NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY
Preliminary Program Plan O FY 2009
Preliminary
NRAO Program Plan FY 2009
Cover Image: Multiple telescopes at different wavelengths reveal the intricate workings of the Galactic Center and its surrounding Central Molecular Zone, together the most active star formation region in the Milky Way. The NRAO Very Large Array shows, in purple, a 20 cm image of H II regions illuminated by hot,massive stars, supernova remnants and synchrotron emission. The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory's 1.1 mm image, in orange, reveals cold (20-30K) molecular gas and dust, some of which will form stars in a few million years and the rest of which will be blown away. The Spitzer Space Observatory's Infrared Array Camera shows stars in colors and, in cyan, diffuse emission primarily from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The field of view is 2 x 1 degrees.
Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF; Adam Ginsburg, John Bally (CU-Boulder), Farhad Yusef-Zadeh (Northwestern), Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey team; GLIMPSE II team.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...... i A. 2008 Annual Progress Report Summary...... 1 B. Science Programs for FY 2009 ...... 4 C. ALMA Construction ...... 8 D. EVLA Construction ...... 20 E. Telescope and Science Operations ...... 29 1. Observatory-Wide Operational Priorities and Integrated Operations ...... 29 2. North American ALMA Science Center ...... 31 3. Green Bank Telescope ...... 41 4. (Expanded) Very Large Array ...... 48 5. Very Long Baseline Array...... 51 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support...... 53 1. Office of End-to-End Operations...... 53 2. Central Development Laboratory...... 59 G. New Initiatives ...... 68 1. Square Kilometer Array...... 68 2. VLBA Partnerships ...... 69 3. Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope...... 70 4. Other Activities ...... 70 H. Community Support Programs...... 72 1. Scientific Community Support and Partnerships...... 72 2. Spectrum Management...... 74 3. Education and Public Outreach...... 75 I. Management and Infrastructure Services ...... 79 1. Administration...... 79 2. Human Resources ...... 85 3. Computing and Information Services ...... 88 J. Facility Infrastructure & Maintenance ...... 91 K. FY 2009 Preliminary Financial Plan...... 93 Appendices...... 99 A. The NRAO Strategic Plan...... 99 B. Scientific Staff Research Activities ...... 102 C. Research Staff...... 136 D. Management Staff ...... 144 E. Committees ...... 146 F. Acronyms and Abbreviations...... 151
Executive Summary
The NRAO has identified five primary Observatory goals to be accomplished by 2015. They are: 1) Complete ALMA and the EVLA successfully; 2) Provide effective user support for the multi-wavelength community; 3) Achieve the next quantum step in GBT instrumentation through focal plane cameras; 4) Convert the VLBA to a facility of subscribers and key science projects; and 5) Help realize the Square Kilometer Array, in partnership with the U.S. and international community.
The NRAO program for FY 2009, which includes the core operations for the (E)VLA, GBT, and VLBA, and the construction and development activities, is framed by the overarching goals described above. The program includes significant construction milestones for the ALMA and EVLA projects, continued ramp- up of ALMA North American Science Operations, development of ALMA and EVLA integration and observer service models, EVLA science commissioning, GBT focal plane array and high frequency development, and VLBA sensitivity enhancements and operational mode evolution. Progress may be impaired, however, because FY 2009 will begin under a budgetary Continuing Resolution at reduced FY 2008 levels.
During FY 2009, visitors and staff will use NRAO telescopes to address fundamental problems in astronomy and astrophysics. The total scientific program is exceedingly diverse, but the primary research effort may be categorized under six key areas: Planets and Planetary Formation, Measuring the Galaxy, “Gastrophysics,” Measuring the Universe, First Light in the Universe, and At the Extremes of Physics. Some specific examples are given below.
In Planets and Planetary Formation, the VLBA will make important contributions to Cassini spacecraft studies of Saturn. Both the GBT and the VLA will be used as part of a world-wide effort to detect molecular species in comets, which will be used in formation models of comets in the planetary disk. In Measuring the Galaxy, the VLBA will be used to continue precision astrometric measurements of the parallax and proper motion of pre-main sequence stars in nearby star-forming areas, in some cases to an accuracy of 0.5%. These precise distances have been a key missing link in the studies of the origin of the young star clusters. In “Gastrophysics,” a technique using the formaldehyde molecule which was developed to derive the spatial density in star formation regions in our Galaxy will be extended for use in the densest regions of starburst galaxies using the GBT and VLA. In Measuring the Universe, the Megamaser Cosmology Project aims to determine the Hubble Constant to ~3%, by determining the angular diameter distance of galaxies using megamasers in their circumnuclear disks. The project requires both the GBT and VLBA. In First Light in the Universe, the VLA will carry out high resolution imaging of highly redshifted J=1-0 CO emission. At the GBT, the Zpectrometer wideband spectrometer seeks to double the number of high redshift CO systems with accurately-known redshifts. In Extremes of Physics, the VLBA will be used to study the dynamics of the base of the jet in M87. The GBT will continue the long-term project to detect nano-Hertz gravitational waves, undertaken by the NANOGrav consortium in North America and in coordination with international consortia, PPTA in Australia and EPTA in Europe.
FY 2009 will be a pivotal year for ALMA Construction. It will see the first interferometric fringes at the Operations Support Facility (OSF) in Chile. The Antenna Integrated Product Team (IPT) will accept Antennas 1-7 in Chile and will accept the first nutator at the OSF. The Front End IPT will deliver two front ends for installation in Chile, and the Backend IPT will continue to deliver additional sets of electronic modules, including the main photonic local oscillator needed for interferometry. The Correlator IPT will install the second quadrant of the correlator at the Array Operations Site Technical Building and complete testing of the third quadrant and assembly of the fourth quadrant in Charlottesville. The Systems Engineering and Integration IPT and the Science IPT will begin systems integration in Chile.
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FY 2009 will also be an important year for EVLA Construction. The on-sky tests of the prototype section of the WIDAR correlator will be completed and the critical design review for the final correlator will be held. Full production of the correlator station and baseline boards will commence. The sampler modules will be populated with the 3-bit, 4 Gbps digitizers and the installation of the high speed sampler modules in the EVLA antennas will begin. Six more antennas will be retrofitted to the EVLA design, for a total of 23 (out of 28) by the end of FY 2009. Twenty S-band (2-4 GHz) feed horns will be fabricated and production of the L-band (1.4 GHz) and S-band receivers will begin. An alpha version of the Observation Scheduling Tool will be released and a design review of the Science Support Systems will be held.
As NRAO moves toward the ALMA and EVLA era, science operations will become increasingly integrated. In the past year, proposal submission for all NRAO telescopes (VLA, GBT, and VLBA) was integrated under a common tool, and in FY 2009 a working group headed by the Office of Science and Academic Affairs will complete its plans for an overhaul of the proposal handling that will unite all NRAO telescopes under a common system. Another working group is considering how high-level science operations can be integrated, especially for ALMA and the EVLA, and to the extent practicable, for the GBT. This effort is aimed at achieving the second operational priority listed above, of providing effective user support for the multi-wavelength community. A common helpdesk, common user tools, and a mechanism for providing a transition from telescope-specific to cross-site services are being developed.
In the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC), support of the commissioning activities at the OSF in Chile will grow. The staff will intensify testing of major user software systems, such as the Observing Tool, the CASA offline reduction package, and the pipeline. Plans for the North American ALMA Archive and the Helpdesk will be developed. The first Band 10 (780-950 GHz) SIS mixer chips will be fabricated.
In support of the third operational priority, to develop imaging systems for the GBT, key milestones at the Green Bank Telescope in FY 2009 include the release of the MUSTANG 3 mm bolometer camera as a facility instrument and completion and initial commissioning of the 7-beam K-band (18-26 GHz) focal plane array. In support of imaging system development as well as other projects, the high frequency performance of the GBT will be improved through implementation of a new digital servo system, corrections to actuators for small-scale surface errors, and optimization of the automatic out-of-focus (OOF) holography system. Other important milestones include the release of the Zpectrometer wideband spectrometer as a facility instrument; release of the first version of the new dynamic scheduling system; release of the incoherent modes of the new pulsar backend for common use; and development and release of the coherent de-dispersion modes of the new pulsar backend.
At the Very Large Array, user observations will continue to be supported as the EVLA upgrade continues. The transition from “VLA” to “EVLA” operations will continue during FY 2009; by the end of the fiscal year, 23 antennas will be retrofitted, accounting for 82% of the array. About 40% of VLA observing time will be dynamically scheduled during the year. About 4,000 railroad ties will be replaced during the fiscal year.
As we prepare to secure external partners for the Very Long Baseline Array, we will develop plans for its operation as a “subscriber and key science driven facility,” as prescribed by the fourth operational priority of the Observatory. The sensitivity enhancement of the VLBA will continue. The hardware platform for the new VLBA digital backend, developed in collaboration with UC Berkeley and the South African MeerKAT group, will become available in FY 2009. The new hardware required for the Mark 5C data recording system will be completed in FY 2009. Testing of the DiFX software correlator will be completed in FY 2009, and the DiFX will replace the nearly twenty year-old VLBA hardware correlator.
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The Office of End-to-End Operations is working to achieve the operational priority of effective user support for the multi-wavelength community. Its goals for FY 2009 include forming an algorithms research and development group; achieving key archive milestones such as bringing the ESO/ALMA NGAS archive servers into reliable operation in Socorro; continued strategic planning for the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO), and if funding is received, initiation of VAO activities; adding VLA spectral line processing to the raw data pipeline; and further integration of the proposal submission system with observing systems at the telescopes.
At the Central Development Laboratory, key activities in FY 2009 will continue in the areas of low noise cryogenic amplifiers, Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs), Millimeter-and Submillimeter-wave mixer development, Electromagnetics Development, FASR R&D, and PAPER development. Key projects will include work on ALMA Bands 1 and 2 low noise amplifiers, testing the new 35 nm InP pHEMT MMIC designs; development of the K-band Spectroscopic Focal Plane Array for the GBT; development of 780-950 GHz receiver technology for ALMA; and deploying the PAPER 16- element array in Green Bank and the 32-element array in Western Australia.
The New Initiatives Office (NIO) will continue to lead the effort to establish partnerships for the operation of the VLBA, as recommended by the NSF Senior Review report. Space VLBI in support of the Japanese VSOP-2 mission, and spacecraft tracking capability in support of NASA missions are two potential partnership opportunities that are being developed. The NIO is also coordinating NRAO’s participation in the Square Kilometer Array program. The NIO staff will continue to work with the international partners to rationalize the SKA Project Schedule, in preparation for expected consideration by the Decadal Survey. Within the NRAO, the SKA Working Group will continue to work on SKA related R+D in collaboration with university groups.
The Office of Science and Academic Affairs has formed a working group under the leadership of the Observatory’s Chief Scientist to develop strategies and position papers leading up to the Decadal Survey. This effort will be done in full consultation and partnership with the community, and is consistent with the fifth operational priority of the Observatory, to help realize the Square Kilometer Array and other future projects. The OSAA is also conducting a review of the proposal submission and review and time assignment processes that are currently based on each NRAO telescope independently with the goal of instituting an Observatory-wide approach by the end of FY 2009.
The Office of Education and Public Outreach has a number of initiatives planned in FY 2009 to enhance the Observatory’s outreach to the science community, to the general public, and to students and teachers. EPO will sponsor a science symposium at the AAAS meeting titled “The Cradle of Life,” and has arranged for several feature talks. New exhibits promoting NRAO-wide activities will be installed at the visitor centers in Green Bank and Socorro. NRAO will also participate in three International Year of Astronomy “cornerstone” projects. ALMA EPO staff will review and restructure the NRAO and NAASC ALMA web pages. Education programs will continue, including the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, the Sister Cities program between San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Magdalena, New Mexico, and the West Virginia Governor’s School for Math and Science.
In Observatory management areas, the Electronic Timekeeping System will be deployed. In Human Resources, the diversity program will continue its efforts to increase the diversity of the NRAO workforce and importantly, its training of supervisors to recruit and retain minority staff via the diversity committee. NRAO is establishing a strong co-op student relationship with predominantly minority higher education institutions such as Howard University.
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A. 2008 Annual Progress Report Summary
The summary for the 2008 Annual Progress Report follows. The full report may be found in the companion document of the same name.
The 2008 Annual Progress Report describes the major accomplishments of the NRAO during the fiscal year FY 2008 (October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008), with reference to the plans described in the FY 2008 Program Plan submitted to the NSF at the outset of the fiscal year.
Among many science highlights from the NRAO telescopes over the fiscal year are studies of the detailed composition and structure of the lunar surface using radar echos received with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) as transmitted by Arecibo; an accurate determination of the distance to the Orion nebula using the VLBA, resulting in a substantial revision from 480 pc to 389 pc, with implications for star formation theory; discovery of the youngest (140 year old) supernova remnant in the Galaxy with the VLA and Chandra; accurate measurement of relativistic spin precession of the eclipsing double pulsar system using the GBT; organic molecule studies with the GBT that distinguishes grain mantle chemistry in Galactic Center from clouds in other parts of the Galaxy; detection of high velocity clouds around the M81/M82 group which are most likely relics of ongoing interactions among galaxies in the group, the detection of which is made possible by the high sensitivity and clean beam of the GBT; the detection and analysis of neutral hydrogen at high redshift (z=2.3) with the GBT; the detection of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect with the VLA; and a strong indication from VLA surveys that tidal interactions are responsible for triggering Seyfert activity.
ALMA construction highlights include completion of the Array Operations Site (AOS) Technical Building and the AOS antenna transporter hanger. Vertex Antennas 1-7 were delivered to the Operations Support Facility (OSF) in FY 2008. Acceptance testing of Antenna 1 is nearly complete and the measured surface accuracy of the antenna is very good—about 11 μm—in stable nighttime conditions, which is well within specifications. The first antenna transporter has been accepted, and has successfully moved an antenna from the erection facility to an external pad. The first Front End was delivered to the OSF, and several Backend Antenna Articles were shipped to the OSF.
In the EVLA construction project, 17 antennas have been retrofitted to the EVLA design. Production of the Ka-band receiver began, and fringes were obtained between the first pair of receivers. The prototype WIDAR correlator was installed and first fringes were successfully achieved. All L-band feed horns have now been fabricated, and fabrication of the S-band feed horns has begun.
At the North American ALMA Science Center, the ALMA Operations Plan was updated to Version D. Several key staff appointments were made, including a new NAASC Assistant Director, Carol Lonsdale. The CASA offline data reduction software beta release was tested and supported, and tutorials were given at the Synthesis Imaging Workshop is Socorro. The public beta release for the “Database for Astronomical Spectroscopy: Splatalogue,” was issued. The award for SIS development with the University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory was approved by the NSF. The third NAASC Science Workshop was held in late September 2008—”Transformational Science with ALMA: The Birth and Feedback of Massive Stars, within and Beyond the Galaxy.”
Program Plan FY 2009 A. 2008 Annual Progress Report 1
At the Green Bank Telescope, astronomical commissioning of the Zpectrometer wideband, high redshift spectrometer took place, as did commissioning of MUSTANG, the 3 mm bolometer camera. Antenna performance was improved through Out-of-Focus holography, traditional Phase-Coherent holography techniques, and servo upgrades. Development of an advanced pulsar backend using a new, agile application of FPGA technology was underway. Construction of a seven-pixel focal plane array for the 18-26 GHz band (the “K-band FPA”) is underway. Lab and telescopes tests of the prototype pixel were successful. The primary scientific aim of this camera is star formation science via the ammonia and CCS spectral lines.
The emphasis on large observing proposals continues to grow at the VLA and VLBA. At the June deadline, two new large proposals were received for the VLA and one for the VLBA. The 11th Synthesis Imaging Workshop was held in June and was attended by 150 participants. Approximately 40% of VLA time is now scheduled dynamically. More than 4,000 railroad ties were replaced in CY 2007. For the VLBA, progress on the sensitivity upgrade continued. A successful test of 4 Gbps recording on Mark 5C recorders was carried out. The VLBA 22 GHz receiver upgrade, which was conducted in collaboration with the MPIfR, was completed in December 2007, three months ahead of schedule.
The Office of End-to-End Operations (OEO), together with staff in New Mexico Operations, completed processing of an additional 30,000 VLA continuum images and published them to the Virtual Observatory collection. The Data Vault archive interface of NRAO resources (http://archive.nrao.edu) was released this fiscal year. A collaboration with Google Sky was begun. OEO participated in the development of the US Virtual Astronomical Observatory proposal. The CASA beta release was issued in November 2007, followed by Patch 1 in March 2008.
At the Central Development Laboratory (CDL), a new 35 nm gate-length InP pHEMT MMIC of NRAO’s design was delivered from Northrop Grumman Space Technology and packaged in a 67-95 GHz low- noise amplifier. The LNA set a record for low noise performance of 23 K between 83 and 87 GHz, and was below 30 K from 78 to 95 GHz. The I(V) characteristics of four NbTiN/Al-AlN/Nb SIS junctions from the University of Virginia Microfabrication Lab were measured and shown to be viable for use in mixers at 385-500 GHz. The UVML continues to make excellent progress on a process to produce NbTiN films for use at 1 THz.
The New Initiatives Office (NIO) staff participated in a number of Square Kilometer Array forums, including the new Science and Engineering Committee (SSEC), European PrepSKA discussions, and US TDP forums. The New Initiatives staff and NRAO scientists are working with the community to guide development of the program as the Decadal Survey nears. The NIO worked to establish VLBA funding partnerships, as recommended by the Senior Review. The NIO staff also helped manage the development of the FASR proposal, which was submitted to the NSF ATM division in June.
The Office of Education and Public Outreach (EPO) led in the development of a new NRAO web site, which was introduced in February 2008. The electronic newsletter, eNews, which replaces the quarterly hardcopy newsletter, was introduced in June. The educational outreach program included the Sister Cities student-teacher exchange between Magdalena, New Mexico and San Pedro, de Atacama, Chile, the West Virginia Govenor’s School for Math and Science in Green Bank, and the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, an NSF-funded program in which West Virginia high school students will work with a world-wide team of astronomers to reduce pulsar data from the GBT.
Program Plan FY 2009 A. 2008 Annual Progress Report 2
In administrative areas, the Management Information Services group was nearing release of the new Electronic Timekeeping system. The Human Resources Group initiated new training programs for Performance Evaluation and Affirmative Action. The NRAO engaged a consultant to review and revise our Affirmative Action Plan, including compliance and performance. The Computing and Information Services Division improved network security by enhancing perimeter access policies and by enabling bastion hosts.
Program Plan FY 2009 A. 2008 Annual Progress Report 3
B. Science Programs for FY 2009
Planets and Planetary Formation
The VLBA will be used to continue astrometric monitoring of the Cassini spacecraft, currently orbiting Saturn. At the average distance of Saturn, the VLBA resolution corresponds to 7.5 km. Adding the VLBA astrometry to the existing optical, radio, and spacecraft-tracking data will reduce the uncertainties in Saturn's ephemeris by a factor of 2-3 in all three parameters (longitude, latitude, and range). In particular, the error in latitude (the plane of Saturn's orbit) will decrease dramatically as the total time span of accurate VLBA data approaches a quarter of Saturn's orbital period. The planetery ephemeris is an essential tool for studies of Solar system dynamics, interplanetary spacecraft navigation, and tests of general relativity.
Over the last several years the GBT and VLA have been used as part of a world-wide effort to detect molecular species in comets. Clear differences have been found in the chemical composition of comets and as a result a database is being built up for species detected in comets. With enough data, and testing against formation models of comets in disks, it is possible to differentiate classes of comets based on their chemical composition, where they formed in the disk, and if further processing was necessary to account for any over(under) abundance of a particular molecular species. The most recent results outline the excitation, formation, and distribution of the cometary species, methanol, methyl cyanide and ethylene glycol, each of which are important prebiotic molecular species.
Measuring the Galaxy
The VLBA will be used to continue an astrometric study of pre-main sequence stars in nearby star- forming regions. In previous efforts the VLBA has been used to obtain accurate distances to the Taurus and Ophiuchus clusters. Distances to stars in the Taurus star forming region have been obtained to the ~0.5% level and the Ophiuchus star-forming region to the <5% level, when previous distances were only good to ~20%. With that portion of the project mostly complete it has been expanded in several directions. First, many of the sources turned out to be multiples which, with further VLBA observations, allow a study mass and dynamics of these individual star systems. Second, the Cepheus, Perseus, and Orion clusters have been added to the project, in order to obtain accurate distances to all close by star- forming regions. Lastly, a project to search for more stars in Taurus has been started so that a three dimensional distribution and kinematics of the cluster can be studied. This, combined with pre-main sequence evolutionary models, will allow the distribution of stars with respect to their age to be studied, establishing the history of the star-formation in this important nearby star-forming site.
Gastrophysics
By extending a technique used to derive the spatial density in star formation regions in our own Galaxy, the GBT and VLA will be used to make measurements of the spatial density in the densest regions of starburst galaxies. The relative intensity of the K-doublet transitions of the formaldehyde molecule (H2CO) can provide a very accurate densitometer for the active star formation environments found in starburst galaxies. Previous work on the physical conditions of starburst galaxies has been done with the ground-state lines of CO and HCN. These provide only a lower limit to the spatial density in star formation regions, while these multi-transition H2CO measurements provide a high density tracer. This technique will be applied to samples of IR-bright galaxies which exhibit various forms of starburst
Program Plan FY 2009 B. Science Programs for FY 2009 4
activity and OH megamaser galaxies, with the purpose of searching for correlations between the infrared luminosity and the star formation reservoir in these extragalactic environments.
