NSF Quarter Report Template

NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

QUARTERLY SCIENTIFIC REPORT (2) FY 2014 1 January–31 March 2014

The new Cerro Tololo Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (COSMOS) fully assembled in the coudé lab of the CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope in Chile. Following its shipment from Tucson to La Serena in March 2014, the collimator and camera optics, slit masks, dispersers, and blocking filters were re-installed by a team of staff from NOAO North and South and The Ohio State University. Testing using a pinhole mask determined that the image quality of COSMOS was the same as in the Tucson lab prior to shipment. Image credit: Jonathan (Jay) Elias, NOAO/AURA/NSF.

Submitted to the National Science Foundation Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-0950945, Article 3-A Cooperative Agreement No. AST-0809409

Also published on the NOAO website: http://www.noao.edu

NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation

National Optical Astronomy Observatory Quarterly Scientific Report (2) FY 2014 (1 January 2014 – 31 March 2014)

Submitted to the National Science Foundation

Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-0950945 30 April 2014

Contents

1 NOAO DIVISIONS ...... 1 1.1 NOAO South ...... 1 1.1.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory ...... 1 1.1.2 NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services ...... 4 1.1.3 NOAO South Facilities Operations ...... 5 1.1.4 NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services ...... 6 1.2 NOAO North ...... 7 1.2.1 Kitt Peak National Observatory ...... 7 1.2.2 NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services ...... 10 1.2.3 NOAO North Central Facilities Operations ...... 11 1.2.4 NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services ...... 12 1.3 NOAO System Science Center ...... 13 1.3.1 System User Support ...... 14 1.3.2 Science Data Management ...... 15 1.3.3 System Community Development ...... 18 1.3.4 Time Allocation Committee ...... 22 1.4 NOAO System Technology Center ...... 23 1.4.1 System Instrumentation ...... 23 1.4.2 LSST Technology ...... 24

2 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS ...... 29 2.1 Office of Science ...... 29 2.2 Education and Public Outreach ...... 30 2.3 NOAO Director’s Office ...... 34

3 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A ...... 37 3.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory ...... 37 3.2 Kitt Peak National Observatory ...... 41

i NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014 (2)

3.3 Gemini Observatory ...... 45 3.4 Community Access to Private Telescopes...... 53 3.4.1 Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy ...... 53 3.4.2 Keck Observatory ...... 53 3.4.3 Australian Astronomical Observatory ...... 54

4 USAGE OF ARCHIVED DATA ...... 55

5 GRANTS ...... 56

6 NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q2 ...... 57

1 NOAO DIVISIONS

1.1 NOAO SOUTH The NOAO South (NS) division is responsible for operations, maintenance, and development for all NOAO activities in Chile. For program management purposes, these activities are separated into the following subprograms:  Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory  NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services  NOAO South Central Facilities Operations  NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services

1.1.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory Program Highlights Science The publication of the first paper based on data obtained by community scientists using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-m telescope occurred during this reporting period. Dr. Chadwick Trujillo (Gemini Observatory) and Dr. Scott Sheppard (Department of Terrestrial Mag- netism, Carnegie Institute for Science) reported the discovery of the Solar System object with the most distant orbit known, 2012 VP113, with a perihelion distance of 80 AU (Nature, 507, 471). 2012 VP113 was discovered in a series of three exposures obtained with DECam at intervals of ~2 hours on 5 Nov 2012 during community science verification time (Figure 1). It was subsequently re- covered in images obtained with the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera and Spectrograph on the Ma- gellan Baade 6.5-m telescope at three epochs (March, August, and October 2013) and in pre- discovery archival images obtained with the Canada-France Hawaii-Telescope in October 2011, al- lowing the secure determination of its orbit. 2012 VP113 joins the dwarf planet Sedna, discovered in 2003, as the only known objects orbit- ing entirely beyond the outer edge of the Kuiper belt at ~50 AU. The discovery of Sedna posed the

Figure 1: The discovery images of the new inner Oort cloud object 2012 VP113 taken about 2 hours apart on UT 5 November 2012 with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-m telescope. The motion of 2012 VP113 clearly stands out compared to the motionless background of stars and galaxies. (Image credit: Scott S. Sheppard, Carnegie Institution for Science.)

1 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

question of whether it was one of a kind, or the first member of a new population of outer Solar Sys- tem objects. The discovery of a second member supports the latter interpretation. In their science verification program, Chadwick and Trujillo surveyed 52 square degrees (19 DECam fields) with sufficient sensitivity to detect 95% of trans-Neptunian objects brighter than mr = 24.3. They found 90 trans-Neptunians between 30 AU and 50 AU, but only 2012 VP113 at a greater distance. From these discovery statistics, Chadwick and Trujillo infer that Sedna and 2012 VP113 may indeed be members of an “inner Oort cloud” population that could outnumber all other dynamically stable populations in the Solar System. Further, 2012 VP113 and Sedna have similar arguments of perihelion (the angle between the point of perihelion and where the orbit crosses the celestial plane); surprisingly, the arguments of perihelion of all known trans-Neptunian objects with orbital semi-major axes greater than 150 AU show significant clustering around this same value. Chadwick and Trujillo suggest that this may result because a super-earth-mass object at a distance of 250 AU has “shepherded” all these objects in- to similar orbits. Instrumentation/Management Stephen Heathcote assumed the position of Associate Director for NOAO South on 1 February 2014, taking over from Nicole van der Bliek. She had served as interim director since October 2012 and will continue as the deputy associate director for NOAO South. During the second quarter of FY14, CTIO’s efforts were focused on improvements to the Blan- co 4-m telescope, supporting the closing months of the first observing season of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and the subsequent ramp up in the use of DECam by the open-access community. With the commissioning of the ƒ/8 secondary mirror completed in the first quarter of FY14, attention turned to refurbishment of the infrastructure needed to support ƒ/8 instruments, in particular the new Cerro Tololo Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (COSMOS). That instrument was delivered to Chile at the beginning of March, was reassembled, and tested ready for its first installation on the telescope in April and subsequent commissioning. Four full nights and 21 first-half nights in January and early February were devoted to DES, during which time 100% of the images obtained were declared “survey quality,” bringing the first season of survey observations to a successful close. The balance of the science time in the reporting period was used by community scientists to obtain data with DECam for 30 distinct programs, span- ning a diverse range of science topics from Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) to the far universe. During a six-night engineering run in March, a new very broad band “VR” filter was installed and commissioned in DECam; this will be especially valuable for programs such as NEO searches that need to obtain the deepest possible images in a short exposure. This engineering period also was used to repair a problem with the DECam shutter, carry out preventative maintenance on the filter mechanism, and swap out the disks in the data storage system to address reliability problems. La Serena School for Data Science Planning began during this quarter for the second La Serena School for Data Science, funded through a supplement to this award (AST-0950945). The school will be held from 15–22 August 2014 on the AURA campus in La Serena, with the goal of training the next generation of scientists from Chile, the US, and other countries in the use of tools and techniques of Big Data in astronomy. The school is targeted for senior undergraduate students (third through sixth year) and beginning (first and second year) graduate students in programs related to astronomy and “big data,” including (but not limited to) astronomy, computer science, statistics, and mathematics. Participation is limited to ~40 participants to allow a highly interactive hands-on learning experience. An announcement

2 NOAO DIVISIONS

email and poster was widely distributed to universities and other educational establishments in the US and Chile, with a deadline for applications of 15 April 2014. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Complete the commissioning of the ƒ/8 secondary mirror of the Blanco 4-m telescope using the Infrared Side Port Imager (ISPI) and Hydra ƒ/8 instruments. Status: No telescope time with the f/8 secondary was scheduled this quarter. However, substantial progress was made in the refurbishment of the infrastructure for the f/8 instruments. The first phase of the upgrade of the control electronics and software for the f/8 ADC and comparison lamps was completed in preparation for the COSMOS commissioning. Both the mechanical and electronic design work for the upgrade of the instrument rotator mechanism were completed, and the required components were ordered.

 Support the first season of observations for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Status: Completed. The first season of DES observations started on 31 August 2013 and ended on 09 February 2014. The equivalent of 105 nights (91 full nights plus 28 half nights) on the Blanco Telescope were dedicated to the survey, during which 13,957 survey-quality images were obtained. Of this time, 84.6% was used for DES observations, with 10.2% lost due to weather and the remaining 5.2% being unscheduled technical down time that was shared approximately equally between DECam and the telescope. As a result, completeness with survey- quality data was obtained for 44% of the fields targeted for the first two years of the survey (82% of the goal for season, plus 17% of that for season two).

 Commission the CTIO Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (COSMOS) on the Blanco 4-m telescope. Status: COSMOS was delivered to Chile in March 2014 and was unpacked and reassembled. Post-shipment laboratory tests reproduced the image quality and other instrument performance metrics measured in Tucson prior to shipping. COSMOS will be installed on the Blanco telescope for the first time in April with commissioning planned to occur during three engineering runs during the third and fourth quarters of FY14.

 Complete science verification of the SOAR Adaptive-optics Module (SAM) on the SOAR Tele- scope, and start regular science operations with SAM. Status: Completed. During successful science runs in January and March 2014, data was obtained for the remaining science verification projects and for two science programs, one each from the NOAO and Brazilian communities selected through the regular 2014A TAC process. All the partners of the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) consortium are offering SAM for unrestricted use in the 2014B proposal cycle.

 Commission the SOAR Telescope Echelle Spectrograph (STELES) and SOAR Integral Field Spectrograph (SIFS) on the SOAR Telescope, if they are delivered by the SOAR partners during FY14. Status: No progress during this quarter. Progress is pending delivery of STELES by the SOAR partners and the completion of the repair by the manufacturer of the SIFS spectrograph camera.

3 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

1.1.2 NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services Program Highlights During this reporting period, the NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services (NS ETS) group focused primarily on work to prepare the instrument support infrastructure at the ƒ/8 focus of the Blanco telescope for the arrival of COSMOS. The first phase of the upgrade of the electronics and software, which control the ADC and comparison lamps, was completed; this restores the essential functionality needed for commissioning COSMOS. The second phase, which addresses issues of ob- solescence and long-term maintenance, will be carried out during the remainder of FY14. The mechanical and electrical designs for improvements to the drive mechanism for the instrument rotator were completed and will be executed during the third and fourth quarters. NS ETS staff also worked on systems designed to improve the delivered image quality through better control and monitoring of the telescope environment, including refurbishment of the system that cools the hydrostatic bearing oil, and installation of air handling units to cool the dome air. A member of the NS ETS staff diagnosed and repaired a failure of the control electronics for the CCD camera of the Goodman Spectrograph on SOAR. This in-house repair avoided the need to ship the camera back to the manufacturer in the US, which would have implied a prolonged loss of this capability. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Upgrade the control of the Active Optics of the Blanco primary mirror, upgrade the Blanco En- vironmental Control Systems (ECS), and implement methods to analyze the telescope performance telemetry to improve and stabilize the image quality of the Blanco 4-m telescope. Status: Following successful testing of the first replacement high-precision pressure controller, components have been ordered for the remaining 32 controllers, plus spare parts. Time during the monthly DECam engineering runs has been used to collect “donut” wavefront quality measurements (primarily tracking astigmatism), which have been used to refine the look up tables used to drive the M1 figure corrections. The Air handling units to control the temperature inside the dome have been installed and their connection to power and chilled glycol supplies is near- ing completion. Testing and optimization of system parameters will begin in the third quarter of FY14. The system that cools the oil flowing through the hydrostatic bearing of the telescope, which is a significant source of heat injection in the telescope’s environment, was also brought on line this quarter. Accelerometers were installed on DECam to monitor mechanical vibra- tions, and a 3-D Doppler anemometer purchased by Fermilab was also installed to monitor air- flow near the top end of the telescope.

 Begin upgrading the SOAR Telescope Control System (TCS) to the same standard as the recent- ly upgraded TCS of the Blanco 4-m telescope. This project will continue into FY15. Status: The upgrade of the software associated with the Active Optics system was completed. Work on the main telescope control application, operators interface, and pointing kernel will proceed in the third quarter of FY14.

4 NOAO DIVISIONS

1.1.3 NOAO South Facilities Operations Program Highlights NOAO South Facilities and Operations (NS FO) progressed with work on facility infrastructure projects, supported new tenant projects, and made progress on administrative issues during the second quarter of FY14. The site work and line installation for the relocation of the transformer and generator for the Pachón hotel/Andes LIDAR Observatory area was completed; it required upgrading the power capacity serving those facilities. The new Brazilian telescope project, T-80 South, went into construction, and the Korean (KASI) team and their contractor began installation of their telescope. Administratively, additional sections of the Service Level Agreement were drafted and management transition plans for NS FO were developed, in preparation for the forthcoming departure of the current Facilities Manager. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Complete and implement new Service Level Agreements between NOAO and tenants. Status: The Service Level Agreement document (SLA) is now substantially complete. All technical service sections have been drafted and are in review, except that for the Emergency Medi- cal Service that is pending further definition of changes in the way that service will be provided. The initial general sections of the SLA have been thoroughly reviewed by the stakeholders, edit- ed and translated into Spanish.

 Review and revise, as required, the fee structure for services to tenant programs hosted at NOAO South. Status: The revised fee structure for 2014, based on a sustainable cost mode, is now in use. Pending is the revision of the basis for the mountain share fees. The current share model was appropriate when there were only a few major users (Gemini, SOAR, Blanco, and SMARTS) but it is no longer applicable since many small tenants have come to Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón. Moreover, with the start of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) construction in FY15, a revision of the share fee model is timely.

 Define a long-term solution for the upper (north) entry to the La Serena recinto. Currently, there are two options for the north entry, neither being a long-term solution. The first option, which has been available for many years, uses an entrance from the Universidad de La Serena that the university is planning to close. The other option is an entry located at a curve in the main road. Take steps to formalize the long-term plan with the neighboring university and the Municipality. Status: NS FO maintains regular contact with the University to be aware of their plans as they relate to the AURA recinto entrances and continues to communicate to AURA the need for attention to this issue at the organizational/legal level.

 Complete the project to upgrade the power feed to the Hotel/Andes LIDAR Observatory area on Cerro Pachón. Status: This project continued to advance during the second quarter of FY14, completing the site work and the foundations for the new generator and transformer locations as well as the trenching and cabling to the served facilities.

 Support the completion of the design and the construction bidding for the LSST Project on Cerro Pachón.

5 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

Status: The construction bidding period continued throughout the second quarter of FY14, with bids due on 7 April 2014.

 Complete the reroofing project for NOAO offices in the La Serena recinto and other headquar- ters building renovations. Status: Necessary roofing and other building renovation projects are planned, pending funding.

 Support the installation of new facilities for the MEarth and T-80 projects on Cerro Tololo. Status: The MEarth project was completed and began operation in February. The T-80 South facility project initiated construction in January, with an anticipated completion in June 2014.

1.1.4 NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services Program Highlights NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services (NS CIS) worked on improving network connections during this reporting period. The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), a new tenant, was provided with Internet connectivity. Their expectations are 100 Mbps bandwidth for data transfers. Entel finalized installation of the backup links that were provided to AURA for the backbone, but there remain details of addressing to be resolved that should be complete in the next quarter. Since the installation of the 10 G ring by AMlight for the international connection to the US, the service and quality of the connection have improved immensely. Preparation for the proposed fiber installation from the summits to La Serena has intensified now that FY15 funding appears to be a reality. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Install a 10-Gbs Ethernet segment in La Serena for virtual machines backbone. Status: The 10-G switch was ordered during this reporting period.

 Complete the upgrade of the current 622 Mbps network backbone to the planned 1-Gbps international segment of the AURA network backbone. Status: This is a long-range project dependent on funds from LSST in 2015 for the installation of fiber from the summits to La Serena. However, there is an interim plan to install further radio equipment that will enhance the current 2 × 350 Mb to an extra 150–300 Mbs. Equipment has been selected and AURA is negotiating with a Chilean company for the installation to provide a turnkey system.

 Move essential information technology (IT) services in La Serena to virtual server machines for improved reliability. Status: Ongoing. New equipment was purchased to provide more reliability and services.

 Upgrade the Cerro Tololo Private Internet eXchange (PIX) to an Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) firewall. Status: Ongoing. This is expected to occur in the coming quarter.

 Continue working to isolate Cerro Tololo tenants from NOAO Internet traffic. Status: Equipment was purchased for this purpose and a design was established.

6 NOAO DIVISIONS

1.2 NOAO NORTH The NOAO North (NN) division is responsible for the administration, facilities, and information technology (IT) support for NOAO activities based in southern Arizona. For program management purposes, these activities are separated into the following subprograms:  Kitt Peak National Observatory  NOAO North Engineering & Technical Ser- vices  NOAO North Central Facilities Operations  NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Ser- vices

1.2.1 Kitt Peak National Observatory Program Highlights Science  At least two different teams of observers at Kitt Peak have been monitoring SN2014J, the recent type Ia supernova (SN) in the relatively nearby galaxy known as M82. At the 4-m Mayall telescope, visiting astronomers Dr. Ginger Bryngelson (Francis Marion University) and Dina Drozdov (Clemson University) observed SN2014J in the near-infrared using the FLA- MINGOS imager, one of the few teams to observe the SN in the infrared. The very early observation (they were observing other supernovae at the Mayall when SN2014J was discovered) will help establish a baseline for the supernova’s evolution. At the WIYN Obser- vatory 3.5-m telescope on Kitt Peak, WIYN and NOAO staff have been monitoring SN2014J on a nearly nightly basis since its discovery in January. Figure 2 shows SN2014J as it was observed on January 28, a few days before reaching maximum brightness. Dr. Daniel Harbeck and Dr. Wilson Liu (WIYN) and Dr. Jayadev Rajagopal (NOAO) have led the WIYN monitoring campaign, which uses WIYN’s newest camera, the One Figure 2: Image of SN2014J taken through a red Degree Imager. light filter at the WIYN 3.5-m telescope on Kitt Peak.

7 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

 Science verification during the commissioning of the new, optical Kitt Peak Ohio State Multi-Object Spec- trograph (KOSMOS) on the Mayall 4-m telescope included the observation of newly discovered T-Tauri stars in the greater Orion region. The spectra were acquired in multiple-object slit (MOS) mode, demonstrating the readiness of the instrument to operate in this efficient mode. These T-Tauri stars are among the youngest objects found in the low density environment of the Orion OB Association, far from the gas-rich stellar embryo of the Ori- on Nebula Cluster. This region is under study by SOAR staff Scientist Dr. César Briceño, who provided the targets for KOSMOS spectroscopy. Fig- ure 3 shows five spectra obtained Figure 3: Spectra of T-Tauri stars acquired in MOS mode simultaneously, representing stars of with KOSMOS, during recent commissioning and science various spectral types, all of which verification. exhibit characteristic signatures of youth. Management NOAO astronomers and Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) management and technical personnel continued to contribute considerable effort to planning for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic In- strument (DESI) project. These scientists continue to meet weekly to discuss the DESI project and, specifically, to plan for the work ahead in preparing for DESI installation at the Mayall telescope. Significant effort this quarter went into planning for working visits by DESI scientists and engineers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and DESI partner institutions to KPNO. Vis- its of the LBNL DESI safety officer and 16 others are scheduled in April 2014. The mountain Facilities staff continued to improve the Kitt Peak infrastructure, specifically as follows:  Staff provided support to the McMath-Pierce Decommissioning review being done by an out- side firm for NSO.  The new Internet Protocol (IP)-based phone system and associated phones were put in place on Kitt Peak in conjunction with the Tucson system installation.  Mountain emergency services and staff met with their base hospital coordinator to improve coordination and training issues.  Staff, Tribal Public Safety management, and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) personnel held a meeting to review radio issues for installations on Kitt Peak and to support to tribal needs.  Staff participated in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sanitary Inspection and review of the Kitt Peak water plant system and operating procedures.

