opazo

Figure 1: The second place winner in the “Against the Lights” category of the photo contest is Luis Argerich for his photo “Lights or Stars.” This panoramic photo from Argentina shows a countryside location where the sky is fairly dark but the horizon is dominated by lights of nearby towns and far away cities. (Image credit: L. Argerich, Nightscape Photography.)

hat do we lose when we can no longer view a pristinely dark To help others understand the effects of light pollution, a citizen-science night sky? Certainly, a washed-out sky due to light pollution campaign called GLOBE at Night was started seven years ago. The impedes research astronomers at sites such as Kitt Peak in worldwide campaign involves the public in recording night sky bright- WArizona or Cerro Tololo in Chile. The habits and habitats of animals are ness data by matching the view of a constellation like Orion with maps negatively affected, and some are pushed to the brink of survival. Money of progressively fainter stars. Every year, NOAO is adding more oppor- is wasted: one third of the energy consumed in outdoor lighting in the tunities for participation by providing campaigns at different times of the US is wasted due to upward-directed light. Glare in the aging eye creates year and by creating Web applications in different languages for smart hazards, and light trespass can make sleep difficult. Depletion of mela- phones. In the last few years, we have facilitated ways for citizens to tonin levels due to prolonged exposure to lights at night may have ties to measure the night sky brightness using sky quality meters. We will have cancer. Perhaps, what is most important is that we lose touch with our campaigns during the first 10 days of January through May in 2013 (see place in the Universe when we cannot see the night sky. www.globeatnight.org). The GLOBE at Night Facebook page provides a conduit for the public to learn and comment on issues that concern how One way to grasp what we are losing is to show the sky through an “Earth light pollution affects their lives. and Sky” photo contest. Over 600 entries were contributed to the 2012 contest during the first three weeks of April from countries all over the The EPO group’s expertise in developing teaching kits and instructional world. The photos must be “landscape astrophotography” and emphasize materials for schools, museums, and after-school programs has helped one of two categories: the “Beauty of the Night Sky” (what to preserve) or create a suite of well-tested and evaluated hands-on, minds-on activities “Against the [City] Lights” (what to prevent). Figure 1 is the second place that have children building star-brightness “readers,” creating glow-in- winner in the “Against the Lights” category. All of the winners of the 2012 the-dark tracings to visualize constellations, and role-playing confused contest can be seen at www.twanight.org/contest/. sea turtles. They also create a model city with shielded lights to stop upward light, examine different kinds of bulbs for energy efficiency, and NOAO has created a series of pod casts to dramatize the issues surround- perform an outdoor lighting audit of their school or neighborhood to ing dark skies. The podcasts are based on serial-type skits featuring two determine ways to save energy. The kits (see Figure 2) also include ac- characters: a caped dark-skies hero and his sidekick the Dark kNight. tivities related to preserving radio-quiet skies, developed in collaboration They typically “save the night” by mitigating upward directed lights with with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. shields, thereby saving the sea turtles, minimizing health effects, conserv- ing energy, or keeping the public safe. These kits have been distributed extensively across the US and in Chile. They are being effectively used in the Tucson area as part of an exemplary continued

44 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff NOAO Dark Skies Education for Multiple Audiences continued