Measuring the Universe
The Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP) aims to make a precise determination of the Hubble Constant by measuring geometric distances to galaxies using the maser distance technique pioneered on NGC 4258. As a complement to measurements of CMB anisotropy, a precise (< 3% rms) measurement of the Hubble Constant would provide a valuable constraint on several key cosmological parameters, including the equation of state of Dark Energy, the density parameter for matter, and the flatness of the universe. The MCP began by first identifying maser disk galaxies through single-dish surveys, then mapping the detected maser disks with sensitive VLBI observations, measuring centripetal accelerations using GBT monitoring of the systemic maser lines, and modeling the disk to determine the galaxy's distance. The GBT has identified 28 extragalactic masers as part of the MCP so far, several of them being candidates for a distance measurement. The MCP team will make multi-track VLBI maps of the high- priority targets NGC 6323 and UGC 3789 to refine the distance measurements to each galaxy. The team has mapped the maser in the high-priority galaxy Mrk 1419 for the first time, and is currently working on multi-track observations to attain the sensitivity required to measure a robust maser distance to that one as well. More sophisticated 3-D modeling of the warped maser disk will be developed to further refine the maser distance determinations.
Figure B.1. A map of the relative positions of water maser maser spots in UGC 3789, as imaged with the VLBA, GBT, and EB. High velocity blue-shifted (in blue) and red-shifted (in red) masers straddle the systemic masers (in green and yellow). Deeper blues and reds represent faster rotation speeds. The linear arrangement of the spot indicates we are viewing a rotating, sub-parsec accretion disk, nearly edge-on.
Program Plan FY 2009 B. Science Programs for FY 2009 5
First Light in the Universe
Distant sub-millimeter galaxies are believed to be progenitors of massive spheroidals observed in the local universe. Despite their importance, studying the evolution of these early galaxies has proven difficult due to optical obscuration. Observations at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths make a unique contribution to the study of these first galaxies, since they are useful for tracing the cool thermal gas and galaxy dynamics. There are several programs planned at the GBT and the VLA to study the redshifted molecular gas from these galaxies. The VLA will carry out high resolution imaging of the CO(1-0) molecular line using high-resolution imaging with the VLA, in order to reveal the structure and possible interaction features in this system. When combined with higher order CO emission lines detected elsewhere, this will also provide insights into molecular gas physical conditions in the central kiloparsec of the galaxy. At the GBT a new NSF-funded instrument will begin normal operations. The Zpectrometer observes a broad spectrum (25.6–37.7GHz) and is therefore capable of detecting redshifted CO(1–0) emission in a set of distant, dusty galaxies. The goal is to double the number of such systems with accurate redshifts, and to infer the physical conditions of the gas from the line widths and CO luminosities.
Figure B.2. A spectrum of the CO J = 1-0 line from the gravitationally lensed “Cloverleaf” quasar at z = 2.56 taken by the Zspectrometer on the GBT by Harris et al.
At the Extremes of Physics
The VLBA will be used to study the dynamics of the base of the jet in M87. At 43 GHz, the VLBA just resolves the collimation region of the jet and is able to resolve side-to-side structures a short distance farther out. As a result of its relative proximity, high flux density, and high mass black hole, M87 is the best source for such a study of a jet base on small scales relative to the gravitational radius. A series of images have been taken since 2007, revealing motions of around two times the speed of light. These data
Program Plan FY 2009 B. Science Programs for FY 2009 6
will be used to compare with GeV and TeV facilities like GLAST and VERITAS. Fortuitously there was a TeV flare detected by VERITAS during the sequence of VLBA observations described above. This will allow studies of the relationship between the TeV flare and the activity in the radio near the “core.” The basic nature, and even location, of such flares is not yet understood.
Figure B.3. Four sample VLBA images of M87 at 43 GHz from a project that monitored the source every five days for about 2.5 months in early 2008. The first image was made at about the time of the start of a large high energy gamma-ray flare seen by the TeV instruments MAGIC, H.E.S.S. and VERITAS. Beilicke et al. in prep.
The GBT will continue its long-term project working on ultra-high-precision pulse timing with the ultimate goal of directly detecting nHz gravitational waves (NANOGrav). Other pulsar timing efforts at the GBT include the timing almost 200 young pulsars in the radio such that they might be detected in gamma-rays with the recently launched NASA GLAST satellite. The GBT will also continue to work on the pulse timing of more than 70 new globular-cluster pulsars uncovered using Arecibo and the GBT over the past several years. Many of the pulsars have turned out to be interesting, including several eccentric binaries that constrain the neutron-star equation of state, the fastest-rotating neutron star
Program Plan FY 2009 B. Science Programs for FY 2009 7
C. ALMA Construction
FY 08 Carryover Total NSF New NSF New Funds Funds Budget FTE (PRL) (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
ALMA Construction (SPO-2) 701 Management & Administration 5,270,263 5,270,263 3.1 702 Site Development 5,766,758 5,766,758 7.0 703 Antenna Subsystem 38,019,805 38,019,805 6.8 704 Front End Subsystem 9,170,740 9,170,740 19.7 705 Back End Subsystem 11,729,194 11,729,194 2.0 706 Correlator 450,334 450,334 5.6 707 Computing Subsystem 3,253,632 3,253,632 18.0 708 System Engineering and Integration 4,449,837 4,449,837 23.1 709 Science 870,615 870,615 10.5 719 ALMA Other 3,268,822 3,268,822 ALMA (carryover) 38,452,373 38,452,373 Subtotal ALMA Construction (SPO-2) 38,452,373 82,250,000 120,702,373 95.7
Overview of North American Objectives
FY 2009 will be a pivotal year because the project will consolidate the move started in FY 2008 from the delivery of the first units into full production. The most significant events of FY 2009 will be acceptance of the first Vertex Antenna and obtaining interferometric fringes at the Operations Support Facility (OSF) in Chile. The Site IPT will continue with the development of the high site road and power infrastructure. The Antenna IPT will support the acceptance of Antennas 1-7 in Chile and will accept the first nutator at the OSF. The Front End IPT will complete the remaining front-end design work and commissioning on the NA FEIC and will deliver two front ends for installation in Chile. The Back End IPT will continue to deliver additional sets of electronic modules for Chile, including the main photonic LO components needed for OSF interferometry. The Correlator IPT will install the second quadrant of the full correlator at the Array Operations Site (AOS) Technical Building (TB), and complete testing of the third quadrant and assembly of the fourth quadrant in Charlottesville. The Systems Engineering and Integration IPT and the Science IPT will begin integrating and commissioning systems in Chile.
Management IPT
The budget for the Management IPT in FY 2009 is $5.2M. The fully functional PMCS (Project Management Control System) with earned-value reporting has been in place now for two years and is working effectively. Early in FY 2009 the final phase of integration of the ALMA-J work into the overall PMCS will be to give a fully integrated schedule and to allow appropriate cost control of ALMA-J work.
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 8
A major review of the ALMA schedule will be carried out in advance of the November 2008 ALMA Board meeting with a view to producing an updated schedule that will go under schedule change control. In addition, a major External Review of Safety will be carried out early in the fiscal year.
Santiago, Chile Office
The office of Chilean Affairs supports the legal and business affairs of AUI/NRAO in Chile. Activities on behalf of the NA component of ALMA construction in Chile will include the completion of tasks related to grading of the Central Cluster and Holography Tower N°2, and the construction of roads and utilities for the AOS power and FO distribution to the antenna pads. These tasks involve significant procurement activities. The Chile Office will continue its administrative activities at the ALMA Site with oversight for a number of support contracts, including support of the Vertex activities in Chile as well as contracts for Security, Catering, Cleaning and Camp Maintenance. AIV (Assembly, Integration, and Verification) work will continue to be supported as front end, back end, and correlator equipment and personnel continue to arrive from NRAO, increasing the Supply Chain Management activities. The Chile office, with local labor legally under the purview of the NRAO, will continue its oversight of ALMA human resources activities, including contract signature, as well as responsibility for payroll and travel support. The Fiscal Department performs the payment of all purchases made in Chile via the NRAO chart of accounts for ALMA construction and operations, and it perform the local property management, Import/export activities on behalf of ALMA are also under NRAO purview. Continuing Site protection activities include supervision of ALMA mining claims, monitoring of external claims, including water and geothermal claims, and monitoring of RFI-related activities, as well as being the channel for all formal contacts with the government and the community. Finally, the Chile Office will continue supporting the effective relocation of expatriates and their families to Chile.
Site IPT
The budget for the Site IPT in FY 2009 is $5.7M. Business activities of the NA Site component of ALMA in Chile in 2009 will include bidding and placing the contracts for building the road-construction package for the AOS and for the construction of the power and fiber network at the AOS. Also, during 2009, the grading of the central cluster will be finished after a redesign is completed.
The Array Operations Site (AOS) is at an elevation of 16,500 ft above sea level. The NRAO is responsible for the design and construction of the AOS including the TB (Technical Building) the AOS Transporter Hangar and the infrastructure of the AOS (roads, power distribution and communications). The antenna foundations at the AOS were transferred to ESO as part of the rebaselining process. The Technical Building and Transporter Hangar were completed during FY 2008.
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 9
Figure C.1. A View of the AOS Array site utilities installation at Chajnantor with AOS TB and Transporter Hangar in the back.
Three calls for proposals will be issued for the Power & Fiber Optic distribution and Road Construction. The first two are for the installation of Power and Fiber Optics cables and the third is for the road construction, which will start in late 2008, continue in FY 2009 and beyond.
Site IPT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Call for bid during late 2008 and Q1 2009 for the construction of AOS roads, FY 2009 - 2011 power and fiber-optics distribution
Antenna IPT
The budget for the Antenna IPT in FY 2009 is $38M. The Antenna IPT deliverables for FY 2009 are summarized in the following list:
1. Vertex Antennas 1-7 delivered and accepted at the OSF. 2. Nutator unit #1 delivered and accepted at the OSF; Nutator units #2 - #5 delivered to OSF. 3. Optical Pointing Telescope (OPT) unit #1 delivered and accepted at the OSF; OPT units #2 - #6 delivered to OSF. 4. Front-End Handling Vehicle (FEHV) revised technical specification, re-bid and under contract. 5. Front-End Service Vehicle (FESV) under contract and critical design completed.
Key milestones for the ALMA Nutator are its acceptance testing in early FY 2009 with delivery and final on-site acceptance testing for unit #1 at OSF in Q2 of FY 2009.
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 10
The Optical Pointing Telescope (OPT) unit #1 should be completely accepted and delivered to the OSF by Q2 of FY 2009. Units #2 - #6 should follow approximately 6 months after unit #1 acceptance.
The Front End Handling Vehicle (FEHV) and Front End Service Vehicle (FESV) deliverables were transferred from the Front End (FE) IPT to the Antenna IPT in FY 2007. The FEHV is a handling tool that installs, removes, and transports FE receivers in and out of the antenna receiver cabin and around the FEHV and FE receivers between the OSF and the high site. The FEHV was bid in Q1 of FY 2008 but the proposals all significantly exceeded the budget. A revision of the technical specification in Q2 of FY 2009 should give a deeper understanding if any requirements can be relaxed based on experience installing Front Ends in Chile. This will ensure the FEHV is not over specified.
The FESV transports the FEHV and FE equipment (receivers, calibration units, water vapor radiometer) between the OSF and the high site. The FESV should be under contract in Q2, FY 2009 with delivery in Q1, FY 2010.
Figure C.2. The Vertex Antenna #2 at the OSF in Chile.
Antenna IPT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Provisional Acceptance - NA Antenna 1 02/2009 Provisional Acceptance - NA Antenna 2 03/2009 Provisional Acceptance - NA Antenna 3 04/2009 Provisional Acceptance - NA Antenna 4 06/2009 Provisional Acceptance - NA Antenna 5 07/2009 Provisional Acceptance - NA Antenna 6 08/2009 Provisional Acceptance - NA Antenna 7 09/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 11
Item Delivery Date Nutator unit #1 delivered to OSF 05/2009 Nutator units #2 - #5 delivered to OSF 09/2009 OPT unit #1 delivered to OSF 03/2009 OPT units #2 - #6 delivered to OSF 09/2009 FEHV under contract and preliminary design completed 06/2009, 09/2009 FESV under contract and critical design completed 03/2009, 8/2009
Figure C.3. The Vertex Antenna Production line at the OSF in Chile.
Front End IPT (FE IPT)
The Budget for the Front End IPT in FY 2009 is $9.1M. In FY 2009 the NA ALMA FE IPT will complete the Front End Test and Measurement System at the NRAO Technology Center (NTC) by verifying the performance of the Local Oscillator Reference Test Module (LORTM). A second LORTM will be delivered to the OSF to support system integration and interferometry there; the OSF FE support facility will be completed.
The FE IPT will also complete the construction and commissioning of a second NA FEIC test station capable of performing basic functionality checks and measuring noise temperatures and image rejection; this will improve throughput by reducing testing time and partially compensate for the additional testing needed when Band 4 and Band 8 cartridges are delivered, which is expected in FY 2009.
The FE IPT will complete CDR/MRR reviews for all subassemblies and place the purchase orders for all remaining FE parts. The third and possibly the fourth NA FE assemblies will be completed and delivered to the OSF, as required by the antenna and Prototype Systems Integration (PSI) schedules. Support will
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 12
be provided for installation and use of the first two FE assemblies in ALMA antennas, including interferometry at the OSF.
Front End IPT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery date NA FEIC FE assemblies #1, #2, and #3 all delivered 09/2009 Completion of expanded NA FEIC with two test stations 06/2009 Completion of OSF FE test station 07/2009 Complete CDR/MRR reviews for FE subassemblies 02/2009 Place orders for all remaining FE purchases 05/2009 Delivery holography system #2 to the OSF 11/2008 Deliver LO Warm Cartridge Assemblies through unit 16 for bands 3, 6, 7, 9 07/2009 Deliver first 25 production Front End Support Structures to the OSF 09/2009
Back End IPT
The Budget for the Back End IPT in FY 2009 is $11.7M. In FY 2009, the BE IPT is scheduled to deliver Antenna Articles (AA) 3 through 10 to the OSF, all of which are constructed by means of ALMA-J funding. Sufficient Data Receiver Articles (DRXA) to populate the first quadrant of the correlator are planned for delivery to the Correlator IPT. The DRXAs are deliverables to the Bi-lateral array. Both of these articles have been verified and are now considered to be in full production. A version of the Central LO Article (CLOA), which will accommodate up to 16 antennas, is scheduled for delivery to the OSF/AOS in September 2009. The CLOA is used by both the Bi-lateral and ALMA-J arrays. LO Photonic Receiver Articles (LPRA), all of which are constructed using ALMA-J funds, are scheduled to be delivered to the FE IPT at different times during the year.
In support of these deliveries, verification tests, product-specific and article documentation and formal Provisional Acceptance In house (PAI), and Provisional Acceptance at the Site (PAS) plans are to be completed prior to the CLOA and LPRA handovers. Furthermore, in order to assure timely delivery of future LPRAs, a SOW will be written and contract awarded in FY 2009, relieving the pressure of the BE IPT to build all the assemblies in house.
Specific Back End deliveries to ALMA-J are listed in the Back End Goods Supply Contract sub-section of the Japan Partnership portion of this document.
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 13
Back End IPT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Perform PAI/PAS acceptance and handover of initial Fiber Optic Wrap 12/2008 assemblies Deliver Antenna Article #3 to the OSF 12/2008 Deliver Antenna Articles #4 and #5 to the OSF 03/2009 Deliver Antenna Articles #6 - #8 to the OSF 06/2009 Deliver Antenna Articles #9 and #10 to the OSF 09/2009 Perform PAI/PAS acceptance and handover of partial Central LO article 09/2009 and test equipment to OSF/AOS Deliver 32 DRX articles to Correlator IPT, to complete DRX population of 07/2009 first Correlator quadrant Perform PAI/PAS acceptance and handover of LO Photonic Receiver 12/2008 articles #3 - #5 to FE IPT. Deliver LO Photonic Receiver article #6 to FE IPT 12/2008 Award contract for production of 30 LO Photonic Receivers 02/2009 Deliver LO Photonic Receiver articles #7 - #9 to FE IPT 06/2009 Deliver LO Photonic Receiver articles #10 - #16 to FE IPT 09/2009 Deliver LO Photonic Receiver articles #17 - #26 to FE IPT 11/2009
Correlator IPT
The Budget for the Correlator IPT in FY 2009 is $450k. The ALMA Correlator IPT will complete the checkout of the first quadrant of the correlator, which was delivered and installed in FY 2008. The second quadrant will complete testing and be delivered and installed in the AOS TB. The third quadrant will complete assembly and checkout. Assembly of the fourth quadrant will begin. The operational software and firmware needed for initial operation in Chile will be further enhanced and refined. Finally, the Correlator IPT will support the 2-antenna correlators for AIV activities at the ATF and the OSF.
Correlator IPT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Complete checkout of first quadrant at the AOS TB 10/2008 Complete testing of the second quadrant and deliver it to the AOS TB 06/2009 Begin assembly of the fourth quadrant 07/2009 Complete checkout of second quadrant at the AOS TB 10/2009
Computing IPT (CIPT)
The Budget for the Computing IPT in FY 2009 is $3.2M. The ALMA Computing IPT at NRAO will concentrate activities at the ATF (through its closure in December 2008) while we continue to support AIV and Commissioning activities in Chile. In addition the CIPT will continue the longer-term development program in preparation for later stages of commissioning and operations.
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 14
At the ATF the CIPT will concentrate in extending functionality into more advanced areas, improving the reliability of the system, improving the operational interfaces, increasing the observational efficiency, as well as managing the facility for all other ALMA stakeholders, including the Science IPT and the AIV team. Particularly important will be continuing to test the data import and reduction path through CASA.
In Chile, the CIPT will purchase and participate in the installation of the necessary operational computing and network equipment. When time is available new releases and patches that implement required and requested functionality and bug fixes as needed for AIV and early commissioning will be installed and tested. Although the ATF software is advanced compared to required functionality, there are some varieties of production equipment that have never been tested at the ATF (for example, the production antennas), and the CIPT will have to test its software carefully against this new hardware.
As for general development, the CIPT will complete its hardware fabrication for the AMBSI interface boards and VME backpanels, and will deliver them to the various internal customers (Back End, Front End, Antenna, AIV, ALMA-J). CIPT will expand its pipeline heuristics to encompass calibration and imaging of small-N pointed mosaics. It will start working on the general dynamic scheduling problem (so far the work in the scheduling subsystem has concentrated on general GUI and SB Queue handling matters). The Control and Correlator software team development will include WVR correction distribution and application, flagging and blanking, and switched observing modes (e.g., nutator).
The CIPT will participate in the management of the CASA project, both through direct management of the project until a new project manager is appointed, and thereafter by managing project requirements, playing an important role in the development of the CASA software. The overall planning for the CASA software is described in the End to End Operations division section of this plan.
Computing IPT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date AMBSI-1 and AMBSI-2 boards distributed Q4 2008 ALMA Software Release R6.0 Q4 2008 VME Backpanels distributed to ALMA-J Q2 2009 ALMA Software Release R6.1 Q2 2009
System Engineering and Integration (SE&I) IPT
The Budget for the SE&I IPT in FY 2009 is $4.4M. In FY 2009 the tasks for PSI remain the same as the previous year but the group will only consist of two people as the PSI effort comes to an end. The ATF operation has been extended to December 2008 and PSI will continue to provide on-site antenna, cryogenic and general maintenance plus system level diagnostics and system performance verification to the extent possible with the reduced staff.
After ATF operations cease, a remaining PSI staff member will oversee the decommissioning of the ATF facility. The decommissioning is already underway with the removal of an office trailer, the perimeter fence and the holography tower and transmitter. Early in 2009 the remaining office trailer and infrastructure will be removed or abandoned in place with the agreement of the VLA staff. PSI will help plan the final disposition of the prototype antennas. In April 2009 Work Element 3000 should be closed.
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 15
In FY 2009, the ALMA Product Assurance (PA) team will continue implementation of several initiatives started in 2008. IPT process evaluations and audits will become more widespread throughout the project as the staffing plan nears completion. Several areas implementing the process audits and site surveys have experienced promising results and cooperation from the IPTs and vendors. The goal for this year will be to complete the staffing plan for ESO, the OSF and Software QA, and to fully measure each area’s compliance with planned processes.
Another initiative involves the transition to consolidated tools for identifying, analyzing and tracking issues resulting from project level design and manufacturing reviews, and from project level acceptance events such as in-house and on-site testing and handover. Training was provided this year to the PA team and two IPTs were chosen to pilot the new tools. After the system was configured to mirror the desired processes and was populated with existing issues, the IPT members and related vendors were trained on the processes and system usage. PA Principals from the IPT monitored the implementation and made adjustments to the process based on actual results. The goal for this year is to expand usage and training to the remaining IPTs as staffing completes and to begin periodic reporting of issue-related metrics at the PA and Management IPT meetings. Finally, the ALMA standards defining these new processes, namely the PA Requirements, Handover Guidelines, Review Guidelines, and Documentation Plan will be updated, reviewed and released. Training will be provided to the appropriate personnel and the new processes will be monitored, evaluated and adjusted as needed.