8 NOAO DIVISIONS

 Staff worked with Kitt Peak Engineering to prepare for the start of the mirror lift project in the upcoming quarter. Kitt Peak Visitor Center Kitt Peak Visitor Center & Tours The table to the right summarizes the number of visitors Summary of Participants who participated in paid groups/programs at Kitt Peak dur- (3 months ending 3/31/14) ing this quarter. Compared to the same period last year, Group/Program # of Participants there was no appreciable change in the total number of participants. The biggest changes occurred in the “other clas- General public tours 3,402 ses and workshops” with an increase of 187%, and the 31 “special tours” with a decrease of 69% over the same peri- School groups K-college od last year. The “general public tours” saw an increase of Special tours 20 14% and the “VIP tours” was essentially the same. All other programs had a significant decrease in participation over VIP tours 75 that of the second quarter of FY13. Nightly Obs. Program 2071

Status of FY14 Milestones Advanced Obs. Program 25

 Install and commission the new Kitt Peak Ohio State Other classes & workshops 66 Multi-Object Spectrograph (KOSMOS) on the Mayall Youth group overnights 18 4-m telescope. Status: Completed. KOSMOS was successfully com- TOTAL 5,708 missioned in October and December 2013, and is currently offered to observers as a facility instrument.

 Initiate work on a prioritized list of Delivered Image Quality (DIQ) improvements for the Mayall 4-m telescope, developed based on tests completed in FY13. As many of these improvements as time and resources permit will be completed during FY14. Status: Testing of environmental and mechanical systems in the Mayall dome continued.

 Efforts to investigate and improve the pointing and tracking performance of the Mayall 4-m will continue. Status: Further improvements in the pointing and tracking performance of the Mayall await modernization of the Telescope Control System, to be completed in FY15.

 End community access to the KPNO 2.1-m telescope after semester 2014A, and then place it in a safe state of hibernation. Status: In progress. Preparations for placing the 2.1-m telescope in hibernation include an inventory of the principal operating equipment (computers, instrumentation, and associated electronics) and a complete description of these components. KPNO observing associates are com- piling this information.

 Work with NSF to develop and release a solicitation for proposals to operate the KPNO 2.1-m telescope. If time and opportunity permit, choose a new operator and complete the transfer by the end of FY14. Status: The solicitation will be released on 10 April 2014. It will be posted to the NOAO and KPNO homepages and distributed to the astronomical community via the mailing list of the NOAO electronic newsletter, Currents.

9 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

 Continue targeted building modification and/or renovation efforts on KPNO telescope and support facilities to address building deficiencies, telescope and instrumentation support system needs, and program requirements. Status: The new Instrument Handling Facility (IHF) is operational. The cryogenic plumbing was installed, compressors went online, and the interior clean room was constructed. The first facility instrument to be received for maintenance will be the NEWFIRM wide-field infrared imager, which will be serviced in the IHF in April 2014.

1.2.2 NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services Program Highlights The NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services (NN ETS) efforts during this quarter were focused primarily on preparation for several major activities scheduled to begin at the start of the third quarter and continue through the end of the fiscal year into early FY15. The first of these is the upgrade of the Mayall mirror lift capacity, which must be completed before the Mayall primary mirror is aluminized (June/July 2014). The mirror aluminization itself requires a significant commitment from ETS staff, although it is reported elsewhere. At the same time, planning and procurement is proceeding for the servo system upgrade, for which most installation work should be carried out following the mirror aluminization; complete implementation and testing of the system will extend into FY15. Support for the DESI project continued. Staff efforts included further work on interface definition and development of the plans for on-site operations. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Complete transfer of electronic drawings into the new documentation system. Status: This work is well underway but not yet complete.

 Initiate conversion of hard-copy drawings into electronic form and begin adding them into the new documentation system. Status: This work is well underway; a temporary hire was made, as planned, to accelerate the work. Part of the task comprises review of the older documents and decisions whether to retain those that refer only to obsolete instruments or telescope systems.

 Complete installation of the Mayall mirror lift upgrade. Status: Following the preparatory work carried out last quarter all major components were received and accepted during this reporting period. Detailed planning for the installation work to occur in the next quarter was completed and reviewed. The final phase of installation will begin at the start of the third quarter of FY14.

 Complete design work on the Mayall shutter brake replacement. Status: NN ETS continued to explore design alternatives; it is possible that a preferred solution is to increase the overall capacity of the shutter drive mechanism, thereby substantially reduc- ing the risk of failure.

 Develop, review, and initiate a shutter-brake implementation plan. Status: Until a design solution is adopted, this task is on hold.

10 NOAO DIVISIONS

 Complete detailed planning for the Mayall servo-system upgrade. Status: Top-level planning for the system is complete, with detailed planning proceeding for those subsystems that are to be implemented before or during the Kitt Peak summer down time.

 Perform all major procurements for the servo-system upgrade, and initiate implementation. Status: All major components have been purchased, but long-lead-time items have not been received.

 Provide support for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Critical Decision 1 (CD- 1) review. Status: Interactions with the DESI project continued. The CD-1 review, originally scheduled for January 2014, was postponed again as re-planning of the DESI project continues.

 Prepare NOAO work plan for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Critical Deci- sion 2 (CD-2) preparation effort. Status: This work cannot begin in earnest until after the CD-1 review, which is still pending.

 Provide support for commissioning and acceptance of the repaired Blanco ƒ/8 secondary mirror. Status: Completed.

1.2.3 NOAO North Central Facilities Operations Program Highlights The primary focus for NOAO North Central Facilities Operations (NN CFO) during the quarter was to support the deployment of the new Internet Protocol-based phone system equipment and begin operations. This work involved placement of new phones, staff training on the system, and transfer of the various telecommunications supplier connections. Similar support efforts for the system installation on Kitt Peak were involved, as was the disconnection of the old PBX equipment and removal of phones from both sites. Efforts will be ongoing through the remainder of the year to properly dispose of the old equipment. Other departmental efforts focused on changes to work space. This included completing the renovation of a closed staff shop and relocating the staff into the space. Documentation was developed and bidding efforts completed to obtain architectural and engineering services for a planned major space renovation effort to accommodate the LSST project staff by the end of the calendar year. On Kitt Peak, NN CFO staff supported the NSO McMath Divestiture review and a Sanitary In- spection by the Environmental Protection Agency of the mountain’s water plant and operating procedures. Meetings were facilitated regarding the Tribal public safety and Bureau of Indian Affairs radio installations and the coordination with the base hospital coordinator for mountain emergency and medical services and support issues. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Continue targeted building modification and renovation efforts at NOAO North to address program needs. Status: Staff completed efforts in renovating a closed staff shop into a small office/lab space for electronics technical staff. Preliminary planning was also done to prepare conceptual infor-

11 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

mation and develop a scope of work to obtain an architectural engineering consultant to develop renovation plans for planned modifications to the Engineering Wing drafting area to accommodate new uses.

 Continue to upgrade selected restrooms by replacing fixtures to improve water conservation efforts and to improve the deteriorated interior finishes and accessibility. Status: Renovation activity during this quarter focused on replacement of approximately 10 lavatories and associated fixtures in five restrooms. Renovation efforts to the various restrooms will continue on a time available basis.

 Continue the window upgrade program to replace original exterior single-pane windows with double-pane windows to improve energy efficiency and reduce solar heat gain. Status: No activity during this quarter.

 Upgrade and/or replace deteriorated or obsolete portions of the mechanical air distribution system and associated heating/chilled water system valves. Status: No activity during this quarter.

 Complete installation and initiate operation of a new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-based PBX system procured in FY13. Status: Completed. NN CFO staff worked with the contracted vendor to distribute new phones, provide staff training sessions, and finalize system programming in preparation for the system operation. In late February, the new system was activated at both Tucson and Kitt Peak, and all users were cut over to the new system. Following a successful installation, NN CFO staff shut down the 1985-vintage PBX system and began collecting the phones. Minor issues continue to be addressed as they come up, and staff is planning to finalize efforts for proper disposal of the old PBX system and its phones through the end of the fiscal year.

1.2.4 NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services Program Highlights NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services (NN CIS) committed a great deal of effort during the second quarter of FY14 toward the network aspects of the new, facility-wide, Voice over Inter- net Protocol (VoIP) telephone system. The installation of this new telephone system was completed during this reporting period. Several servers (Scope, ADASS, and dhcp-KP) were upgraded from obsolete versions of their operating systems to fully supported versions. New disk drives were installed on these same servers to increase their longevity. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Continue to implement Windows Active Directory Domain in Tucson and the AURA policies on passwords and account lockout by bringing approximately 100 Apple Mac workstations and laptops and approximately 225 Linux workstations, laptops, and servers into the Active Directo- ry Domain. Status: Windows systems throughout the Tucson Facility continued to be admitted to the Win- dows Active Directory Domain. Currently, 80 computers have been added to the Active Directo-

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ry. The Centrify Suite software package was selected for “managing” Apple computers and in- corporating them into the Windows Active Directory Domain. An initial increment of licenses was ordered and the Centrify software is being rolled out slowly to a few systems as procedures are refined. Suitable software and procedures for Linux systems are still being studied.

 Implement a secondary (or back-up) Active Directory Domain controller. Status: Completed in the first quarter of FY14.

 Collaborate with NOAO North Central Facilities Operations to implement the network portion of the new, facility-wide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system. Status: Completed.

 Continue to implement Security Domains in Tucson and on Kitt Peak. In Tucson, implement a DMZ for several Internet-facing machines and finish a comprehensive Security Domain for servers, switches, and controllers managed by NN CIS. On Kitt Peak, fully isolate tenant networks from the NOAO networks. Status: Planning began on these projects during this reporting period.

1.3 NOAO SYSTEM SCIENCE CENTER The existing and planned facilities of the US Ground- Based Optical/Infrared System (“the System”) consti- tute an extended and powerful system of observational capabilities. A key mission for NOAO is to deliver community access within this System to a broad range of world-class instruments on telescopes of all aper- tures. The NOAO System Science Center (NSSC) forms NOAO’s interface to the System with the primary aims of strengthening the contributions of NOAO’s directly managed facilities to the System, providing user support for System facilities not directly managed by NOAO, and anticipating and advocating for the future development of the System. The NSSC mission thus incorporates a wide range of responsibilities, many of which focus on present-day facilities, while others deal with the evolution toward a future system, such as organizing community input for the LSST and TMT projects. NSSC consists of four major programs: System User Support (SUS), Science Data Management (SDM), System Community Development (SCD), and the Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC). SUS provides help to users of the currently available open-access time to facilities that are not managed by NOAO, which covers the entire process of proposal preparation, submission, observing, and post-observing data questions. SDM support revolves around the archiving of all raw data from NOAO facilities and pipeline processing for selected imaging instruments, as well as the data needs and support for future projects that involve NOAO. SCD maintains a broad view of the current state of the System and how community desires and needs are best mapped into the future evolution of this System; in FY14 SCD is focusing on preparing the broad community to effectively use LSST. The TAC program handles the Phase I process of observing proposals submitted to NOAO, which includes the maintenance of web pages and a Call for Proposals document covering all the necessary information on facilities available under NOAO-managed time.

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1.3.1 System User Support Program Highlights Science A large sample of HII regions in the spiral galaxy M81 has been analyzed to derive the radial oxygen gradients of the present-day gas phase. The spectra, acquired in classical mode with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini North on Mauna Kea, have been analyzed via the weak-line method to obtain direct oxygen abundances (Stanghellini et al. arViv:1403.5547; accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics). They derive a radial metallicity gradient slope that is steeper (~–0.08 dex kpc–1) than those of other nearby spiral galaxies. By comparing this result to the shallow (–0.0408 dex kpc–1) gradient derived from old stellar populations of M81, the Authors infer that there has been gradient evolution in M81, which dates back to about half the Universe age, and that produces a mild steepening of the gradient with time. Such results are essential to constrain the models of chemical evolution of spiral galaxies. Management and User Support During this reporting period, the System User Support (SUS) group prepared for the new scheme of Gemini support, where the US National Gemini Office (NGO) is no longer responsible for the Phase II Gemini programs. The future role of the SUS to support the US Gemini Community has been planned and discussed, and SUS is now ready to implement several tools for data analysis and instrumentation guidelines. In February 2014, the SUS head of program participated in the Gemini Operations Working Group meeting where many aspects of this change were discussed. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Continue effective support of US Gemini access and programs, such as Phase I and Phase II observing processes, the HelpDesk, and site visits, with the view toward productive user access to the increased number of US nights on the Gemini telescopes that resulted from the UK with- drawal as well as any new observational capabilities that come online. Status: SUS continued its activity of supporting Gemini programs, including the new capabilities such as the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI), FLAMINGOS-2, and the Gemi- ni Planet Imager (GPI). In the recent months, SUS completed the support of observing semester 2013B Phase II programs and responded to several HelpDesk queries.

 As needed, provide user support for open-access, NOAO-allocated time on the Keck telescopes, Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) array, and Australian Astronomical Telescope (AAT). Status: SUS provided support for non-NOAO open-access capabilities offered in semesters 2014A and 2014B.

 Represent the US National Gemini Office (NGO) in the Gemini Operation Working Group, and participate in the joint Gemini/NGO meetings to discuss all operation issues. Status: The SUS head of program participated at the Gemini Operations Working Group meeting held in Hilo in February 2014 and at the bi-weekly meetings of the NGOs with Gemini key personnel to discuss the current operation issues.

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 Represent the US National Gemini Office (NGO) in the International Telescope Allocation Committee. Status: Preparation for the International Telescope Allocation Committee (ITAC) will start soon after the regular NOAO TAC meetings. At this time, SUS is interacting with Gemini and the ITAC representatives to set the stage for the next ITAC meeting to be held in May 2014.

 Foster close ties and lines of communication with the Gemini directorate and staff, with the goal of promoting the effective use of the Gemini telescopes by the US user community. Status: The interaction between Gemini and the NGO/SUS is active and takes place at various levels. A new type of communication will start in semester 2014B, when SUS personnel will oversee Phase II programs.

 As appropriate and requested by Gemini, implement the trading of effort between Gemini and the US National Gemini Office (NGO). If Gemini will be solely responsible for the Phase II support and for most of the HelpDesk tickets, the SUS will endeavor to support the data reduction effort for a variety of Gemini instruments and modes. Status: SUS is gearing up for the change of responsibilities driven by the Gemini Directorate and the Board of Directors. At this time, SUS is writing the detailed agreement and working to implement new support items such as instrument cookbooks, visitor instrument proposals, and instrument handbooks.

 Provide support (such as technical reviews and panel orientation materials) to the Time Alloca- tion Committee for the Gemini and other selected facilities offered through the NOAO Call for Proposals. Status: SUS staff supported the semester 2014B Call for Proposals. Staff is preparing to support the 2014B principal investigators with technical proposal assessment for all 2014B Gemini instruments including GPI, and for HelpDesk queries.

 Work with the community, relevant committees, and NOAO staff in supporting the processes necessary to plan and procure new instruments or capabilities for NOAO and Gemini telescopes. Status: The member of the SUS staff who is the Gemini Science and Technology Advisory Com- mittee representative will terminate his duties at the end of May.

1.3.2 Science Data Management Program Highlights The NOAO Science Archive and its user interface (Portal) continue to work well, and users are pleased with the new local security system deployed during the last quarter. The Science Data Man- agement (SDM) Operations team now rarely receives requests from users for help in accessing and downloading their archived data. The new download manager, the next major improvement for the archive system, was completed and is in user testing. The DECam community pipeline is in routine operation, and positive feedback on the pipeline results has been received from community observers. An extensive manual describing the pipeline and its processing at several levels was written in support of the DECam chapter of the NOAO Data Handbook. The Mosaic and NEWFIRM pipelines continue to operate routinely. The pODI pipeline continues to be enhanced, adding support for sky background subtraction and further work on the

15 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

pupil ghost removal. A report was written to describe the effort required to modify the pODI pipeline to support the upgraded 5 × 5 instrument. The SDM group supported the commissioning of the COSMOS spectrograph at CTIO by providing the data handling system (DHS) for its first engineering run, which is scheduled for early April. Support was provided for the first shared-risk observations of the KOSMOS spectrograph, the twin precursor of COSMOS, on Kitt Peak, as well. SDM continued to work with the NOAO scientific staff to refine the concept of the NOAO Data Lab. SDM staff developed prototypes of a collaborative work space environment for science teams using SciDrive, developed by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and preliminary tools for data publication. Using the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO) DALServer toolkit, they created a demonstration data service for the OGLE (Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment) catalog on a test virtual machine. Similar tests were performed on other catalogs and image data sets. An all-hands meeting for the SDM staff was held in early March. The primary agenda items were the review of current and future SDM projects and their priorities. Long term planning of system projects identified as essential to the NOAO mission that must be completed before FY16 was done, and a preliminary schedule for their development was created. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Continue operation of the NOAO data management system including data capture, transport, archiving, and user access to all NOAO-observed data. Routinely pipeline process and archive all Mosaic, NEWFIRM, and DECam data products. Status: Operation of the NOAO data management system continued without major issues. Sig- nificant upgrades to extend and improve the mass storage system to support DECam processing were completed. The DECam community pipeline computer cluster was expanded with additional hardware. The SDM data engineer supported both the KOSMOS and COSMOS Data Handling Systems including support for engineering runs and shared-risk observing for KOSMOS.

 Automate, as much as possible, components of the data management system, e.g., data capture, data archive, user administration, system monitoring, and system alerts and the deployment of system upgrades and new releases of system components. Status: The LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) authentication system has been brought under the SDM automated deployment infrastructure. All new hardware added in this reporting period was deployed in this manner.

 Update third party infrastructure software to current versions for a more robust system. Status: Tests were performed to determine the best approach for updating third party infrastructure software. It was concluded that Mule, Java, JBOSS, and Spring must all be updated simultaneously. A plan for the upgrade will be prepared in the next quarter, and the work will begin immediately afterward.

 Continue to migrate the Survey Archive datasets to the NOAO Science Archive (remediating survey data headers as needed) and implement the portal interface changes needed for search and retrieval of Survey data sets. Status: No progress on this milestone was made during this period.

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 Implement and deploy other Archive and Portal upgrades including a new download client and image previews. Status: During this reporting period, the new download client was tested by both the SDM test engineer and users in the internal staff. Deployment is targeted for the next quarter. No progress was made on image previews during this period.

 Implement a new file-naming convention for all data ingested into the NOAO Science Archive to provide SDM staff and Archive users with an easier means to associate raw data with their associated reduced files. Status: The new file-naming convention was deployed for pipeline-reduced data. All NOAO archived files (both raw and reduced) now follow the same naming convention.

 Develop further the pODI pipeline to include photometric stacking of exposure sequences with sky background matching, cosmic-ray detection and rejection, and replacing the USNO-B refer- ence catalog with the SDSS catalog or Pan-STARRS catalog for improved photometric accura- cy. Status: During this reporting period, the pODI software developer wrote a tool to allow the pipeline operator to easily review the pipeline’s log files, implemented a sky background subtraction routine, and wrote pipeline documentation. He also assisted the developers at Perva- sive Technology Institute (Indiana University) in debugging the problems encountered when running the pODI science pipeline on the new Data Capacitor system (DC2).

 Upgrade the pODI pipeline to support the 6×6 ODI. Status: The pODI pipeline developer wrote an estimate of the remaining pipeline development required for the pODI pipeline including expanding its support to a 5 × 5 array.

 Continue testing and development of the DECam community pipeline. Status: There continued to be minor development of the DECam community pipeline during this quarter while processing all NOAO DECam community programs. Positive feedback was received from several observers. The SDM pipeline scientist contributed to the DECam chapter of the NOAO Data Handbook by writing four levels of pipeline documentation, which included a summary description and three levels of detail, from least to most.