Figure 2: The Dark Skies Education Kit includes a light-shielding demonstration that illustrates Figure 3: A member of the NOAO EPO student cadre leads a demonstration at the Cooper Center the importance of minimizing glare, uplight, and light trespass. (Image credit: Emily Acosta, for Environmental Learning of how some lights are more efficient than others, as seen by their LSST/NOAO/AURA/NSF.) spectra. (Image credit: Connie Walker, NOAO/AURA/NSF.) collaboration with the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning, lo- affected by light pollution as first thought? What factors contribute to cated in the Tucson Mountains. The Center is a partnership between the fluctuations in light pollution (natural and artificial) over a night? How Tucson Unified School District and the University of Arizona College of do those factors change within various locations? Characterizing the de- Education and serves students from throughout the Tucson area. In the tailed short-term and secular behavior of night-sky brightness might lead last three years, NOAO has worked with thousands of students and doz- to clues as to how it can be responsibly subdued. ens of teachers at the Center (see Figure 3). This work has led to science fair projects on light pollution and extensive involvement in GLOBE at There are coordination and planning efforts with other astronomers, sci- Night campaigns. entists, and engineers. A special session on the educational and technical aspects of light pollution and how they relate to our lives and our re- The NOAO South EPO team in Chile leads a complementary Dark Skies search will occur under the auspices of the triennial International Astro- Education Program that uses Chilean-customized educational activities. nomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Beijing, in August 2012. The These are held throughout the year to create awareness among teachers, 2.5-day session on light pollution is being co-hosted by NOAO, the Large students, and the general public of the importance of preserving the dark Binocular Telescope, the National Technological University – Mendoza, Chilean sky conditions, both for the proper development of wildlife and and the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy human life and for astronomical (scientific and touristic) activities. This of Sciences. Topics for oral and poster presentations include: the role of program uses direct training and involvement with teachers and class- media, planetaria, and amateur astronomers in light pollution education; rooms across all of Chile and collaborations with touristic observatories light pollution education in schools and in cultures; global star-hunting in the IV Región de Coquimbo that have grown with the support and campaigns; light pollution’s effect on wildlife; dark sky places, “Starlight” motivation of CTIO. The alliance in this network of touristic obser- reserves and astro-tourism; dark skies measurements and site monitor- vatories, including more than twenty initiatives, is a crucial element of ing; light pollution legislation and protecting observatory sites; progress collaboration for many of the astronomy promotion and light pollution and action plan for implementing an IAU resolution on the protection control activities in the south. of the night sky; spectra of artificial blue-rich sources; and astronomical input to lighting industry development. Events like this special session Light pollution is also a topic of research. In the Research Experiences can influence changes in direction and decisions in the field of dark skies for Undergraduates (REU) program at NOAO North, the undergraduate preservation. students have been doing research on light pollution for the last three years. Research topics include the effect of light pollution on endan- NOAO and its Education and Public Outreach group play an important gered bats and characterizing the behavior of sky brightness over time role locally, nationally, and internationally in protecting our national ob- across Tucson and on nearby astronomical mountaintops. Some of the servatory resources from degradation due to light pollution or radio wave research questions addressed include: Does the corridor through which interference. The efforts are aimed at the long-term goal of thoughtful the bats travel need more stringent lighting codes or are the bats not as awareness and a deeper understanding of light pollution issues. NL

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 45 Bringing the Stars to Arizona Fifth Graders Chuck Dugan

OAO’s Education and Public Out- hands-on activities with their class. They also scopes to observe the Moon, planets, nebulae, reach (EPO) group has organized a receive training and instruction on building star clusters, and galaxies. new astronomy education program and using the NOAO-developed Galileoscope.

NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO Nfor fifth graders in Arizona. This grade level The program culminates with a community- has educational standards that make it an ap- Following the professional development train- wide star party. All the fifth graders in the dis- propriate place to teach about astronomy and ing, the teachers deliver the NOAO-developed, trict bring their telescopes to a dark location the principles behind the telescope. The EPO supplemental program curriculum to their for a night of astronomy education and observ- group, with the help of Science Foundation Ar- classes. Each teacher receives a classroom set ing with their families and friends. At the star izona, has delivered a comprehensive program of Galileoscopes to use—usually one for each party, they are directed to make observations on using telescopes in astronomy to cities and group of three students. The students work in of objects that Galileo himself observed. The school districts in a number of Arizona’s rural teams to assemble their telescopes and to learn last three programs were held in the towns of communities. The program has been develop- how to use it during the day and at night. At the Safford, Yuma, and Globe and drew an aver- ing a cost-effective model to bring astronomy end of the student training period, EPO staff- age of 500 participants to the culminating star to entire cities using Galileoscopes and kits for ers return to each participating class to assist party. The educational program is assessed by teaching about telescopes. with outstanding issues and to provide further an independent evaluator against the NOAO instruction and training on using the Galileo- program goals for both teachers and students.

Figure 2: Students and families get ready for the Yuma star party at Otondo Elementary School in Yuma. (Image credit: Stephen Pompea, NOAO/AURA/NSF.)