Item Delivery Date PSI - Work with Computing and Science IPTs in developing dynamic interferometry and other functionalities at the ATF. Support this effort with 12/2008 system level diagnostics of system performance. PSI - Conduct system performance verification at the ATF or develop 12/2008 verification procedures that will be used later at the OSF. PSI - Close down the ATF facility. 03/2009 PA – Expand the use and training of issue analysis and tracking processes and tools from the pilot areas to the entire project. Update project standards to reflect Q12009 new process. PA – Expand the auditing and survey processes from pilot areas to rest of Q3 2009 project. Update project standards to define new process.
Science IPT
The Budget for the Science IPT in FY 2009 is $870k. In FY 2009 the ALMA Science IPT expects to begin implementing its plans for commissioning activities as the first facilities at the OSF and the AOS become available. Initial tasks already underway at the OSF include support for the Antenna IPT preparing production antennas for handover to AIV, and support of the AIV team as they evaluate the production antennas and assemble an ALMA interferometer composed of production components at the OSF. Newly integrated components in addition to the antennas will include the Front Ends, the production optical pointing telescopes, the nutators, the amplitude calibration devices and the water vapor radiometers. A primary goal will continue to be to demonstrate functionality deployed at the ATF and move beyond this activity to demonstrate astronomical observations using the production antennas and front ends and to achieve first fringes at 5000 m. Many elements of pre-commissioning Work Breakdown
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 16
Element 3040 will be closed, and the Work Breakdown Element 3070, implementation of commissioning, will begin.
Community involvement with ALMA will continue through ALMA workshops at the NAASC (now in planning stages), and at other venues, including interferometry schools to be held at numerous places.
Science IPT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Scientifically test the calibration and interferometric software tools implemented by the Computing IPT on the production ALMA system during Q4 2009 initial Commissioning at the AOS. Support aspects of the AIV plan (e.g., optical and radiometric pointing, holography, exercising correlator modes) realized in calibration and other Q3 2009 software tools by the CIPT on the production ALMA antennas at the OSF.
Japan Partnership (SPO-7)
FY 08 Carryover New NSF Total NSF New Funds Budget Funds (PRL) FTE (PRL) AST (PRL) and Carryover
ALMA Japan (SPO-7) ALMA-J Management 75,279 75,279 1.1 ALMA-J Front End 1,898,845 1,898,845 9.9 ALMA-J Back End 1,765,247 3,686,833 5,452,080 25.0
Subtal ALMA Japan (SPO-7) 1,765,247 5,660,957 7,426,204 36.0
NRAO is carrying out a series of work packages for ALMA-J. This work is funded by ALMA-J, which transfers cash in advance to NSF and that flows to the NRAO through SPO-7.
Both the “Goods and Services Master Agreement” with Japan and a “Goods Supply Contract” to supply Back End electronics and Warm Cartridge Assemblies needed for the ALMA Compact Array (ACA) are now in place and work is underway.
The activities planned for FY 2009 are described here.
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 17
Goods and Services Master Agreement
NRAO Components of the ACA Computing Sub-system
In this Fiscal Year the NRAO will deliver to ALMA-J all 20 VME signal- distribution backplanes needed for their real-time computers. Per the SOW they will be delivered by October 2009. The boards are already in production and may be delivered well before the SOW date (current estimate is Oct. 2008).
NRAO Components of the ACA Front End Sub-system
Overall, the NRAO will deliver to the ACA FE-related equipment of four kinds: (1) items needed to complete and commission the East Asia Front End Integration Center (EA FEIC), (2) items needed to build and test cartridges for Bands 4 and 8, (3) items needed to integrate and test FE assemblies at the EA FEIC, and (4) items needed to develop Band 10 cold cartridges (under separate agreement). The equipment planned to be delivered in FY 2009 under the Goods and Services Master Agreement includes:
Quantity in Item FY 2009 Band 3 cold cartridges 5 Band 6 cold cartridges 5 Subrack sets (FEMC, CPDS, IF Switch, cryostat) 15 Monitor and control module sets (FEMC, M&C for CPDS, IF Switch, 15 cryostat, and compressor) DC Bias Modules for integrating Bands 3, 6, 7, and 9 40 FE chassis, wiring, and cables 15 FE support structures (FESS) 17 FE IF Switch modules (switch boards) 24 FLOOG signal distributors 9 Power supply 1 Power regulator cards 184 Band 4 Warm Cartridge Assemblies 20 Band 4 frequency multipliers 20 Bands 4 and 8 cable sets 23 Band 8 Warm Cartridge Assemblies 20 Band 8 frequency multipliers 20 Bands 3, 6, 7, 9 Warm Cartridge Assemblies (5 each) 20 Near-field beam scanner 1 IF Converter 1 Cold load system 1 LORTM 1 Phase-stable coaxial cable set 1 Beam scanner second set of 4 test sources (covering bands 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9) 1 Frequency multipliers for test sources 10 FE test system software 1 Integration of Band 4 cartridges at the NA FEIC 1* Integration of Band 8 cartridges at the NA FEIC 1* *Depending on delivery of cartridges by NAOJ to the NA FEIC
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 18
Goods Supply Contract
This work covers the “Signal Transmission, Conversion and Evaluation System” described in the MOU on Execution of the Goods Supply Contract to:
i. Develop and deliver the ACA antenna-based Back End components (16 sets). ii. Extend the central reference equipment to accommodate the ACA (1 set). iii. Supply at least one Warm Cartridge Assembly for each band (3, 4, 6, 7, 8, & 9), increasing the number up to a maximum of 16 for each band depending on the availability of funding.
Back End Components for the ACA
The following is a listing of the specific deliverables to ACA in FY 2009, based on their construction being funded through the Goods Supply Contract:
• Antenna Articles #3 through #10 • LO Photonic Receivers: 18 units • Central LO Article I
Front End Components for the ACA
Quantity in Item FY 2009 Band 3 Warm Cartridge Assembly 1 Band 4 Warm Cartridge Assembly 1 Band 7 Warm Cartridge Assembly 1 Band 8 Warm Cartridge Assembly 1 Band 9 Warm Cartridge Assembly 1
Program Plan FY 2009 C. ALMA Construction 19
D. EVLA Construction
FY 08 Total NSF Carryover New NSF New Funds Funds Budget FTE (PRL) (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
EVLA 6.0 Project Management 659,000 659,000 3.0 601 System Integration and Testing 86,600 86,600 - 602 Civil Construction 2,000 2,000 - 603 Antennas 413,600 413,600 7.0 604 Front End Systems 217,000 2,191,100 2,408,100 8.4 605 Local Oscillator System 322,100 322,100 2.8 606 Fiber Optic System 551,200 551,200 1.3 607 Intermediate Frequency System 418,500 418,500 4.8 608 Correlator 16,500 16,500 - 609 Monitor & Control Systems 601,000 601,000 2.5 610 Data Management and Computing 673,500 673,500 2.0 611 Unallocated 254,900 254,900 Subtotal EVLA 217,000 6,190,000 6,407,000 31.8
Plans for FY 2009
The work to be performed in the EVLA project in FY 2009 is described under the major elements of its work breakdown structure (WBS) below.
Project Management
The project management office will continue to monitor the progress of the project by updating WBS cost data sheets, conducting risk and earned value analyses, arranging for production orders of components, and organizing appropriate design reviews. Corrective actions will be taken where necessary. A meeting of the EVLA Advisory Committee will take place.
Systems Integration
To maintain the project schedule, six more antennas must be retrofitted to the EVLA design by September 2009. The rate of antenna retrofitting will proceed at 5-6 antennas per year through FY 2010.
Civil Construction
The Civil Construction WBS will be completed in FY 2009. The only civil work remaining is miscellaneous, minor tasks associated with infrastructure in the correlator shielded room.
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 20
Antennas
The Antenna Group must complete mechanical overhauls of antennas to meet the retrofit schedule. A total of 20 S-band (2-4 GHz) feed horns will be fabricated. The Ku-band (12-18 GHz) feed horns will be fabricated.
Front End
The Front End Group will continue to deploy interim receivers to meet the antenna retrofitting schedule. The production and installation of the new L-band and S-band receivers will begin. The installation of new Ka-band (26-40 GHz) receivers and C-band (4-8 GHz) orthomode transducers (OMT) will continue. The final design of the X-band (8-12 GHz) OMT will be selected.
Local Oscillator and Intermediate Frequency Systems
Local oscillator and intermediate frequency modules will continue to be assembled to meet the antenna retrofitting schedule. Particular emphasis will be placed on the wideband upgrade of the T304 downconverter module which includes the installation of the gain slope equalizers, wideband filters, and total power detectors. The second set of L302 frequency synthesizers will start to be installed in EVLA antennas in support of the wideband upgrade. The full production of the round trip phase module will recommence.
Fiber Optics
Modules for the digital transmission system, formatter, and deformatter will continue to be built to meet the antenna retrofit schedule. Sampler modules will be populated with the 3-bit, 4Gsps digitizers, and the installation of the high speed sampler modules in the EVLA antennas will begin.
Correlator
Critical on-the-sky tests with the prototype correlator will be completed. The critical design review for the final correlator will be held. The full production of correlator station and baseline boards will commence.
Monitor and Control
The Monitor and Control (M&C) Group will continue to integrate the prototype correlator with the EVLA M&C System and will provide additional capabilities to enhance correlator operations. Additional capabilities will also be added to the EVLA M&C System.
Science Support Systems
Support for observing with the C- and Ka-band receivers will be provided within the Observation Preparation Tool. An alpha version of the Observation Scheduling Tool will be released. A design review of Science Support Systems will also be held.
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 21
Performance Milestones and Project Data for FY 2008
The performance milestones for the project in FY 2009 are listed in the milestone table. The anticipated budget for each WBS element in FY 2009 is shown in the table at the end of this section. The unallocated funds appearing in the table represent the project reserve that will be used to address items in the project risk register. The third table shows the labor assigned to the project, and differentiates between the effort contributed by NRAO Operations and the labor actually paid by the project. The contributed effort shown in FY 2008 and earlier is actual, and the contributed effort in FY 2009 and beyond is estimated. The last table below lists the high level milestones completed since the inception of the project through the end of FY 2008.
EVLA Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Start production of S-band receiver 10/2008 Complete design of waveguide-style X-band OMT 10/2008 Conduct correlator critical design review 11/2008 Conduct science support systems PDR 11/2008 Start installing second set of frequency synthesizers 11/2008 Recommence production of round trip phase modules 11/2008 Start installation of high speed samplers 12/2008 Make alpha release of observation scheduling tool 12/2008 Start production of L-band receiver 12/2008 Provide capability for C- & Ka-band observing in OPT 02/2009 EVLA Advisory Committee Meeting 02/2009 Start production of correlator station & baseline boards 02/2009 Fabricate Ku-band feed horns 04/2009 Fabricate 20 S-band feed horns 09/2009 Retrofit a total of 23 antennas to the EVLA design 09/2009
Planned Budget Distribution for EVLA in FY 2009 WBS Element Budget ($K) Project Management 659 Systems Integration 87 Civil Construction 2 Antennas 414 Front End 2408 Local Oscillator System 322 Fiber Optics System 551 Intermediate Frequency System 418 Correlator 17
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 22
WBS Element Budget ($K) Monitor and Control System 601 Data Management 673 Unallocated 255 EVLA Budget for FY 2009 (subtotal) 6407 Carry-over from FY 2008 (217) NSF Funding for FY 2009 6190
Contributed Effort and Project Labor for the EVLA FY Cont. Eff. (FTE) EVLA FTE Subtotal (FTE) 2001 3.1 1.4 4.5 2002 19.8 14.1 33.9 2003 28.8 27.3 56.1 2004 33.0 34.9 67.9 2005 32.3 39.9 72.2 2006 28.3 39.4 67.7 2007 34.6 37.1 71.7 2008 31.8 33.8 65.6 2009 25.6 30.7 56.3 2010 9.3 15.3 24.6 2011 5.5 2.6 8.1 2012 3.6 0.8 4.4 Total 255.7 277.3 533.0
High-level Project Milestones Completed through FY 2008 WBS TASK DATE 1.1.1 Start EVLA project 05/01/01 1.6.1 Scientific Requirements defined 06/04/01 1.6.2 Technical Requirements defined 07/19/01 1.1.3 Schedule of Reviews 08/13/01 1.1.20.3 Management Plan published 09/10/01 1.1.20.5 FY 02 budget issue 09/10/01 7.10.5.1.1 Fiber Selection Review 10/17/01 10.10.2 Specify & design network system 12/03/01 2.1.12 System PDR 12/05/01 7.1.8 Fiber Optics System PDR 12/05/01 1.1.20.6 Cost estimates refined 12/21/01 6.1.5 LO/IF PDR, Start prototype development 01/22/02 4.1.12 Feed Cone PDR 02/12/02 5.1.5 Receiver/Feed Cone PDR 02/28/02 1.6.4 Project Book version 1 03/01/02 2.1.21 System block diagram under revision control 03/01/02
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 23
WBS TASK DATE 1.1.4 Change Control Procedures 03/04/02 1.20.2 Advisory Committee formed 03/04/02 10.1.10 M&C antenna hardware PDR 03/14/02 10.1.18 M&C Software PDR 05/15/02 1.20.3 1st Advisory committee meeting 06/10/02 7.1.20 Fiber Underground Installation CDR 06/12/02 7.10.5.1.7 Award fiber cable bid 06/24/02 10.20.10.25 High Level Software (Raw) Requirements complete 06/26/02 11.1.1.3.2 EVLA Postprocessing PDR 07/15/02 2.15.15.1 Shielding requirements for racks and modules 07/16/02 3.5.3.21 Delivery fiber cable 07/30/02 10.15.13 MIB communication protocol specified 09/13/02 10.20.25.10.15 E2E PDR, M&C Interfaces 09/27/02 7.5.10.4 Deformatter prototype assembled 10/01/02 5.1.7.2 Receive CalTech Ka-band downconverter proposal 10/07/02 2.1.50.1 EVLA test antenna chosen 10/14/02 1.1.40.1 Start installation of fiber optics on Wye 11/04/02 7.10.5.1.11 Fiber ready for burial 11/04/02 3.5.5.23 Trench fiber to W10 & master pad complete 11/26/02 7.10.10.5.1 Begin antenna structure design 01/03/03 1.1.40.2 Start prototype system lab integration & test 01/15/03 2.15.10 Acceptance Test Development 01/17/03 2.1.19 Engineering specifications document complete 03/04/03 5.4.6.2 Decision on 3rd cryo compressor 03/04/03 5.2.2.3.2 Finalize EVLA Q-band requirements 03/07/03 10.5.5.20 RTOS available for MIB 03/10/03 5.2.2.2.2 Finalize K-band rcvr requirements 03/28/03 1.1.40.3 Install prototype system on test antenna 04/14/03 2.1.50.4 M&C network - CB to MP tested 04/15/03 3.5.5.27 West Arm trench fiber complete 05/01/03 7.10.5.5.11 Final Acceptance test W10 05/08/03 7.10.5.5.13 Final Acceptance test Master Pad 05/08/03 2.1.50.10.5 M&C network - CB to W10 tested 05/13/03 10.15.23 MIB prototype board completed 06/09/03 4.1.2.15 Fiber cable wrap ready for test antenna 06/20/03 4.5.19 Feed cone ready for test antenna 06/27/03 5.4.7.2 CT350 refrigerators ready for test antenna 07/11/03 2.1.50.4.3 Move test antenna to master pad 08/04/03 3.5.5.49 East Arm trench fiber complete 09/09/03 7.1.18 Antenna internal review 10/15/03 5.2.2.2.12 K-band Rcvr prototype complete 12/12/03 5.2.2.3.14 Q-band Rcvr prototype complete 12/12/03 2.30.5 Develop CB ethernet port location plan 12/19/03 10.10.15 Network connection tested - antenna to CB 12/23/03
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 24
WBS TASK DATE 7.15.2.12 8-bit sampler ready for system bench testing 12/26/03 8.3 Start 2nd test antenna preparation 01/19/04 6.5.5 H Maser Frequency Standard (&Rb) delivery 01/23/04 7.10.10.10.3 Prototype fiber network available on test antenna 01/30/04 2.1.50.12 Functional design freeze 01/30/04 3.5.5.69 East Arm trench fiber complete 01/30/04 3.5.5.80 Array fiber burial completed 02/13/04 11.1.1.1.3 EVLA science requirements for software 03/02/04 7.5.10.8 Deformatters ready for system test antenna 03/29/04 4.1.4.11 L-band feed prototype ready to install 03/31/04 11.1.1.1.4 EVLA operational requirements 04/01/04 1.1.40.5 Start electronics hardware production 04/05/04 7.5.25.3 Start DTS production specifications 04/12/04 5.3.2.13 L-band feed prototype complete 04/13/04 6.5.35.3 Master LO sys ready for functional tests 04/27/04 2.1.50.13 Physical design freeze 04/30/04 2.30.15 Develop plan to move array computers 05/09/04 7.1.25 Fiber Optic System CDR 05/19/04 7.10.10.10.5 Start production assembly antenna fiber 05/19/04 1.1.40.4 Complete electronics hardware CDRs 05/21/04 6.1.10 LO/IF CDR 05/21/04 7.10.5.5.15.4 West arm splices complete 06/01/04 2.1.50.10.6 L-Band hybrid receiver usable 06/03/04 11.1.1.1.7 Data Mgt reorganization 06/09/04 10.20.15.37 Overall software design complete 06/14/04 4.1.4.18 C-band feed prototype ready to install 07/01/04 4.10.12 Test antenna (13) mechanical retrofit complete 07/12/04 10.5.20.4 Start slot ID installation on antennas 07/16/04 2.1.50.10.8 Test antenna ready to move to W10 07/21/04 4.5.50.4 Start feed cone production 08/06/04 7.15.2.14 8-bit sampler redesign ready for use 08/12/04 2.25.30.3 Spec & order all LO and FE shielded racks 08/23/04 4.10.10 C-band feed prototype on test antenna 09/15/04 10.5.5.38 Start MIB production 09/20/04 7.10.5.5.15.7 E-arm D & C array splices complete 09/29/04 4.2.10.14.2 Start C-band feed horn production 10/04/04 1.1.40.6 Start retrofitting antennas w/ new system 10/05/04 10.15.7 Determine requirement of real-time database 10/13/04 7.10.5.5.15.11 E-arm B & A array splices complete 10/14/04 2.1.30.6 M&C Hardware & Network CDR 10/20/04 2.1.50.17 Start interferometry tests w/two EVLA antennas 12/02/04 4.2.10.12.2 Start L-band feed horn production 12/07/04 2.30.17 Start ELVA transition planning 01/13/05 5.2.2.5.10 1ST C-band Rcvr prototype complete 01/21/05
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 25
WBS TASK DATE 5.4.4 Prototype cryogenics system ready 01/31/05 10.15.32 MIB Slot ID software developed 02/08/05 4.1.21 Antenna/Feed Cone CDR 02/17/05 2.1.30.4 Feed CDR 02/17/05 11.1.10.6 Acceptance of VLA archive 02/24/05 5.2.1.1.1.14 Card cage prototypes complete 03/07/05 3.10.6 Shielded room spec's written 03/08/05 11.2.1 Routine test observing software available 03/21/05 8.15.15.25 Integrated U/X converter design available 03/23/05 11.2.2 Routine observing - EVLA antennas with VLA 03/31/05 2.1.60.1 Verify linearity of RF designs - rcvr to correl 04/15/05 5.2.2.6.7.5 First L-band OMT available for Rcvr test 04/29/05 2.1.50.30 Start antenna production outfitting 05/11/05 11.1.4 Observation scripting toolkit 05/11/05 2.1.60.3 Check for interference and bandpass shapes: 8, 22 & 45 GHz 05/12/05 2.1.60.5 Receiver stability tests: 8, 22 and 45 GHz 05/12/05 7.10.5.5.15.14 N-arm D & C array splices complete 06/17/05 11.2.3 Routine control of VLA using EVLA software 06/30/05 11.2.4 WIDAR correlator PDR 07/22/05 10.1.24 M&C System Hardware CDR 08/15/05 7.10.5.5.15.17 N-arm B & A array splices complete 08/26/05 5.2.2.2.15 Start K-band Rcvr upgrade production 09/16/05 5.2.2.5.17b 3rd C-band receiver interim type complete 09/23/05 3.10.9 Shielded room delivered 10/03/05 7.5.5.9 Start production DTS link hardware 10/26/05 2.10.28.7 Start P302 power supply production 10/27/05 2.30.17.2 1st Antenna (14) turnover to Operations 10/28/05 2.30.17.3 2nd Antenna (16) turnover to Operations 12/20/05 2.30.17.4 3rd Antenna (13) turnover to Operations 01/19/06 6.7.15.10 Outfit central LO racks (Antennas 21-28) 03/06/06 5.2.2.5.17d 4rd C-band receiver interim type complete 03/31/06 5.1.10 Front End CDR 04/25/06 5.3.8.9 Ka-band feed fabrication complete 05/01/06 11.1.12.5 MAL acceptance 06/01/06 5.3.5.11 X-band feed prototype complete 06/16/06 11.2.13 Prototype TelCal software ready for testing 06/30/06 10.20.35.3.1.2.5 Reference Pointing Complete 07/18/06 1.1.40.7 Start observing in transition mode 08/01/06 10.20.35.3.4.1.1.3 initial certification of science data 09/08/06 8.15.15.31 UX converter converted path tested 09/15/06 8.15.15.30d Delivery of UX conveters complete 09/28/06 2.1.60.9 Initial report on system performance 09/29/06 11.2.5 Control VLA correlator controller by Modcomp software 09/29/06 4.2.10.14.10 C-band feed fabrication & assembly completed 09/29/06
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 26
WBS TASK DATE 6.25.10.6 7 antennas w/ 4 IF-bands working 10/18/06 1.1.21.6a Refine PM performance metrics 10/31/06 2.1.50.2.3 Complete final hardware bench integration 11/06/06 2.30.17.6 7 antennas retrofitted to EVLA design 11/06/06 10.1.25 Monitor & Control System Transistion CDR 11/14/06 2.1.30.6a M&C CDR 11/14/06 7.15.1.10 Determine sources for 3-bit sampler 11/16/06 3.10.5.16 Shielded room assembly complete 11/21/06 8.5.10.6 Order & assemble switches 11-20 antennas 12/01/06 5.2.2.5.13.6 C-band OMT available for Rcvr test 12/05/06 3.15.7 Correlator room HVAC operational 12/12/06 1.1.21.6b Risk contingency analysis conducted 12/15/06 11.2.12 Prototype DCAF software ready for testing 12/27/06 10.20.20.15 Test & Dev Support for Enhanced Ants Rdy 01/03/07 10.20.35.3.3.4.3 Parameters dbase updated for VLA antennas 01/05/07 10.20.15.46 Hybrid array software online 01/15/07 4.1.4.24 S-band feed prototype ready for testing 03/20/07 6.20.5.15.10 Order final quantities of L304 hardware 05/01/07 3.1.100 Civil Construction Completed 05/02/07 1.20.4 1st EVLA Science Advisory Group meeting 05/22/07 10.20.35.3.4.1.8 new correlator controller in regular use 05/25/07 7.5.20.10 Start interfaces to new shielded room 06/04/07 7.10.5.5.15.25 Array fiber infrastructure complete 06/13/07 10.20.35.3.5.4 Visibility data avail to EVLA M&C System 06/22/07 11.2.9 Modcomps retired 06/27/07 11.1.1.3.10 High Level Architecure Desigin complete 06/28/07 5.3.3.8 S-band feed prototype complete 06/28/07 10.20.35.3.7.1.4 Modcomp-based flagging used on a regular basis 07/13/07 9.1.2 New connectivity scheme sign-off 07/31/07 10.20.35.3.8.6 VLA format archive records written by EVLA M&C System 08/01/07 10.20.35.3.4.2.3.5 VLA correlator controlled by EVLA M&C system 08/10/07 10.20.35.3.3.6 EVLA Control of VLA Antennas complete 08/13/07 5.2.2.7.12 1st Ka-band Rcvr prototype complete 08/28/07 5.2.2.9.2a Start mechanical engineering on S-band receiver 09/04/07 8.20.10.33a T304 - add total power detectors (B/D) 09/18/07 6.25.10.9 12 antennas w/ 4 IF-bands working 09/27/07 2.30.17.8 12 antennas retrofitted to EVLA design 09/28/07 4.1.4.27 S-band feed fit test on antenna 11/01/07 10.20.35.12 Full Support, Enhanced Antennas 11/09/07 9.1.13 High-speed inter-rack cables delivered to VLA site 02/20/08 5.1.7.6.11 Begin Ka-band downconverter production 03/06/08 8.20.10.33c T304 - add revised bandpass filters & equalizers 04/01/08 4.2.10.16.2 S-band feed horn production begins 04/14/08 9.1.14 First 8 racks delivered to VLA 05/15/08
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 27
WBS TASK DATE 1.1.40.9 Start outfitting new correlator room 06/02/08 4.1.5.7 Ku-band feed prototype ready for testing 06/02/08 7.15.1.14a 1st article 3-bit sampler chip delivered 06/02/08 4.2.10.12.10 L-band feed assembly completed 06/11/08 5.3.6.9 Ku-band feed prototype tested 06/11/08 9.2.10 Ready for OTS hardware @ VLA 06/27/08 7.15.1.14b Evaluate 3-bit sampler chip/release production order 06/30/08
Program Plan FY 2009 D. EVLA Construction 28
E. Telescope and Science Operations
1. Observatory-Wide Operational Priorities and Integrated Operations
In FY 2009, the Program will support core operations for the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC), the (E)VLA, the GBT, and the VLBA. The majority of the budget in the FY 2009 Program goes toward core telescope operations and underlying administrative and management support. NAASC funding is separated into a different account for NSF administrative purposes, but as described below, NRAO is working to integrate operations for the most effective delivery of service to the community.