 Continue the support of IRAF and its users. Develop system-wide support for tabular spectral formats, cataloging tools, scripting language improvements, and new science applications. Status: A new SPTABLE external package is in development by the SDM pipeline scientist to support tabular spectral formats in the ONEDSPEC and APEXTRACT tasks. This package merges earlier work in the area with recent IRAF versions and will provide a basis for new tools to be developed when the package is complete. User support continued to be provided through the iraf.net website. Work on scripting language improvements is pending.

 Provide support for the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO) during its final year: support the definition of International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) standards; serve as deputy chair of the IVOA Time Domain Interest Group; add further functionality to the VOClient package; continue building test plans and providing testing support for all VAO tools and services; and provide primary support for the VAO Help Desk.

17 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

Status: The VOClient package of command-line virtual observatory (VO) tools was finalized for release to the community by the VAO. Development of programming interfaces for client-side access to VO services is ongoing.

 As resources permit, design and implement a test-bed catalog service—to gain experience in development and user interfaces—using relatively small object catalogs that do not require special architectures or computational capabilities. Status: A demonstration data service using the OGLE catalog was deployed on a test virtual machine using a development release of the DALServer toolkit from the VAO. Similar tests using other catalogs and image data sets were also conducted to explore limitations of DALServer. Additionally, an exportable virtual machine was developed, which provides a working instance of the SciDrive/VOSpace virtual storage system developed by JHU. This is currently being used for testing and development of Data Lab concepts.

1.3.3 System Community Development Program Highlights LSST Science The LSST Operations Simulator (OpSim) effort continued to have NOAO staff involvement and leadership during this reporting period. OpSim passed an external review in February 2014, with major recommendations including turning it into the LSST Scheduler project while continuing a parallel OpSim effort. The overall goal for NOAO’s involvement in OpSim is to enable its use as a tool for evaluating community science with LSST. To this end, work during this quarter (Q2) included contributions to the Metrics Analysis Framework (MAF) and to developing parameters for the rolling cadence model. The OpSim team is organizing its simulator and MAF plans and dead- lines to support preparation for the first Cadence Workshop, to be hosted by NOAO and LSST in August. A clear need for the LSST user community, as identified in FY13 through the NOAO-hosted meeting of LSST Science Collaborations chairs, is to begin serious discussion on the LSST cadence that best serves the diverse scientific needs of the community. In support of this, NOAO continued planning in this quarter for a workshop, “Observing Cadences with LSST.” This workshop is scheduled to coincide with the LSST Project and Community Workshop and will be held on 10–15 Au- gust 2014, in Phoenix, Arizona. In Q2, the Organizing Committee was assembled, an agenda was created, and logistical plans were made. As described above, the workshop is being coordinated with LSST Project work on the Operations Simulator. In collaboration with the University of Arizona Computer Science Department, NOAO scientists continued development of a prototype software infrastructure necessary to characterize and distribute events discovered by time-domain surveys. The Arizona-NOAO Transient Analysis and Re- sponse to Events System (ANTARES) was funded with an award to the University of Arizona from the NSF in September 2013 (CISE AST-1344024). NOAO scientists continued support of the program through weekly meetings with members of the Arizona Computer Science Department to develop the architecture for the prototype time-domain event broker. The grant includes funding for an astronomy postdoc position (to be paid through the Arizona Computer Science department but resi- dent at NOAO). This postdoc position was competed last quarter, with an offer made to and accepted by Dr. Gautham Narayan in Q2. As one of his first tasks, Dr. Narayan began assembling the datasets needed for the broker in Q2.

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System Community Development (SCD) scientists, in collaboration with the SDM group, continued planning for the implementation of the NOAO Data Lab. The purpose of the Data Lab will be to help users handle their large DECam datasets and catalogs, provide a framework for community access to the eventual DES catalog and images, incorporate tools and technology being developed for LSST data for scientific use with DECam data, and provide community access to DESI data. The implementation of the Data Lab is being prototyped around two DECam programs with heavy NOAO scientific staff involvement. In Q2, work was performed on prototype databases and visuali- zation tools. TMT Community Outreach The US TMT Liaison Office at NOAO is responsible for carrying out many aspects of the NSF- TMT cooperative agreement, including engaging the US community with an eye toward a potential NSF partnership in TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope). The TMT Liaison, an NOAO astronomer, and Michael Bolte (University of California Santa Cruz) organized and made presentations at a TMT Town Hall meeting at the 223rd AAS meeting in January. The event was attended by about 120 people, and the presentation was posted at the NOAO TMT Liaison web page, ast.noao.edu/system/us- tmt-liaison. The TMT Liaison, as a member of the TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC), attended its February 2014 meeting in Pasadena by video. After that meeting, he was appointed chair of the SAC, and began planning for its next meeting (April 2014 in Vancouver). He also attends (and now organizes) occasional telecons of the SAC co-chairs, and as SAC chair also attends (remotely) a weekly TMT Project meeting. The TMT Liaison and Tommaso Treu (UC Santa Barbara), another member of the SAC, organized the process of admitting new members to the TMT International Sci- ence Development Teams (ISDTs). Applications were received in January and evaluated by the ISDT conveners and SAC members in February, with the process completed late in the month. The ISDTs are open to participation by all PhD astronomers and are not limited to the TMT partners; the membership opportunity was heavily advertised, and a total of 40 astronomers from the US-at-large community are now ISDT members. NOAO will host the 2014 TMT Science Forum in Tucson, at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, on July 17–19. The NOAO TMT Liaison will chair this meeting (with Michael Bolte as co-chair). The contract for the venue was finalized in February. The Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC) for the Forum was organized and is formulating the scientific program of the meeting. Progress on meeting logistics, e.g., website, registration, and advertising, is ongoing. NOAO’s TMT Liaison continued weekly telecons on NSF-TMT community engagement with TMT staff and Michael Bolte. Members of the US TMT Science Working Group (SWG)—which was organized by NOAO, chaired by the NOAO TMT Liaison, and charged with developing a US TMT Participation Plan for the NSF—met at the recent AAS meeting and Town Hall event and, subsequently, by telecon. The US SWG is gathering information from the US-at-large community about its interests and opinions regarding NSF TMT participation, first via a series of direct phone interviews with individual astronomers; the SWG plans to carry out a wider Web-based survey later this year. Optical Interferometry Science NSSC staff negotiated with the Georgia State University (GSU) to grant access to community scientists via the NOAO TAC to the CHARA Array optical interferometer again in 2014. Over the four- year duration of this program, the over-subscription of the available seven nights per year has aver-

19 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

aged 4X. GSU is submitting a Mid-Scale Innovations Proposal to the NSF for partial operations support, with associated community access via the NOAO TAC increasing to 30 nights per year. NOAO also has consulted with CHARA staff on the planning and implementation of adaptive optics for the Array telescopes. At present, the system design is complete and the installation of wavefront sensing has been completed on one telescope, with an improved sensitivity for acquisition and tilt tracking of several magnitudes. The System Roadmap Committee No meeting of the SRC is planned for FY14, and no activity occurred in Q2. The work of the Sys- tem Roadmap Committee is planned to resume following the implementation of the NSF Portfolio Review through the NOAO Transformation Plan and after the completion of the NOAO Recompetition process. Status of FY14 Milestones LSST Science

 Hold a community workshop, “Observing Cadences for LSST Science.” Status: The workshop is scheduled for August 10–15, in Phoenix, Arizona.

 Publish benchmark OpSim simulations and candidate observing schedules for evaluation by the community. Status: Internal work on validating OpSim simulations continued during this period. Publica- tion of simulations is expected in advance of the workshop noted above.

 Assist community members with studies of the effect of OpSim parameter changes on optimal cadences for their specific LSST science projects. Status: Work toward this milestone will be part of the cadence workshop noted above.

 Prepare an integrated report of the statistical predictions of the variable sky expected for deep synoptic surveys, and make this report available to the community. Status: The report was submitted to the Astrophysical Journal and is still in review. The journal editor was contacted to expedite delivery of the first referee report.

 Arrange a discussion of community experts on the features and design of an LSST-scale transient broker. Status: Completed in the first quarter.

 Develop a detailed plan for a prototype LSST-scale transient broker. Status: Detailed plan exists. The ANTARES postdoc was hired in Q2. Work was begun on collecting datasets needed for broker development. Coordination with the University of Arizona Computer Science participants continued.

 Conduct data quality analysis of the second LSST DM-reprocessed Stripe 82 data set. Status: This work was performed internally by the LSST Project. NOAO will concentrate on DECam data for future LSST-related data quality work.

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TMT Community Outreach

 Lead the activities of the TMT US Science Working Group (SWG). This consists of the TMT Liaison maintaining and updating the SWG membership, helping to set its agenda, and organizing monthly (or as needed) teleconferences and annual face-to-face meetings at the TMT Sci- ence Forum and at other opportunities (e.g., AAS) as needed. Status: The SWG conducted interviews with selected community members, discussing TMT and potential NSF participation.

 Attend quarterly TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC) meetings, participate in monthly teleconferences with the TMT SAC co-chair and weekly ones with the TMT-NOAO community engagement group. Status: The NOAO TMT Liaison attended the February 2014 SAC meeting by video, and is now chair of the TMT SAC. He generally calls the weekly TMT-NOAO community engagement telecons and sets their agenda.

 Participate in the organization of a TMT Town Hall event at the January 2014 American Astro- nomical Society (AAS) meeting and the preparation for a subsequent Town Hall in January 2015. Status: The TMT Town Hall was held at the AAS meeting on January 7. There were presentations by Michael Bolte (UC Santa Cruz) and the NOAO TMT Liaison. About 120 people attended the event, which included time for audience discussion .

 Participate in the organization of the second TMT Science Forum, nominally to be held some- time in summer 2014. Working with the TMT US Science Working Group (SWG), identify and encourage members of the US community to attend the Forum. Status: The NOAO TMT Liaison is chair for the 2014 TMT Forum, which will be held in Tucson on July 17–19. He heads both the Scientific and Local Organizing Committees, is organizing the meeting program, and is arranging advertisement for the meeting. He is working with the TMT US SWG to encourage US community members to attend the Forum. Optical Interferometry Science

 Negotiate for community access to the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array in 2014 and provide required support to community users and the NOAO time allocation process. Status: Negotiations for access were completed satisfactorily, and the community will have access to the CHARA Array in 2014. Proposals have been recommended by the TAC and scheduled by CHARA. Limited NOAO support will be available to observers as required.

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1.3.4 Time Allocation Committee Program Highlights Observing semester 2014A began during this reporting period on 1 February 2014. For semester 2014A, the NOAO Time Allocation Committee (TAC) process successfully handled 389 new proposals requesting 1193 nights on 15 telescopes located on 6 sites. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Work with SUS to issue calls for proposals for regular programs (twice a year) and survey programs (once a year). Status: The 2014B Call for Proposals (for observing time from 1 July 2014 to 31 January 2015) was issued on 1 March 2014. This call consists of sets of Web pages at NOAO, with links to other relevant observatories, as well as a self-contained, downloadable PDF (portable document format) file that contains all of the necessary information and Web links needed to propose for the observing time managed by NOAO.

 Coordinate with SUS and private observatories to provide timely technical reviews of the proposals. Status: This was successfully carried out for semester 2014A and is in the planning for semester 2014B.

 Convene Time Allocation Committee (TAC) panels twice a year to review the proposals and provide recommendations to the NOAO director. Status: TAC panels were convened in November 2013 for semester 2014A. The 2014B TAC panels are scheduled to meet in Tucson from 29 April–1 May 2014 and 5–9 May 2014.

 Work with the public and private observatories to prioritize and schedule the approved proposals. Status: This was carried out successfully for semester 2014A, and scheduling for semester 2014B is being planned for May 2014.

 Publish timely announcements of the results of the time allocation process. Status: All results of the TAC process were announced on 17 December 2013. The announcement of results for semester 2014B is planned for the first week of June 2014.

 If agreed to by the Gemini Observatory, implement a Gemini Large Program international TAC panel that would be managed by NOAO as part of the overall time allocation process. Status: A Gemini Large Program TAC was assembled to review Gemini Large Programs that were submitted by the semester 2014B deadline of 31 March 2014. This international Gemini TAC panel will meet in Tucson on 30 April–1 May 2014, with the logistics and organization of the meeting managed by NOAO.

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1.4 NOAO SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY CENTER The NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC) is responsible for coordinating technological enhance- ments to the US Ground-Based Optical/Infrared Sys- tem (System) by NOAO directly, in collaboration with various partner institutions. As such, it takes the leadership role on technical activities within NOAO that are needed to realize new telescope projects or to enhance the instrument complements on existing Sys- tem telescopes operated by NOAO or other entities. The NSTC incorporates two programs serving these goals: (1) System Instrumentation (SI), which oversees NOAO’s efforts to build new instruments or enhance the performance of existing instruments for its own telescopes, for the Gemini telescopes, and for other telescopes participating in the System and is supported through NOAO’s base budget and supplemental awards such as ReSTAR; and (2) LSST Technology, which provides scientific, engineering, and management support to the LSST Project and is responsible for telescope mount, enclosure design, and site work within the LSST construction project.

1.4.1 System Instrumentation Program Highlights System Instrumentation program highlights are noted below within the milestone status items. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Commission the Kitt Peak Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (KOSMOS), a ReSTAR- supported project, on the Mayall 4-m telescope, and begin community use of KOSMOS on a shared-risk basis. Status: Completed. By the end of the second quarter (Q2) of FY14, KOSMOS had successfully completed its third and final scheduled commissioning run, all functions had been tested, and measurements of all performance parameters were complete. The first community use of the instrument also occurred during Q2 FY14. KOSMOS was offered to the community in all modes, without restrictions, in the call for proposals for observing semester 2014B.

 Commission the Cerro Tololo Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (COSMOS), a ReSTAR- supported project, on the Blanco 4-m telescope, and make COSMOS available for community use on a shared-risk basis. Status: Underway and proceeding as scheduled. As of the end of Q2 FY14, COSMOS had been delivered to CTIO, unpacked, and tested in the Cerro Tololo instrument lab. The first on-sky commissioning run is scheduled for mid-April 2014.

 Complete the detector-controller-software integration tasks for TripleSpec (a ReSTAR- supported) project, and deliver the integrated and optimized detector systems to Cornell Univer- sity for final integration of the entire instrument. Status: Underway, with satisfactory progress. During Q2 FY14, the cryogenic-qualified detector cables were received from the UK vendor, inspected, and accepted. The test Dewar was fully assembled with these cables, and the bare multiplexer (MUX) was tested cold. Again, all tests

23 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

were successful, and the MUX performed as per the operating-temperature specifications from the manufacturer. The test Dewar performed very well, maintaining the operating temperature for about 40 hours on one fill of liquid nitrogen. As of the end of this quarter, the MUX had been removed from the test Dewar, and the team was preparing to install the engineering-grade detector that will be used for the slit-viewing camera in TripleSpec.

 Remove the partially populated One Degree Imager (pODI) from WIYN, disassemble it in the Tucson laboratory, and begin integration of the expanded 6 × 6 focal plane into the Dewar. Status: No activity in this period. Delays in the foundry runs for the required Orthogonal Trans- fer Array (OTA) detectors, combined with uncertainties in future WIYN funding, led to a recon- sideration of the plan to expand the focal plane to a 6 × 6 array. As of the end of this quarter, NOAO and the WIYN partners were in discussions toward agreement on a less ambitious plan to expand the focal plane to a 5 × 5 configuration.

1.4.2 LSST Technology Program Highlights The LSST Technology program at NOAO continued to make substantial progress on technical and programmatic activities in support of the LSST Project. Final preparations are being made for an anticipated construction start in late FY14. The successful completion of the NSF Final Design Review (FDR) in previous reporting period was followed by the inclusion of the LSST Project at the Nation- al Science Board (NSB) meeting held on 25 February 2014. The LSST Project was included as an NSB Information Item on the agenda of the Committee on Programs and Plans. This prepares the way for further discussion on construction funding authorization in the next NSB meeting in May. The LSST software team successfully participated in the Operations Simulator (OpSim) Review in February that provided an external review of the current simulation effort and planned developments for the telescope Scheduler. A cadence workshop is planned for August 2014 to work with the general science community on cadence development. The team supported kick-off and technical meetings with vendors assigned to early procurement efforts. Meetings were held at Moog/CSA En- gineering, in Mountain View, California, in March to discuss the final design and fabrication of the M2 hexapod and Camera Hexapod/Rotator systems. The goal was to review requirements and define the scope and schedule of activities in this preliminary risk-reduction phase. Meetings were held at Exelis, in Rochester, New York, in March to discuss the M2 Cell Assembly risk-reduction activities. The goal was to review progress on optical metrology analysis software developments. The Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA) contract award process is continuing with contract negotiations with the recommended vendor. It is hoped that contract signing will occur by May 2014. Bids are expected for the summit facility construction effort in April 2014. An extension of the due date was made to accommodate more potential bidders in the process. The goal is to review bids and select a general construction contractor in mid 2014. Status of FY14 Milestones

 Site and Facility:  Support the final review and closeout of the 100% facility design drawing package from ARCADIS in Santiago;  conduct an open procurement effort to solicit a Chilean general contractor; and  award the site and facility general contractor contract.

24 NOAO DIVISIONS

Status: The team assembled a review committee in January to review summit facility construction bids (due in early April 2014). This team has provided feedback to four rounds of questions submitted by the eight vendors that are currently participating in the bid solicitation process. Questions requiring technical discussion and review have been referred back to the Tucson technical team or coordinated with ARCADIS for clarification and response. The summit facility bid due date was adjusted to April 7 to enable more bidders to participate in the process. The overall goal of this early procurement is to complete review of all submitted bids and provide a recommendation to the LSST Project Office in early May 2014. This schedule will enable additional summit facility drawing plan updates and some value engineering to potentially reduce overall costs and complexity in construction.

 Dome:  Complete the enclosure and the wind/light screen baseline designs and prepare the procurement package for the design and fabrication contract; and  award the dome design and fabrication contract. Status: The Dome Design Review was scheduled for May 20–21 in Tucson. Three external re- viewers were identified and confirmed to participate in this design review and overview of the planned procurement process. The Telescope team began updating the Statement of Work, Spec- ification Document, Baseline Design Document, and all necessary interface documents and drawings. Potential dome vendors will be contacted and, upon pre-qualification, they will be in- vited to witness the review meeting to more fully understand the upcoming bid solicitation. This approach was very effective for the Telescope Mount Assembly effort and will be employed for the Dome system as well.

 Telescope Mount:  Complete the evaluation of vendor bids for the telescope mount;  award the telescope design and fabrication contract;  commence the initial engineering design activities with the telescope mount vendor; and  commence the initial engineering design activities with the hexapod/rotator system vendor. Status: The Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA) bid recommendation report from the NOAO Tel- escope Team was presented and accepted by the LSST Project Office in January 2014 and, subsequently, by the LSST and AURA Boards and the NSF in March 2014. Contract negotiations were begun with the recommended vendor to commence the initial design and development activities and to confirm the final contractual details. Final contract signing is targeted for May 2014. Meetings were held at Moog/CSA Engineering, in Mountain View, California, in March to discuss the final design and fabrication of the M2 hexapod and Camera Hexapod/Rotator systems. The goal was to review requirements and define the scope and schedule of activities in this preliminary risk reduction phase. Early efforts will focus on risk reduction of the hexapod strut (flexure design and analysis) and the rotator drive/bearing configuration.