Figure 1: A student practices aiming her Galileoscope in prep- aration for the Flagstaff star party—the first program site in Arizona. . (Image credit: Stephen Pompea, NOAO/AURA/NSF.)

Professional development programs were de- livered to teachers in Safford, Yuma, and Globe over the last nine months, with additional programs planned for Payson and Flagstaff this fall. The program occurs over a period of several months and begins with planning and training sessions for all fifth-grade teachers in a city or county. Teachers learn the science and pedagogical content knowledge on optics, telescopes, and observational astronomy. They receive free “Teaching with Telescopes” kits that Figure 3: Nearly 30 fifth grade classrooms and over 400 total participants made the Safford star party a memorable evening. enable them to teach many hours of well-tested, (Image credit: Rob Sparks and C. Capera, NOAO/AURA/NSF.)

46 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff Dr. R. Chris Smith Switches to Full-Time AURA Head of Mission in Chile Robert Blum

r. R. Christopher Smith has held two and DES collaborators to ensure the success of ect in Chile and to prepare NOAO for a strong positions over the last four years: di- both aspects of this major endeavor. DECam role in its operation. rector of the AURA Observatory in is installed now on the Blanco 4-m telescope DChile (also known as AURA head of mission) at Cerro Tololo, putting NOAO, Fermilab, and Apart from all the support Chris has worked as well as associate director for NOAO South the US community on the brink of a new era of so hard to lend to US astronomy in Chile, he is (which includes being CTIO director). These wide-field imaging and high-impact science. also one of the scientific leaders at CTIO. As four years have brought significant changes a postdoc in Chile, and later an astronomer, and challenges to both NOAO and AURA. DECam alone would have been enough for one he executed the Magellanic Clouds Emission The two positions have grown in complexity director, but Chris also has worked with his Line Survey with his collaborators. This wide- and effort to the point that both NOAO and colleagues and members of the community to area survey has been a major success and has AURA will be better served with two individ- expand the science capabilities of other facili- added key narrowband imaging of supernova uals at the controls: one for NOAO South and ties at CTIO. The Panchromatic Robotic Op- remnants, planetary nebulae, and other emis- the other for the AURA Observatory in Chile. tical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes sion line sources in the Clouds that have been (PROMPT, University of North Carolina) have combined with data from Spitzer, Chandra, Therefore, after careful discussion with NSF, expanded under his tenure; the Las Cumbres FUSE, ROSAT, ACT, and others. Chris then AURA, and Dr. Smith himself, NOAO Direc- Global Telescope Network and Korean Micro- worked as a key CTIO member of the High z tor David Silva decided to make the following lensing Telescope Network projects are under Supernova Team that discovered the accelerat- management changes in La Serena. Dr. Smith construction; the Small and Moderate Aper- ing expansion of the Universe in 1998 and won will become the full-time director of the AURA ture Research Telescope System (SMARTS, the Nobel Prize for physics last year. Chris Observatory in Chile effective 1 October 2012, led by Yale with diverse partners throughout was involved in most of the other large optical reporting directly to the AURA president, Dr. the US and international communities) has surveys executed with the Mosaic II imager at William Smith. On the same date, Dr. Nicole continued to be productive scientifically; and the Blanco in the 1990s and 2000s including van der Bliek will become the acting NOAO Chris has advocated successfully for new Blan- ESSENCE, Super Macho, and the Blanco Cos- associate director for NOAO South and CTIO co 4-m spectrographs (the CTIO Ohio State mology Survey. Chris is continuing to work director. An international search for a per- Multi-Object Spectrograph and TripleSpec), on dark energy and will participate in DES. manent director will begin soon. Dr. van der which are under construction through the Bliek will continue as acting associate director ReSTAR program. Chile is poised to become an ever more sig- until a permanent director is appointed. Drs. nificant part of US astronomy in the coming Smith and van der Bliek have begun the tran- Along with Chris’ significant efforts on behalf decade with large wide-field surveys on the sition process for their new roles. of NOAO and CTIO, he has contributed great- Blanco telescope, the advent of LSST, and the ly to the success of the other AURA telescopes rich opportunities for follow-up observations This is the appropriate time to heartily thank in Chile: the Gemini 8-m and the Southern that will ensue. NOAO looks forward to hav- Chris for his efforts on behalf of NOAO and Astrophysical Research (SOAR) 4.1-m tele- ing Chris in the important role of AURA head AURA over an already distinguished career at scopes. Chris’ spirit of collaboration and de- of mission to help ensure success in this excit- NOAO and CTIO. Four years ago, when Chris sire to see science advanced on all the AURA ing time for all AURA Centers in Chile. took over the reins in Chile, the observatory platforms have greatly benefited the US and was just beginning to evolve toward an em- international communities in their missions Meanwhile, back at the “ranch,” NOAO is very phasis on a bold, new science program to be and in their relationship with our host country pleased to have Dr. Nicole van der Bliek take completed in collaboration with the Depart- and partner, Chile. charge at NOAO South and CTIO. Nicole is al- ment of Energy’s Fermilab. This is, of course, ready deeply involved in the management and the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which will And finally, but not least, Chris has contrib- operation of CTIO having served as its deputy be used to execute the Dark Energy Survey uted significantly to the Large Synoptic Survey director for the past three years. Her long- (DES), a multi-year targeted survey to under- Telescope (LSST) Project as both the CTIO term experience in Chile and management of stand dark energy. Fermilab leads the survey, director and AURA head of mission. He was many of the observatory technical programs but DECam has a second, equally important a key member of the AURA team that success- over the past decade will serve NOAO and role to open up new vistas for the US commu- fully negotiated the Chilean “share” of LSST, the community well. NOAO looks forward to nity through community surveys and princi- which allowed the project to be sited on Cerro Nicole’s leadership during this transition and pal investigator programs. Chris has worked Pachón in Chile. As CTIO director, he has has every confidence in her ability to guide the tirelessly on behalf of both the community worked hard to provide support for the proj- observatory smoothly into this new era.