For its long range program the NRAO has developed five guiding priorities to be achieved by 2015:
1. Complete ALMA and EVLA successfully. 2. Provide effective user support for the multi-wavelength community. 3. Achieve the next quantum leap in GBT science capabilities: focal- plane cameras. 4. Convert the VLBA to a subscriber + key science driven facility. 5. Help realize the SKA, in partnership with the US and international community.
Although these are long-range goals, they form the over-arching development framework as described in the FY 2009 Program Plan.
The first priority, successful completion of the ALMA and EVLA construction projects, is self-evident but represents the key activities at NRAO over the next few years. NRAO’s foremost strategic goal is to increase the scientific impact of its facilities. The second development priority above speaks to this goal. NRAO seeks not just to build and operate forefront facilities, but to ensure that the critical science is performed, effectively and efficiently, and with ready access by the broad scientific community.
The third priority, development of imaging instrumentation for the GBT, recognizes the tremendous untapped potential of this telescope. The GBT has had high scientific productivity so far, but with first generation instrumentation. A second generation of cameras could enhance observing speed by factors of 10 to 1000. The fourth priority addresses the necessary change in operational mode of the VLBA, given the recommendation of the Senior Review. NRAO is well along in arranging external subscribers, improving sensitivity, and in orienting the facility toward key science projects. The VLBA remains the highest precision astrometric instrument in existence. The final priority looks toward the future and the development of the SKA. The NRAO continues to work with the community to refine the SKA concept and timelines as the Decadal Survey approaches.
Integrated Operations
The NRAO believes that an essential component of achieving priority 2, to provide effective user support for the multi-wavelength community, is through integrated observatory science operations. Through integrated science operations, the Observatory seeks to consolidate scientific and user services to present a unified complement of observing facilities to the community. The principal objectives are:
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 29
• Unify NRAO telescopes and resources so that their full power can be coordinated to attack the most important scientific problems. • Present users with a single face for all NRAO telescopes. • Share services across telescopes to reduce development and operations costs.
Thus, in contrast to a model in which facilities operate largely independently with different user services and user interfaces, Integrated Operations seeks to unify NRAO facilities. To the extent practical, the facilites would have a common set of services and with a common “look and feel,” and when appropriate, would come together in a seamless manner to provide a coordinated approach to major astrophysical problems. As a program, this should considerably improve access to NRAO facilities by the broad, multi- wavelength community, and will meet NRAO’s most important strategic goal of increasing science impact of its facilities.
Because NRAO’s major facilities, ALMA, (E)VLA, GBT, and VLBA have been built at different times, under different budgets, and with different operating styles and expectations, they at present have their own observing and support systems. Some of the telescope support systems are necessarily site specific, and will always remain so, owing to the unique telescope and instrumentation hardware. Other, higher level activities, have the potential of being integrated across the observatory, and a few already are shared. For example, the tool used to submit observing proposals is now shared among all active NRAO telescopes—the VLA, GBT, and VLBA.
The NRAO has developed a concept by which integrated science operations can be phased in. As noted, some telescope support activities will necessarily remain with the telescopes. Other general user support activities, such as some helpdesk support, some pipeline heuristics, some schools and tutorials can be migrated relatively quickly. Another category of tools, such a Observation Preparation, Scheduling Tool management, archive access, etc., are telescope specific at the moment, but could be made more common. Thus, the concept is to migrate telescope and site-specific services to more general, Observatory-wide services over time. Initial emphasis would be on achieving integration between ALMA and the EVLA, with extension to the GBT as practical. The VLBA would also be included, as possible, although the intention is that the VLBA will transition to a subscriber and key-science facility.
In 2009, the NRAO will work to develop the integrated science operations concept more fully. Specific integrated operations activities in FY 2009 will include revising the TAC process (see SAA section); implementing the Centralized Authentication user database (Feb. 2009); and starting a new algorithm development group (underway in the fall of 2008).
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 30
2. North American ALMA Science Center
FY 08 New NSF Total NSF Carryover Funds New Funds FTE Budget (PRL) and (PRL) AST (PRL) Carryover NA ALMA Operations 7.1 NAASC Ops & Full Science Support 1,330,262 1,330,262 6.6 7.2 NA ARC Core Support 1,281,517 1,281,517 6.8 7.3 Special Projects 437,104 437,104 0.0 7.4 NA ALMA Chilean Affairs 0 0 0.0 7.5 ALMA Technical Support 823,309 823,309 6.2 7.6 ALMA Development 28,847 28,847 0.0 7.7 NA Chile Operations 1,402,562 7,043,927 8,446,489 60(1) 7.9 Directly Associated Costs 820,034 820,034 0.0 Subtotal ALMA Operations 1,402,562 11,765,000 13,167,562 79.6 (1)=37.5% of the total expected JAO staff
The main activities at the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) for 2009 are to:
• Hire new NAASC personnel, including the second North American (NA) Commissioning Liaison scientist, an additional scientist for software testing, user support, and documentation, a scientific programmer, the first two NAASC postdocs, a web content manager, an EPO specialist, and the first archive technician. • Take part in commissioning activities, initially at the ALMA Technical Facility in Socorro, NM and later at the Operations Support Facility near San Pedro, Chile. • Intensify testing and exercising the major ALMA user software systems (observing tool, CASA offline reduction package, and pipeline) in order to be capable of generating user-friendly documentation and provide user support for the first Call for Proposals and the commencement of early science in 2010. • Develop NA ALMA Archive and ALMA helpdesk implementation plans. • Redesign NAASC Science User webpages. • Plan participation of Canadian partners for ALMA Core deliverables. • Fabricate first Band-10 SIS mixer chips.
The activities of all business units within the NAASC are described below.
The overall budget for this element is the same as that derived from the internationally reviewed and approved ALMA Operations Plan (AOP), version D (October 2007), although the division between different work elements is somewhat different.
NAASC Science Operations (Work Elements 7.1 & 7.2)
The NAASC supports both internationally approved ALMA “core” operations as well as North American (NA) support operations outside the project-defined “core” elements. The former are defined in the AOP and organized under work element 7.2 through the NA ALMA Regional Center (ARC). Core tasks
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 31
include international project coordination, support for Commissioning and Science Verification (CSV), observing preparation, direct observing support (Astronomer On Duty in Chile and Quality Assurance), and post-observation support (offline software and archive). Activities beyond these core tasks are under work element 7.1 and include organizing the Canadian contribution to NA ALMA Operations, interacting with the ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee (ANASAC), Community Development (visitors programs, workshops & tutorials), postdoctoral and student programs, and NA ALMA EPO.
International Coordination
During the first quarter of FY 2009 the NAASC will work with the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) in Chile to update the ALMA Operations Plan (AOP) and budget to version E, and propagate these changes through the NAASC budget. Along with key JAO staff and the other regional ARC Managers, we will participate in the Science Operations Integrated Project Team (IPT) via bi-monthly telecons and quarterly face-to-face meetings. Tasks this year are to produce implementation plans for each ARC, to be reviewed by the ALMA Science Advisory Committee (ASAC) in Q2 FY 2009, refine requirements and implement the ALMA Helpdesk, finalize the ARC archive implementation plans, and identify operations software requirements and propagate them to the appropriate software subsystems requirements documents. International search committees will be set up to recruit the next six JAO Operations Astronomers.
Canadian Partnership
The Canadians are a joint partner with the NRAO in the international ALMA project. An MOU with our Canadian partners was finalized in the previous fiscal year, defining the guidelines and principles for participation in ALMA operations by our Canadian colleagues. During 1Q FY 2009 the NAASC will work with the Canadian representative to organize Canada’s participation in NA ALMA core support for FY 2009 to FY 2011 (nominally 7.25%).
End-user Software
A major core function is to participate in testing and evaluation of all major ALMA end-user software systems. These include the CASA offline software, and the ALMA Observing Tool, pipeline, and archive. This is meant to ensure readiness of the software for early science, and to acquaint NAASC staff with the use of the software so we will be ready to provide user support and documentation.
The NAASC has a particularly strong commitment to ensure the readiness of the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) system, the offline data reduction and analysis software package being jointly developed for ALMA and EVLA1 by NRAO. The NAASC supports the development of the ALMA simulator (see Figure E.2.1) and participates in the “CASA Cabal”, a group of NRAO scientists charged with setting and prioritizing software development targets, organizing software testing, releases, and tutorials, updating the CASA cookbook, and producing release notes and FAQs. The NAASC will conduct extensive tests of the CASA system prior to each bi-annual release. Also in FY 2009, the project will convene a group of external experts for in-depth CASA testing.
1 The ALMA share of CASA software development is supported under “ALMA Technical Support,” while scientific testing of CASA against ALMA requirements is a core support item in the NA ARC. CASA software development activities are described in the OEO section of this document.
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 32
Figure E.2.1. Screen shot from the CASA ALMA simulator.
Commissioning and Science Verification (CSV) Support
NAASC scientists take part in CSV as a means to train for ALMA operations. At the start of FY 2009 this involves continuing support of the ALMA Test Facility in Socorro. This includes prototype-antenna and software testing and debugging, to gain familiarity with the system and train for eventual work in Chile, and testing the functionality of CASA to import and analyze real ALMA data. By 2Q 2009 this activity will transition to the Operations Support Facility (OSF) in Chile. The NAASC also participates in monthly meetings of the Science IPT, considering the scientific impact of issues arising during the construction project.
User Support
The NAASC will continue to run the CASA proto-helpdesk and triage system, until it is replaced by the ALMA helpdesk sometime in the near future. We will recruit a scientific programmer to work with the CASA developers group, help run tutorials, answer helpdesk queries, and to develop scripts for bringing data from other NA millimeter facilities into CASA. A scientist will be recruited for additional user support, in preparation for the first Call for Proposals in early 2010. Late in the year we will coordinate with the JAO and other regional ARCs to develop the initial user documentation in preparation for the first Call for Proposals.
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 33
NA ALMA Archive
Each ARC will maintain a mirror copy of the ALMA archive and pipeline, eventually containing a complete copy of all observational data and pipeline products published to the central ALMA science archive, which will be based in the Santiago Central Office (SCO). This system will be an exact copy of the archive system that is being developed by the construction project to be installed at the SCO. The NA archive system and mirroring process must be installed and tested well before the first Call for Proposals. We therefore budget the archive equipment (NGAS racks and servers, increased cooling capacity and power support) and the first archive technician for the last quarter of the fiscal year. Prior to this, the NAASC will host a complete copy of all ALMA Science Verification data. For this we will install a server with adequate disk storage to the existing NRAO network, and the data will be retrieved using standard protocols (e.g. ssh). This work will be supported by the NRAO Computing and Information Service division.
Community Professional Development and the ANASAC
The ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee (ANASAC) remains the primary means of communication between the NAASC and the user community, and it is an important resource to the NA members of the ALMA Science Advisory Committee (ASAC). The ANASAC holds telecons every second month and a face-to-face meeting every year. At the September 2008 face-to-face meeting, the ANASAC considered several charges, including how to implement the NA aspect of the ALMA development program, a scientific recommendation for the disposition of the NA ALMA prototype antenna, and potential pre-ALMA science initiatives. We will act upon the ANASAC recommendations in the first part of FY 2009. The ANASAC will also provide input to the ASAC on charges from the ALMA board.
The topic for the 4th NAASC Science Workshop will be selected by the ANASAC, in consultation with the NAASC. It will continue the highly successful series of scientific workshops begun in 2006 to promote and refine the scientific use of ALMA and eventually provide input to potential ALMA development projects.
The delay in filling two NAASC positions (the second commissioning liaison and a scientific programmer) has enabled the NAASC to consider supporting extended visits by outside experts, in order to provide a broader scientific evaluation of the CASA software, the ALMA observing tool interface, and/or the NAASC-developed molecular spectral line database. This support will be available upon the lifting of the Continuing Resolution.
Training of external users commenced in FY 2008 with two major CASA tutorials sponsored in part by he NAASC. Funds permitting, the NAASC plans to support another tutorial in Q4 FY 2009. Talks on ALMA status and ALMA science will be made at the AAS winter and summer meetings, and at U.S. and international institutions. NAASC staff will provide material for and give presentations to a number of committees throughout the year, including the ANASAC, ASAC, the NRAO Visiting Committee, the NRAO User Committee, AUI Board, and other committees as the need arises.
Postdocs and Students
The NRAO has the prestigious Jansky Fellowship program, designed to help attract and train the best young scientists into research areas related to radio astronomy, based at US universities or research
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 34
laboratories, and the NRAO. The program is run from the NRAO Office of Science and Academic Affairs. Since ALMA will be one of the preeminent facilities of its day, attracting the best finishing graduate students and first time postdocs into ALMA related research is of great importance. To accommodate the anticipated increased interest by talented new scientists in ALMA, the NAASC supports one additional Janksy Fellow per year. The first NAASC-supported Fellow will start in Q1 FY 2009. Funds permitting, the second NAASC-supported Jansky Fellow will begin in Q4 FY 2009.
In addition, the NAASC runs an ALMA Postdoctoral researcher program to help train future mm/submm astronomers. Unlike the Jansky Fellows, these postdocs are stationed at the NAASC, and have a few modest support functions, mostly as a means of preparing scientifically for ALMA. This may include scientific evaluation of the CASA software and/or the ALMA observing tool interface, or work with the NAASC-developed molecular spectral line database. The first NAASC postdoc will start in Q2 FY 2009, and the second (funds permitting) in Q4 FY 2009.
Education and Public Outreach
During FY 2009 a primary focus of NA ALMA EPO efforts will be to amplify and sharpen our outreach to the science community. Specific tasks include reviewing and restructuring the NRAO and NAASC ALMA web pages with an eye toward clarity in the promotion of ALMA to non-traditional science users, enhancing the effectiveness of our science conference exhibits as vehicles for demonstrating progress in the development of both the observatory and of tools that support users, and soliciting ALMA-related articles for various science community newsletters.
In the realm of public outreach we will endeavor to cultivate coverage of ALMA in the popular media, continue to document on video key North American developments in Kilgore (home of Vertex RSI), Charlottesville, and Chile, and champion a public-friendly ALMA web presence both at NRAO and internationally. The NA ALMA EPO Program Officer represents NA on the international ALMA EPO Working Group, contributing as appropriate to the definition and development of EPO resources shared among and/or created in partnership with the other executives and the JAO. We will also collaborate with our partners as appropriate in the preparation of press releases that publicize significant ALMA milestones.
Staffing and Budget Summary
At the start of FY 2009, NAASC Science Operations includes the NAASC Assistant Director, the NA ARC Manager, the NA ALMA EPO Program Officer, full-time effort from two astronomers and partial effort from six astronomers, a Jansky Fellow, 0.45 FTEs for ALMA-specific EPO efforts in Chile, and 0.5 FTE each of business and administrative support. Two positions advertised in FY 2008 but unfilled will be readvertised in FY 2009: a second CSV liaison, and a Scientific Programmer. A scientist will be recruited for additional user support, in preparation for the first Call for Proposals early next year. A Web Developer will be hired to support webpage design, content maintenance and outreach, and a Multimedia Designer/Artist will be hired to support NA ALMA EPO activities. The overall effort encompasses 13.4 FTE.
The total budget for these elements in FY 2009 is $2,612k. Of this, $1,376k is for salaries and benefits, $162k for travel (including duty trips to the ATF and OSF, and $15k for travel support for the ANASAC f2f meeting), $402k for the initial installment of the NA ALMA archive, $48k for relocation and starting costs for six new hires (excluding postdocs), $25k to support the NAASC Science Workshop and CASA
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 35
tutorials, $195k for postdocs and Jansky Fellows, $108k to support ALMA-specific EPO activities, $81k for salary support of extended visitors, and $215k for a pro-rated share of AUI Management. Because of the anticipated budgetary Continuing Resolution, all workshops, tutorials, visitor programs, two postdoctoral positions, and the purchasing of the Archive equipment are all delayed until the final quarter of the fiscal year. Should the continuing resolution continue through the year, these activities will be delayed until the next fiscal year or cancelled.
ALMA Special Projects (work element 7.3)
This business unit supports work that is viewed by the NRAO as critical to ALMA’s success but is not delineated in the AOP as part of international operations. It currently includes two projects: (1) SIS mixer development and (2) the molecular and atomic spectral-line database Splatalogue.