 Reflective Optics:  Work with the LSST primary mirror vendor to perform, witness, and complete final acceptance testing of the mirror,  develop command software and test the initial prototype of the inner loop controller, and

25 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

 work with the secondary mirror assembly vendor to perform metrology risk reduction activities. Status: The LSST team continued to meet monthly with the University of Arizona Steward Mir- ror Lab personnel to review optical metrology data and the mirror processing plans. These meetings are focused on review of the mirror figure to support final acceptance testing and final buy-off of the M1M3. The mirror surfaces are converging slowly toward meeting final specifications, and final testing is planned for mid 2014. Meetings were held at Exelis, in Rochester, New York, in March to discuss the M2 Cell Assembly risk-reduction activities. The goal was to review progress on optical metrology analysis software developments. Results from testing of a subscale hardware demonstration experiment were reviewed. The experiment enables refine- ment of sub-aperture stitching algorithms and evaluation of software error sources. The valida- tion of the testing approach is confirmed by comparison of results with the known figure of a convex test optic. Additional discussions also were held regarding the logistics required to transport the M2 substrate from Harvard to Rochester, New York.

 Wavefront. Alignment and Calibration:  Remove the Calypso telescope from its site, evaluate the hardware condition, and formulate a detailed refurbishment plan;  support the LSST calibration design review with input and design of instrument and atmospheric calibration equipment. Status: The Telescope team began to formulate and assemble detailed activities of a logistics plan for the relocation of the Calypso telescope from Kitt Peak to the NOAO Tucson facility during this reporting period. Trips were made to the current location to inventory the hardware and determine materials to be relocated, recycled, or removed. Meetings were held with Kitt Peak, NOAO, and LSST personnel to discuss overall safety and review the logistics plan. Tool- ing and fixtures needed to house the telescope in the NOAO building will be fabricated shortly. The overall telescope assembly solid model was completed to complement the relocation plan. The removal activities are scheduled to be conducted near the end of May 2014. Testing of an improved infrared all-sky camera was completed in February. The Telescope team also worked with personnel at CTIO to design and field a set of photodiodes to measure sky brightness near the LSST summit in Chile. This measured data will support the overall OpSim simulation effort.

 Software and Controls: Continue development of the operations scheduler preliminary design. Status: A Telescope software workshop is planned to be held at CTIO in April. This meeting will focus on the review of all software requirements, assessment of design and development software activities, and a presentation of tools, processes, and procedures to be utilized during software development activities. Participants include current LSST Telescope team members and CTIO staff. In addition, a new software resource was identified within NOAO to provide Observatory Control System development during construction. This staff member’s skill set will be assessed and he will be assigned work to be performed in construction. The software workshop is designed to lay the foundation for the official formulation of the Telescope Software team, which will provide all the software development (including the Operations Scheduler).

 Data Management: Update the data management infrastructure plans, especially as they impact the summit and base facilities in Chile. Status: The data management requirements for the summit and base facilities were reviewed to verify compliance in the summit facility bid package. Additional discussions were held with representatives from CTIO, SOAR, and Gemini at a meeting in Chile, in March, to discuss options

26 NOAO DIVISIONS

for the LSST base facility. The LSST base facility design has potential to provide the minimal requirements necessary for LSST operation or it could be modified or expanded to serve greater community needs given additional capital resources from the other local observatories.

 Utility Systems: Update the design for the electrical distribution, grounding, and utility services for the summit facility to be consistent with the 100% summit facility drawing package and any vendor-specific information from the secondary mirror and mount contracts. Status: The utility system requirements in the summit facility design to support the recommended TMA vendor were reviewed and will be discussed further once the final mount contract is signed. Minor updates to include the capacitor bank system and hydrostatic bearing system oil pump will be required. An updated presentation of the LSST base facility electrical upgrade options was prepared and presented at a meeting at CTIO, in March, with representatives from CTIO, SOAR, and Gemini.

 Systems Engineering:  Coordinate and complete the development of level 2 and 3 telescope and site interface documents;  complete the requirements modeling for the telescope and site, as well as the observation control systems; and  update the hazard analysis and risk register of the telescope and site system. Status: The Telescope Systems Engineering team worked with other systems engineers in the data management and camera groups to update interface documents. Minor drawings and specification changes were made to the Camera Hexapod/Rotator specification to address torque set- tings, locking pin geometry, and control system definitions. The teams have maintained good communication lines to support the vendor early procurement efforts. Regular monthly scheduled meetings were held to update the hazard analysis and risk registers.

 Project Management:  Support the project with participation as an LSST Board member and an AURA Management Council for LSST (AMCL) member,  complete the 2013 inputs for the updated Project Management Control System, and  support and participate in project-wide reviews. Status: The team provided support to the NSF-sponsored Sufficiency Review in January. The NSF appointed a group from Booz Allen Hamilton to conduct a sufficiency review of LSST construction costs. The purpose was to provide an independent assessment of the LSST cost estimate for reasonableness, completeness, consistency, and compliance with generally accepted estimating processes. The review determined two minor errors in contingency calculation, which were corrected in the LSST Project Management Control System (PMCS). Updates to the PMCS plan were made once the approved LSST budget ($473M Total Project Cost) details were revealed. Modifications were made to align the commitment profile to the expected LSST budget allocations. Efforts were made in preparation for new hires needed to support the upcoming construction plan. Job descriptions and a summary of personnel supported in the construction plan were drafted to be used in upcoming job postings. Discussions were also held with NOAO facilities personnel to begin to identify office and laboratory space needed for LSST. Finally, the second LSST Safety Council Meeting was planned for early April. This meeting will review gen-

27 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

eral LSST safety policies and procedures and will focus on current Telescope efforts on hazard and risk analysis as related to the dome system.

 Operations Simulator:  Support the Operations Simulator (OpSim) group lead and the OpSim group’s principle interface to the LSST Project,  develop necessary scientific metrics for the analysis of the OpSim output, and  complete and deliver the final design version of the OpSim tool set to support the LSST final design review and the preparation for construction. Status: The Telescope and Systems Engineering teams participated successfully in the Opera- tions Simulator (OpSim) Review held in Tucson, on February 4–5. The agenda included review of the OpSim tool and the planned development of the telescope Scheduler. The review was presented to a four-person external committee to discuss requirements, results to date, and the planned work activities to be undertaken in construction. The panel provided a number of positive recommendations in their final report that will be addressed and implemented. A cadence workshop was planned for August 2014 to work with the general science community on cadence development.

 Education and Public Outreach: Provide LSST graphic design assistance and website development to support design reviews and planned procurements. Status: The NOAO team continued to provide graphical design assistance to support LSST design reviews and planned procurements (e.g., OpSim Review, Dome Design Review).

2 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

2.1 OFFICE OF SCIENCE Program Highlights The Office of Science (OS) works to enhance the scientific environment at NOAO and NOAO’s ties to the local academic astronomy community. The OS also works to engage the US community of astronomers in various aspects of the NOAO mission. To accomplish these goals, OS supports and encourages research by the NOAO scientific staff by providing resources (e.g., equipment, funding, and mentoring) and supporting programs (e.g., the NOAO North and South colloquium series, science workshops, coffees and teas, and the Goldberg Fellowship program) that foster a scientifically productive environment. OS schedules and manages promotion, tenure, and post-tenure reviews of the NOAO scientific staff and is responsible for policies and training related to the responsible conduct of research. The OS head of program represents the NOAO scientific staff to the NOAO director. OS also sponsors and supports community workshops aimed at engaging the community in the NOAO mission. Major activities and events for OS this quarter included the following. The OS continued running the program for the 2013-2014 NOAO/Steward Colloquium Series in collaboration with the University of Arizona Steward Observatory. In collaboration with the NOAO postdoctoral researchers, the 2013–2014 program of Friday lunch talks (FLASH) and Tuesday coffees was continued. The OS also continued to run a weekly Monday morning coffee for the NOAO Science staff. The OS drafted and distributed an issue of the NOAO electronic newsletter, Currents, to communicate timely items of interest to the US community of astronomers attending the January AAS meeting. Lastly, the OS started organizing an NOAO-hosted meeting to help inform the community of the present tools available for the analysis of astronomical “big data.” Status of FY14 Milestones

 Establish a program of monthly informal lunches and actively encourage postdocs to attend NOAO-sponsored science talks and colloquia and scientific staff meetings to improve the integration of the NOAO postdocs into the NOAO science environment. Status: No progress in this reporting period. Work on this should commence in the third quarter.

 Continue to develop materials for and implement a retraining program on Responsible Conduct in Research for NOAO scientific staff. Status: No progress in this reporting period. Work on this should commence in the third quarter.

 Provide mentoring and career development resources to staff as needed, particularly to postdoctoral researchers. Status: Organized discussions of career development were made a regular part of the Tuesday coffee discussions.

29 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

2.2 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

Program Highlights Education and Public Outreach (EPO) programs this quarter were focused on dark skies education Public Outreach Information Requests & Inquiries nationally and internationally with an emphasis on (3 months ending 3/31/14) the Globe at Night campaign. Type/Origin of Request Number Dark Skies Programs: This quarter, an after- noon workshop on the NOAO Dark Skies and En- Information requests/inquiries about astronomy/science (phone calls, e-mails, ergy Education program was held just before the 200 winter AAS meeting at National Harbor, Maryland. and walk-ins/requests for posters, AAS conference talks were given on two NOAO bookmarks, brochures, etc. Dark Skies programs: Dark Skies Africa and Dark Requests and inquiries for use of NOAO 140 Skies Yuma. A third talk was given on the pro- images grammatic status of IAU Commission 50 (Protec- tion of Existing and Potential Observatory Sites). A TOTAL 340 poster was presented on a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) project on using Sky Quali- ty Meter measurements to characterize night sky brightness in Tucson and nearby observatory mountaintops. A second REU poster on a spectroscopic study of Tucson lights also was presented. In addition, a special AAS Splinter Session was sponsored by NOAO; the AAS Committee on Light Pollution, Radio Interference and Space Debris; IAU Commission 50; and the International Dark- Sky Association. The presentations and discussions in that session focused on “Observatory Site Protection: Challenges and Solutions.” The ninth year of Globe at Night citizen-science campaigns was launched January 20. This year’s campaign expanded to 10 days at the end of each month throughout 2014 and included a new website and new ways to take data. Over 9000 measurements were taken in the first three months of 2014. (See www.globeatnight.org/phpqueries.php.) To promote Globe at Night, a Night Sky Net- work telecon was held in late January with over 70 amateur astronomers from across the US participating. The NOAO EPO group produced two 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts on Globe at Night starring the Dark Skies Crusader and the Dark Night, as well as three monthly Globe at Night news- letters. Some of the programmatic preparations made for the Global Astronomy Month’s Dark Skies Awareness programs in April include adopting a street or holding a flash mob to take measurements for Globe at Night. Also included are the International Dark-Sky Week and the International Earth and Sky Photo Contest. The NOAO EPO group is involved in the planning for the Cosmic Light cornerstone of the In- ternational Year of Light 2015, helping to form a working group and policies. NOAO EPO staff continued to support dark skies efforts through membership on the International Dark-Sky Associa- tion board and through its education committee, as well as by serving as an officer on the IAU Commission 50 on site protection. Undergraduate Mentoring and Outreach Program: The EPO undergraduate student cadre continued to support a variety of EPO activities (about four per week). Highlights this quarter included supporting 10 Dark Skies student sessions at the Cooper Environmental Education Center, 6 Tucson-based star parties, 6 Festivals and Family Nights, and 4 dark skies workshops. In addition, there were 8 events with the Tohono O’odham Nation: Tohono O’odham Community College (TOCC) Telescope Training Session, Tohono O’odham High School and Baboquivari Middle

30 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

School Science Fairs, Sells Rodeo, TOCC and Tohono O’odham High School star parties, Sells Sci- ence Café, and San Xavier Career Day), Teaching with Telescopes/Optics Outreach: There were five Project ASTRO star parties during the quarter, and planning is underway for the spring workshop to be held on May 3. NOAO staff had a booth at Ted Walker Day at Old Tucson Studios on January 30. Ted Walker Day drew thou- sands of students, who got to learn about optical illusions and observe the Sun through solar telescopes. NOAO ran the ninth Annual Tucson-wide Optics Festival on February 13 at St. Michael’s School. The Optics Festival included an optics competition as well as hands-on activities for students. NOAO partnered with Raytheon and the University of Arizona Early Academic Outreach office for the annual Math Moves You Day. NOAO staff trained members of Raytheon’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) on February 9 in preparation for the Math Moves You Event on Feb- ruary 13. Approximately 180 students from around Tucson built Galileoscopes at the Math Moves You event and over 50 Raytheon engineers were trained by NOAO staff to assist in telescope building. NOAO staffed a booth at the Tucson Festival of Books on the University of Arizona mall, on March 15–16. The festival draws approximately 100,000 visitors, and the NOAO booth is part of the Science City area at the festival. KPNO REU Program (NSF AST-1262829): The six students who will be coming to Tucson this summer for the 2014 KPNO Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program are:  Samantha Brunker of the University of Kansas, to work with Dr. Jayadev Rajagopal and Dr. Su- san Ridgway  Jamison Burke of Swarthmore College, to work with Dr. Chuck Claver  Belinda Cheeseboro of Andrews University, to work with Dr. Dara Norman  Kyle Lackey of the University of South Carolina, to work with Dr. Jay Elias  Marcus Lee of the Tohono O’odham Community College, to work with Dr. Gautham Narayan  Anna Payne of Wellesley College, to work with Dr. Hanae Inami Of the six students, there are three women and three men with one Native American man and one African American woman. The program received a total of 132 complete applications with an additional 36 incomplete applications. Five of the students are juniors and one is a sophomore. EPO South Activities: This quarter was a very active one for the NOAO-South student programs: Research CTIO Visitor Center & Tours Experiences for Undergraduate Students (REU) and Summary of Participants Práctica en Investigación en Astronomía (PIA). In early (3 months ending 3/31/14) January, students from the 2013 cadre attended the 2014 Group/Program # of Participants AAS meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, where they presented posters based on the work they had done during CADIAS Center 408 the program. The 2014 cadre of six REU students from CADIAS Outreach 4,090 the US, two Chilean PIA students, and one additional student intern carried out research programs with CTIO, Tololo Guided Tours 692 SOAR, or Gemini South science staff; observed at CTIO; School Groups K-12 618 attended undergraduate-level seminars; participated in field trips to various observatories in Chile; and sampled Special Tours 333 the cultural and social life in Chile. An independent, ex- TOTAL ternal review of the student program was carried out by 6,141 Dr. Isabel Hawkins of the San Francisco Exploratorium.

31 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

The second quarter is mainly the summer period of the Southern Hemisphere, so general science education activities are fewer compared to other quarters, but the visitor center operated at its full capacity. On January 2014, the EPO-South team traveled to Concepción in the south of Chile to participate in the University of Concepción’s summer school for all levels of students and the general public. One of the main goals for the team in this activity was to start the promotion and participation in the 2014 Globe at Night campaigns. The team continued its collaboration with CEAZA (The Center for Advanced Studies of Arid Zones) in the training of touristic agents for the towns of Caleta Hornos and Punta de Choros to the north of La Serena. The project is intended to develop scientific skills for sustainable tourism in the Region of Coquimbo. In March 2014, with schools and universities back to normal activities, the EPO South team re- started the School Astronomy Program in schools of La Serena and Illapel and the training of pre- school teachers and students of Universidad Santo Tomás. The team also made the annual revision of the EPO-South strategic plan and started coordinating the yearly activities with EXPLORA-Conicyt, the Municipality of La Serena, the Environmental Ministry local office, DIBAM, and other local institutions. In summary, a total of 16 different educational events were performed by the EPO-South staff during the second quarter of FY14. Media Releases

During this period, NOAO issued one press release:

 PR1401: 19 February 2014, “Astronomers at the National Observatory Continue to Watch Sn 2014J,” www.noao.edu/news/2014/pr1401.php The NOAO homepage featured various updates on DECam, SAM, and COSMOS (www.noao.edu/icarchives/). Status of FY14 Milestones

 Support the strategic plan for NOAO South outreach and the Centro de Apoyo a la Didáctica de la Astronomía (CADIAS) astronomy teaching center in Chile. This includes programs involving dark skies education and teaching with Galileoscopes. Status: Dark skies education support continued through the Globe at Night program and through the collaboration with CEAZA.

 Execute a wide-ranging, dark skies awareness program for Chile and Arizona, including the national/international citizen science program, GLOBE at Night, started and run by NOAO. Status: See detailed description in the paragraph of this section titled “Dark Skies Programs.”

 Work with the Tohono O’odham Nation to support an astronomy program at the Tohono O’odham Community College and to support a science fair program in the Tohono O’odham high schools. Status: NOAO staff served as judges for science fairs at Tohono O’odham High School on Jan- uary 29 and Baboquivari Middle School on February 11. The collaboration continued with the

32 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) at Tohono O’odham Community College. NOAO staff showed several members of AISES how to use telescopes on January 22, and a star party was held at TOCC on February 26. In March, student recruitment began for the Colors of Nature summer academy. A Science Café was held at the Desert Rain Café in Sells on March 17, featuring Dr. Letizia Stanghellini speaking on “The Beauty of Art and Science.” EPO staff are working with the Baboquivari Unified School District and the San Xavier Education Office to find girls interested in attending this year’s Summer Academy. NOAO had a booth at the Tohono O’odham Nation Rodeo and Fair in Sells, Arizona, on January 31 and February 1, where NOAO staff answered questions about KPNO and showed views of the Sun through solar telescopes.

 Support the Teaching with Telescopes program in Arizona and Chile with teacher professional development on telescope and optics concepts, making use of Galileoscopes. Support to the ex- tent possible the current Galileoscope star party programs in Yuma, Globe, Safford, and Flag- staff. Maintain the national Teaching with Telescopes teacher support website. Status: See the paragraph above titled “Teaching with Telescopes/Optics Outreach.” The star party efforts in Arizona cities are on hold right now and will resume in the fall.

 Conduct professional development workshops and programs for formal and informal science educators in coordination with professional organizations such as the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the American Astronomical Society (AAS), the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), the American Geophysical Union, and the Association of Science- Technology Centers (ASTC). Status: Workshops were held at the winter 2014 AAS meeting and are planned for the NSTA national meeting in Boston and the ASP meeting in San Francisco.

 Support the training of guides and provide support for astronomy programs for the public at the major municipal and touristic observatories in northern Chile. Status: This effort continued with special attention to an ongoing program with Observatorio Cruz del Sur. A Galileoscope workshop, supported by a grant from SPIE, is being planned.

 Support dark skies education programs in northern Chile with El Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA). Status: Programs with CEAZA to support astronomical tourism in the coastal areas north of La Serena continued.

 Maintain an active southern Arizona Project ASTRO teacher/scientist partnership program with professional development activities held at least twice a year. Status: The program has scheduled a workshop in May. Adjustments are being made to the program as a result of the departure of the Project ASTRO site coordinator.

 Design and deliver (with grant partners) a successful two-week summer academy for middle school girls: during June 2014 in Tucson and during July 2014 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Status: This reporting period saw weekly planning for the summer academy and Skype sessions once a week between the partners at the University of Washington, University of Alaska, and NOAO. A research paper on the program and some initial research results will be presented at the Pittsburgh meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching.