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 47 Remembering 45 Years with KPNO Skip Andree

started on a new journey on 6 March 1967. Little did I know how Pérot Interferometer—what a fabulous instrument that was and what rewarding and sometimes ridiculous, frustrating, and exciting my an unusual personality Malcolm has. On many occasions I would ride career choice would be. I was working for Reproductions Inc. pro- up to the mountain with William Hiltner, this was always a pleasure; he

NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO Iducing blueprints for buildings and instruments was a down-to-earth person from Michigan. I for a new observatory called Kitt Peak. I just remember such a magnificent dome being built. knew I wanted to be part of this amazing en- Also, I remember spending a whole night at the deavor called research, and I knew I had to have 4-m aligning the tilted focal plane of Alec Bok- a place at the beginning—with expectations that senberg’s image tube spectrograph (the Image I would have a life-long career. Solar and stellar Photon Counting System), which later became a telescopes were intriguing, and the scientists as- workhorse for Australian astronomers and was sociated with this type of research are a unique the competitive cousin of KPNO’s Intensified group, being dedicated to their curiosity, and, Image Dissector Scanner (IIDS). Later, I had okay, sometimes a bit odd. fun putting the wrong grating in the IIDS to see if Carol Christian could figure out what wave- I have so many memories they would fill a huge length she was observing. (Ok, that cost me two volume, but I relate a few here. People like Art lunches and a dinner). Peter Pesch, from Case Hoag (Arthur A. Hoag, 1921–1999) stand out Western Reserve, was our resident ornitholo- in my early memories. Art was the director of gist at the time, but he did not recognize my first the stellar division and responsible for 4-m in- sighting of a Kara Kara, although he later actu- struments and the 2.1-m Coudé Feed. He had a ally honored it. I have especially good memories very straightforward, no-nonsense manner that of Steve and Karen Strom, as anyone who knows I worked well with. I also loved to work with them does. They would observe at the 4-m, and Keith Pierce; he just seemed to know so many Karen would keep me supplied with her discard- things about the world we live in as well as have ed, small, tin cigarette boxes to keep some of my a strong drive to do research. Vera Rubin and tools in. Another adventure I never envisioned Kent Ford also took a place in my life when I fabricated the Richey- was flying around Tucson in police helicopters to monitor sites of light Chrétien Spectrograph. I remember many nights working with them pollution during the campaign for dark skies. to develop glass plates of objects taken with our scanning plate holder, and we did not break one! It was so nice to see Frank and Margaret There are so many people who have crossed my path and that I would Edmondson come to visit us in the shop and on the summit. They were like to thank, but there is not enough space to name them all here. I interesting folks, but, honestly, we liked their visits because we knew would, however, especially like to thank my family for their love, friend- we were going to have chocolate pie. I liked working with interesting ship, and support over the past years: Ann Andree, John Paul Andree, personalities: for example, Malcolm Smith and I worked on his Fabry- and Michelle Andree.

