Joint Astronomy Centre Annual Report 2006/7
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Joint Astronomy Centre Annual Report 2006/7 660 North A`ohoku Place Hilo, Hawai`i 96720 USA Tel: +1 808 961 3756 Fax: +1 808 961 6516 Web: http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/ Introduction by the Director Welcome to the JAC Annual Report for at the UK ATC. Through a combination of increased 2006/07. I am pleased to report that the sensitivity, a larger field of view and full sampling of the year has once again been a busy, pro- focal plane, SCUBA-2 will map the submillimetre sky up ductive and exciting one. to 1,000 times faster than SCUBA. Delivery is scheduled for Autumn 2007. In preparation for this revolutionary The JCMT is, by any objective measure, instrument, the JCMT was closed from mid-February to the world’s most productive submillimetre mid-August 2006 for major structural engineering work. telescope. A review of observatory productivity by Trim- A summary of this very successful project is provided in ble & Zaich (PASP, 118, 933, 2006) ranked the JCMT this report. first in the world amongst its competitors according to all three metrics they used (number of papers, number The JCMT is also preparing for a programme of sub- of citations, and number of citations per paper). This arcsecond astronomy in collaboration with the SMA and rewarding result is based heavily on the success of the the CSO. Tests of the integrated eSMA system have SCUBA instrument, which continues to dominate the progressed throughout 2006/07, and we envisage issu- scientific output of the observatory despite its retirement ing a call to the community for observing proposals with in 2005. this system before the end of 2007. RxW was upgraded during this reporting period for compatibility with the Building on this success, the JCMT is in the midst of eSMA, and will also provide enhanced sensitivity in two a profound transformation to its third-generation suite polarisations for single-dish JCMT users. of instruments. Driven by the scientific requirement for larger sample sizes, the new suite is optimised for Finally, the agreement between the three JCMT funding large-area mapping. I reported last year that the DAS agencies contains a break point in 2009. In order to fully had been replaced by ACSIS, our new multi-channel exploit the investment made in the new scientific capa- backend spectrometer. During this reporting period, bilities, which is on the order of US$40M, the agencies RxB3 was retired after many years of service and was are currently negotiating an extension of operations until replaced by HARP, the world’s first array receiver for the 2012. I expect the outcome to be announced in Autumn 345-GHz atmospheric window. HARP and ACSIS were 2007. both commissioned during 2006/07 and were released for community use in semester 07A. The HARP/ACSIS Turning now to UKIRT, the ambitious seven-year combination brings an unprecedented spectral imaging UKIDSS survey is now up and running at full speed. The capability to the JCMT, and some of the early science second full data release contained over a terabyte of results are compelling; the first megapixel image ever data, and some exciting science results have emerged. recorded in the submillimetre, for example, is presented Some of these are highlighted in this report, including, in this report. in particular, the coolest brown dwarf yet detected. The regime between planets and brown dwarfs is not well- The flagship of the JCMT’s transformation is SCUBA-2, explored, and this was one of the primary goals of the the successor to SCUBA, currently under development UKIDSS Large-Area Survey. ii The strategic review of UKIRT in 2005, chaired by Finally, in recognition of the work load and challenges Professor Richard Ellis of CalTech, recommended that at both telescopes, the JAC senior management was the future role of UKIRT, as an excellent 4-m-class re-organised in early 2007. Dr Antonio Chrysostomou telescope on a superb site, should be to concentrate on was recruited to the new position of Associate Director, “campaign-style” science. Accordingly, the Board issued JCMT, mirroring the position held by Dr Andy Adamson a call for campaign proposals in 2006, and a total of 21 for UKIRT. The organisation is now symmetrical be- proposals was received requesting more than nine years tween the two telescopes, allowing me to split my own of telescope time! This extremely high level of demand time more equitably between them than has been the demonstrates the very high regard in which UKIRT is case in the past. The new arrangements are working held by its user community. In the end, nine of these well and we are now fit for purpose to address the chal- proposals were awarded time, including renewals of the lenges