SIS Mixer Development
The international project has recognized that ALMA operations must support continuing R&D for SIS mixers. State-of-the-art SIS mixers are the key to the unprecedented sensitivities that will be achieved with ALMA receivers. Future developments in SIS mixer technology will bring substantial improvements to ALMA receivers, particularly for Bands 9 and 10. The Band 9 receiver being provided by the construction project will be a double-sideband system (not ideal for spectral-line identification), and only one SIS mixer ever built meets the demanding specifications for Band 10. Thus improving receivers for these bands is a high priority for the ALMA development program. The ultimate goal is a low-noise wide- band SIS mixer for 780–950 GHz (λ = 350 μm).
Such upgrades and development and, of equal importance, the procurement of future components needed to repair SIS mixers in Bands 3 and 6 (as required of NAm deliverables), rely on the continued existence of SIS foundries. In the previous FY, the University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory (UVML) was selected to continue its development of the new technology for Band 10 and also to manufacture and supply replacement SIS mixer chips for ALMA. The subaward is for five years. The UVML is one of two existing SIS foundries in the U.S., and has developed a very stable and repeatable process for making Nb-based SIS mixers. The UVML represents a capital investment of order $10M in research and test equipment plus many years of labor investment to set up and maintain a working facility and stable SIS mixer-fabrication process.
During FY 2009 the UVML will continue development of Nb/Al-AlN/NbTiN SIS junctions. This contract work provides support for 1.5 FTE of engineering research staff and a graduate student, and includes funds for targets and substrates and clean-room time. At the NRAO Technology Center (NTC), test circuits will be designed and measured to determine the microwave properties of NbTiN, the design of an initial mixer circuit will be completed, LO and signal-source components will be bought and/or fabricated, and the LO signal optics will be designed.
Splatalogue
The NAASC supported the construction of the “Database for Astronomical Spectroscopy: Splatalogue”, which is now the world’s most complete publicly available database of molecular transitions from cm to submm wavelengths. This database is not only essential for the full utilization of ALMA as a spectral-line instrument, but for any facility operating between several hundred Hz to more than 10 THz. In FY 2009 the database will continue to be updated based on fits of laboratory work, and there will be a second
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 36
public release of Splatalogue with increased functionality, including the ability for users to save search criteria, a library of template spectra, and a full LTE low optical depth fitting program to simulate data from both single dish and interferometer observations. Updates will be communicated to the community via a mail exploder and electronic newsletter.
Staffing and Budget Summary
The total budget for this element in FY 2008 is $437k, which will provide $399k contract support to UVML, $23k to NTC for fabrication and testing of the signal optics and pre-amps, and $15k to support Splatalogue updates and web design work.
Office of Chilean Affairs (work element 7.4)
The OCA is a small office in Santiago, Chile, that handles the legal and business affairs of AUI/NRAO, including representation of ALMA to the Republic of Chile for AUI and support for JAO staff. This office is supported by the construction project (see ALMA Construction Santiago Chile Office) and will transfer to operations in 2011.
ALMA Technical Support (work element 7.5)
This business unit provides technical support to the ALMA Observatory for hardware and software delivered by NA as part of the construction project, or for deliverables developed outside of the construction project.
For FY 2009, the software support includes the ALMA-specific development of the CASA offline software system. The NAASC shares this support with the EVLA, with the NAASC share accounting for 4 FTEs of effort from eight scientific programmers and software developers. These developers generate the software to meet the ALMA offline subsystem requirements, respond to bug reports, and support the CASA work described above (CASA beta releases and patches, tutorials, CASA tests, the ALMA simulator development). Major new capabilities planned for this year are: support for heterogenous arrays, algorithm parallelization, and improved speed and robustness of the system. For more details, see the CASA portion of the OEO section of this document.
By the last quarter of FY 2009, the warranty on the first NA delivered hardware will have expired, and the NAASC must service any NA delivered modules returned from Chile for repair. This support will be provided by the same engineers and technicians at the NRAO Technology Center working on the construction deliverables. The NRAO Electronic Timekeeping system (ETK) will be in use at the time maintenance activity begins, and only the labor actually used to support ALMA operations will be charged to the operations budget. All such activity falls into the category of unscheduled maintenance, and is unpredictable except in a statistical sense. Matrixing this activity to NTC leads to a huge savings over having it outsourced or hiring a separate maintenance staff. The construction staff obviously has the expertise and experience necessary to support this work, and the NAASC need not pay for their training or down-time waiting for units to be repaired.
Staffing and Budget Summary
The total budget for this element in FY 2009 is $823k, which includes $690k for salaries, benefits and travel for 4 FTEs of CASA developers and 2.25 FTEs at NTC, and $133k in M&S for hardware repairs
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 37
and shipping. The engineering support functions do not occur until Q4 FY 2009. Under a continuing resolution, this effort could not be supported.
ALMA Development Support (work element 7.6)
This business unit supports North American development efforts. The AOP budget for CY 2009 includes $100k to support development efforts, such as workshops, of which the FY 2009 NSF share is $29k. The ANASAC has a charge to consider how to organize these efforts for NA.
ALMA Chilean Operations (work element 7.7)
The major NAASC budget element is for the NA fraction of the operations costs of the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) in Chile, accounting for 65% of the total NAASC budget in FY 2009. JAO Operations activities are reported monthly to the ALMA Board. Major activities for FY 2009 are the recruiting of six more operations astronomers and six engineering leads, the deployment of lead engineers to the Front End Integration Centers and other construction assembly sites where they will train alongside construction personnel as ALMA receivers and electronics are assembled, and the implementation of a Computerized Maintenance Management System. Main milestones are the delivery of the first antenna to the Array Operations Site, and the start of three-element interferometry at the AOS, marking the official start of the CSV phase. After this, the JAO will support long-term visits by external experts to assist in CSV activities.
Staffing and Budget Summary
The ALMA Board reviews the JAO budget yearly. This review will not occur until November 2008, so for this program plan we assume the budget presented in version D of the AOP, escalated from USD2006 to USD2009 assuming an inflation rate of 3.5% per year, and adopting 516 CLP per USD. A linear spending profile is assumed to convert from calendar years (used by the AOP) to US fiscal years. Under these assumptions, the NA portion of the CY 2009 JAO budget amounts to $4.0M in running costs (primarily for operations of the OSF facility and turno travel), $4.1M for JAO staffing costs (total of 159 FTE at the end of FY 2009), for a total CY2009 budget of $8.1M. The Q4 CY2008 JAO budget is projected to be $1.5M, resulting in a total budget for the NA share of Chilean Operations of $7.6M in FY 2009. The Canadians are expected to contribute 7.25% of this cost, resulting in a cost to NSF of $7.0M. Added to this is the $1.4M carryover from the FY 08 NAASC budget, to be held in reserve against future obligations.
Directly Associated Costs (work element 7.8)
This business unit covers Directly Associated Costs (DAC). These are a pro-rated share of cost and activities performed in other NRAO divisions on behalf of NAASC personnel. These include IT support, facilities support (library and building lease and maintenance), business and HR support, and certain activities performed by the Director’s office, SAA, and the OEO division. The amount is pro-rated by the number of NAASC staff, and amounts to $820k in FY 2009.
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 38
NAASC Milestones for the 2009 Program Plan
The project’s performance on NAASC milestones for 2009 is listed below.
NAASC Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Set CA in-kind contribution to core activities 10/2008 CASA user training in Socorro 10/2008 Define helpdesk requirements & workflow 10/2008 Post job advertisements: Scientist, Scientific programmer, CSV2 10/2008 EPO: Post job advertisements: Web content manager 10/2008 CASA release 2.3.0: Pre-release testing & start user support 10/2008 Provide input to version E of AOP 10/2008 Propagate AOP version E changes to NAASC long-range plan 11/2008 Produce Helpdesk Implementation Plan 12/2008 EPO: Exhibit booth design completed 12/2008 EPO: Hire Web Content Manager; start science user webpage redesign 12/2008 SIS: Design of DSB mixer circuit completed 12/2008 SIS: Design of RF quad hybrid completed 12/2008 Participate in ALMA Pipeline User Test 5 (single dish heuristics) 12/2008 Multimedia presentation for exhibit booth completed (for Winter AAS) 12/2008 Produce NA ALMA Archive Implementation Plan 01/2009 SIS: Order hot deposition system 01/2009 SIS: First measurements of NbTiN films 01/2009 Produce NA ARC Implementation Plan 02/2009 EPO: Post job advertisements: Multimedia Designer/Artist 02/2009 SIS: Fabricate RF quadrature hybrids 03/2009 Participate in ALMA Archive User Test 2 02/2009 EPO: Media Prospectus document completed (for AAAS) 02/2009 SIS: Receive LO source and multiplier 03/2009 Develop scripts and cookbook chapter which describe pathways for CARMA and 03/2009 SMA data reduction in CASA Hire NAASC postdoc 1 & 2 03/2009 Start of CSV support duties to OSF 03/2009 EPO: Draft Proposed NAASC/NRAO ALMA site map completed 03/2009 Participate in ALMA Pipeline User Test 6 03/2009 Participate in ALMA ObsTool User Test 5.1 03/2009 SIS: Hot deposition system received and installation completed 04/2009 Hire Scientist, Scientific programmer, CSV2 04/2009 EPO: Hire Multimedia Designer 04/2008
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 39
Item Delivery Date Advertise for Archive Technician; order Archive equipment 04/2009 CASA release 2.4.0: Pre-release testing & start user support 05/2009 Post Science Verification data for NA access 06/2009 SIS: Verification and acceptance of hot deposition system complete 06/2009 CASA Tutorial 07/2009 Warranty for NA hardware deliverables expires—M&R begins 07/2009 Hire archive technician 07/2009 Stage CSV data on network with instructions to users 07/2009 Existing web content converted to new structure; new content production begins 08/2009 SIS: Fabricate first Band-10 SIS mixer chips 08/2009 Install archive 08/2009 SIS: First measurement of DSB mixer 09/2009 Release Splatalogue v.1.0 09/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 40
3. Green Bank Telescope
FY 08 Carryover New NSF Total NSF Funds New Funds FTE Budget (PRL) and (PRL) AST (PRL) Carryover
Green Bank Operations 4.0 Management & Administration & Observatory Services 2,146,123 2,146,123 24.0 4.1 Plant Maintenance 1,044,876 1,044,876 17.9 4.2 Facilities & Infrastructure 528,100 5,845,655 6,373,755 61.8 4.3 Green Bank Development Projects 59,000 790,550 849,550 7.0 4.4 University Built Instrumentation 128,958 128,958 1.2 4.5 Staff Scientific Research 414,239 414,239 3.6 Subtotal Green Bank Operations 587,100 10,370,400 10,957,500 115.6
The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is the world’s premiere single-dish radio telescope operating at centimeter-millimeter wavelengths. The GBT is in robust, routine and effective operation at frequencies up to 50 GHz, (wavelengths to 6mm), and initial 90 GHz (3mm) operations are underway with the MUSTANG bolometer array camera.
The majority of the effort in Green Bank is devoted to the continued delivery of excellent science operations with the GBT. A modest development program is also supported. Telescope operations, maintenance and user support are run as efficiently as possible while still providing the wide range of instrumentation and observing modes necessary to deliver a rich and diverse range of first-rank science observations, including bi-static radar investigations of objects in the solar system through to observations of highly redshifted HI and CO from galaxies in the early Universe. FY 2009 will see the start of a number of science programs using two of our newly commissioning university instruments—the Zpectrometer from University of Maryland (A. Harris) and MUSTANG from University of Pennsylvania (S. Dicker), as well as significant advances in the camera development program.
All operations and development activities in Green Bank directly support NRAO’s strategic objectives. As described previously, a principal Observatory development priority is to achieve a quantum leap in GBT science capabilities through focal plane array imaging systems. This, and necessary telescope support systems are the focus of the GBT development program.
While the majority of our effort is devoted to the GBT, Green Bank staff have contributed, and will continue to contribute to ALMA and ELVA development activities. In FY 2009, two Green Bank engineers and three technicians will work with ALMA on development and building of the local oscillators and bias boxes. The NRAO SKA Systems Engineer is a Green Bank staff member. In addition the electronics and mechanical divisions will continue their ongoing support of both the EVLA and ALMA projects. Our highly active and hugely successful EPO activities are described in Section H.3 of this report. We continue to develop and expand our university collaborations, including instrument development and support of university groups making use of NRAO Green Bank facilities, including our unique National Radio Quiet Zone location. Ongoing development work is both directly beneficial to the GBT, but also provides much needed expertise and experience to address the NRAO strategic objective to
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 41
advance the state-of-the art in mission-related technology. The FPGA development program (CICADA) described below is a perfect example of this.
Key milestones for FY 2009 revolve around continued telescope and instrument development. Primary focus is development of the first two prototype cameras for the GBT—the 18-26 GHz K-band Focal Plane Array and MUSTANG, the 90-GHz TES bolometer array, as well as the infrastructure development needed for the camera development program. The primary milestones for these programs in FY 09 are given below.
Figure E.3.1. LEFT: False color image of Orion KL as taken with the 16-pixel 85-95GHz bolometer array (MUSTANG, in blue). Overlain on the images is IRAC 8μm IRAC images and a VLA X-band image. RIGHT: Image of the MUSTANG array.
Camera Development:
• Release of the 16-pixel MUSTANG bolometer array as a facility instrument; • Completion and initial commissioning of the 7-beam K-band focal plane array.
Infrastructure Development:
• Release of the first version of the new dynamic scheduling system; • The implementation and testing of the new digital servo system; • Initial corrections applied to the actuators for the small-scale telescope surface errors; • Deployment and optimization of the automatic out-of-focus holography procedure for use by observers; • Release of the incoherent modes of the new pulsar backend for common use; • Development, testing and release of the coherent de-dispersion modes for the advanced pulsar backend:
Note that acceleration of the antenna performance project, as described in the infrastructure development points above, and the K-band focal plane array will make use of funds resulting from the azimuth track settlement.
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 42
Each of these activities is described in more detail, along with a complete list of milestones.
Objectives and Schedule for FY 2009
Camera Development
MUSTANG
In FY 2009 the 16-pixel prototype bolometer array, MUSTANG (Figure E.3.1), will move from being a shared-risk instrument to a facility instrument in time for the fall 2009 observing season. During FY 2009 we will also begin work on expanding the instrument to a 256 pixel array and will be looking into the possibility of expanding the instrument further (e.g. to 1000 pixels). The details in regard to expanding the instrument over the subsequent years are contingent on the outcome of these plans.
Figure E. 3. 2. LEFT: Image of the first pixel of the 18-26 GHz (K-band) focal plane array in the lab. RIGHT: Baseline data from the initial commissioning run with the 1st KFPA pixel.
K-band (18-26 GHz) Focal Plane Array
The combination of high sensitivity, unblocked aperture and wide field-of-view of the GBT is ideally matched to focal-plane array receivers. Large spectroscopic focal-plane arrays at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths will enable a powerful new set of scientific capabilities with the GBT, both as a stand-alone instrument and in combination with the EVLA and ALMA interferometers. In FY 2008, in collaboration with the CDL, we began work on an initial seven-element K-band (18-26 GHz) focal plane array, supported via a combination of LM and operations funds. This instrument is fully described in the FY 2008 program plan.
During FY 2009 the first pixel of the K-band focal-plane array will be fully commissioned (Figure E.3.2). Assuming those test are successful, the full 7-pixel instrument will be built in FY 2009, with the
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 43
commissioning of that system occurring in FY 2010. During FY 2009 the monitor ad control software of this system will also be complete, and the final end-to-end software pipeline ready for use in FY 2010. A high priority follow-on project would be to develop spectrometer capacity for the full 1.8 GHz bandwidth from all pixels; such a spectrometer would build on the CICADA development program described below. This backend is currently unfunded.
Figure E. 3. 3. Out-of-focus holography maps of the aperture phase error of the GBT as measured in April, 2008 as part of the antenna performance (PTCS) project. On the left is the 90GHz (MUSTANG) data taken using the inner 4-pixels of the MUSTANG array. At right is the 43 GHz (Q-band) data. The MUSTANG data took only 7.4 minutes to obtain and reduce, while the Q-band data took 17 minutes.
Infrastructure Development
Continued Telescope Performance Improvements
The goal of the Precision Telescope Control System (PTCS) Project is to enable full 3 mm operation of the antenna. Progress on the PTCS project ramped up again in FY 2007, and we expect that momentum to continue through FY 2009. Work in FY 2009 will focus on three main areas, as follows:
Servo Improvements: The GBT servo system has served the GBT well throughout its early life. However, as the pointing and tracking performance of the antenna has been improved through other PTCS developments, deficiencies in the current servo are becoming more of a limitation. In FY 2009 we will finish building and testing a new servo system hardware/software platform and release it for general use. This platform will have the computing and I/O processing power to implement advanced control algorithms. During the fiscal year we will also begin work on designing a control system that takes advantage of these resources and improves control of the structure, with a goal of completion of the project in FY 2010.
Out-of-focus (OOF) Holography: This technique has enabled the measurement of the repeatable large- scale surface deformations of the GBT as a result of gravitational effects. Until now, the OOF maps have only been made during stable nighttime conditions. During FY 2009 we will complete the system which will allow “real-time” corrections to be made to the telescope, with a goal of measurement and adjustment times of 15-20 minutes. This would allow us to measure and remove large-scale thermal deformations of the antenna in almost real-time, extending the improved surface performance into daylight hours and thus
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 44
significantly increasing the amount of high-frequency observing time available on the GBT. This work will complete this sub-project.
Traditional (with phase) Holography: Although the method OOF holography has provided a stable, accurate surface on large scales, it cannot measure the remaining small-scale errors, estimated at 390 microns rms. Traditional holography has been successfully used at countless radio observatories to measure such small-scale errors. It has an advantage over other techniques (such as photogrammetry or laser ranging) in that it uses radio waves to measure and improve the surface, which is the ultimate application of the radio telescope. During FY 2009 we will obtain the final, iterative, determination of precise actuator zero-points, completing this sub-project and providing a considerably better surface r.m.s. for the GBT.
Dynamic Scheduling
To date, the GBT has had a limited form of dynamic scheduling in which a high-frequency and a low frequency proposal are paired over two days and the high-frequency observers choose which day they will use. Optimal use of the GBT for high-frequency observing requires full dynamic scheduling, and a project to enable this was initiated in FY 2007. Work on this project will continue in FY 2009 following the successful beta test of this system. In early FY 2009 an external review will be held to determine if the planned path forward is sound. Assuming the external review goes well, the first bare-bones implementation of the full system will be released for general use in FY 2009.
CICADA/Next Generation Pulsar Backend
As a result of the September 2006 Future Instrumentation Workshop, NRAO Green Bank initiated a new development program in FY 2007—CICADA, the Configurable Instrument Collaboration for Agile Data Acquisition. This program is described in detail in the FY 2008 program plan. The initial instrument developed for the GBT will be the “next generation” pulsar backend, which is described in the same program plan. In FY 2009 the backend will be expanded to increase the inherent modes available to the users and we will add the desired coherent de-dispersion modes. The full system will be released as a facility instrument by the end of FY 2009.
University Collaborations
We continue to provide limited amounts of staff effort to assist a variety of University groups with experiments which take advantage of Green Bank facilities and the unique NRQZ location. The Zpectrometer, a wide-band analog spectrometer constructed by a team at University of Maryland headed by Prof. Andy Harris, will become a facility instrument. The instrument was described in detail in the FY 2007 Program Plan, and was released for shared risk observing in FY 2008.
Other examples include collaborations with West Virginia University to develop pulsar instrumentation for the 43m as part of the CICADA program, collaborations with the Ramen Research Institute to build a wideband tomography receiver and backend for pulsar work, and collaboration with Brigham Young University to develop advanced RFI mitigation techniques. This latter project will employ the 20m antenna as a test bed for array feeds on large reflectors coupled with adaptive signal processing for RFI removal.
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 45
Externally Funded Projects
We will continue to operate the 43m under the cooperative agreement with MIT/Lincoln labs to measure the property of the Earth’s ionosphere using bi-static radar techniques. We will also continue to operate the Solar Radio Burst Spectrometer under funding provided by the NSF ATM division.
FY 2009 Budget
The FY 2009 allocation for Green Bank Operations is $ 10.9M, with 115.6 FTEs. The breakdown between level 2 WBS elements is provided in Section K.
GBT operations are split into a winter high frequency observing season, which runs October through May inclusive, and a summer observing season which runs June through September. The bulk of the capital and staff effort intensive maintenance, including structural inspections, painting, major instrument refurbishments and so on occur during the four month summer observing season. Thus the GBT spend profile can be approximated by two approximately linear spend rates, averaging around 7% of the total budget per month for the first eight months of the year, and increasing to 11% per month for the last four.
The forecasted FY 2010 budget for NRAO will result in an approximately 10% reduction in staff on the Green Bank site. This is on top of the 6% staff reduction which we experienced in 2005 as a result of that year’s budget reductions. The result of the previous budget cuts is that the Green Bank staff is already quite lean and we are unable to absorb the upcoming budgets cuts within our general operations and infrastructure costs without having a direct impact on the ability to operate the GBT. Instead the impact of these cuts will be felt directly by the telescope users.