33 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

2.3 NOAO DIRECTOR’S OFFICE Program Highlights Throughout this quarter, the NOAO director and deputy director led the next stage of NOAO transformation planning to prepare for a significant change in the NOAO program driven by new programmatic and financial directives from NSF. Specific activities included meetings with key senior managers to review their FY15–16 plans and any anticipated personnel changes needed to handle reduced funding, which involved a visit to Chile to work with the NOAO South associate director and deputy director. The NOAO director and deputy director attended the AAS meeting at National Harbor, Mary- land, in January. The director conducted the annual NOAO Town Hall, where he presented an update about the NOAO program and answered questions from the audience. During the rest of the meeting, the director and deputy director spent most of their time at the NOAO booth to interact with conference attendees and answer their questions one-on-one. During January and February, the NOAO director held a series of internal town halls. Meeting with groups of roughly 20–30 NOAO employees, the director repeated his AAS presentation and then answered questions. These sessions typically lasted 90 minutes and were held on Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo as well as twice in La Serena and five times in Tucson. The goal was to make sure all NOAO employees had a chance to interact with the director as NOAO heads into a time of great change. This process will be repeated in early 2015. The director, deputy director, and the three NOAO associate directors participated in the Febru- ary meeting of the AURA Observatory Council in Washington, D.C. The usual program update presentations were given as well as a status update on transformation planning. The director participated in the 12th Kavli Futures Symposium that focused on the topic of Fu- ture U.S. Ground-Based Astronomy in the Global Context, at which he took part in a lively and frank two-day discussion with other community leaders. At the invitation of the NASA Program Of- ficer, the director was also a member of the review board for the Kepler prime mission close-out review. The director participated in meetings of the TMT Collaboration Board of Directors in Pasadena (as a director appointed by NSF), the AURA Board of Directors in Washington, D.C. (as a present- er), the LSST Joint Operations Working Group at SLAC (as a participant in the discussion), and the Joint DES-LSST Workshop at Fermilab (as an observer). The deputy director attended the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) system level preliminary design as a member of the SAC in January in Pasadena. The deputy director also attended the GMT science workshop and SAC meeting in College Station, Texas, in March. Status of FY14 Milestones Observatory Management

 Develop an annual program plan for FY14, to be delivered during the first quarter of FY14. Status: Completed during the first quarter.

 Deliver detailed transformation plans covering FY14–FY16, to be executed in FY15, per NSF directives. Status: On-going, see discussion above under Program Highlights.

34 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

 Deliver scientific quarterly and annual progress reports as required by NSF under the terms of their cooperative agreement with AURA for the management and operations of NOAO. Status: The scientific quarterly report for the first quarter of FY14 was completed and submitted to the NSF on time. No other reports were required during this period.

 Facilitate on-going management training for the NOAO senior management team. Status: The AURA Human Resources group has partnered with CD2 Leadership to offer an online management training course that combines on-line study with group discussion sessions. During the next quarter, the AURA senior management team (director, deputy director, and three associate directors) will start this course. After they complete the course, a new cohort consisting of the next management level is expected to complete the course.

 Continue to work on ways to improve communication between NOAO staff at all levels. Status: On-going. During this quarter, the director held a series of small, group meetings with all NOAO employees in Arizona and Chile.

 As necessary, support AURA with NSF-mandated reviews (e.g., Business Service Review and Mid-Term Management Review). Status: There was no activity during this quarter. Diversity Program

 The diversity advocate will maintain a national presence on issues related to diversity and use the information gathered to inform diversity activities at NOAO. Status: The diversity advocate continued as the AAS council liaison to the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA). She organized a mentoring session with several minority students in attendance at the AAS meeting in January. She was the principle representative of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) on the Carl Albert Rouse Fellowship Se- lection Committee to send minority undergraduate students to Caltech for summer research experiences. She participated as a panelist at the University of Arizona in a discussion of challenges and strategies for balancing family and a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career.

 The diversity advocate will insure that procedures and practices in hiring, promotion, tenure, workplace climate, etc. incorporate diversity best practices, in collaboration with the AURA HR group. Status: The diversity advocated continued to chair a working group of Chilean AURA employees to discuss the role of diversity and broadening participation among the AURA workforce in Chile. A draft white paper presenting concerns, ideas, and suggestions from the working group has been circulated for comment and will likely be presented to the AURA Workforce and Di- versity Committee at the May meeting.

 Insure that procedures for hiring are outlined clearly. Status: There was no specific activity during this quarter.

35 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

 Work with the NOAO associate directors to help minority staff feel more included in the NOAO mission. Status: There was no specific activity during this quarter.

 Continue, in coordination with AURA, to work on broadening participation in the NSF science enterprise by engaging individuals, institutions, and geographical areas “...that do not participate in NSF research programs at rates comparable to others.” (Quote from the Executive Summary of Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action, Au- gust 2008). Status: The diversity advocate continued a more active role in support for the AURA partnership with IINSPIRE in an effort to strengthen the opportunity for NOAO to participate in mentoring engineering and technical students. Two students from Iowa State were accepted and one will participate with a mentor from LSST. However, as they will share NOAO office space and equipment with the NOAO REU students, the NOAO diversity advocate has been actively involved in facilitating the program. Safety Program

 With the coordination of the NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services manager, continue to enhance safety control measures for the Kitt Peak annual maintenance efforts during operational shutdown periods. Status: A safety walk-through was held by KPNO engineering in March prior to the planned start-up of the mirror lift project at the Mayall 4-m telescope on Kitt Peak.

3 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A For semester 2014A, a total of 194 unique programs (standard and survey) were accepted for observing at the NOAO telescopes and the System facilities granting open-access time through the NOAO TAC. The following table provides a statistical breakdown of the scheduled programs (as of 6 April 2014) and the nights allocated. (Programs are considered as “foreign” when the affiliation claimed by their PIs is a non-US institution.) The 2014A scheduled programs are listed in the sub- sections that follow.

Number of Scheduled 2014A Programs Number of Nights Granted for 2014A US Foreign US Foreign Observatory Regular Thesis Regular Thesis Totals Regular Thesis Regular Thesis Totals CTIO 32 12 5 2 51 144.6 54.9 9.5 6 215 KPNO 32 14 4 0 50 199.5 92 14 0 305.5 Gemini 66 18 2 1 87 101.772 22.94 2.05 1.85 128.612 CHARA 2 0 1 0 3 3.4 0 2 0 5.4 Keck 6 1 0 1 8 6 0.5 0 0.5 7 AAT 3 1 1 0 5 5.5 2 3 0 10.5 Totals: 141 46 13 4 204 460.772 172.34 30.55 8.35 672.012

3.1 CERRO TOLOLO INTER-AMERICAN OBSERVATORY

CTIO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (12)  Telescope Nights

M. Alexander (Lehigh U.), M. Povich (Cal Poly Pomona), M. McSwain (Lehigh U.): “Unveiling SOAR 2 Hidden Massive Stars: Star Formation and the IMF in Carina” L. Allen (NOAO), D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.), F. Valdes (NOAO), C. Fuentes (Northern CT-4m 10 Arizona U.), E. Christensen (Lunar and Planetary Lab), M. Brown (California Institute of Tech- nology–Div of Geo and Planetary Science), T. Axelrod (LSST), B. Burt (O) (Northern Arizona U.), A. Earle (U) (Siena College), D. James (CTIO), D. Herrera (O) (NOAO), S. Larson (Lunar and Planetary Lab): “The DECam NEO Survey” B. Bowler, M. Liu (U. of Hawaii), B. Riaz (University of Hertfordshire), J. Gizis (U. of Dela- SOAR 4 ware), E. Shkolnik (Lowell Observatory): “Reconnaissance of Young M Dwarfs: Locating the Elusive Majority of Nearby Moving Groups” B. Cobb (George Washington U.), C. Bailyn (Yale U.): “Optical/IR Follow-Up of Gamma-Ray CT-1.3m 3 Bursts from SMARTS” D. Finkbeiner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), E. Schlafly (Max-Planck-Institut CT-4m 3 für Astronomie), D. Burke (SLAC), K. Bechtol (U. of Chicago), P. Kelly (UC Berkeley): “Map- ping Dust in 3D with DECam: A Pilot Galactic Plane Survey” C. Grillmair (IPAC), N. Hetherington (G), R. Carlberg (University of Toronto), B. Willman CT-4m 1 (Haverford College): “Extending the Orphan Stream with DECam” J. Hargis, B. Willman (Haverford College), D. Sand (Texas Technical U.), J. Strader (Michigan CT-4m 3 State U.), J. Yoon (UC Santa Barbara), R. Fadely (NYU), C. Grillmair (IPAC): “Milky Way Stel- lar Streams: A Window to Purely Dark Subhalos”

 Key: (T) = Thesis Student; (G) = Graduate; (U) = Undergraduate; (O) = Other

37 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

CTIO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (12)  Telescope Nights

A. Heinze (SUNY), S. Metchev (University of Western Ontario): “The Deepest Asteroid Survey CT-4m 4 Ever: Collisional Processes and the Source of Near-Earth Asteroids” T. Hillwig (Valparaiso U.), D. Frew, O. De Marco, D. Douchin (G) (Macquarie University): “De- CT-1.3m 4 tecting Close Binary Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae: The Photometric Monitoring Cam- paign” N. Hinkel, S. Kane (San Francisco State U.), J. Wright (Pennsylvania State U.), A. Howard (UC CT-0.9m 4 Berkeley), S. Wang (G) (Pennsylvania State U.): “Detecting Transiting Southern Sky Exoplanets around Bright Host Stars” C. Kaleida (CTIO), V. Parkash (U) (Union College), R. Jansen (Arizona State U.): “Comparing CT-4m 1 Stellar Populations of Galaxies across the Hubble Sequence” C. Kaleida, R. Students (U) (CTIO), J. Masiero (CalTech-JPL), F. Virgili (Liverpool John CT-0.9m 8 Moores University), N. van der Bliek, D. James, S. Points (CTIO): “CTIO REU/PIA Observa- tions: Targets of Opportunity” A. Koekemoer (STScI), J. Mould, J. Cooke (Swinburne University), S. Wyithe (University of CT-4m 2 Melbourne), C. Lidman (Australian Astronomical Observatory), M. Trenti (University of Cam- bridge), T. Abbott (CTIO), A. Kunder (Astrophysical Institute Potsdam), R. Barone-Nugent (G), E. Tescari, A. Katsianis (G) (University of Melbourne): “Large Scale Structure in the Epoch of Reionization” A. Kraus (U. of Texas, Austin), M. Ireland, A. Rizzuto (G) (Macquarie University): “Member- CT-1.5m-SVC 6.7 ship and Binarity of High-Mass Stars in Scorpius-Centaurus” K. Lewis, V. Logan (U) (College of Wooster): “Optical Spectroscopy of Hard-band Sources in SOAR 8 the XMM Slew Survey” K. Luhman (Pennsylvania State U.), E. Mamajek (U. of Rochester): “A Census of the Stellar SOAR 5 Population in Upper Scorpius” F. Menanteau (U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), J. Hughes (Rutgers U.), F. Barrientos, L. SOAR 2 Infante (Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile): “Is ‘El Gordo’ the Fattest Cluster in the Uni- verse?” N. Moskovitz (MIT), D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.), C. Thomas (NASA Goddard Space CT-1.3m 5.4 Flight Center), D. Polishook, F. DeMeo, R. Binzel (MIT), P. Abell (NASA Johnson Space Cen- ter), M. Person (MIT), M. Busch (CalTech-JPL), M. Willman (U. of Hawaii), E. Christensen (Lunar and Planetary Lab), T. Endicott (U) (U. of Massachusetts, Boston), M. Hinkle (Northern Arizona U.): “Mission Accessible Near-Earth Objects Survey (MANOS)” D. Nidever (U. of Michigan), K. Olsen (NOAO), G. Besla (Columbia U.), R. Gruendl (U. of Illi- CT-4m 7 nois Urbana-Champaign), A. Saha (NOAO), C. Gallart (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), E. CT-0.9m 10 Olszewski (U. of Arizona), R. Muñoz (Universidad de Chile), M. Monelli (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), A. Kunder (CTIO), C. Kaleida (Arizona State U.), A. Walker (CTIO), G. Stringfellow (U. of Colorado), D. Zaritsky (U. of Arizona), R. Van Der Marel (STScI), R. Blum (NOAO), K. Vivas (Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía), Y. Chu (U. of Illinois Ur- bana-Champaign), N. Martin, B. Conn, N. Noel (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie), S. Majewski (U. of Virginia), S. Jin (University of Groningen), H. Kim (G) (Arizona State U.), M. Cioni (University of Hertfordshire), E. Bell, A. Monachesi (U. of Michigan), T. De Boer (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute): “Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History - SMASH” T. Oswalt, S. Dhital (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U.), T. Mizusawa (G) (Florida Institute of SOAR 5 Technology), J. Holberg (U. of Arizona), J. Zhao (National Astronomical Observatory of China): “Observational Constraints on the White Dwarf Mass-Radius Relation”

38 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

CTIO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (12)  Telescope Nights

D. Padgett, R. Martinez (G) (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), F. Morales (CalTech-JPL), SOAR 4 K. Stapelfeldt (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center): “Characterization of WISE Debris Disk Stars - 2014A” M. Person, A. Bosh, S. Levine (MIT): “Intra-day Investigation of Pluto’s Atmosphere with Stel- SOAR 3 lar Occultations” D. Polishook, N. Moskovitz (MIT): “A Search for Color Heterogeneity on the Surfaces of Rapid- CT-1.3m 2.5 ly Rotating Rubble Pile Asteroids” A. Rest (STScI), F. Bianco (Las Cumbres Observatory), R. Chornock, R. Foley (Harvard- CT-4m 10.5 Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), T. Matheson, G. Narayan, K. Olsen (NOAO), J. Prieto (Universidad Diego Portales), R. Smith (NOAO), N. Smith (U. of Arizona), N. Suntzeff (Texas A&M U.), D. Welch (McMaster University), A. Zenteno (Universitäts-Sternwarte München): “Light Echoes of Galactic Explosions and Eruptions” A. Rest (STScI), F. Bianco (NYU), R. Chornock (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), CT-4m 3.5 T. Matheson (NOAO), J. Prieto (Universidad Diego Portales), R. Smith (NOAO), N. Smith (U. of Arizona), N. Walborn (STScI), D. Welch (McMaster University): “Spectrophotometric Time Series of Carinae’s Great Eruption” R. Rich (UCLA), A. Kunder (Astrophysical Institute Potsdam), C. Johnson (Harvard- CT-4m 8 Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), S. Michael (Indiana U.), W. Clarkson (U. of Michigan Dearborn), M. Irwin (University of Cambridge), R. Ibata (Observatoire astronomique de Stras- bourg), M. Soto (STScI), Z. Ivezic (U. of Washington), R. De Propris (ESO), A. Robin (Observatoire de Besançon), A. Koch (Heidelberg University), M. Young (O), C. Pilachowski (Indiana U.), K. Vivas (Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía), M. Collins (Max-Planck- Institut für Astronomie): “The Blanco DECam Galactic Bulge Survey: Completing the Southern Bulge” P. Seitzer (U. of Michigan), S. Lederer (NASA Johnson Space Center), K. Abercromby (Califor- CT-4m 1 nia Polytechnic State U.), E. Barker (LZ Technology), A. Burkhardt (G) (U. of Virginia), H. Cowardin, P. Krisko (Jacobs Technology), D. Monet (US Naval Observatory), C. Kaleida (CTIO): “A Search for Optically Faint Space Debris at GEO” S. Sheppard (Carnegie Institution of Washington), C. Trujillo (Gemini Observatory): “Beyond CT-4m 5 the Edge of the Solar System: The Sednoid Population” A. Tokovinin (CTIO): “Low-Mass Close Binaries Paired to Solar-Type Stars” SOAR 1

A. Tokovinin (CTIO), B. Mason, W. Hartkopf (US Naval Observatory): “Speckle Interferometry SOAR 3 of ‘Fast’ Binaries” D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.), H. Schlichting (MIT), C. Fuentes (Northern Arizona U.): “A CT-4m 3 DECam Search for Centaurs: Probing Planetary Formation in the Outer Solar System” H. Yan, M. Stefanon (U. of Missouri, Columbia): “DECam z and Y-band Imaging of the H- CT-4m 2 ATLAS SDP Field”

39 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

CTIO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (12)  Telescope Nights

US Thesis Programs (12)

J. Bloom (UC Berkeley), T. Matheson, S. Ridgway (NOAO), A. Miller, C. Klein (T) (UC Berke- CT-4m 3 ley), L. Walkowicz (Princeton U.), P. Nugent (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), I. Shivvers (T) (UC Berkeley), R. Smith, K. Olsen (NOAO), A. Becker (U. of Washington), D. Norman (NOAO), R. Simcoe (MIT), H. Oluseyi (Florida Institute of Technology), S. Ridgway, A. Saha (NOAO), J. Richards (UC Berkeley), S. Cenko (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), T. Lauer (NOAO): “A Pilot DECam Time-Domain Survey” X. Dai, R. Griffin (T) (U. of Oklahoma), C. Kochanek (Ohio State U.), J. Bregman (U. of Michi- CT-4m 8 gan), J. Nugent (T) (U. of Oklahoma), E. Rozo, E. Rykoff (Stanford U.): “Redshift Measure- ments of Galaxy Clusters from the Swift Serendipitous Cluster Survey” K. Eckert (T) (U. of North Carolina), I. dell’Antonio (Brown U.), S. Kannappan, D. Stark (G) (U. CT-4m 1 of North Carolina), I. Damjanov (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), D. Norman (NOAO), E. Snyder (U. of North Carolina): “The Low Mass End of the Baryonic Mass Function in Two Extreme Environments” A. Favia (T), D. Batuski (U. of Maine), P. Howell (Boston U.): “Mapping Dark Matter through CT-4m 1 Weak Lensing in the Extremely Overdense Aquarius and Microscopium Supercluster Cores” M. Geha, A. Bonaca (T) (Yale U.), K. Johnston (Columbia U.), N. Kallivayalil (U. of Virginia), CT-4m 3.5 A. Kupper (Columbia U.), D. Nidever (U. of Michigan): “An Abridged Tail: Mapping the Palo- mar 5 Tidal Stream with DECam” M. Giguere (T), D. Fischer (Yale U.): “The CHIRON Rocky Planet Search” CT-1.5m-SVC 7.7

K. Gullikson (T), A. Kraus (U. of Texas, Austin): “A Search for Close, Low-Mass Companions CT-1.5m-SVC 6.7 to Nearby A and B Stars” C. Johnson (T), R. Hynes (Louisiana State U.), C. Britt (Texas Technical U.), P. Jonker (SRON), CT-4m 2 T. Maccarone (Texas Technical U.), M. Torres (SRON), D. Steeghs (University of Warwick), G. Nelemans (Radboud University): “Completing the DECam View of the Galactic Bulge Survey” M. Kilic, S. Barber (T) (U. of Oklahoma), B. Jannuzi (U. of Arizona), A. Dey (NOAO), P. Stet- CT-4m 4 son (National Research Council of Canada): “A Search for Habitable Planets around White Dwarfs” L. Macri, W. Yuan (T) (Texas A&M U.), A. Riess (Johns Hopkins U.): “Towards a 2% Meas- CT-1.3m 5 urement of H0: Near-Infrared Light Curves of Galactic Cepheids” I. dell’Antonio, J. McCleary (T), P. Huwe (Brown U.): “The Low-Redshift End of the Cluster CT-4m 2 Mass Substructure Function” A. von der Linden, S. Allen, A. Wright (T) (Stanford U.), A. Mantz (U. of Chicago), D. Apple- CT-4m 11 gate (Universität Bonn), P. Kelly (UC Berkeley): “Setting the Scale: Determining the Absolute Mass Normalization and Scaling Relations for Clusters at z ~ 0.1”

CTIO Telescopes: 2014A Approved Foreign Programs (5), and Foreign Theses (2) Telescope Nights

H. Bouy (CAB), E. Bertin (IAP), W. Brandner (Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik), D. CT-4m 2.5 Barrado (Calar Alto Observatory): “Complementing Gaia from the Ground: the DANCe Survey”

40 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

CTIO Telescopes: 2014A Approved Foreign Programs (5), and Foreign Theses (2) Telescope Nights

T. Goncalves (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro): “The Environment of Dust-Deficient CT-4m 1 Starburst Galaxies” N. Richardson (University of Montreal), D. Gies (Georgia State U.), T. Gull (NASA Goddard CT-1.5m-SVC 1 Space Flight Center), A. Moffat, N. St-Louis (University of Montreal): “Orbital Variability of Carinae” K. Vivas (Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía), M. Mateo, D. Nidever (U. of Michigan), A. CT-4m 3 Walker (CTIO): “The Dwarf Cepheid Population in the Sextans Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy” P. Wilson (G), C. Huitson (G), D. Sing (University of Exeter), G. Ballester (U. of Arizona), H. CT-1.3m 2 Knutson (California Institute of Technology–Ctr for Advanced Computing Research), N. Lewis (MIT): “Monitoring the Stellar Activity of the Exoplanet Host Star WASP-19: Supporting HST Observations of the First Spectroscopic Phase Curve”