of the future. five UKIDSS surveys. The Board also decided to alter the split of UK telescope time between campaign and PI Professor Gary Davis observing from 48%:52% to 64%:36%. Director UKIRT continues to turn out science results using its entire range of capabilities, as described in this report. The observatory has always been characterised by a high level of user support and by an extremely efficient operation, and this continued through 2006/07: the operational fault rate of only 3% is exceptionally low in absolute terms but is typical of UKIRT. PPARC Council decided, in May 2005, to reduce its fi- nancial commitment to UKIRT operations to roughly 50% of its current level by 2010 at the latest. This perturbation exceeds any internal savings that we could generate at the observatory, and we are therefore searching for new partners to participate in UKIRT’s future programme. UKIRT is unique amongst world-class observatories in being funded exclusively by one agency, so its conver- sion to an international telescope would bring it into line with the norm. I am optimistic that this challenge will be met and that UKIRT will continue to deliver world-leading science for many years to come. JCMT (top) and UKIRT (bottom) on Mauna Kea in Hawai’i. Photos by Inge Heyer. iii Foreword by the UKIRT Board Chair A number of important events have one being 6.7 in magnitude. As we now know, UKIRT, punctuated this year at UKIRT. These unlike some of the other telescopes on the mountain, include big data releases, big observing was relatively unscathed and, thanks to the efforts of programmes, a big earthquake and many the observatory staff, was back on the sky in two days. apparently small changes but with big Indeed, UKIRT could have been observing even sooner consequences. had the weather cooperated. Interestingly, the telescope was back in operation long before power was restored to During this year the first two data releases from UKIDSS some places on Oahu! were made. In terms of number of sources detected, the second UKIDSS data release, DR2, is now the larg- During my time on the UKIRT Board I have continu- est-ever infrared survey. The Board look forward to the ally been impressed with the reliability of UKIRT, as exploitation of these data by the community and the sub- measured, for example, by its very small loss of usable sequent UKIDSS data releases, which will provide even observing time due to technical faults. Furthermore, the more extensive views of the infrared universe. observatory staff are continually striving to improve this efficiency. To mention just two examples from this past In April, following a recommendation of the Ellis review year, the ETS Division have reduced the down time of of UKIRT in 2005, the Board issued a call for propos- the telescope during change-over between wide-field als for large observing campaigns or surveys. This call and Cassegrain modes to just two nights. This translates was intended to serve as the formal review of UKIDSS into saving hundreds of hours over the seven-year dura- after two years of operation, as well as to solicit new tion of UKIDSS. At the same time, work on the WFCAM proposals. For the November deadline, 21 propos- data acquisition system has saved two seconds per rea- als were received, with a range of compelling science dout. This amount may appear to be small, but with the cases. The size of this response and the total request short, five-second exposures often used, it represents for over nine years of observing time were very gratify- saving about a hundred nights of observing time over ing. It clearly demonstrates the community’s regard for the same seven-year time frame. This is an impressive UKIRT as a productive facility with a long term future. achievement, squeezing even more science out of each These proposals were reviewed by a set of international night’s observing. referees and then discussed at a special two-day Board meeting in February. The outcome of this meeting was So once again, I would like to congratulate the Director, that the Board reaffirmed its commitment to UKIDSS, Associate Director, and all the staff at UKIRT and at JAC adjusting the allocations and observing priorities of the on a highly successful and productive year and wish five UKIDSS sub-surveys and allocating time to four new them, and the telescope, well for the coming year. campaigns. Dr Gary Fuller In October, an ordinary night’s observing for me on University of Manchester Mauna Kea ended over breakfast when the Big Is- UKIRT Board Chair land was rocked by two major earthquakes, the first iv Foreword by the JCMT Board Chair On behalf of the JCMT Board, I am very herein, are starting to flow. The legacy programme is pleased to welcome the JAC Annual Re- now underway through the Spectral Line Survey.