The milestones allowed by the FY 2009 budget are as follows:
GBT Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date MUSTANG Offline data reduction pipeline complete 07/2009 Available as a facility instrument 09/2009 K-band (18-26 GHz) Focal Plane Array K-band focal plane array prototype pixel accepted 11/2008 Monitor and control software complete 02/2009 Multi-pixel construction complete 06/2009 Precision Telescope Control System PTCS servo critical design review 01/2009 Complete implementation & testing of new digital servos 09/2009 Small-scale surface errors characterized with traditional holography 12/2008 Small-scale surface error initial corrections applied to actuators 04/2009 Initial deployment of AutoOOF (out-of-focus holography) for observations 11/2008 Optimization of AutoOOF procedure complete 07/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 46
Item Delivery Date Zpectrometer Switch over to use as a facility instrument 09/2009 Dynamic Scheduling External review 12/2008 Incorporate feedback from trial run into system design 12/2008 Release barebones DSS system for general use 09/2009 CICADA (FPGA Development) Program Incoherent pulsar backend complete 12/2008 Coherent de-dispersion modes added; testing begins 03/2009 Release as a common user instrument; project complete 09/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 47
4. (Expanded) Very Large Array
FY 08 Total NSF Carryover New NSF New Funds Funds Budget FTE (PRL) (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
New Mexico Operations 5.0 Management & Administration 991,598 991,598 12.0 5.1 Facilities 2,508,921 2,508,921 - 5.2 VLA/VLBA Operations 47,000 13,555,297 13,602,297 153.7 5.3 Research Equipment 71,640 71,640 - 5.4 Operations Funded Projects 230,857 230,857 1.2 5.5 Staff Scientific 813,525 813,525 6.1 5.6 Major Research Instrumentation - - Subtotal New Mexico Operations 47,000 18,171,839 18,218,839 173.0
The goal of VLA operations during FY 2009 is to continue to support user observations at the highest possible level consistent with the requirements of the ongoing EVLA construction program. Since the inception of EVLA construction in FY 2001, construction activities have produced relatively few overt impacts on VLA users. Toward the end of FY 2009 this situation will begin to evolve, and users may notice significant changes that will increase in number and scope as we enter FY 2010. The user community will be informed of any such plans as far in advance as possible. These may include altering the cycle of antenna configurations in order to facilitate EVLA testing, and turning off the analog VLA correlator and/or ending support for the few remaining VLA antennas and their supporting hardware remaining after the end of FY 2009 in order to divert maintenance and engineering resources into higher- priority EVLA construction activities.
Observing and User Programs
Beginning in June 2008, the submission of large proposals for the VLA and VLBA was consolidated with the regular proposal submission and review cycle for these instruments. The June proposal deadline resulted in two large proposals to utilize the A, B and D configurations of the VLA; one proposal was accepted, and will be scheduled during FY 2009-2010. Collaborative observations with the Chandra, Fermi (GLAST), and Spitzer space missions will continue in FY 2009.
The VLA configuration schedule may be modified during FY 2009 in order to accommodate WIDAR and other EVLA commissioning. Use of the few remaining VLA antennas may be discontinued late in 2009 or early 2010. Depending on how WIDAR commissioning is going, the VLA correlator may be decommissioned late in 2009. Consideration is also being given to reversing the nominal order of the VLA configurations; if this strategy is adopted, it will probably begin in FY 2010.
A workshop on “Galaxy Evolution Through Cosmic Time” will be held during FY 2009.
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 48
EVLA Transition
During FY 2009 we expect to have retrofitted a total of 23 antennas—82% of the array total—to the updated EVLA configuration. The installation of digital tachometers is now part of the ELVA antenna retrofit process, so that the number of antennas with such systems will rise to 17 by the end of the fiscal year. As noted last year, the transition to mostly EVLA antennas will prepare us for the possible shutdown of a number of VLA systems (e.g., waveguide and synthesizers for 1-Hz resolution frequency control) in FY 2009 or, more likely, in early 2010.
In FY 2008 our EVLA Canadian partner delivered the first sections of the WIDAR correlator, and “on the sky” tests were successfully begun. These tests will continue into FY 2009 becoming more ambitious and more centered on purely observational (as opposed to testing) modes. Full production of the remaining WIDAR baseline and station boards will be initiated following the completion of a Critical Design Review for production on late October 2008.
Receiver production will continue, with production of EVLA-style S-band and L-band receivers beginning in October 2008 and December 2008, respectively.
It is expected that both the Science Advisory Group for EVLA (SAGE; December 2008) and the EVLA Advisory Committee (EVLA AC; February 2009 [provisional date]) will meet during FY 2009.
Astronomers will continue to be updated on the transition-mode capabilities as well as the steps needed for successful observing via the “EVLA Returns” web page that can be accessed at http://www.vla.nrao.edu/astro/guides/evlareturn/ .
A resident shared-risk observer program is being planned for mid-FY 2009 as part of the start of scientific commissioning for the EVLA, and to stimulate third-party algorithm development for the instrument.
Dynamic Scheduling
VLA dynamic scheduling will continue at about 40% of the total scientific observing time during FY 2009, awaiting a more complete program of dynamic scheduling to be implemented as part of the EVLA.
Infrastructure
One VLA antenna is scheduled to have its azimuth bearing replaced in late FY 2009 as part of its EVLA retrofit. (This schedule is subject to on-time delivery of the refurbished bearing by our contractor.)
Our program to replace the original analog tachometers in the VLA antennas with digital systems will continue into FY 2009, with the digital tachometers now being installed as part of the EVLA antenna retrofit process. By the end of the fiscal year six more antennas will have digital tachometers, for a total of 17.
Following a major air conditioning breakdown in June 2008, New Mexico Tech installed a new chiller to replace the failed unit. The breakdown accelerated the university’s plans to carry out the infrastructure modifications necessary to connect the Domenici Science Operations Center (DSOC) to the campus
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 49
chiller system during FY 2009. New Mexico Tech has stated that it expects to have the AOC fully running on the campus–wide cooling system by the start of the 2009 summer.
With a fully staffed track crew, we hope to replace up to 4,000 ties during FY 2009. We also expect to repair three track intersections. Railway ties and ballast are purchased in 2-year amounts in alternating years so as to take advantage of bulk discounts; ballast will be purchased in FY 2009. In addition to our routine annual tie and ballast work, six problematic track intersections will also be repaired in FY 2009; this work will include replacing rotted or broken wood timbers with more robust concrete units. It should be noted that our ability to carry out all planned VLA track work assumes that the full FY 2009 budget allocation is available.
The 31DEC08 release of the Astronomical Image Processing System (AIPS) software will be frozen, and the daily-updated 31DEC09 version will be initiated. We will continue to support remote AIPS downloads and usage for hundreds of institutions and over one thousand astronomical users worldwide.
VLA Milestones in FY 2009
The table below lists key VLA milestones for FY 2009. Since funding in the planned budget will permit virtually no new development outside the EVLA project, almost all of these deliverables are in the areas of continued operations and infrastructure maintenance. The azimuth bearing replacement item is subject to timely delivery from the vendor who is rebuilding several older bearings. A more detailed list of specific EVLA deliverables may be found in the EVLA section of this Program Plan.
VLA Milestones with the Baseline Budget Item Delivery Date Return 18th EVLA antenna to VLA 10/2008 Complete WIDAR production review 12/2008 Freeze AIPS version 31DEC08, begin 31DEC09 12/2008 Install 17th digital tachometer on EVLA antenna 08/2009 Return 23rd EVLA antenna to VLA 08/2009 Replace up to 4000 railroad ties in FY 2009 09/2009 Replace azimuth bearing 09/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 50
5. Very Long Baseline Array
Plans for FY 2009
VLBA operations during FY 2009 will continue to support user operations at the highest possible level while continuing to advance the VLBA sensitivity enhancement project.
Observing and User Programs
The VLBA proposal deadline in June 2008 resulted in one large proposal; consideration of the proposal was deferred until early 2009; if the proposal is ultimately accepted, will be put on the telescope in FY 2009. Two previously-accepted large proposals will continue through FY 2009. Collaborative observations with the Fermi/GLAST space mission will also continue during FY 2009, after being initiated in late FY 2008. Interest in the latter collaborations is driven by the fact that the VLBA is the only telescope capable of imaging gamma-ray emitting regions during the many flares Fermi is expected to see in blazars and other types of active galactic nuclei.
The VLBA's sustained bit rate will reach 256 Mbps in FY 2009. This sensitivity level will especially benefit key astrometric and polarimetric programs.
FY 2009 will likely see the beginning of changes to the VLBA’s operational model stemming from the Senior Review’s directive that by FY 2011 approximately one-half of the instrument’s operating funds be supplied by partners. NRAO has been actively seeking such partners, and is optimistic that they will be found. However, it is clear that major partners who opt to support VLBA operations will expect guaranteed, and possibly pre-emptive, access to the instrument, and that this access will necessarily lie outside the standard peer-review process governing astronomical access to the telescope. The partnership-funded portion of VLBA operations will therefore begin to move toward operation as a “subscriber” facility; in order to optimize scientific productivity, non-subscriber time on the facility will be oriented primarily toward specialists and will emphasize large, key projects.
Sensitivity Enhancement
The hardware platform for the new VLBA digital backend, which has been under development in collaboration with the CASPER laboratory at UC Berkeley and the KAT group in South Africa, will become available in FY 2009. Production hardware will be ordered once the checkout of prototypes is completed. Development of the FPGA code is already under way, and several major components will be completed in FY 2009. Control software, also already under development, will advance to a level sufficient to support testing and preliminary operation.
The new hardware required for the Mark 5C data recording system, specified jointly by NRAO and Haystack Observatory, and developed by Conduant Corporation, will be completed in FY 2009. Haystack will also complete the Mark 5C control software, and use it to test Conduant’s prototype units, following an established test plan. The Mark 5C system is expected to become commercially available by the end of FY 2009, and the existing Mark 5A recorders at the ten VLBA stations, and at the VLA and GBT, will be upgraded to Mark 5C.
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 51
Testing of the DiFX software correlator will be completed in FY 2009, with tests making a transition from the current, primarily functional checks, to tests rooted in various scientific capabilities, including several new ones. A graphical interface and training for operational staff will be completed, and at least preliminary interfaces to the existing operations management and archive systems will become available. Performance of the computing cluster on which DiFX runs will approximately be doubled by procurement of next-generation CPUs. By the end of FY 2009, DiFX will replace the nearly 20-yr-old hardware correlator as the operational processor for the VLBA.
Infrastructure
As noted in last year’s Program Plan, the original VLBA masers are starting to fail. Discussions with the only remaining US maser manufacturer (Symmetricom, Inc.) have made it clear that the company has very little interest in repairing failed units. As a result, except under the very unusual circumstances of simple failure that is repairable in-house, our only possible strategy is to replace units that cease to operate. An orderly maser replacement program was developed for the VLBA during FY 2008, and is being implemented at a pace consistent with available funding. It is probable that at least one, and possibly two, replacement masers will be purchased during FY 2009.
Maintenance visits to Mauna Kea, Kitt Peak, and St. Croix are planned for FY 2009. As always, these plans are subject to change and reprioritization if significant VLBA infrastructure failures or problems arise during the year. The October 2008 St. Croix visit will address some minor painting issues, as well as replacements of the elevation bearing, the subreflector, and one azimuth wheel assembly. Special (2-3 day) visits to the Brewster and North Liberty sites are also planned during FY 2009 to repair Azimuth track grout problems that would otherwise compromise antenna pointing, subject to the availability of funds.
FY 2009 Milestones
Major VLBA milestones for FY 2009 are listed in the table below. The ambitious schedule of maintenance visits depends on whether or not higher priority, unplanned maintenance requirements pre- empt them; if this occurs, it is possible that one or even two visits may have to be deferred to FY 2010.
VLBA Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Replace 2 AZ wheel assemblies and 1 EL bearing on SC 10/2008 Install refurbished subreflector on SC antenna 10/2008 Upgrade DiFX cluster 04/2009 Trial Digital Backend and Mark 5C installation at PTa 04/2009 DiFX Testing & Integration Complete 05/2009 Demonstrate ~1 Gbps throughput with DiFX 06/2009 Complete Digital Backend + Mark 5C installation on VLBAa, b 08/2009 Major maintenance visits to SC, MK, KP 09/2009 Repair grout on BR, NL azimuth tracksb 09/2009 a Subject to vendor performance b Subject to availability of funds
Program Plan FY 2009 E. Telescope and Science Operations 52
F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support
1. Office of End-to-End Operations
FY 08 Carryover Total NSF New NSF New Funds Funds Budget FTE (PRL) (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
Observatory Management 1.4 E2E Operations 1,449,841 1.4.1 Management & Administration 153,131 0.75 1.4.2.1 Archive/Virtual Observatory 301,248 2.75 1.4.2.2 Proposal Submission/Handling 229,241 0.75 1.4.2.3 Data Processing (CASA) 443,204 4.0 1.4.3.1 Algorithm Research & Development 323,017 2.1 Subtotal E2E Operations 1,449,841 1,449,841 10.35
Management & Administration Activities
The Office of End-to-End Operations (OEO) addresses the Observatory’s development priority to provide effective user support for the multi-wavelength community. OEO works hand-in-hand with the science operation groups to develop the tools needed to reach this goal. Last year, the focus of OEO management was to continue building momentum in technical areas such as data repositories, archive and proposal interfaces, and data processing.
OEO work covers the functional areas of archive and pipeline operations, proposal operations, interactive services, and algorithm research and development. It involves four types of activities: 1) building end-to- end data and information repositories, 2) constructing systems for information access, 3) connecting these to the knowledge base that includes publications and memos, and 4) broadening the NRAO science community through technology. OEO work will support five strategic “pillars” over the next few years:
1. Support commissioning and continued development of EVLA and GBT, while supporting reuse of software from ALMA and additional co-development of standards and systems between EVLA and ALMA 2. Increase visibility to NRAO data and information resources. 3. Make the Virtual Astronomical Observatory “real” to the radio community. 4. Create a sustainable mechanism for cross-observatory proposal submission and handling. 5. Promote collaboration within NRAO and the international astronomical software community.
In addition to supporting commissioning for EVLA and new instrumentation development for GBT, the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO), which is expected to launch in mid to late 2009, will be a key strategic partnership of NRAO. According to the proposal submitted to NSF/NASA in April 2008, NRAO
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 53
will serve as the lead organization for standards and protocols development, and support software development and VAO Education and Public Outreach. If the proposal is funded, a total of 3.5 FTE involved in the VAO effort would be based at NRAO.
Building on strategic alliances and relationships built in 2007 and 2008, NRAO will also host one or more data repositories at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA) starting in FY 2009. The most likely candidates are the GBT pulsar archive and the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) data store. This will pioneer a new opportunity for NRAO to broaden access to its data and information resources.
International collaboration will continue to be in focus throughout the upcoming year. One highlight of FY 2008 was a “town hall” style forum at the SPIE 2008 conference, chaired by N. Radziwill (NRAO/OEO) and A. Bridger (ALMA), to catalyze greater reuse in the international astronomical software development community. After discussing the merits and challenges of sharing software, introduced by a paper on the subject (Chiozzi et al.), over 100 people made many very good points made and raised key issues. Inevitably there were differences of opinion about what can be achieved, but we were very pleased at the level of debate, and aim to continue the effort long-term to advance the discipline in a way that benefits all Observatories. Between 2008 and 2010, a leadership team involving Radziwill, Bridger and six others aims to launch an active and sustainable discussion in this area to fuel wider, practical collaborations across the community, in addition to within the conference environment. This could include launching an online forum, developing a formal body of knowledge to support future conference publications, or other ideas that members of the community would find helpful.
Data Processing (CASA/Archive-Based Data Services) Strategic Focus 1 - Support commissioning and development of EVLA and GBT
As commissioning ramps up in FY 2009, EVLA and ALMA will jointly become responsible for the management and continued development of the data processing software CASA (Common Astronomy Software Applications) which will be used for both telescopes. This will be built on the major accomplishment in FY 2008 for the CASA system, a staged beta release in late 2007 that culminated in a public release to the user community for testing starting July 2008.
Throughout FY 2009 the main goals for CASA will be: a) providing satisfactory, effective user support for scientists participating in the beta tests through the newly launched CASA Advisory Group (CAG), b) supporting scientists in the early stages of EVLA and ALMA commissioning, c) supporting ALMA commissioning through the ALMA Test Facility (ATF) in New Mexico until work there is completed (December 2008), and d) completing two major interim releases, Release 2.3.0 and Release 2.4.0, tentatively targeted for October 2008 and June 2009. In addition to incrementally meeting ALMA requirements for core development and simulation, work in the release 2.4.0 period will also involve preparing for initial shared-risk science observations for the EVLA in Q4 2009, as well as starting a program of high-performance computing (parallel processing) to ensure that CASA will be able to handle the large ALMA and EVLA data rates, which are expected in 2010.
OEO staff not part of the core CASA development team will support the project by developing a programmatic interface to easily ingest archive data for further reduction and analysis within CASA. In addition, OEO will continue to work on prototypes for adding data processing services to the archive, starting with some GBT cases in FY 2009. Depending on the readiness of CASA, additional data processing services for VLA using CASA may also be added during the period.
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 54
Algorithm Research & Development/High Performance Computing Strategic Focus 1 - Support commissioning and development of EVLA and GBT
The OEO aims to help the NRAO strengthen its algorithm research and development capabilities in FY 2009 and beyond. Although many scientists are working on algorithm development throughout the Observatory, we plan to formally monitor outcomes and determine how new capabilities can best be delivered to the user community. In FY 2009, the deliverables from this group will be a) memos describing in-progress findings from exploratory work, benchmarking and prototyping and b) working prototypes that are accessible to multiple researchers. The start of work is contingent upon the end of the continuing resolution for the budget as well as successful VAO funding.
Key activities will include a) completing a group charter and establishing priorities for initial work, nominally based on EVLA Memo #122 by F. Owen, b) contributing to the setup and initial implementation of a computing cluster for data processing, c) developing test scenarios for selected algorithms, d) using the equipment to prototype at least one new algorithm design in an attempt to achieve an increase in throughput by a factor of 10 over a single processor, e) arrange meetings or small working group sessions to facilitate communication between developers and astronomers, f) conduct outreach to other instruments (e.g. SKA, MERLIN, LWA) and host 2009 SKA meeting in Socorro.
R&D priorities will be jointly set by staff scientists and management. Examples to investigate in FY 2009 may be deconvolution of extended emission and/or auto-flagging, particularly in cases that are affected by interference. R&D involving the new computing cluster will include addressing design and prototype implementation of existing synthesis algorithms (clean, self-cal, auto-flagging) in a multicore cluster of nodes. The initial goal is to decide on the optimum parameters for the cluster system and the efficient coding of the above algorithms for the EVLA. The point is to deliver rapid prototypes to demonstrate capabilities, and share findings with other algorithm developers, as soon as possible.
Archive Operations Strategic Focus 2 - Increase visibility to NRAO data and information resources
Archive work in FY 2009 will focus on four areas:
• Key infrastructure enhancements for EVLA data repositories (to further integrate the ESO/NGAS system while providing access to data products for commissioners and early observers). • New data products (140ft/12m data, data calibrated/reduced by investigators, pulsar archive, seamless integration with NRAO library publication system). • New services (CASA archive interface, spectral line browser, semantic search, retrieval of web services for project teams, start radio background in Google Sky for FY 2010 release). • New data collections (expanded proposal cover sheet information, improved searches through relationships within project teams, NRAO memos).
Major technical milestones will include: a) bringing into reliable operation the ESO/ALMA NGAS archive servers in Socorro, at the VLA site, and at an additional remote site hosting archive backups, b) migrating the existing 35 TB VLA/VLBA science data archive onto the NGAS system, c) integrating 12m and 140ft data stores and access services into the Data Vault at http://archive.nrao.edu, d) integrating
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 55
semantic search capabilities for all telescopes, e) developing an interface from CASA to the archive, f) integrating prototype GBT data services and the Spectral Line Search Engine (SLISE), g) expanding the historical collection of pipeline processed VLA images and calibrated datasets, starting with sources observed by both VLA and Chandra, Spitzer or Hubble, h) centralizing all proposal information and expanded services to search cover sheets and cross-match data at http://proposals.nrao.edu, and i) pulsar archiving. For pulsar archiving, we aim to outline requirements and partner with NCSA for hosting, with data access services to be launched sometime in FY 2010. This is certain to be a multi-year project.
Pipeline Operations Strategic Focus 2 - Increase visibility to NRAO data and information resources
In this functional area in FY 2009, End-to-End Operations will:
• Continue to process historical VLA data to generate images from the pipeline. • Promote development of a spectral line pipeline and improved continuum processing for VLA. • Actively pursue EVLA pipeline via AIPS and CASA pipelines installed to the archive.
Milestones will include a) processing “cherry picked” common sources observed by the VLA and HST/Spitzer/Chandra to catalyze multi-wavelength archive research, extending this by b) prioritizing the order in which the archive will be processed, perhaps adding the option for investigators to request that we selectively process their data of interest, c) add VLA spectral line processing, d) conduct initial requirement review and operations planning for EVLA pipeline development and installation to the archive, and e) complete a specification for “Phase 2” processing to improve flagging and self-calibration for the images initially processed by the VLA pipeline.
NRAO Participation in the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO) Strategic Focus 3 - Make the Virtual Astronomical Observatory “real” to the radio community
In addition to continuing work with standards development and prototyping for virtual observatory (VO) software, the NRAO will participate extensively in the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO), if funded. As proposed, the NRAO will take a leadership role in standards development, and will also contribute to software development, quality management, and EPO functions for the facility. A combined team of software engineers, astronomers, and EPO staff will form a dedicated VAO presence at NRAO.