Foreign Thesis Programs (2)

H. Hildebrandt (Universität Bonn), G. Wilson (UC Riverside), A. Muzzin (Leiden University), T. CT- 4m 2 Erben (Universität Bonn), H. Hoestra (Leiden University), P. Hsieh (ASIAA), K. Kuijken (Lei- den University), J. Surace (SSC), L. Van Waerbeke (University of British Columbia), H. Yee (University of Toronto), A. Tudorica (T) (Universität Bonn): “Lensing Magnification: A Novel Method to Calibrate the Mass-Richness Relation of Galaxy Clusters at High Redshift” M. Sullivan (University of Southampton), P. Nugent (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), CT-4m 4 D. Howell (UC Santa Barbara), R. Nichol, (University of Portsmouth), J. Cooke (Swinburne University), R. Smith (NOAO), P. Brown (Texas A&M U.), S. Smartt (Queen’s University Bel- fast), A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science), C. D’Andrea (University of Portsmouth), B. Bassett (SAAO), K. Barbary (Argonne National Laboratory), A. Papadopoulos (T) (University of Portsmouth), L. Bildsten (UC Santa Barbara), M. Sako (U. of Pennsylvania), R. Quimby (Insti- tute of Physics and Mathematics of The University of Tokyo), S. Gonzalez-Gaitain, F. Burón (Universidad de Chile): “SUDSS: Survey Using DECam for Superluminous Supernovae”

3.2 KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY

KPNO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (14)  Telescopes Nights

B. Anthony-Twarog, B. Twarog (U. of Kansas), C. Deliyannis (Indiana U.): Constraining the WIYN 3 Evolution and Origin of Li Using Giants in M92” T. Beers (NOAO), V. Placco (IAGUSP), N. Christlieb (Universität Heidelberg), S. Rossi, R. KP-4m 5 Santucci (G) (IAGUSP): “Missing Metal-Poor Stars from the HK and Hamburg/ESO Surveys” B. Bowler, M. Liu (U. of Hawaii), B. Riaz (University of Hertfordshire), J. Gizis (U. of Dela- KP-4m 3 ware), E. Shkolnik (Lowell Observatory): “Reconnaissance of Young M Dwarfs: Locating the Elusive Majority of Nearby Moving Groups” M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute): “KBO Orbits for Occultations” KP-4m 3

 Key: (T) = Thesis Student; (G) = Graduate; (U) = Undergraduate; (O) = Other

41 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

KPNO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (14)  Telescopes Nights

D. Clowe (Ohio U.), M. Ulmer (Northwestern U.): “Weak Lensing Observations of a Galaxy WIYN 2 Filament” M. Everett (NOAO), S. Howell (NASA Ames Research Center), D. Silva (NOAO), P. Szkody KP-4m 7 (U. of Washington): “Spectroscopy of Kepler Candidate Exoplanet Host Stars” A. Geller (Northwestern U.), S. Meibom (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), S. WIYN 1.5 Barnes (Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik), R. Mathieu (U. of Wisconsin, Madison): “The Solar- Type Hard-Binary Frequency and Distributions of Orbital Parameters in the Open Cluster M37” R. Genet (California Polytechnic State U.), W. Hartkopf (US Naval Observatory), R. Clark (U. KP-2.1m 6.5 of South Alabama), J. Kenny (Concordia U.), K. McArdle (U), J. Goad (U) (California Poly- technic State U.), T. Smith (O) (Dark Ridge Observatory): “Speckle Interferometry and Photom- etry of Binary Stars” A. Heinze (SUNY), S. Metchev (University of Western Ontario): “Do Most T-Dwarfs Show KP-2.1m 21.5 Large-Amplitude 0.9 (micron) Variability, or Is Luhman 16 B Unusual?” T. Hillwig (Valparaiso U.), D. Frew, O. De Marco, D. Douchin (G) (Macquarie University): KP-2.1m 5 “Detecting Close Binary Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae: The Photometric Monitoring Cam- paign” B. Keeney, J. Stocke (U. of Colorado), B. Savage (U. of Wisconsin, Madison), J. Green (U. of WIYN 3 Colorado): “Gas and Galaxies in the Cosmic Web: A Galaxy Redshift Survey around HST/COS Sight Lines” A. Landolt, J. Clem (Louisiana State U.): “Faint UBVRI Photometric Standard Star Fields: KP-2.1m 3 KPNO” A. Landolt, J. Clem (Louisiana State U.): “Faint UBVRI Photometric Standard Star Fields: KP-2.1m 30 KPNO” K. Lee (Purdue U.), A. Dey, H. Inami (NOAO), B. Jannuzi (U. of Arizona), N. Reddy (UC Riv- KP-4m 6 erside), S. Hong (NOAO): “Unveiling the Most Massive Structure at z = 3.78” R. McMillan (U. of Arizona), J. Larsen (US Naval Academy), J. Scotti (O), T. Bressi (O), C. KP-4m 2 Maleszewski (G) (U. of Arizona): “Astrometry and Photometry of Faint, High Priority Solar System Objects” M. McSwain (Lehigh U.), A. Boyer (Kutztown U.), J. Labadie-Bartz (G), J. Pepper (Lehigh U.): KP-4m 5 “Stellar Parameters for Pulsating B Star Candidates in the Kepler Field” F. Menanteau (U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), J. Hughes (Rutgers U.), F. Barrientos, L. KP-4m 5 Infante (Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile): “Is ‘El Gordo’ the Fattest Cluster in the Uni- verse?” N. Moskovitz (MIT), D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.), C. Thomas (NASA Goddard Space KP-4m 6 Flight Center), D. Polishook, F. DeMeo, R. Binzel (MIT), P. Abell (NASA Johnson Space Cen- ter), M. Person (MIT), M. Busch (CalTech-JPL), M. Willman (U. of Hawaii), E. Christensen (Lunar and Planetary Lab), T. Endicott (U) (U. of Massachusetts, Boston), M. Hinkle (Northern Arizona U.): “Mission Accessible Near-Earth Objects Survey (MANOS)” B. Mueller, N. Samarasinha (PSI), J. Eluo (Vatican Observatory): “Tying Changes in Cometary KP-2.1m 9 Rotation to Nuclear Activity: A Substantial Increase in the Database” T. Oswalt, S. Dhital (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U.), T. Mizusawa (G) (Florida Institute of KP-4m 4 Technology), J. Holberg (U. of Arizona), J. Zhao (National Astronomical Observatory of Chi- na): “Observational Constraints on the White Dwarf Mass-Radius Relation”

42 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

KPNO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (14)  Telescopes Nights

C. Pilachowski, K. Nault (G) (Indiana U.): “The Abundance of Fluorine in the Galactic Halo” KP-4m 3

J. Rajagopal (NOAO), D. Jewitt (UCLA), S. Ridgway (NOAO): “Deep Wide-Field Imaging of WIYN 4 Main Belt Comets and Asteroids” M. Reed (Missouri State U.), C. Jeffery (Armagh Observatory), J. Telting (Nordic Optical Tele- KP-2.1m 6.5 scope), B. Quick (U) (Missouri State U.), A. Baran (Krakow Pedagogical University), A. KP-4m 4 Winans (U), H. Foster (U) (Missouri State U.): “Constraining Structural Models of Stellar Heli- um Cores Using the Pulsations of Feige 48” A. Rest (STScI), F. Bianco (Las Cumbres Observatory), R. Chornock, R. Foley (Harvard- KP-4m 4.5 Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), T. Matheson, G. Narayan, K. Olsen (NOAO), J. Prieto (Universidad Diego Portales), R. Smith (NOAO), N. Smith (U. of Arizona), N. Suntzeff (Texas A&M U.), D. Welch (McMaster University), A. Zenteno (Universitäts-Sternwarte München): “Light Echoes of Galactic Explosions and Eruptions” J. Rhoads, S. Malhotra (Arizona State U.), R. Probst, R. Swaters (NOAO), P. Hibon (Gemini KP-4m 11 Observatory South), B. Mobasher (UC Riverside), V. Tilvi (Texas A&M U.), S. Veilleux (U. of Maryland), J. Wang (University of Science & Technology of China), S. Finkelstein (U. of Texas, Austin), Z. Zheng, A. Gonzalez (G) (Arizona State U.), J. Zabl (G) (University of Copenhagen), J. Trahan (U), K. Emig (G) (Arizona State U.): “The Cosmic Deep And Wide Narrowband (Cosmic DAWN) Survey” A. Rivkin (Johns Hopkins U.), J. Emery (U. of Tennessee), D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.), KP-2.1m-PRE 5 A. Gulbis (SAAO), J. Grier (PSI): “How Do the Surfaces of Trojan Asteroids Evolve?” J. Runnoe, M. Eracleous (Pennsylvania State U.), T. Boroson (Las Cumbres Observatory), S. KP-4m 3.5 Sigurdsson (Pennsylvania State U.), T. Bogdanovic (Georgia Institute of Technology): “A Sys- WIYN 3 tematic Search for Close Binary Supermassive Black Holes” J. Schombert (U. of Oregon): “Star Formation in Dwarf Spirals” KP-2.1m 4

Y. Shen (Carnegie Observatories), P. Hall (York University), W. Brandt (Pennsylvania State KP-4m 5.5 U.), I. McGreer (U. of Arizona), L. Ho (Carnegie Observatories), K. Dawson (U. of Utah), P. Green (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), J. Greene, M. Strauss (Princeton U.), B. Peterson, K. Denney (Ohio State U.), X. Fan (U. of Arizona), S. Anderson (U. of Washington), D. Schneider (Pennsylvania State U.), D. York (U. of Chicago), B. Kelly (UC Santa Barbara), M. Eracelous, J. Trump (Pennsylvania State U.), C. Kochanek (Ohio State U.), G. Richards (Drexel U.), A. Seth (U. of Utah): “A Transformative Multi-Object AGN Reverberation Map- ping Campaign: Improving Spectrophotometry” A. Shporer (California Institute of Technology–Div of Geo and Planetary Science), T. Mazeh WIYN 3 (Tel Aviv University), A. Prsa (Villanova U.), S. Faigler (G) (Tel Aviv University), T. Boyajian (Yale U.), R. Mathieu (U. of Wisconsin, Madison): “Studying Low-Mass Short-Period Binary Companions to Stars across the Main Sequence” P. Szkody, A. Mukadam (U. of Washington): “Characterizing Accreting White Dwarf Pulsators” KP-2.1m 6

M. Trueblood (O) (Winer Observatory), R. Crawford (O) (Rincon-Ranch Observatory), D. Bell KP-2.1m 6 (NOAO), L. Lebofsky (PSI): “Long Term Follow-up of Near Earth Objects”

US Thesis Programs (14)

C. Adams (T), S. Brittain (Clemson U.), J. Najita (NOAO), J. Carr (Naval Research Laboratory), KP-4m 1 I. Mendigutia (Clemson U.): “A Study of the OH Emission in the Disk around the Herbig Ae Star V380 Ori”

43 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

KPNO Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (32), and US Theses (14)  Telescopes Nights

J. Andrews, D. Calzetti (U. Mass), J. Gallagher (U. of Wisconsin, Madison), H. Kim (Arizona KP-2.1m 8 State U.), R. Walterbos (New Mexico State U.), J. Lee (STScI), J. Ryon (T) (U. of Wisconsin, Madison), S. McElwee (U) (U. Mass): “The Stellar Initial Mass Function: Universal or Not?” J. Andrews, D. Calzetti (U. Mass), J. Gallagher (U. of Wisconsin, Madison), H. Kim (Arizona WIYN 3 State U.), J. Lee (STScI), S. McElwee (U) (U. Mass), J. Ryon (T) (U. of Wisconsin, Madison), R. Walterbos (New Mexico State U.): “The Heritage of LEGUS: Current Star Formation in Lo- cal Galaxies” F. Bastien (T), K. Stassun (Vanderbilt U.), J. Pepper (Lehigh U.), W. Chaplin (University of WIYN 5 Birmingham), D. Huber (NASA Ames Research Center): “Correlating Photometric Variability and Chromospheric Activity in Kepler Stars” J. Burchett (T), T. Tripp (U. Mass), J. Prochaska (UC Santa Cruz), J. Tumlinson (STScI): “A WIYN 2 Deep Search for Faint Galaxies Associated with Low-Redshift C IV Absorbers” Z. Cai (T), X. Fan (U. of Arizona), F. Bian (MSSSO), Y. Yang (Argelander-Institut für KP-4m 2 Astronomie), A. Zabludoff (U. of Arizona), Z. Zheng (Arizona State U.): “Probing the Large Scale Overdensity with Quasar Groups at the Peak Era of Galaxy Formation” P. Canton (T), A. Gianninas, M. Kilic (U. of Oklahoma), W. Brown, S. Kenyon (SAO): “The KP-4m 4 ELM Survey: Finding the Shortest Period Binary White Dwarfs” D. Drozdov (T), M. Leising (Clemson U.), P. Milne (U. of Arizona), G. Bryngelson (Francis KP-4m 4 Marion U.): “Probing Type Ia Supernovae at Late Epochs” P. Garnavich, J. Wiggins (T) (U. of Notre Dame), B. Hayden (Lawrence Berkeley National La- KP-4m 5 boratory): “The Heart of Darkness: Finding and Characterizing Star-Forming Galaxies in Ex- treme Voids” J. Ge, N. Thomas (T), B. Ma (T), R. Li (T), S. Sithajan (T) (U. of Florida): “SDSS-III MAR- KP-2.1m 7.5 VELS Planet Candidate RV Follow-up” B. Ma (T), J. Ge, R. Li (T), S. Sithajan (T), N. Thomas (T) (U. of Florida), J. Wang (Yale U.), N. KP-2.1m 20 De Lee (Vanderbilt U.): “Follow-up of MARVELS Brown Dwarf Candidates using EXPERT” S. Staudaher (T), D. Dale (U. of Wyoming), L. van Zee, K. Barnes (Indiana U.): “EDGES: KP-4m 3 Studying the Mass and Stellar Populations of the Extended Stellar Structures of Nearby Galax- ies” A. Van Sistine (T), J. Salzer (Indiana U.), M. Haynes (Cornell U.), E. Wilcots (U. of Wisconsin, KP-2.1m 10 Madison), R. Giovanelli (Cornell U.): “Making Hay with ALFALFA: The Star-Formation Prop- erties of an HI-Selected Sample of Galaxies” M. Wood-Vasey (U. of Pittsburgh), P. Garnavich (U. of Notre Dame), T. Matheson (NOAO), S. WIYN 17.5 Jha (Rutgers U.), A. Rest (STScI), L. Allen (NOAO), A. Weyant (T) (U. of Pittsburgh), H. Mar- ion (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), N. Jahan (G) (U. of Pittsburgh), B. Patel (G) (Rutgers U.): “Type Ia Supernovae in the Near-Infrared: A Three-Year Survey toward a One Percent Distance Measurement with WIYN+WHIRC”

44 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

KPNO Telescopes: 2014A Approved Foreign Programs (4)  Telescopes Nights

J. Farihi (University of Cambridge), H. Harris (US Naval Observatory), C. Bergfors (University KP-4m 2 of Cambridge), P. Green (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), B. Gansicke (Universi- ty of Warwick): “Are All Dwarf Carbon Stars Binary?” A. Kawka, S. Vennes (Astronomický ústav): “Polluted, Peculiar, and Duplicitous: The True Na- KP-4m 4 ture of Local White Dwarfs” M. Kronberger (EBG MedAustron), G. Jacoby (GMT), A. Acker (Observatoire astronomique de KP-2.1m 5 Strasbourg), D. Harmer (O) (NOAO): “Narrow-Band Imagery and Spectroscopy of New Plane- tary Nebula Candidates at High Galactic Latitudes” J. Weingrill (Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik), A. Geller (Northwestern U.), K. Strassmeier, S. WIYN 3 Barnes (Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik), S. Meibom (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astro- physics), T. Granzer, F. Spada (Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik): “Radial Velocity Membership for the Open Cluster IC4756”

3.3 GEMINI OBSERVATORY

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

G. Aldering, J. Nordin, B. Hayden (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory): “Dwarf Galaxy GEM-NQ 0.58 Hosts of Type Ia Supernovae” GEM-SQ 0.12 S. Ammons (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), K. Wong (ASIAA), A. Zabludoff (U. of GEM-N 1 Arizona), C. Keeton (Rutgers U.), K. French (G) (U. of Arizona), C. McCully (G) (Rutgers U.): “Studying the Most Powerful Gravitational Lens Telescopes with Subaru/Suprime-Cam” J. Andrews (U. Mass), G. Clayton (Louisiana State U.), K. Krafton (G) (U. Mass), B. Sugerman GEM-SQ 0.49 (Goucher College), M. Barlow (University College London), R. Wesson (ESO), J. Gallagher (U. of Cincinnati), M. Otsuka (ASIAA), M. Matsuura (University College London), M. Meixner (STScI): “Dust Formation in CCSNe with Extensive Mass Loss Histories” G. Bakos, J. Hartman (Princeton U.), D. Bayliss (Australian National University), A. Jordan GEM-N 1 (Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile), B. Sato (Tokyo Institute of Technology): “Confirma- tion of Transiting Neptunes from HATNet and HATSouth Using Keck/HIRES and Subaru/HDS” T. Beers (NOAO), V. Placco (IAGUSP), N. Christlieb (Universität Heidelberg), S. Rossi, R. GEM-NQ Santucci (G) (IAGUSP): “Missing Metal-Poor Stars from the HK and Hamburg/ESO Surveys” GEM-SQ 6.667

 Key: (T) = Thesis Student; (G) = Graduate; (U) = Undergraduate; (O) = Other

 Key: GEM-NQ = Gemini N Queue; GEM-SQ = Gemini S Queue; GEM-N = Gemini N classical; GEM-S = Gemini S classical; GEM-K = Gemini/Keck time exchange; GEM-Su = Gemini/Subaru time exchange; * = poor weather program; (T) = Thesis student; (G) = Graduate student; (U) = Undergraduate; (O) = Other