Hector Rios Retires after 39 Years Supporting KPNO John Dunlop and Mike Hawes

ector Rios recently retired after providing almost 39 years in support of the Kitt Peak facility. He joined the Kitt Peak Facili- ties staff as a custodian in August 1973, and within five years he Hadvanced to the lead custodian position. He continued to expand his skill set, and by 1993, he was a general craftsperson working in all aspects of Kitt Peak support ranging from plumbing to mechanical operations.

Over the years, Hector was involved in numerous projects on the moun- taintop in support of telescope and mountain operations. He also was Hector Rios leads campers on a trail ride during the June 2011 Horse Camp on Kitt Peak. (Image involved in major projects at the various solar and nighttime telescopes. credit: Alfredo Zazueta, NOAO/AURA/NSF.) continued

48 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff Hector Rios Retires after 39 Years continued

He helped modify the NSO Vacuum Tower telescope for installation Hector is a cattle rancher on the Tohono O’odham Reservation and a of the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) respected member of both his District and the reservation. Over the past and participated in the ventilation project on the Mayall 4-m tele- few years, he has helped to staff the Tohono O’odham Horse Camp for scope and numerous other major mechanical installations. Hector tribal youths that has been held on Kitt Peak. became the primary 50-ton dome crane operator and has helped to move the Mayall main mirror and many of the large, high-value sci- Throughout his long service to the National Observatory, Hector has entific instruments that astronomers have used over the years, in and been a talented individual who has provided support and maintenance out of the domes. In 1999, he was recognized by the Southern Arizona efforts to all the telescopes to help insure their scientific operations. Indian Workforce Development Council with the Outstanding Em- His extensive knowledge of the facility, pleasant attitude, and dedica- ployee Award for the year. tion to Kitt Peak will be missed, and we wish him well in this new phase of his journey. NL

Recent Staff Changes on Kitt Peak Lori Allen

Bill Binkert Jim Hutchinson Skip Andree Malanka Riobakin Brent Hansey Hillary Mathis

bservers may notice some new faces on expertise repairing telescopes and instru- The end of September marks the retirement on the mountain as there have been ments. The mountain and downtown elec- of Skip Andree, who joined the KPNO staff quite a few changes in our scientific tronics staff have been merged and put under in 1967, as an assistant machinist helping to Osupport staff, mostly driven by recent retire- the coordination of Ron George. Observers build instruments in the Kitt Peak shops. Skip ments. The commitment and dedication of may meet some of the downtown electronics retires as telescope operations manager, over- these people have been at the core of Observer folk, as they will be coming up to Kitt Peak to seeing the installation and maintenance of Support, and we express our gratitude for their help out the mountain EM crew (Bill Ball, Bill the KPNO instrument suite. In his 45 years many years of outstanding service. McCollum, and Steve Lane) as needed. at NOAO, Skip has seen pretty much every- thing, and typically can offer two or three so- Long-time observing associate (OA) George Bill Binkert retired in July 2012. He worked lutions to any particular problem. A Tucson Will retired in November 2011, as reported in on Kitt Peak for 32 years, the first five of those native, Skip knows a lot of local history and the March 2012 Newsletter. Our newest ob- with Steward Observatory before joining nearly everyone in town—have lunch with serving assistant, Malanka Riobakin, joined KPNO. Bill has been the “go-to” guy on the Skip anywhere in Tucson, and you will meet the OA staff at the end of May and replaces mountain for just about every aspect of in- at least one person with an interesting story George in the rotation. Malanka holds a Mas- strument support imaginable: installing and about him. Skip is succeeded as telescope op- ter’s Degree in Astronomy from Michigan setting up instruments, evacuating and cool- erations manager by Hillary Mathis, formerly State University and is rumored to know her ing Dewars, changing filters, and getting ob- the WIYN 0.9-m site manager. way around small airplane engines. servers started on their runs. Bill’s large shoes will be filled by Brent Hansey, who recently We wish Hutch, Bill, and Skip the very best in We said goodbye to Jim Hutchinson in April moved from the Mountain Facilities group to their next adventures, and welcome Malanka, 2012. He retired as lead of the mountain Scientific Support. Observers may run into Brent, and Hillary in their new roles. Electronic Maintenance (EM) group. Jim Brent on occasional evenings, as he is keen to (“Hutch”) worked on Kitt Peak for 20 years. hang around the mountain after dark to see He was a source of both leadership and hands- astronomy in action.

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 49 Kenneth Michael Merrill 21 February 1947–31 March 2012 Buell T. Jannuzi

NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO enneth Michael Merrill, a member of the NOAO research staff problems of photoconductors at low backgrounds, the data couldn’t beginning in 1979, passed away earlier this year. He was a lead- be calibrated. Mike helped implement the InSb photovoltaic detector, ing developer of near-infrared and mid-infrared instrumen- pioneered by Don Hall, in this spectrometer,” and discoveries quickly Ktation, a pioneer in using these instruments to produce astrophysical followed. As Tom Soifer recounts, one of these results occurred when results, and a catalyst for the growth of near-infrared observing capa- Mike, Tom, and Ray Russell observed the galaxy NGC 7027 and pub- bilities at NOAO. He helped train generations of astronomers in the lished, in a paper led by Mike, the first detection of the 3.3-micron techniques of infrared imaging and spectroscopy and had a profoundly near-IR emission feature from another galaxy, emission now known to positive impact on the spirit and character of the National Observatory. be produced by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are a ubiquitous He was a generous colleague, mentor, and component of organic matter in space. This valued member of NOAO. He was a loving was just one of many pioneering results in and admired husband, father, and grandfa- which Mike played a major role. ther for his family. In December of 1979, Mike brought his skills Mike grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota, and good humor to the National Observatory, developing a lifetime interest in astronomy joining the staff of Kitt Peak National Obser- at an early age. A 1969 summa cum laude, vatory, which now is part of NOAO. During Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Pi Sigma gradu- the next 33 years, Mike was the consummate ate of the University of Denver with a Bach- supporter of the mission of NOAO, enabling elor of Science degree in Physics, Mike went world-class astrophysical research by astron- to the University of California, San Diego omers awarded their observing time based on (UCSD), for graduate school, earning his the merit of their ideas. Mike was a key mem- doctorate in 1976. ber of the teams that deployed several genera- tions of innovative near-IR instruments used During his time at UCSD and his subsequent by the astronomy community for world-lead- tenure at the University of Minnesota in the ing research. These instruments included: late 1970s, Mike was a leading participant • COB, the Cryogenic Optical Bench; in the birth of astronomical infrared (IR) • DLIRIM (Diffraction Limited Infrared spectroscopy. He helped develop and de- Imager), COB used in a fast-exposure, shift- ploy innovative IR spectrographs at several and-add mode that produced diffraction-lim- observatories. Working with a who’s who ited images with the Mayall 4-m telescope; of early infrared astronomy, including Wayne Stein, Fred Gillett, Bill • SQIID, the Simultaneous Quad Infrared Imaging Device, a multi-de- Forrest, Tom Soifer, Ed Ney, Eric Becklin, Nick Woolf, Bob Gehrz, and tector near-infrared imager used at both the 2.1-m and the Mayall 4-m John Hackwell, Mike was active in the initial near-IR reconnaissance of telescopes, and the first instrument to use cryocoolers that are now in planets, stars, and galaxies. near-universal use; • The Phoenix, a high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph; and Scientists who worked with Mike in those early years of near-IR as- • NEWFIRM, the NOAO Extremely Wide Field Infrared Mosaic imager. tronomy valued his unique combination of knowledge, scientific integ- rity, modesty, willingness to work hard, kindness, friendly personality, In addition to conceiving, developing, and deploying innovative near- and an apparently limitless reservoir of good humor. Both Tom Soifer IR and mid-IR instrumentation, Mike was committed to making them and Bill Forrest credit Mike, along with Fred Gillett, with getting 2- to scientifically productive. He often taught by example that an instru- 5-micron spectroscopy on the map. ment had not been successfully commissioned until it was producing science. After SQIID was brought to the telescope, Mike saw its users Tom Soifer, currently Director of the Spitzer Science Center and Chair having difficulty dealing with the abundance of raw data the instru- of the division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Caltech, first ment was producing. He increased the scientific yield of the commu- met Mike when Mike was still in graduate school and Tom was a new nity using SQIID by producing easy-to-use, well-documented, software postdoctoral fellow at UCSD. Tom says Mike “taught me the ropes of reduction tools derived from his own profound understanding of the this new trade” of near-IR spectroscopy. Mike was the one who could interactions between instrument, telescope, and sky. SQIID became an make the new infrared filter wheel spectrograph at the UCSD-Univer- instrument of great scientific productivity. sity of Minnesota telescope on Mt. Lemmon work. During his NOAO career, Mike also played a major role in near-IR de- As Bill Forrest remembers, “Fred Gillett had built a spectrometer, with tector array development, observatory site characterization, telescope a doped Silicon photoconductor detector. Because of the low back- operations, and observatory management. Working with Al Fowler, Ian ground, this system was very sensitive. However, with the well-known Gatley, Arne Henden, Fred Vrba, Bill Ball, C. McCreight, and others at