45 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

E. Berger (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), D. Fox (Pennsylvania State U.), R. GEM-NQ 1.125 Chornock, W. Fong (G) (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), B. Cobb (George Wash- GEM-SQ 0.675 ington U.), B. Cenko (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), D. Perley (California Institute of Technology-Dept. of Astronomy), J. Bloom (UC Berkeley), J. Prochaska (UC Santa Cruz), A. Morgan (UC Berkeley), A. Cucchiara (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), A. Levan (Univer- sity of Warwick), N. Tanvir (University of Leicester), A. Fruchter (STScI), S. Lopez (Univer- sidad de Chile), K. Wiersema (University of Leicester), K. Roth (Gemini Observatory): “Explor- ing the Cosmic Dawn, Galaxy Evolution, and Exotic Stellar Deaths with Rapid GRB Follow-up Observations” W. Brandt, US Lead Scientist for P. Hall, P. Hidalgo (York University), W. Brandt (Pennsylvania GEM-NQ 0.5 State U.), J. Rogerson (G) (York University), N. Filiz Ak (Pennsylvania State U.), L. Chajet (G) GEM-SQ 0.48 (York University): “Monitoring Emergent Absorption Troughs in Quasars” C. Britt (Texas Technical U.), R. Hynes (Louisiana State U.), T. Maccarone (Texas Technical GEM-SQ 1.32 U.), P. Jonker, M. Torres (SRON), C. Johnson (Louisiana State U.): “Spectroscopy of a New Candidate Black Hole Discovered in Quiescence” M. Brown (California Institute of Technology–Div of Geo and Planetary Science), L. Allen GEM-SQ 0.41 (NOAO), D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.): “The Birth Environment of the Solar System” R. Bussmann (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), D. Riechers (Cornell U.), J. GEM-SQ 0.725 Wardlow, H. Fu, A. Cooray (UC Irvine), I. Perez-Fournon (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), J. Calanog (G) (UC Irvine): “Gemini-South Imaging and Spectroscopy of ALMA Lensed SMGs Discovered by Herschel” A. Calamida, K. Sahu, S. Casertano, J. Anderson, T. Brown, H. Bond, H. Ferguson, M. Livio, J. GEM-SQ 1.6 Sokol (O), J. Valenti (STScI), S. Cassisi (Osservatorio Astronomico di Teramo), M. Salaris (Liv- erpool John Moores University): “The Nature of Hot Horizontal Branch and Blue Straggler Stars in the Galactic Bulge” S. Cantalupo (UC Santa Cruz), J. Hennawi (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie), J. Prochaska GEM-S 4 (UC Santa Cruz), F. Arrigoni Battaia (G) (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie): “Deep Lyman- alpha Imaging of Luminous z ~ 2 Quasars: Testing the Cold Accretion Paradigm” S. Cenko (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), J. Bloom (UC Berkeley), L. Strubbe (University GEM-SQ 0.2 of Toronto), E. Quataert (UC Berkeley), N. Butler (Arizona State U.), A. Miller (G), A. Morgan (G) (UC Berkeley), A. Levan (University of Warwick), N. Tanvir (University of Leicester): “Probing the Central Black Holes of Distant, Quiescent Galaxies via Tidal Disruption Flares” D. Cruikshank (NASA Ames Research Center), N. Pinilla-Alonso (U. of Tennessee), R. Binzel GEM-SQ 1 (MIT): “Rotationally Resolved Spectrum of Pluto, Ices and Non-ice Surface Constituents” I. Damjanov, US Lead Scientist for R. Bassett (G), K. Glazebrook, D. Fisher (Swinburne Univer- GEM-SQ 1.36 sity), R. Abraham (University of Toronto), I. Damjanov (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astro- physics): “Local Counterparts to High-Redshift Turbulent Galaxies: What are the Stellar Kine- matics?” R. De Rosa, J. Patience (Arizona State U.), A. Vigan (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille), GEM-NQ 0.29 P. Young, A. Rajan (G), K. Ward-Duong (G) (Arizona State U.), J. Bulger (G) (University of Ex- eter), A. Truitt (Arizona State U.): “Spectroscopic Characterization of a Newly-Identified Substellar Companion to an Early-Type Star”

46 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

K. Denney (Ohio State U.), F. Courbin (École Polytechnique de Lausanne), C. Kochanek (Ohio GEM-NQ 1.438 State U.), C. MacLeod (US Naval Academy), G. Meylan (École Polytechnique de Lausanne), C. Morgan (US Naval Academy), A. Mosquera (Ohio State U.), L. Moustakas (CalTech-JPL), C. Onken (MSSSO), B. Peterson (Ohio State U.), D. Sluse (Universität Bonn): “Reverberation Mapping of a Gravitationally-Lensed Quasar” V. Desai (IPAC), P. Jablonka (École Polytechnique de Lausanne), G. Rudnick (U. of Kansas), D. GEM-SQ 2.35 Just (University of Toronto), A. Aragaon-Salamanca (University of Nottingham), G. de Lucia (Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste), R. Finn (Siena College), B. Milvang-Jensen (Dark Cos- mology Center), B. Poggianti (Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova), D. Zaritsky (U. of Arizo- na), F. Rerat (École Polytechnique de Lausanne): “Large Scale Structures around Typical Clus- ters at Intermediate Redshift” J. Desert (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), J. Bean (U. of Chicago), J. Fortney GEM-NQ 3.512 (UC Santa Cruz), M. Bergmann (NOAO), D. Deming (U. of Maryland), S. Seager (MIT), A. GEM-SQ 1.488 Seifahrt (U. of Chicago): “Comparative Exoplanetology of Hot-Jupiter Prototypes” D. Figer (Rochester Institute of Technology), N. Bastian, B. Davies (Liverpool John Moores GEM-SQ 0.46 University), M. Andersen (Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble): “Constrain- ing the Properties of GLIMPSE-C01 – Potentially the Most Massive Young Cluster in the Gal- axy” D. Fox (Pennsylvania State U.), E. Berger, R. Chornock, W. Fong (G) (Harvard-Smithsonian GEM-SQ 0.3 Center for Astrophysics), B. Cobb (George Washington U.), B. Cenko (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), D. Perley (California Institute of Technology-Dept. of Astronomy), J. Bloom (UC Berkeley), J. Prochaska (UC Santa Cruz), A. Morgan (G) (UC Berkeley), A. Cucchiara (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), A. Levan (University of Warwick), N. Tanvir (University of Leicester), A. Fruchter (STScI), S. Lopez (Universidad de Chile), K. Wiersema (University of Leicester), K. Roth (Gemini Observatory): “Exploring Exotic Stellar Deaths with Standard TOO GRB Follow-up Observations” M. Fumagalli (Carnegie Observatories), J. Hennawi (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie), A. GEM-SQ 3 Myers (U. of Wyoming): “Resolving the Small-Scale Structure of the Circumgalactic Medium at z ~ 3” C. Gelino (NEXScI), J. Kirkpatrick (IPAC), M. Cushing (U. of Toledo), G. Mace (G) (UCLA), GEM-SQ 2.4 A. Schneider (U. of Toledo), N. Wright (UCLA), S. Fajardo-Acosta (IPAC), M. Skrutskie (U. of Virginia): “Photometric Follow-up of All WISE Brown Dwarf Candidates” A. Ghez, US Lead Scientist for T. Do (University of Toronto), A. Ghez (UCLA), J. Lu (U. of GEM-NQ 0.2 Hawaii), S. Yelda, L. Meyer (UCLA), N. Murray, M. Stostad (O) (University of Toronto): “De- termining the Orgin and Structure of the Young Stellar Disk at the Galactic Center with NIFS” D. Gies, US Lead Scientist for S. Caballero-Nieves (University of Sheffield), D. Gies (Georgia GEM-NQ 0.27 State U.), P. Crowther (University of Sheffield), D. Kiminki (U. of Arizona), H. Kobulnicky (U. of Wyoming), R. Matson (G) (Georgia State U.), N. Wright (University of Hertfordshire): “Young Companions to Massive Stars in Cygnus OB2” M. Graham (UC Berkeley), D. Sand (Texas Technical U.), J. Parrent (G) (Dartmouth College), GEM-SQ 1.007 D. Howell, S. Valenti (UC Santa Barbara), P. Mazzali (Liverpool John Moores University): “Un- derstanding the Power Source in Type Ia Supernovae with Nebular Phase Spectroscopy” H. Guenther (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), P. Scheider (Hamburger GEM-NQ 0.3 Sternwarte), S. Wolk (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics): “Proto-stellar Jets in the Making”

47 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

K. Hainline, R. Hickox (Dartmouth College), G. Liu, N. Zakamska (Johns Hopkins U.), J. Greene GEM-NQ 0.81 (Princeton U.): “Exploring the Narrow Line Region Sizes of IR-Luminous Type II QSOs with GMOS-IFU Data” A. Heinze, US Lead Scientist for S. Metchev (University of Western Ontario), A. Heinze GEM-S 0.5 (SUNY), R. Kurtev (Valparaiso U.), K. Kellogg (G) (University of Western Ontario): “Unravel- ing the Cloud Structure in the Brightest Brown Dwarfs” J. Homan (MIT), E. Berger (University of Amsterdam): “Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of the GEM-SQ 0.51 Brightest Neutron-Star X-ray Binaries” P. Jonker (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), S. Eikenberry (U. of Florida), M. GEM-SQ 0.9 Torres (SRON), D. Steeghs (University of Warwick), D. Chakrabarty (MIT): “The Unique Op- portunity to Determine the Mass of an Accreting Neutron Star: The Eclipsing Accretion Powered X-ray Pulsar SWIFTJ1749.4-2807” W. Keel, P. Maksym (U. of Alabama), V. Bennert (California Polytechnic State U.), K. GEM-NQ 1.25 Schawinski (ETH), C. Lintott (University of Oxford), M. Schirmer (Gemini Observatory South), S. Chojnoski (O) (U. of Virginia): “Fading AGN with Giant Ionized Clouds: Mode Switching and Outflows” B. Keeney, J. Stocke, D. Syphers, C. Danforth (U. of Colorado), B. Wakker, B. Savage (U. of GEM-NQ 2.2 Wisconsin, Madison), S. Morris (University of Durham): “Confirming the Discovery of Massive 106 K Gas Reservoirs in Spiral-Rich Galaxy Groups” M. Kilic (U. of Oklahoma), J. Hermes (University of Warwick), A. Gianninas (U. of Oklahoma), GEM-NQ 0.4 W. Brown (SAO): “A Search for Pulsating White Dwarf Companions to Millisecond Pulsars” S. Leggett (Gemini Observatory), D. Pinfield (University of Hertfordshire), M. Ruiz (Univer- GEM-NQ 2.42 sidad de Chile), M. Marley (NASA Ames Research Center), D. Saumon (LANL), C. Morley (O) GEM-SQ 3.081 (UC Santa Cruz), J. Gomes (University of Hertfordshire), A. Day-Jones (University of Leicester), M. Gromadzki, R. Kurtev (Universidad de Valparaiso), N. Lodieu (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), R. Smart (Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino), J. Faherty (Carnegie Institution of Washington): “Discovering and Characterizing New Y Dwarfs at the Faint Limits of WISE” S. Leggett (Gemini Observatory), D. Saumon (LANL), M. Marley (NASA Ames Research Cen- GEM-NQ 0.96 ter), C. Morley (O) (UC Santa Cruz): “Y Dwarf Characterization” GEM-SQ 0.513 G. Liu, N. Zakamska (Johns Hopkins U.), M. Strauss, J. Greene (Princeton U.), R. Alexandroff GEM-NQ 1 (G) (Johns Hopkins U.): “Quasar Feedback at the Peak of the Galaxy Formation Epoch” G. Liu (Johns Hopkins U.), J. Greene (Princeton U.), E. Glikman (Middlebury College), N. GEM-NQ 1.42 Zakamska (Johns Hopkins U.): “Feedback in Luminous Red Quasars at z ~ 0.5” J. Lu (U. of Hawaii), W. Clarkson (U. of Michigan Dearborn): “Young Massive Clusters in the GEM-SQ 2.25 Milky Way” J. Lu, Lead Scientist for T. Do (University of Toronto), J. Lu (U. of Hawaii), J. Simon (Carnegie GEM-SQ 0.3 Observatories), A. Peter (Ohio State U.), M. Boylan-Kolchin (U. of Maryland): “Measuring the Orbital History of the Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy Hercules with GSAOI” A. Mann (U. of Texas, Austin), N. Deacon (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie), K. Allers GEM-NQ 0.88 (Bucknell U.), J. Brewer (Yale U.), E. Magnier, M. Liu (U. of Hawaii): “Prospecting in Ultracool Dwarfs: Measuring the Metallicity of L dwarfs” H. Melin (Space Environment Technologies), S. Badman, T. Stallard (University of Leicester), S. GEM-N 4 Miller (University College London), L. Moore (Boston U.), J. O’Donoghue, J. Blake (University of Leicester): “Energy Flows in the Auroral Region of Saturn”

48 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

N. Moskovitz (MIT), D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.), C. Thomas (NASA Goddard Space GEM-NQ 2.25 Flight Center), D. Polishook, F. DeMeo, R. Binzel (MIT), P. Abell (NASA Johnson Space Cen- GEM-SQ 1.3 ter), M. Person (MIT), M. Busch (CalTech-JPL), M. Willman (U. of Hawaii), E. Christensen (Lunar and Planetary Lab), T. Endicott (U) (U. of Massachusetts, Boston), M. Hinkle (Northern Arizona U.): “Mission Accessible Near-Earth Objects Survey (MANOS)” C. O’Dea (Rochester Institute of Technology), G. Tremblay (ESO), A. Labiano (CAB), S. Baum GEM-NQ 0.57 (Rochester Institute of Technology), R. McDermid (Macquarie University), F. Combes (Observatoire de Paris), S. Garcia-Burillo (Observatorio Astronómico F. Aguilar): “A Sleeping Giant Awakened: Reignition of AGN Activity, Reborn Star Formation, and a Multiphase Out- flow in One of the Largest Radio Galaxies Known” T. Oka (U. of Chicago), T. Geballe (Gemini Observatory): “Study of the Gas in the Central Mo- GEM-NQ 1.1 lecular Zone of the Galactic Center by H3+ Spectroscopy (Continuation)” J. Pforr, M. Dickinson, H. Inami, J. Kartaltepe (NOAO), S. Juneau (CEA), B. Weiner (U. of Ari- GEM-NQ 3.5 zona), H. Ferguson (STScI), E. Daddi, D. Elbaz (CEA), M. Giavalisco (U. Mass), A. Koekemoer (STScI), M. Pannella (CEA), A. Pope (U. Mass), P. Popesso (Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik), N. Reddy (UC Riverside): “A GMOS Spectroscopy Survey of Her- schel Sources in the CANDELS COSMOS Field” M. Phillips (Carnegie Institution of Washington), E. Hsiao, C. Contreras, N. Morrell (Carnegie GEM-NQ 1 Observatories), C. Lidman, S. Ryder (Australian Astronomical Observatory), M. Stritzinger (University of Aarhus), B. Schmidt (Australian National University), H. Marion (Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics): “Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Type Ia Supernovae” A. Rest (STScI), F. Bianco (NYU), R. Chornock (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), GEM-SQ 1.35 T. Matheson (NOAO), J. Prieto (Universidad Diego Portales), R. Smith (NOAO), N. Smith (U. of Arizona), N. Walborn (STScI), D. Welch (McMaster University): “Spectrophotometric Time Series of Carinae’s Great Eruption” A. Rettura (CalTech-JPL), S. Stanford (UC Davis), D. Stern (CalTech-JPL), S. Mei (IPAC), M. GEM-SQ 2 Brodwin (U. of Missouri, Kansas City), A. Gonzalez, D. Gettings (U. of Florida), M. Ashby (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), J. Bartlett (CalTech-JPL), P. Rosati (ESO): “The GMOS-S Imaging Survey of the Most Distant Clusters in the Spitzer SPT Deep Field” S. Rodney (Johns Hopkins U.), R. Foley (U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), S. Jha, C. McCully GEM-SQ 0.75 (G), B. Patel (G) (Rutgers U.), T. Matheson (NOAO): “The Next Frontier: High-Redshift Super- novae in the HST Frontier Fields” D. Sand (Texas Technical U.), M. Graham (UC Berkeley), D. Zaritsky (U. of Arizona), C. GEM-SQ 0.5 Pritchet, S. Fabbro, C. Bildfell, J. Kezwer (University of Victoria), J. Kneib (École Polytechnique de Lausanne), R. Gavazzi (IAP), M. Limousin, E. Jullo (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Mar- seille), H. Hoekstra (Leiden University), Y. Lin, B. Hsieh (ASIAA): “Spectroscopy of Lensed and Intracluster Supernovae at Intermediate Redshift” D. Sand (Texas Technical U.), S. Valenti, D. Howell, M. Graham (UC Santa Barbara), J. Parrent GEM-NQ 0.898 (Dartmouth College): “Constraining Type Ia Supernova Physics with Near-Infrared Spectrosco- GEM-SQ 1.272 py” R. Sankrit (NASA Ames Research Center), W. Blair (Johns Hopkins U.), K. Long (STScI), P. GEM-SQ 1.15 Winkler (Middlebury College): “Shock Velocities in Kepler’s Supernova Remnant, and Spectra of Progenitor-Companion Candidates”

49 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

A. Sarajedini, US Lead Scientist for T. Puzia, S. Perina, M. Simunovic, M. Taylor (Pontifícia GEM-SQ 0.3 Universidad Católica de Chile), R. Carrasco (Gemini Observatory South), B. Miller (Gemini Ob- servatory), P. Pessev (Gemini Observatory South), A. Sarajedini (U. of Florida), P. Goudfrooij (STScI), A. Dotter (Australian National University): “The GeMS/GSAOI Galactic Globular Cluster Survey (G4CS)” K. Schlaufman (MIT), A. Casey (Australian National University): “The Brightest (and Therefore GEM-SQ 1.7 Best) Extremely Metal-Poor Stars” K. Sellgren (Ohio State U.), D. An (Ewha Woman’s University), A. Boogert, S. Ramirez (IPAC): GEM-NQ 0.5 “Characterization of Methanol Ice around Massive YSOs in the Galactic Center” A. Seth (U. of Utah), L. Spitler (Macquarie University), S. Mieske (ESO), J. Strader (Michigan GEM-NQ 1.17 State U.), H. Baumgardt (University of Queensland), R. Van Den Bosch (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie), N. Neumayer (ESO), I. Chilingarian (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophys- ics), R. McDermid (Macquarie University): “Resolving the Nature of Ultracompact Dwarfs” K. Sharon (U. of Michigan), M. Gladders (U. of Chicago), T. Johnson (G) (U. of Michigan), M. GEM-N 3 Bayliss (Harvard U.), J. Rigby (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center): “Resolving the Star For- mation in Distant Galaxies” J. Spencer (Southwest Research Institute), D. Trilling (Northern Arizona U.), M. Buie (Southwest GEM-N 2 Research Institute), A. Parker (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), D. Tholen (U. of Hawaii), S. Stern (Southwest Research Institute): “Finding KBO Flyby Targets for New Hori- zons” L. Stanghellini (NOAO), L. Magrini (Osservatorio Astrosico di Arcetri), V. Casasola (INAF): GEM-NQ 0.05 “The M81 Radial Metallicity Gradient and Its Discontinuity through HII Region Weak-Line Abundances” L. Trafton (U. of Texas, Austin), S. Kim (Kyunghee University), T. Geballe (Gemini Observato- GEM-NQ 1.6 ry): “Hemispherical Constraint of Titan’s Methane Cycle” J. Tumlinson, R. Bordoloi (STScI), J. O’Meara (St. Michael’s College), J. Werk (UC Santa GEM-NQ 2 Cruz): “The CGM in HD: New Maps of Galactic Accretion, Quenching, and Chemical Feedback GEM-SQ 2 in the Circumgalactic Medium” P. Winkler (Middlebury College), K. Long (STScI), W. Blair (Johns Hopkins U.): “Supernova GEM-NQ 2.07 Remnants in the Most Fertile Galaxy: NGC 6946” P. Winkler (Middlebury College), K. Long (STScI), J. Raymond (Harvard-Smithsonian Center GEM-SQ 2.84 for Astrophysics): “Fast SNR Shocks and Cosmic Rays: Unique Opportunities in SN 1006” J. Woo (Carnegie Observatories), K. Gultekin (U. of Michigan), D. Park, Y. Yoon (G) (Seoul Na- GEM-NQ 0.521 tional University): “Investigating the M-sigma Relation Using Rotation-Corrected Velocity Dis- persions” S. Zepf (Michigan State U.), T. Maccarone (Texas Technical U.), M. Steele (Northern Michigan GEM-SQ 0.72 University), A. Kundu (Tata Institute for Fundamental Research): “Long-Term X-ray and Optical Study of the Black Hole X-ray Binaries in the Elliptical Galaxies NGC 4472”

Thesis Programs (18)

M. Brodwin (U. of Missouri, Kansas City), D. Gettings (T), A. Gonzalez (U. of Florida), S. Stan- GEM-NQ 3.33 ford (UC Davis), P. Eisenhardt, D. Stern (CalTech-JPL), D. Wylezalek (ESO): “Massive Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS)”