continued 50 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff Kenneth Michael Merrill continued

Raytheon, the US Naval Observatory, and NOAO, Mike was deeply in- Mike value most the positive impacts he had on our own lives and our volved in the development and successful deployment of the Advanced organization. Throughout his tenure at NOAO, Mike was renowned Large Area Detector Developments in InSb (ALADDIN) IR arrays for for his integrity, professionalism, empathy, equanimity, and caring for astronomical use. As an observatory manager, he wisely served as the his colleagues and coworkers. His colleagues at NOAO will miss him Supervisor of KPNO Mountain Science Support for the last seven years. greatly, but are grateful that the family Mike loved so very much shared Buell Jannuzi remembers that his first and best decision as director of him with us for so long. KPNO was to appoint Mike to that position. Mike Merrill is survived by his wife of 33 years, Boosik; his children, While his contributions to astronomy and the astronomy community David, Nathaniel, and Christabelle; his grandchildren, James and Dan- were important, those of us who had the opportunity to work with iel; and his sister Cathy. NL

Staff Changes at NOAO North and South (16 February 2012–15 August 2012)

New Hires Blaine, Keith Helper, Kitt Peak NOAO North Brown, Jonathan KPNO REU Summer Student NOAO North Davidson, Amy Human Resources Generalist NOAO North Duprey, Allan Tour Guide, Kitt Peak NOAO North Economou, Efrossini SDM Operations Manager NOAO North Guerrero, Luis Special Projects Assistant, EPO NOAO North Inami, Hanae Postdoc Research Associate NOAO North Johnson, Linsey KPNO REU Summer Student NOAO North Jose, Michael Helper, Kitt Peak NOAO North O’Leary, Erin KPNO REU Summer Student NOAO North Ortega, Calvin KPNO REU Summer Student NOAO North Riabokin, Malanka Observing Assistant, Kitt Peak NOAO North Roddy, William Special Projects Assistant, EPO NOAO North Romero, Paige KPNO REU Summer Student NOAO North Shirtz, Amelia KPNO REU Summer Student NOAO North Smart, Brianna KPNO REU Summer Student NOAO North Tellez, Daniel Special Projects Assistant, EPO NOAO North Villarreal, Luis Craftsperson I NOAO North Whitehouse, Matthew Education Specialist, Kitt Peak NOAO North

Promotions Burriss, Monica To Human Resources Generalist NOAO North Gressler, William To LSST Telescope Project Manager NOAO North Hansey, Brent To Technical Associate I NOAO North Herrera, David To Pipeline Support Analyst NOAO North Krabbendam, Victor To LSST Project Manager NOAO North

continued

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 51 Staff Changes at NOAO North and South continued

Parks, Esteban To CTIO Telescope Operations Manager NOAO South Phillips, James To Crafts Leader NOAO North Williams, D’Andrea To AURA HR Manager NOAO North