50 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

R. Chornock (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), K. Roth (Gemini Observatory), E. GEM-NQ 0.61 Berger, R. Lunnan (T), A. Soderberg (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), A. Rest GEM-SQ 0.61 (STScI), R. Foley (U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), R. Margutti (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics): “Unveiling the Explosion Physics of Nature’s Most Luminous Supernovae” B. Clement (U. of Arizona), J. Cuby, S. Basa, J. Chatron (T) (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de GEM-NQ 0.57 Marseille), C. Willott (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics): “Photometric Downselection of z ~ 7 Quasars from the CFHQSIR Survey” K. de Kleer (T), I. de Pater (UC Berkeley), A. Davies (CalTech-JPL): “Linking Io’s Volcanic Ac- GEM-NQ 2 tivity to Plasma Torus Variability” J. Faherty, US Lead Scientist for C. Tinney, D. Opitz (T) (University of New South Wales), J. GEM-SQ 0.74 Faherty (Carnegie Institution of Washington), C. Gelino (IPAC): “MCAO Astrometry of WISE Y Dwarfs” D. Figer, US Lead Scientist for F. Najarro (CAB), D. Figer (Rochester Institute of Technology), GEM-NQ 1 T. Geballe (Gemini Observatory), A. Fuente (T) (CAB): “Massive Stars in Clusters and in Isola- tion in the Galactic Center: Origins, IMFs, and Chemical Enrichment Histories” A. Ghez, L. Meyer (UCLA), J. Lu (U. of Hawaii), T. Do (University of Toronto), S. Yelda GEM-SQ 0.72 (UCLA), B. Ellerbroek (Thirty Meter Telescope), M. Morris, E. Becklin (UCLA), M. van Dam (Flat Wavefronts), M. Schoeck (Thirty Meter Telescope), G. Witzel, B. Sitarski (T), A. Boehle (T) (UCLA): “Using MCAO to Enable Unique Test of General Relativity at the Galactic Center” A. Heinze, US Lead Scientist for S. Metchev (University of Western Ontario), A. Heinze GEM-NQ 0.4 (SUNY), D. Apai, D. Flateau (T) (U. of Arizona), M. Marley (NASA Ames Research Center): GEM-SQ 0.45 “Weather on Other Worlds: Magnetic Fields or Clouds?” J. Holtzman, US Lead Scientist for N. Ouellette (T), S. Courteau (Queen’s University), J. GEM-NQ 2 Holtzman (New Mexico State U.), T. Puzia, M. Bovill (Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile), GEM-SQ 0.75 M. Cappellari (University of Oxford), P. Cote (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics), J. Dalcanton (U. of Washington), A. Dutton (Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik), P. Eigenthaler (Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile), E. Emsellem (ESO), L. Ferrarese (Herzberg Institute of Astro- physics), M. McDonald (MIT), R. Muñoz (Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile), J. Roediger (Queen’s University), R. Tully (U. of Hawaii): “Populating the Virgo Velocity Function with Early-Type Galaxies at Gemini” M. Kasliwal (Carnegie Institution of Washington), Y. Cao (T) (California Institute of Technolo- GEM-NQ 0.48 gy-Dept of Physics, Math, Astronomy), S. Kulkarni (California Institute of Technology-Dept. of GEM-SQ 0.42 Astronomy), E. Ofek, A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science), A. Goobar (Oskar Klein Center), P. Nugent (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), P. Wozniak (LANL), R. Quimby (Institute of Physics and Mathematics of The University of Tokyo), I. Arcavi (UC Santa Barba- ra), S. Ben-Ami (G) (Weizmann Institute of Science): “Rapid Spectroscopy of Elusive Transients and Young Supernovae” D. Lena (T), A. Robinson (Rochester Institute of Technology), T. Storchi-Bergmann, A. Schnorr- GEM-NQ 0.76 Muller (UFRGS), R. Riffel, C. Brum (T), G. Couto (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria): “Mapping Sub-kpc Gas Flows in a Sample of Nearby, Hard X-ray Selected AGNs” D. Lena (T), A. Robinson (Rochester Institute of Technology), T. Storchi-Bergmann (UFRGS), GEM-SQ 0.95 R. Riffel (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria), A. Schnorr-Muller (UFRGS), C. Brum (T), G. Couto (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria): “Mapping Sub-kpc Gas Flows in a Sample of Nearby, Hard X-ray Selected AGNs” R. McGurk (T), C. Max (UC Santa Cruz), G. Shields (U. of Texas, Austin): “Exploring the GEM-NQ 1.84 Origin of Double-Peaked Emission Lines in AGN”

51 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Programs for US Time (66), and Theses (18)  Telescopes Nights

R. Patel (T) (SUNY), S. Metchev (University of Western Ontario): “Confirmation of Debris GEM-N 1 Disks from WISE Using High Resolution Mid-IR Imaging” J. Rigby (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), M. Gladders (U. of Chicago), E. Wuyts (Max- GEM-N 3 Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik), K. Sharon, J. Kellar (T) (U. of Michigan), M. Bayliss (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics): “The z ~ 2 Mass-Metallicity Relation from Lensed Galaxies” O. Shemmer (U. of North Texas), S. Anderson (U. of Washington), W. Brandt (Pennsylvania GEM-NQ 0.75 State U.), A. Diamond-Stanic (UC San Diego), X. Fan (U. of Arizona), P. Hall (York Universi- ty), P. Lira (Universidad de Chile), B. Luo (Pennsylvania State U.), H. Netzer (Tel Aviv Univer- sity), R. Plotkin (U. of Michigan), G. Richards (Drexel U.), D. Schneider (Pennsylvania State U.), M. Stein (T) (U. of North Texas), M. Strauss (Princeton U.), B. Trakhtenbrot (Weizmann In- stitute of Science), R. Wang (U. of Arizona), J. Wu (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophys- ics): “Weak Line Quasars at High Redshift: Unusual Ionization Conditions or Anemic Broad- Line Regions?” V. Tilvi, C. Papovich (Texas A&M U.), S. Finkelstein (U. of Texas, Austin), M. Dickinson GEM-NQ 0.1 (NOAO), S. Faber (UC Santa Cruz), H. Ferguson (STScI), G. Fazio (Harvard-Smithsonian Cen- ter for Astrophysics), B. Salmon (T) (Texas A&M U.), B. Mobasher (UC Riverside), N. Mehrtens (Texas A&M U.), A. Koekemoer (STScI), M. Giavalisco (U. Mass), R. Livermore (U. of Texas, Austin), J. Trump (Pennsylvania State U.): “Completing the Galaxy Census from z = 0 to z ~ 7 in the CANDELS/COSMOS Field” N. Zakamska, G. Liu, R. Alexandroff (T) (Johns Hopkins U.), J. Greene, M. Strauss (Princeton GEM-NQ 0.46 U.): “Quasar Feedback at the Peak of Galaxy Formation Epoch”

Gemini Telescopes: 2014A Approved Foreign Programs for US Time (2), and Theses (1)  Telescopes Nights

A. Kong, P. Yen (G) (NTHU): “Searching for the Optical Counterparts of Gamma-ray Emitting GEM-SQ 0.25 Black Widow- Type Millisecond Pulsars” J. Shinn (KASI), M. Hoare, S. Lumsden (University of Leeds): “Study on the Accretion of Mas- GEM-NQ 1.8 sive Young Stellar Objects Using the Outflow Features around Ultracompact H II Regions”

Foreign Thesis Programs (1)

P. Chiang (T), W. Chen (National Central University): “Population of Planetary Objects in the GEM-SQ 1.85 Ophiuchi Star-Forming Region”

52 OBSERVING PROGRAMS SEMESTER 2014A

3.4 COMMUNITY ACCESS TO PRIVATE TELESCOPES

3.4.1 Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy CHARA Telescope: 2014A Approved US Programs (2) Telescope Nights

M. Simon (SUNY), G. Schaefer (Georgia State U.): “Diameters of the Components of EQ Peg, CHARA 1 the Nearest PMS Binary” G. Van Belle (Lowell Observatory): “A Direct Imaging Study of Rapid Rotators with the CHARA 2.4 CHARA Array”

CHARA Telescope: 2014A Approved Foreign Programs (1) Telescope Nights

M. Kishimoto (Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie), R. Barvainis (NSF), R. Antonucci, S. CHARA 2 Hoenig (UC Santa Barbara), F. Millour (Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur), K. Tristram, G. Weigelt (Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie): “Resolving the Innermost Dusty Accretion in the Brightest Type 1 AGN with the CHARA Array”

3.4.2 Keck Observatory Keck Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (6), and US Theses (1)  Telescope Nights

G. Bakos, J. Hartman (Princeton U.), D. Bayliss (Australian National University), A. Jordan Keck-I 0.5 (Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile), B. Sato (Tokyo Institute of Technology): “Confirma- tion of Transiting Neptunes from HATNet and HATSouth Using Keck/HIRES and Subaru/HDS” B. Bonev, M. Disanti, M. Mumma (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), E. Gibb (U. of Mis- Keck-II 1 souri, St. Louis), G. Villanueva, L. Paganini (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), M. Combi (U. of Michigan), K. Magee-Sauer (Rowan College of New Jersey): “Comet 209P/LINEAR’s Very Close Approach to Earth: Probing the Inner-Coma Physical Environment and Volatile Composition” D. Coe (STScI), R. Smit (Leiden University), L. Bradley (STScI), R. Bouwens (Leiden Universi- Keck-I 1 ty), M. Nonino (Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste), A. Zitrin, J. Merten (CalTech-JPL), P. Rosati (Università di Ferrara), S. Seitz, A. Monna (University Observatory Munich), M. Postman (STScI), D. Kelson (Carnegie Observatories): “MOSFIRE Spectroscopy of Lensed Galaxies, In- cluding the Brightest z ~ 8 Candidate Known” M. Dickinson, J. Kartaltepe (NOAO), B. Weiner (U. of Arizona), S. Kassin (STScI), F. Bournaud Keck-I 1 (CEA), P. Eisenhardt (CalTech-JPL), H. Inami, J. Pforr (NOAO): “Are Starbursts Really Mer- gers at High Redshift? A Kinematic Investigation” R. Livermore (U. of Texas, Austin), C. Papovich (Texas A&M U.), M. Dickinson (NOAO), S. Keck-II 1.5 Finkelstein (U. of Texas, Austin), V. Tilvi (Texas A&M U.): “Spectroscopic Study of High-z Galaxy Candidates in CANDELS” A. Riedel, K. Cruz (Hunter College), E. Rice (College of Staten Island), J. Faherty (Carnegie In- Keck-II 1 stitution of Washington): “Confirmation of Young Brown Dwarfs in Nearby Moving Groups”

 Key: (T) = Thesis Student; (G) = Graduate; (U) = Undergraduate; (O) = Other

53 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

Keck Telescopes: 2014A Approved US Programs (6), and US Theses (1)  Telescope Nights

US Thesis Programs (1)

V. Smith (NOAO), K. Cunha (U. of Arizona), S. Schuler (U. of Tampa), J. Teske (T) (U. of Ari- Keck-I 0.5 zona), C. Griffith (Lunar and Planetary Lab): “Using Chemical Abundance Signatures in Kepler- Field Solar-Twins to Infer the Existence of Inner Rocky-Planet Architectures”

Keck Telescopes: 2014A Approved Foreign Thesis Programs (1) Telescope Nights

E. Daddi, R. Gobat, V. Strazzullo (CEA), M. Onodera (Zurich Institute for Astronomy), M. Keck-I 0.5 Dickinson (NOAO), F. Valentino (T), M. Sargent (CEA), A. Renzini (INAF), M. Pannella, M. Bethermin (CEA), A. Cimatti (Università di Bologna), M. Carollo (Zurich Institute for Astrono- my), N. Arimoto (NAOJ): “High-z clusters and ‘Proto’-Clusters. Can You Tell the Difference ?”

3.4.3 Australian Astronomical Observatory Anglo-Australian Telescope: 2014A Approved US Programs (3), and US Theses (1)  Telescope Nights

M. Geha (Yale U.), R. Wechsler, P. Marshall (Stanford U.), R. Muñoz (Universidad de Chile), E. AAT 3 Sandford (U) (Yale U.), E. Tollerud (UC Irvine), B. Weiner (U. of Arizona): “Searching for Dwarf Galaxy Satellites around Milky Way Analogs” M. McSwain (Lehigh U.), M. Povich (Cal Poly Pomona), M. Alexander (Lehigh U.): “They AAT 1 Might Be Giants: Physical Properties of Newly Discovered OB Stars in Carina” M. Person, A. Bosh, S. Levine (MIT): “Intra-day Investigation of Pluto’s Atmosphere with Stel- AAT 1.5 lar Occultations”

US Thesis Programs (1)

R. Patel (T) (SUNY), S. Metchev (University of Western Ontario): “Age Diagnostics of New AAT 2 WISE Detected Debris Disk-Host Stars”

Anglo-Australian Telescope: 2014A Approved Foreign Programs (1) Telescope Nights

A. Kunder (Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik), R. De Propris (Finnish Centre for Astronomy), R. AAT 3 Rich (UCLA), A. Koch (Heidelberg University), C. Johnson (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics): “Characterization of Stellar Sub-Structure in the Galactic Bulge”

 Key: (T) = Thesis Student; (G) = Graduate; (U) = Undergraduate; (O) = Other

4 USAGE OF ARCHIVED DATA

The first two tables below illustrate access to and usage of reduced data in the NOAO Science Ar- chive (R2) from NOAO Survey programs. The table on the left shows the data download volume in gigabytes, the number of files retrieved and the number of unique visitors (for that month) who downloaded archive data through the ftp site. The table on the right shows the Web activity logged from the NOAO Science Archive Web site. It includes users (visitors) collecting additional information before or after downloading data.

Archive Data Retrieval Activity (ftp) NOAO Science Archive Web Site Activity Retrieved Files Unique Bandwidth Pages Unique Date Date (GB) Retrieved Visitors (GB) Viewed Visitors Jan 2014 132.87 6,673 42 Jan 2014 22.76 3,290 531 Feb 2014 8.87 367 14 Feb 2014 49.53 8,263 1,092 Mar 2014 58.02 407 8 Mar 2014 15.66 4,106 444 Total: 199.76 7,447 64 Total: 87.95 15,659 2,067

The NOAO Portal provides principal investigators (PIs) access to their raw data from all instruments and to pipeline-reduced products from the Mosaic instruments at the CTIO and KPNO 4- meter telescopes and the NEWFIRM instrument. The metadata are stored in a searchable Archive, which allows discovery and retrieval from the NOAO Portal (portal-nvo.noao.edu). After the requi- site proprietary period (usually 18 months), the data become accessible to the general public.

Portal Data Retrieval Activity (ftp) NVO Portal Data Retrieval Activity Bandwidth Pages Unique Bandwidth Pages Unique Date Date (GB) Viewed Visitors (MB) Viewed Visitors Jan 2014 650.15 19,747 105 Jan 2014 793.17 44,148 385 Feb 2014 6.56 425 23 Feb 2014 1,177.60 52,732 294 Mar 2014 2,942.18 31,125 202 Mar 2014 8,929.28 72,591 555 Total: 3,598.89 51,297 330 Total: 10,900.05 169,471 1,234

55 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

5 GRANTS

The following table lists the grants received by NOAO staff from non-NSF agencies during the second quarter of FY 2014.

Principle In- Budget Period of Awarding Agency Title vestigator Amount Performance Mark Dickinson JPL The Distant Dusty Universe, Spectroscopic Con- $12,750 02/04/2014– firmation 09/30/2015 Arjun Dey JPL A Protocluster at Z = 3.78 $12,750 01/27/2014– 09/30/2015 Jay Elias TMT Observatory Support on the Development of the TMT Ter- $14,300 03/10/2014– Corporation tiary Mirror “M3” 09/30/2014

Acronyms used in table: JPL – Jet Propulsion Laboratory TMT – Thirty Meter Telescope

6 NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q2

NOAO North During the second quarter of FY14, various safety-related activities occurred on Kitt Peak and in Tucson. They are as follows: Kitt Peak  Kitt Peak staff Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) met with the local EMT certification manager to review requirements and procedures for maintaining certifications.  Some fire and emergency response training took place on Kitt Peak on 24 February.  Several Kitt Peak staff attended a day-long safety workshop (25 March) hosted by Steward Ob- servatory.  Kitt Peak staff met with the base hospital administrator to review reporting requirements procedures, training opportunities, and certification issues for Kitt Peak EMT and medical response staff. The Kitt Peak medical response group also conducted some internal training exercises.  Tohono O’odham Fire Department personnel came to Kitt Peak to meet with staff for a brief review of fire prevention preparation in advance of the upcoming fire season.  Kitt Peak and Tucson staff participated in the NSO decommissioning review and evaluation of safety and environmental issues for the McMath-Pierce and Solis facilities on Kitt Peak.  Kitt Peak and Tucson staff participated in the EPA Region 9 Sanitary Survey of the Kitt Peak water processing plant, which is done every three years. The system was found to be in compliance.  A safety walk through was held by KPNO engineering staff in March prior to the planned start- up of the mirror lift project at the Mayall 4-m telescope on Kitt Peak. Tucson  Tucson staff was involved in an unannounced review of the underground fuel storage tanks and system documentation was conducted by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. NOAO was found to be in compliance. New training of staff will take place going forward to remain in compliance.  A large amount of asbestos-containing floor tile was removed from a basement laboratory area being converted to office use and was disposed of by a contracted environmental remediation firm.  Approximately six Tucson and KPNO staff attended a half-day observatory safety seminar hosted by Steward Observatory. The seminar focused on lightning safety, sheltering in place, fire protection, and confined spaces.  Long-time NOAO Risk Manager Chuck Gessner accepted a position to work in that capacity with the LSST Project. A small group of staff has begun the search for Chuck’s replacement. He remains on call for NOAO while the search for his replacement is in progress.

57 NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2014(2)

NOAO South The NOAO South safety and environmental engineer was busy during the second quarter of FY14 as noted below:  She attended two training courses provided by the OSHA training center at the Universidad Metropolitan in Puerto Rico: • 29 CFR 1926, OSHA 510, Occupational Safety and Health Standards for Construction In- dustry • 28 CFR 1910, OSHA 511, Occupational Safety and Health Standards for General Industry  She gave introductory safety briefings to new staff (primarily temporary summer hires); students participating in the REU, PIA, and summer work experience programs; and contractors. In conjunction with the AURA Observatory (AURA-O) safety manager, the NOAO South safety and environmental engineer also carried out a practical training session on operation of fire hoses and fire extinguishers and emergency procedures for the residents and security guards of the AURA recinto in La Serena in coordination with the La Serena Fire Brigade.  She continued to update the set of task-related documents required by the Chilean Obligación de Informar de Riesgos laborales (obligation to inform regarding work hazards) regulations. She also collaborated in the development of Job Hazard analysis for various tasks buy observatory personnel and contractors.  She held regular inspections of work areas, purchased and revised personal protective equipment, supervised the safety of larger maintenance tasks and engineering shut-downs at the telescopes by observatory staff and work carried out by external contractors, participated in regular meetings of the Comité Paritario de Higiene y Seguridad (Chilean workers safety committee), and investigated accidents and incidents.  She worked with the TelOps manager and interim NOAO South director to complete CTIO’s response to the report of the safety work on the Blanco Telescope carried out in July and August of 2013.  As part of the program to improve mountain-driving safety on AURA property in Chile, she and the AURA-O safety manager gave a theoretical class on defensive driving on the mountain roads. Participation is compulsory for all staff who drive observatory vehicles, as well as the workers of contractors who will drive on the roads on AURA property. This in-house developed course will be repeated at intervals to give opportunities for all staff to attend, including new staff and contractors; a refresher course will be held in the future.