New Positions NOAO Operations & Staff Operations NOAO Mayne, Monica Accounting Specialist NOAO North

Retirements/Departures Alvarez del Castillo, Elizabeth Assistant to KPNO Director NOAO North Bennett, Randy Senior Instrument Maker NOAO North Britanik, Lana Software Engineer II NOAO North Burnett, Cynthia Senior Employment Specialist NOAO North Cisternas, Alfonso Designer Draftsman 2 NOAO South Eklund, Dan Project Manager NOAO North Emig, Kimberly Summer Research Assistant NOAO South Gary, Olando CFO Maintenance Lead NOAO North Grijalva, Miguel Custodian, Kitt Peak NOAO North Jannuzi, Buell Astronomer/Tenure NOAO North McBride, Kathy Purchasing Supervisor NOAO North Meyer, Samuel Summer Research Assistant NOAO South Miller, Michelle Senior Scientific Programmer, LSST NOAO North Mondaca, Eduardo Senior Electronic Engineer NOAO South Muller, Gary Senior Engineer NOAO North Obreque, Guillermo Gasfitter Air Condition Technician NOAO South Orellana, David Educational Public Outreach NOAO South Orr, Katie Shipping and Receiving Lead NOAO North Orrego, Juan Instrument Maker 1 NOAO South Petit, Eric Electrical Technician 1 NOAO South Rios, Hector Craftsperson I NOAO North Saavedra, Nelson Senior Operations Specialist NOAO South Schmidt, Enrique Electronic Engineer NOAO South Schuler, Simon Assistant Scientist NOAO North Thibault, Ray Business Programmer II NOAO North Trueblood, Mark Senior Engineer NOAO North Vasquez, Joselino Assistant Observer 2 NOAO South Villarreal, Antonio Public Program Specialist 2 NOAO North Wilson, Karen Chief Compliance Officer NOAO North Wolfe, Thomas Senior Engineer NOAO North

Deaths K. Michael Merrill Associate Scientist NOAO North continued

52 NOAO Newsletter September 2012 NOAO Operations & Staff Staff Changes at NOAO North and South continued

2012 AURA Outstanding Achievement Awards Award for Service Fitzpatrick, Michael NOAO North Award for Science Matheson, Thomas NOAO North Award for Science Smith, R. Christopher NOAO South

2012 NOAO Excellence Awards Service Flores, Kadur NOAO South Service Gronet, Deborah NOAO North Service Maturana, Daniel NOAO South Service Moy, Jessica NOAO North Service Stover, Dee NOAO North Service Williams, Doug NOAO North Service Ugarte, Patricio NOAO South Service Veliz, Ana NOAO South Service Team NOAO South Winter Operations Team: NOAO South Blas Caceres, Oscar Nuñez, Marco Nuñez, Alonso Alvarez, Rolando Puño, Sergio Franco Service Team North-South Shipping/Receiving/ Import/Export Team: Edilia Cerda, Jorge Kruger, Mariette Labra, Carlos Pinochet, NOAO South Cliff Aldrich, Katie Orr, Heather (Orion) Wiest NOAO North NL

NOAO Newsletter September 2012 53 The National Optical Astronomy Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation

NOAO Kitt Peak National Observatory Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 950 North Cherry Avenue 950 North Cherry Avenue Casilla 603 Tucson, AZ 85719 Tucson, AZ 85719 La Serena, Chile USA USA Phone: (011) 56-51-205200 Main Number: 520/318-8000 Research Support Office: 520/318-8135 & 8279 General Information: [email protected] Director’s Office: 520/318-8283 General Information: [email protected] Outreach Office: 520/318-8230 Visitor Center/Public Programs: 520/318-8726 NOAO System Science Center Web Site: www.noao.edu Visitor Center Web Site: 950 N. Cherry Avenue General Information: [email protected] www.noao.edu/outreach/kpoutreach.html Tucson, AZ 85719 USA NOAO Science Archive User Support [email protected] Phone: 520/318-8421 IRAF Software Information: [email protected] Observing Proposal Information: Web Site: www.noao.edu/nssc [email protected] General Information: [email protected]