The primary milestone for the year is strategic planning for the VAO. This is contingent upon approval of funding and will begin in earnest once the funds are received. Beyond this planning milestone, we aim to integrate at least two VO functions, yet to be chosen, into regular archive operations through the course of the year. Also, by employing existing VO services for cross-matching between the NRAO and VO collections to find sources that have been observed by VLA and Chandra, Spitzer or Hubble, we will support the goals of pipeline operations within OEO as described in the previous section. These source lists will be used to preferentially process the historical VLA archive in FY 2009.
Proposal Operations Strategic Focus 4 - Create sustainable mechanism for cross-observatory proposal submission/handling
At the beginning of FY 2009 all proposals for NRAO telescopes are submitted electronically. Throughout the review period and beyond, we will continue to pursue the overarching goals of a) unifying the system
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 56
with ALMA tools, and b) enabling scientists to define their proposals based on scientific objectives, and not primarily on telescope instrumentation. A gradual shift to a system that is as common as possible among NRAO telescopes remains the vision for proposal management.
Key milestones for FY 2009 include: a) support the development of a standalone authentication system for external users, b) develop and launch a proposal data store and search system at http://proposals.nrao.edu, c) develop specifications for a streamlined proposal handling process with the sites, d) enable seamless integration of the proposal system with the observing systems at the telescopes, likely through delivery of software modules that sites can use to export proposal objects, e) employ an auto-update where information about time allocated to successful systems is registered, f) prepare an NSF proposal with the library to scan all historical accepted proposals to add to the data store, and g) keep up with new instrumentation needs for EVLA and GBT as they arise. This last element is the most crucial.
Other Planned Contributions Strategic Focus 5 - Promote collaboration within NRAO/international astronomical software community
The Office of End-to-End Operations will also continue to support development of the KFPA pipeline for Green Bank, integration of dynamic scheduling for both EVLA and GBT into Interactive Services at http://my.nrao.edu, and the expansion of the CICADA development program through high-performance computing. Additionally, OEO will integrate live chat to its proposal and archive helpdesks this year, support the same software for the Green Bank dynamic scheduling system, and make it available to any other workgroup that wishes to provide live help. Each of these efforts has the potential to be employed more widely across the Observatory, and OEO staff will be available to transfer those skills and knowledge wherever and whenever needed. NRAO will also continue to work with the international group launched at SPIE 2008 dedicated to improving software reuse and communications across observatories. Internally, we plan to launch http://code.nrao.edu, with distributed source code repositories for modules that NRAO sites would like to share with one another, which will be valuable to both NRAO and the international effort.
Office of End to End Operations Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Management & Administration Launch Management Dashboard v1.0 12/2008 Launch Management Dashboard v2.0 09/2009 Data Processing (CASA/Services) CASA Release 2.3.0 10/2008 Procure and install computing cluster 11/2008 Identify benchmarking cases and datasets 12/2008 Complete ALMA Director’s Review of CASA 12/2008 CASA Release 2.4.0 06/2009 Algorithm Research & Development/High Performance Computing Procure and install computing cluster, construct test scenarios 11/2008 Identify emerging trends at Supercomputing 08 in Austin, TX 11/2008
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 57
Item Delivery Date Complete group charter for algorithm R&D 12/2008 Complete at least one prototype/working group for exploratory R&D 06/2009 Conduct at least two outreach efforts, including spring 09 SKA meeting 06/2009 Archive & Pipeline Operations Integrate 12m/140ft data into collection 10/2008 Integrate semantic search capability into Data Vault 11/2008 Develop an archive interface for CASA to acquire data 12/2008 Install prototype GBT data service to archive for testing 03/2009 Integrate spectral line search (SLISE) into Data Vault 03/2009 Produce images for common VLA/Chandra, Spitzer, & HST searches 06/2009 Complete specifications for initial pulsar archiving 06/2009 Make progress on radio background in Google Sky with new Google team 09/2009 Proposal Operations Complete standalone authentication prototype for PST, BOS, EVLA 02/2009 Deploy http://proposals.nrao.edu to expand search capabilities on proposals 01/2009 Create modules to export proposal objects to EVLA/GBT observing systems 02/2009 Add “referee” user type and online access to proposals for review 06/2009 Complete specifications for streamlined proposal handling 09/2009 Other Contributions, incl. Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO) Complete operations plan for VAO at NRAO 12/2008 Complete one relevant prototype to start making VO real to user community 08/2009 Implement Live Chat for proposal and archive system 02/2009 Deploy http://code.nrao.edu to serve as software repository for sharing 06/2009 Continue to support high performance computing for GBT CICADA program 09/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 58
2. Central Development Laboratory
FY 08 Carryover New NSF Total NSF Funds New Funds FTE (PRL) Budget (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
Central Development Laboratory 3.0 Management & Administration 525,442 525,442 3.7 3.1 Production 232,994 232,994 2.6 3.2 Maintenance - - - 3.3 Research Equipment - - - 3.4 Development 814,094 814,094 6.3 3.5 Operating Site Support 116,369 116,369 0.8 Subtotal Engineering and Technical Development 1,688,900 1,688,900 13.3
As the Observatory’s main technology research and development facility, the Central Development Laboratory designs, develops, fabricates and supplies unique components and specialized receivers for other NRAO facilities: ALMA, the VLA, VLBA, GBT and EVLA, as well as other projects and activities, such as FASR and PAPER, for the astronomy community. During FY 2009, several key projects, summarized in the table below, will be carried out at the CDL.
These efforts are aimed at achieving several Observatory Strategic Goals (Appendix A) as well as specific development goals including:
• Complete ALMA and EVLA successfully. • Achieve the next quantum leap in GBT science capabilities: focal-plane array cameras. • Help realize the SKA, in partnership with the US and international community.
Key Projects and Activities for FY 2009 CDL Projects FY 2009 Summary Keep pace with EVLA and GBT receiver needs Demonstrate state-of-the-art low-noise amplifier (LNA) Low‐noise cryogenic amplifiers performance in ALMA bands 1 and 2 development Study the cryogenic noise properties of Heterostructure Bipolar Transistors (HBTs) Develop integrated analog/digital/photonic receiver technology Develop MMIC power amplifiers for wideband millimeter- and MMIC development submillimeter- wave local oscillator systems Develop low-loss transition and matching for active-baluns Test new 35 nm InP pHEMT MMIC designs Develop K-band Spectroscopic Focal Plane Array for the GBT
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 59
CDL Projects FY 2009 Summary Develop λ = 350-μm (780-950 GHz) Heterodyne Receiver Technology Millimeter- and Sub-millimeter ‐ Develop a 385-500 GHz SIS mixer wave mixers development Develop balanced SIS mixers Develop very-low-loss passive front end components Develop 8-12 GHz polarizer for EVLA Develop 342/800 MHz feed for GBT Electromagnetics development Carry out ultra wide (3:1) Bandwidth feed feasibility study Develop smooth-wall horn Integrated receiver concepts Develop digital sideband and polarization separation concept Continue sinuous feed development Frequency Agile Solar Complete prototype of FASR B analog electronics Radiotelescope (FASR) Complete foam thermal conductivity study Precision Array to Probe the Deploy Green Bank 16-element array Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) Deploy Western Australia 32-element array
Cryogenic HFET Development
The CDL Amplifier Group will deliver 96 amplifiers to EVLA and 14 K-band (18-26 GHz) amplifiers to the GBT K-band array project in FY 2009.
During FY 2008, the cryogenic InP HFET amplifiers demonstrating state-of-the-art performance in ALMA bands 1 (31.3-45 GHz) and 2 (67-90 GHz) were to be demonstrated. This project was slightly delayed due to previously unplanned development of the 12-18 GHz amplifier with waveguide rather than coaxial input (at the request of EVLA project) which was successfully completed. In addition, the chip and wire demonstration of an ALMA band #2 cryogenic amplifier has competition from a successful demonstration of an InP MMIC in this band. Nevertheless, the completion of this effort is still planned in the fall of 2008. Continuation of research into the cryogenic noise properties of heterostructure bipolar transistors (HBTs) and their possible applications in total power radio astronomy receivers is planned. HBT amplifiers in principle can offer an order of magnitude lower 1/f-like gain fluctuations, thus improving broadband radiometer sensitivity.
Some redesign for manufacturability of L-band (1-2 GHz) and S-band (2-4 GHz) balanced amplifiers and study of using High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) circuits at the input of L-and S-band amplifiers are planned for 2009.
Amplifier Design and Development Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Production of amplifiers for EVLA and GBT receiver needs ongoing Study the cryogenic noise properties of Heterostructure Bipolar ongoing Transistors (HBTs) Demonstrate ALMA band 1 (31.3-45 GHz) and band 2 (67-90 GHz) 09/2009 using chip and wire technology Redesign of substrates for L-band, S-band amplifiers to improve 06/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 60
Item Delivery Date manufacturability Tests of L-band and S-band amplifiers with HTS hybrids 09/2009 Further improvements to amplifier cryogenic test system 09/2009
Monolithic Millimeter-Wave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Development
Analog/Digital/Photonic Receiver Integration: The CDL is currently experimenting with new MMIC- based receiver architectures that take advantage of close integration between analog and digital components. We have already demonstrated the use of digitally-enhanced sideband separation to achieve state-of-the-art performance in a single-downconversion receiver, and in 2009 will follow up these results with a wider band demonstration, in a more integrated package. Also in 2009, we hope to demonstrate digitally-enhanced polarization isolation and downconversion in a compact MMIC-based receiver. This work will continue into future years, and will ultimately include the integration of analog, digital, and photonic components into a single package.
Development of Wideband MMIC Power Amplifiers for Millimeter-wave Local Oscillator Systems: In the coming year, we will test and revise chips utilizing a developmental short gate-length GaAs process that pushes the upper frequency limit of GaAs power pHEMT technology. Key MMIC designs will include a longer-lifetime replacement power amplifier for band 7 and a prototype power amplifier for a future band 10 receiver.
Differential Low-noise Active Baluns: We will continue exploration of differential low-noise active baluns, which can be noise-matched to the impedance of log-periodic decade-bandwidth antennas such as might be used by the SKA project. Currently this study is focusing on the low-loss transition between the antenna and the active balun circuit. Fabrication of a prototype will depend upon the results of the above study and the availability of a suitable fabrication process. This is expected to extend beyond 2009.
Sub-mm MMIC Amplifier Development: We plan to test and possibly revise a very high-frequency amplifier using a developmental sub-millimeter-wave InP pHEMT MMIC process. The prototype circuit is a 275-375 GHz direct SIS mixer driver. The schedule for this work is largely dependent on our collaborators at JPL.
35nm InP HEMT MMIC LNA Development: We plan to design new low-noise amplifiers using NGST’s 35nm InP HEMT process. Based on the record low noise, but slightly mistuned, performance of the 67-95 GHz amplifier designed in this process, we will optimize the transistor model to be more accurate at cryogenic temperatures. We plan to use the new model to retune slightly the current MMIC amplifier to better cover ALMA Band 2 (67-90 GHz). We will use the same size device to design a new amplifier to cover 84-116 GHz, which could be used for a GBT 3mm heterodyne Focal Plane Array (FPA). In addition, we plan to investigate scaling of the device periphery for optimization of broadband noise performance from 18-50 GHz.
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 61
Figure F.2.1. 67-95 GHz Low Noise Amplifier block and lid. The MMIC device is mounted in the channel near the center of the block. The waveguide channels carry the input and amplified output signals.
K-band Spectroscopic Focal Plane Array for the GBT: Development of prototype components for this 18-26 GHz instrument is already underway, and the team has performed initial single-pixel tests. Development of the 7-element array will begin after the conclusion of these tests, and will continue into 2010.
MMIC Development Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Demonstrate wideband, digitally-enhanced sideband separation receiver at 12/2008 L-band in an integrated package Demonstrate digitally-enhanced sideband separation at X-band in an 12/2008 integrated package Initial integration of analog and digital components for digitally-enhanced 09/2009 receivers in single compact housing Test chips from 70 nm GaAs pHEMT wafer run and revise as needed 06/2009 Develop low-loss transition and matching for active-baluns 06/2009 Design retuned 67-90 GHz MMIC LNA using 35nm InP HEMT process 03/2009 Design 84-116 GHz MMIC LNA using 35nm InP HEMT process 03/2009 Design 18-26 GHz and 31-45 GHz MMIC LNA using 35nm InP HEMT 03/2009 process with optimized gate periphery Measure K-band cryogenic noise calibration coupler module in single 10/2008 pixel receiver Deliver cryogenic noise calibration coupler modules for 7-element K-band 06/2009 Focal Plane Array (KFPA) Build pixels of K-band Spectroscopic Focal Plane Array for the GBT 09/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 62
Millimeter- and Sub-millimeter-Wave Receiver Development
350-μm (780-950 GHz) Heterodyne Receiver Technology Development: This project is being done in collaboration with the University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory (UVML). The goal is to demonstrate a low-noise wide-band SIS mixer for the 350-μm band. During FY 2009:
• Development of Nb/Al-AlN/NbTiN SIS junctions will continue at UVML. • Test circuits will be designed and measured to determine the microwave properties of NbTiN. • An initial mixer circuit will be designed, based on the 385-500 GHz beam-lead mixer described below. • Test instrumentation, including LO and signal sources and the related optics will be constructed.
385-500 GHz SIS Mixer – Following the successful development at UVML of AlN tunnel junctions with high current density and good I(V) characteristics, a 385-500 GHz SIS mixer has been designed and the mask set is nearly complete. This design has been done with scalability in mind as a step towards the 350-µm receiver (above). It uses Si membranes with beam leads, which will be essential to successful receivers above 500 GHz. In FY 2009:
• Test instrumentation, including a Dewar, bias circuits, LO and signal sources and their related optics will be completed. • The initial mixer design will be evaluated.
Balanced SIS Mixer Development: Balanced mixers will remove the contribution to the receiver noise of LO sideband noise while reducing the required LO power by a factor of ~50 and increasing the dynamic range by a factor of two. Balanced SIS mixers are likely to be the key to future large heterodyne focal-plane receiver arrays at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. This project was being done in collaboration with Arizona Radio Observatory but has been delayed because of funding and personnel shortages at ARO. It is hoped to continue it in FY 2009 as part of the 385-500 GHz receiver development project (above).
Very-Low-Loss Passive Front-end Components: An essential component of balanced and sideband- separating mixers is an RF quadrature hybrid. Up to ~ 300 GHz, waveguide quadrature hybrids have been realized as an integral part of the mixer block. For receivers approaching 1 THz, machining the fine branch-lines of a waveguide hybrid is impractical. As an alternative we are developing a hybrid on a silicon membrane which will drop into a waveguide block. Success in this will open the way to balanced and sideband-separating receivers to 1 THz and beyond.
At shorter millimeter wavelengths, polarization diplexing has generally been done quasioptically using polarizing grids and lenses or focusing mirrors, often at room temperature. Despite the difficulty of fabrication and the added noise contributions of room temperature components, quasioptical diplexers have been used in the past for single-pixel radio astronomy receivers. However, their physical size makes quasioptical diplexers impractical for focal plane receiver arrays. The alternative, the waveguide orthomode transducer, has generally been considered impractical above about 300 GHz; however, a new design (as yet unpublished) appears suitable for scaling to frequencies as high as 1 THz. We plan to evaluate this design, initially in the 3-mm band where it is easy to measure accurately with a Vector Network Analyzer, and subsequently for use in the 385-500 GHz and 780-950 GHz bands.
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 63
Millimeter- and Submillimeter-Wave Receiver Development Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Complete 500-GHz mixer test set 03/2009 Measure redesigned OMT 02/2009 Measure drop-in hybrid at 500 GHz 06/2009 First measurements of 500-GHz mixer 09/2009 Design 350-μm Optics 04/2009 Complete initial mixer design for 350-μm mixer 04/2009 Complete 350-μm receiver test set 06/2009 Measure first 350-μm receiver 09/2009
Electromagnetics Development
The CDL is responsible for most of the Observatory’s electromagnetic development. In FY 2009, we will continue to design and test new components for EVLA, GBT and ALMA. A brief description of these development plans is given below.
1. Continue testing of feeds, phase shifters and OMTs for the construction needs of the EVLA and the GBT K-band (18-26 GHz) array project. 2. Continue the development of a compact OMT for the EVLA X-band (8-12 GHz) receiver. 3. Develop a compact phase shifter for EVLA X-band. 4. Continue development of a 342/800 MHz dual-band feed for the GBT. 5. Study the feasibility of feeds with bandwidths of the order of 3:1 in an effort to reduce the number of receivers on telescopes providing continuous frequency coverage. 6. Adapt a commercial reflector code to accommodate shaped surfaces such as those of the VLA and VLBA antennas as a replacement for an in-house analysis program. 7. Develop smooth-wall horns as an alternative to corrugated horns for millimeter wave applications.
Figure F.2.2. 75-110 GHz OMT which separates orthogonal linear polarizations. The input is through the square waveguide on the right-hand face, and one output is on the left-hand face (the other output is on the other side of the block).
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 64
Electromagnetic Development Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Develop 8-12 GHz OMT for EVLA 01/2009 Develop 8-12 GHz phase shifter for EVLA 06/2009 Develop 342/800 MHz feed for GBT 03/2009 Ultra wide (3:1) Bandwidth feed feasibility study ongoing Reflector code modification 06/2009 Develop smooth-wall horn 06/2009
Integrated Receiver Concepts
Conventional phasing-type sideband separation and polarization separation are carried out by analog recombination of signals in hardware. Using high-speed digitization, it is possible in principle to do this recombination in software with much greater accuracy, achieving unprecedented separation of upper and lower sideband mixing products and of polarization components. The process requires stable hardware and accurate calibration. An initial narrow-band test has shown that the sideband separation can be done with greater than 50 dB of upper/lower separation. In FY 2009, we will test a wider-band system around 8 GHz RF frequency and prove the concept of digital polarization separation.
Figure F.2.3. Mixing and digitization module for wideband sideband separation proof of concept.
Integrated Receiver Concepts Development Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Demonstrate X-band proof of concept system 04/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 65
Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR)
We will ramp up our FASR activities this year in several key areas as part of the FASR Design and Development Plan. Wide bandwidth feed development will continue. The FASR B proof-of-concept feed that was developed last year will evolve into a prototype version, ready for field deployment. A proof-of-concept for the higher frequency, FASR A version will also be developed. In addition, a cooled version of the FASR B feed with integrated cryogenic low noise amplifiers will be fabricated and evaluated. The thermal conductivity of rigid foam insulation at cryogenic temperatures will be measured in the specially-designed test Dewar developed last year.
The FASR B subsystem will be developed and a working prototype will be demonstrated on the bench. This subsystem will include the feed, low noise amplifiers, receivers, fiber link, IF board, and LO unit. In collaboration with NJIT, a suitable spectrometer will also be developed and interfaced with the analog electronics. Work may be expanded if FASR construction funds become available.
As a subsidiary task of FASR, the Green Bank Radio Burst Spectrometer (GB/SRBS) will continue operation with upgraded backend electronics and software.
Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) Development Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Complete prototype sinuous feed for 0.3-3.0 GHz 08/2009 Complete prototype of FASR B analog electronics 08/2009 Evaluate proof-of-concept high frequency sinuous feed 08/2009 Evaluate proof-of-concept cryogenic sinuous feed 08/2009 Complete foam thermal conductivity study 12/2008
Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER)
PAPER is a collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. In FY 2009, we will continue to lead the R&D activities surrounding the design of specialized antennas, amplifiers, and receivers suited to meeting the demanding requirements of project PAPER. A careful investigation of the factors that limit the system's sensitivity will continue with the emphasis placed on exploring ways to control systematic affects.
Work will continue to measure the beam pattern of the PAPER antenna. The in situ measurement of an antenna's power pattern with 50 dB of dynamic range can be achieved using a measurement system design to receive the downlink signals from a constellation of low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites operating at 137 MHz. The differential mode will be refined. A basic ray tomography system, based on receiving satellite downlink signals, will be explored to study the small-scale irregularities of the ionosphere. The focus will be on the improving calibration of low frequency imaging.
Construction of the 16-element Green Bank engineering array covering 120-180 MHz will be completed in July, 2008 and will serve as a test bed to enhance instrument capability and improve observational techniques. Extended baselines for better point source localization, measuring element beam patterns through antenna rotation, grouping elements to form spatial matched filters, and tilting antennas toward
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 66
the North Celestial Pole to increase integration time are examples of experiments that will be carried out at the Green Bank site.
The build-out of PAPER-WA in Western Australia will continue. The functional component designs resulting from the R&D efforts will be outsourced to commercial manufacturers. A 32-element, dual- polarized array will be deployed in Western Australia during an October / November 2008 observing campaign.
Figure F.2.4. PAPER dual polarized sleeved dipole with the new trough reflector for 125-180 MHz.
Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Green Bank 16-element array operational 12/2008 Western Australia 32-element array operational 04/2009 Outsource Functional components of PAPER-WA 12/2008
Program Plan FY 2009 F. Observatory-Wide Scientific and Technical Support 67
G. New Initiatives
FY 08 Total NSF New NSF Funds New Funds FTE AST Budget (PRL) (PRL) and (PRL) Carryover
Observatory Management 1.6 New Initiatiaves 706,308 706,308 3.5
1. Square Kilometer Array
One of NRAO’s key long range development priorities is to help realize the SKA, in partnership with the US and international community. In FY 2009, the focus of the NRAO SKA effort will be predominantly in two areas. The first is the participation in the international technology development efforts, specifically the PrepSKA effort funded by the European Community and the Technology Development Program (TDP) funded by the NSF. The second is the preparation of plans and material for the US decadal review committee. An additional focus area will be the effort to learn lessons from the EVLA commissioning and operations development that may be applied to the SKA.
One of the deliverables of the US TDP effort is a complete prototype SKA “system” (antenna, feeds, receivers, and data transport) at the end of the four –year effort. In order to deliver such a system, most details must be specified by the end of FY 2009. Although NRAO is not directly involved in the main technical work of the TDP, NRAO participation in the Antennas Working Group will be critical in determining the specifications and feasibility of this system.
In parallel with the TDP, NRAO will engage in several efforts to develop science and technology that is critical for SKA. NRAO will continue research efforts with BYU on phased array feeds, including field tests on the Green Bank 20m telescope and antenna range. In collaboration with UC Berkeley, NRAO is playing a major role in development of the Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER), a pathfinding telescope for the low-frequency segment of the SKA. In FY 2009, the PAPER antenna patterns will be studied, and the build-out of PAPER in Western Australia will continue (see Central Development Laboratory section for more details). NRAO also aims to explore the development of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) as the best active demonstrator of the “Large-N, Small-D” concept that has been chosen for the SKA. The exact nature of the demonstrations is still under discussion, but is likely to include use of the ATA as an alert telescope for transient sources that might be followed up with the EVLA, or as a telescope for rapid wide-field surveys, or both.
The NRAO is playing a significant role in the development of the US SKA Consortium’s plans for presentation to the NRC decadal survey. In FY 2009, we expect to develop the final strawman proposal for the decadal survey and a set of one or more white papers that will be presented to the survey. A critical part of this development will be to rationalize the aggressive schedule that is being carried by the international SKA Program Development Office, and to make it compatible with the probable pace of technical/design development and the likely availability of funding. One key change that must be accomplished here is the addition of an additional phase for production of detailed SKA technical
Program Plan FY 2009 G. New Initiatives 68
specifications after the South African and Australian SKA demonstrators are completed in 2012, and before any SKA construction can go forward.
With the delivery of large portions of the new EVLA correlator, the EVLA hardware will begin to be capable of testing wide field imaging over very large fractional bandwidths, a requirement for scientific success of an SKA survey telescope at frequencies of a few gigahertz and below. We anticipate that the first observing tests, coupled with post-processing algorithm development, will take place late in FY 2009.
The formal SKA effort consists of 2.0 FTEs. In addition, there are a number of NRAO scientists serving on various SKA working groups at the level of about 5% of their time, too small to be accounted for formally, but a significant contribution to the SKA.
2. VLBA Partnerships
The NSF Senior Review report was completed and made public late in FY 2006. This report recommended the development of external funding sources for the VLBA, amounting to approximately half of the direct operating costs of the VLBA, by 2011. Responsibility for development of the requested VLBA partnerships was transferred to the New Initiatives Office early in FY 2007. The Space VLBI work described below is part of one such partnership. Developing a “subscriber mode” of operations for the VLBA, of which this is one aspect, is a key long range priority for the NRAO.
In FY 2007, two primary scientific partnerships were established for the VLBA. The first is a general cooperative agreement with the Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR), while the second is a collaborative observing agreement with the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST). In FY 2009, we aim to continue and extend both of these partnerships. The first observing in conjunction with the GLAST mission began late in FY 2008, and is expected to continue throughout FY 2009. The proposal call for Cycle 2 of the GLAST Guest Investigator program is now scheduled to take place in March 2009, with selection made by June 2009, and observations beginning near the transition between FY 2009 and FY 2010. Discussions will be held with MPIfR regarding both the upgrade of the VLBA 43 GHz receiving systems and the possibility of some contribution to operations funding.
NRAO/AUI was a co-investigator on the Trans National Access portion of the Radio Net proposal to the European Community Framework Program 7 opportunity. In FY 2009, it is anticipated that NRAO will receive Radio Net funding of approximately 50,000 Euros to support VLBA participation in global VLBI sessions.
The VLBA successfully observed the Phoenix spacecraft en route to Mars on nine occasions in May, determining the position of the spacecraft relative to background quasars and to multiple Mars-orbiting spacecraft. This demonstration was part of a potential partnership for accurate navigation of interplanetary spacecraft, under discussion with NASA. In the early part of FY 2009, we expect to complete a final report on the demonstration, its accuracy, and the prospects for the future, which we plan to publish in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Interplanetary Network Progress Reports. This report will be used in our ongoing negotiations with NASA for use of the VLBA in support of the navigation of interplanetary spacecraft. If an agreement is to be reached that includes significant funding for the VLBA, the details of the cooperation must be worked out by the close of FY 2009.
Program Plan FY 2009 G. New Initiatives 69
The VLBA partnership effort comprises 0.5 FTEs, and includes the efforts of the New Initiatives Office head in his dual role as VLBA Principal Scientist. The budget includes a significant travel expenditure for both NIO personnel and for personnel on the New Mexico Operations budget who pursue VLBA partnership efforts with NASA, Japan, and MPIfR.
3. Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope
If the FASR project is funded, a number of activities will be carried out in FY 09. The FASR instrument is divided into three frequency bands—A, B, and C—corresponding roughly to centimeter, decimeter, and meter wavelengths. The design focus is currently on the FASR-B analog systems. A complete FASR-B prototype system will be finished by mid-2009 and deployed on a prototype 6-m antenna at the NRAO Green Bank site for evaluation. The FASR-A detailed analog design and prototyping process will commence with project funding and, phased roughly 6 months later than FASR-B, a complete prototype system will be available for deployment on a prototype 2-m antenna at Green Bank by the end of calendar 2009. In parallel, the station-based digital signal-processing prototype is under way based on the CASPER IBob board, a design that will be migrated to the next-generation ROACH boards in early 2009 for deployment in mid-2009 with the FASR-B prototype systems at Green Bank. In parallel, preparations will commence at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory site for deployment of the FASR-A and -B engineering prototype arrays, which will be deployed on site in 2010.
No budget or FTE expenditure is anticipated, as these are assumed to be funded by the separate FASR proposal that is now under review.
4. Other Activities
The Japanese space agency plans to launch the VSOP-2 Space VLBI mission in early FY 2013. In FY 2008, NRAO Space VLBI activities were centered around the proposal of a Mission of Opportunity proposal to NASA for participation in the VSOP-2 mission; this proposal was very highly ranked, but was turned down in June 2008. Activities in FY 2009 will be centered around the development of alternative funding sources for NRAO participation in the VSOP-2 mission, including operations of the VLBA and perhaps development of a tracking station. Implementation of either of these activities will require non- NSF funding, most likely from Japan. NRAO will work with the VSOP-2 mission to develop a more detailed observing plan that includes a more specific set of requirements for VLBA observing time, so that the exact science return and cost of that observing time may be estimated. If commitments for alternative funding are not forthcoming by the end of FY 2009, we expect that NRAO participation in VSOP-2 planning activities and scientific management will ramp down significantly.
The Russian Radioastron Space VLBI mission now is scheduled for launch in FY 2009. NRAO has participated only informally by attending several teleconferences and by consulting with the Radioastron team regarding some of the key technical elements of Space VLBI. This activity is unfunded, so we envision no Radioastron participation beyond the informal advice we have given in the past.
NRAO continues to support Long Wavelength Array (LWA) development at the VLA site on a reimbursable basis. NRAO scientific staff members also serve on various LWA management groups, as well as being involved in algorithm development for the LWA. In addition, the New Initiatives Office will pursue long-term collaboration opportunities with astronomical groups in other countries such as South Africa and China.
Program Plan FY 2009 G. New Initiatives 70
The total expenditure for Space VLBI, LWA, and other activities is $160.0K and 1.0 FTEs.
New Initiatives Office Milestones for FY 2009
Some of the important NIO milestones for FY 2009 are listed in the table below. Since several of these milestones depend on negotiations with US and international partners for the VLBA and SKA, implementation of the US decade-committee process, or external funding decisions, they should be viewed as indicative rather than hard deadlines.
New Initiatives Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Funding decision on FASR MIO proposal 10/2008 Publication of results of VLBA tests on Phoenix spacecraft 01/2009 Revision of international SKA timeline for US decade survey 04/2009 Time awards for Cycle-2 GLAST proposals 06/2009 Decision on NASA partnership for VLBA 08/2009 Preliminary decision on VSOP-2 partnership for VLBA 09/2009 SKA Program submission to decade committee (provisional) 09/2009
New Initiatives Office Budget for FY 2009
The table below provides additional detail on budget components in the New Initiatives Office in FY 2009.
NIO Budget and FTE Components for FY 2009, in k$ Activity Amount SKA $396.3 (2.0 FTEs) VLBA Partnerships $150.0 (0.5 FTEs) FASR $0 (0 FTEs) Other Activities $160.0 (1.0 FTEs)
Program Plan FY 2009 G. New Initiatives 71
H. Community Support Programs
1. Scientific Community Support and Partnerships
FY 08 Carryover New NSF Total NSF Funds New Funds FTE (PRL) Budget (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
Science and Academic Affairs 9.1 Management & Administration 439,260 439,260 2.5 9.2 Library 711,610 711,610 3.7 9.3 Research 713,950 713,950 1.5 9.4 Science Training and Education 1,589,280 1,589,280 15.3 9.5 Archives 64,590 64,590 0.8 Subtotal Science and Academic Affairs 3,518,690 3,518,690 23.8
FY 08 Carryover New NSF Total NSF Funds New Funds FTE (PRL) Budget (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
Science Training and Education 9.4.1 Co-op Program (Jr. Engr. Assoc.) 147,680 147,680 2.7 9.4.2 Pre-Docs (Jr. Research Assoc.) 146,140 146,140 .9 9.4.3 Jansky & Post Doc Program 693,330 693,330 7.9 9.4.4 NRAO Post Docs 131,400 131,400 1.6 9.4.5 Student Support Programs 329,000 329,000 0.0 9.4.6 NRAO Undergraduate Students 22,280 22,280 0.0 9.4.7 NRAO Graduate Students 33,780 33,780 0.0 9.4.8 Graduate Student Internships 85,670 85,670 1.2 9.4.9 Undergraduate Student Interns 00 0.0 Total Science Training and Education 1,589,280 1,589,280 15.3
The Office of Science and Academic Affairs (SAA) focuses on those activities which provide services to the wider astronomical community outside NRAO, with the goal of fostering a strong US radio community. The many activities listed in the second budget table above, include research programs to employ undergraduate (NSF REU program and engineering co-op students), graduate (Junior Fellows), and post-graduate (Jansky Fellows, NRAO Postdoctoral Fellows, and Research Associates). The SAA also manages the peer review process for the allocation of telescope time for all of the current NRAO telescopes. As part of this process, funding is available for travel to the telescope, student research support, as well as computing and page charge support. In addition to these activities, a healthy and active US radio community is supported though the funding of University-led hardware and software projects, NRAO staff community service, and the organization of science meetings.
Program Plan FY 2009 H. Community Support Programs 72
Mission Activity FY 09 Goals Delivery Date Conduct annual performance appraisals (research Career Development and community service components) of all NRAO 05/2009 research staff Career Development On-going hiring of scientific staff 09/2009 Continue programs for Engineering Research Services 08/2009 Co-op and Summer Students Research Services Continue Pre-doctoral Fellows Program 01/2009
Research Services Continue Graduate Internship Program 01/2009 Continue Student Observing Support program for Research Services 01/2009 VLBA and GBT Run Jansky Fellows Research Services 12/2008 Postdoctoral Program Bring in outside visitors with expertise not present at Research Services 01/2009 the Observatory Future Science Directions Lead planning for Decadal Process 09/2009
Telescope Allocation On-going improvements to proposal system 09/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 H. Community Support Programs 73
2. Spectrum Management
FY 08 Carryover Total NSF New NSF New Funds Funds Budget FTE (PRL) (PRL) and AST (PRL) Carryover
Observatory Management 1.5 Spectrum Management 69,022 69,022 0.3
The mission of spectrum management is to protect observatory operations from harmful radio interference, to achieve more beneficial observing conditions within the spectrum regulatory regime, and to assist other agencies and groups in furthering these goals. Spectrum management activities are conducted by the NRAO spectrum manager in consultation with autonomous internal interference- protection groups in Green Bank and Socorro. The community provides advice via the NRAO Users Committee and the NAS Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF).
The spectrum manager represents the Observatory's interests in FCC rulemaking procedures and works with U.S. Government representatives on domestic and ITU-R issues. The NRAO also supports the work of national and international committees which exist to protect astronomy and Earth sensing: the NRAO spectrum manager is an IUCAF member and the chairman of CORF has recently been an NRAO staff scientist. The spectrum manager works to increase awareness of the unique circumstances of the radio astronomy service on the part of regulatory officials and other spectrum users. There is a large collaborative component because general rules are not usually formulated on behalf of individual instruments or observatories.
Spectrum-management activities are mostly driven by ITU-R and FCC-related cycles that extend over several or many years. Especially for the FCC there is no foreknowledge of which pending issues will be resolved and which new issues broached in a given year. Presently there are 6–8 dockets in which NRAO has filed comments (including four during 2007) that could be the subject of rulemaking procedures. The NRAO also recently filed comments with the DHS regarding construction and operation of the border fence in Arizona near Tucson and with the State of New Mexico regarding the possible placement of a high voltage power line across the Plains of San Agustin servicing a wind farm elsewhere in the state. However, there are also examples of more immediate FCC-mandated interactions, for instance coordination with wireless medical telemetry regarding use of the 608–614 MHz band shared with radio astronomy and ongoing administration of the National Radio Quiet Zone.
FY 2009 is the beginning of a 3–4 year ITU-R cycle. Important issues to be resolved at the next WRC include allocation of a wide swath of C-band (4–6 GHz) spectrum for aeronautical mobile telemetry on unpiloted drones and consideration of new rules which would allow proliferation of devices which operate without explicit frequency allocations. The use of spectrum above 275 GHz by passive services is being considered, the first step toward possible frequency allocations at sub-mm wavelengths. The issue of most pressing importance to radio astronomy now is international recognition of national radio quiet zones and work will progress on several ITU-R Reports, including one responding to an NRAO- originated ITU Question about the characteristics of the variety of extant national radio quiet zones.
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3. Education and Public Outreach
FY 08 Total NSF Carryover New NSF New Funds FTE Funds Budget (PRL) and (PRL) AST (PRL) Carryover
Education & Public Outreach 2.0.1 Science Community Outreach 167,864 167,864 1.3 2.0.2 Online Outreach 167,544 167,544 1.5 2.0.3 News & Public Information 185,972 185,972 1.8 2.0.4 Education 88,708 88,708 1.0 2.0.5 Science Centers 19,079 19,079 1.6 2.0.6 Program Development & Management 112,176 112,176 0.5 Subtotal Education and Public Outreach 741,344 741,344 7.6
The Office of Education and Public Outreach (EPO) creates and leads programs that communicate NRAO science and technology to the science community, the public, the media, teachers and students. EPO programs seek to improve the impact and visibility of the NRAO in the science community, and improve public awareness and understanding of radio astronomy and the NRAO. EPO programs feature the most recent research results from the GBT, VLA, and the VLBA, promote the scientific promise of the EVLA and ALMA, and convey the Observatory’s commitment to the realization of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).
Science Community Outreach
During FY 09, a primary focus of the EPO program will be to amplify and sharpen our outreach to the science community. EPO will organize exhibits and activities that interactively engage the science community via demonstrations, Town Halls, and special sessions at three major FY 09 science meetings: (1) AAS winter meeting (Jan 09: Long Beach, CA); (2) AAAS Annual Meeting (Feb 09: Chicago, IL); and (3) IAU General Assembly (Aug 09: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). A Town Hall will be organized for the AAS meeting. Our proposal for an AAAS science symposium titled “The Cradle of Life” has been peer- reviewed and accepted. This symposium addresses the AAAS meeting theme—“Our Planet and Its Life: Origins and Futures—and will feature talks by A. Remijan (NRAO), C. Brogan (NRAO), and D. Wilner (CfA). EPO will seek additional opportunities for science community outreach at the IAU General Assembly and at ALMA science workshops.
EPO will re-design our science conference exhibits, enhancing their effectiveness as vehicles for demonstrating progress in the development of both the observatory and of tools that support users. We will add multimedia capabilities to our exhibits and envision a more interactive presence at science community meetings, conducting ALMA and EVLA science software demonstrations, enabling one-on- one and small group meetings between community members and our scientific staff regarding GBT and VLBA instrumentation development, observing proposal preparation, Jansky Fellowships, our Student Observing Support program, etc.
Program Plan FY 2009 H. Community Support Programs 75
ALMA EPO staff will review and restructure the NRAO and NAASC ALMA web pages with an eye toward clarity in the promotion of ALMA to non-traditional science users. EPO will actively solicit ALMA-related articles for science community newsletters.
EPO and scientific staff will collaborate to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the NRAO summer student program through a new on-line program that will chronicle the careers and accomplishments of a former summer student every two weeks throughout the International Year of Astronomy 2009. This program will feature an ethnically diverse selection of men and women from all career stages and from around the world. It will also highlight NRAO’s role in training future generations of scientists and engineers, and promote our summer student program.
The AUI / NRAO Image Contest will continue, supporting the creation of visually compelling images and promoting the community’s research. EPO will also continue to edit and improve NRAO eNews, our monthly, electronic newsletter.
Public Outreach
EPO will maintain an up-to-date, well-organized, and visually compelling NRAO Internet presence for the public. We will create and manage timely news, information and other online content to communicate the excitement of ALMA and EVLA science and construction; GBT, VLA, and VLBA science; Green Bank Science Center and VLA Visitor Center programs and activities; background features about the NRAO and radio astronomy; and education program opportunities. EPO will periodically create and export multimedia content to sites such as Wikipedia, iTunes, and YouTube.
ALMA EPO will endeavor to cultivate coverage of ALMA in the popular media, continue to document on video key North American developments in Kilgore (home of VertexRSI), Charlottesville, and Chile, and champion a public-friendly web presence both at NRAO and internationally. The ALMA EPO Program Officer represents North America on the international ALMA EPO Working Group, contributing as appropriate to the definition and development of EPO resources shared among and/or created in partnership with the other Executives and the JAO. We will also collaborate with our ALMA partners as appropriate in the preparation of press releases that publicize significant ALMA milestones.
The programs, tours, and exhibits at the Green Bank Science Center (GBSC) and the VLA Visitor Center (VLAVC) made visiting the NRAO an enjoyable, enriching experience for more than 68,000 people in 2007. In the coming year, EPO will design and, if funding is available, install “one Observatory” exhibits at the GBSC and VLAVC so that visitors can learn about the full scope of the NRAO science and technology. We will also procure and install the hardware, software, and licenses to deliver the informal education program ViewSpace to the GBSC and VLAVC. We will actively promote our science centers and their education programs via the Internet and will seek grant funds for advertising and promotion from the state tourism agencies in NM and WV.
To encourage and cultivate coverage of radio astronomy and the NRAO in popular media articles and programming, we will develop a suite of support services and products, including relevant science and technical background information, and the infrastructure to create and distribute high-quality audio, video, and photography. We will also acquire high-definition stock footage of EVLA and GBT.
Program Plan FY 2009 H. Community Support Programs 76
We will create a printed media prospectus for ALMA, EVLA, and SKA that positions them as the next major astronomy facilities, introduces their key science themes and significance, presents their timelines, and describes the requisite cutting-edge technology that will enable these advances.
News and image releases will be written, distributed, and marketed to promote research discoveries made at NRAO facilities. Press conferences will promote the most exciting scientific discoveries and will be coordinated with the NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs. These press conferences will be conducted as web casts or teleconferences, and will be hosted at the NSF, the National Press Club (Washington D.C.), or at AAS meetings. Santiago-based staff will translate NRAO press releases into Spanish, release them to the Chilean media, and conduct periodic press events there.
We will solicit media participation in the NRAO by meeting with reporters and science journalists at major media forums such as the AAAS Annual Meeting. We will also create and promote an on-line “experts” database of scientists to improve NRAO and astronomy media visibility.
The NRAO will also host the StarQuest star party in GB (Jul 09), the Enchanted Skies Star Party in NM (Sep 09), as well as Community Open Houses in Green Bank (Oct 08), at the Very Large Array (Oct 08, Apr 09), and in Charlottesville (Apr 09).
The NRAO EPO team will actively participate in the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA 09). Our objective is to implement IYA programs that are consistent with our strategic goals, that will have broad impact, and that are plausibly sustainable into the future.
In addition to NRAO and AUI funds, we are seeking external funding to create an informal education program that will promote radio astronomy’s science, technology, and value. This program’s activities and materials will be integrated into the GBSC and VLAVC programs and distributed via existing informal education networks with significant audiences, such as ViewSpace, the Night Sky Network, and the NASA Museum Alliance. We are also seeking corporate sponsorship to build and distribute to U.S. educators 10 – 100 of the relatively inexpensive “Itty Bitty Telescopes” developed by the Society for Amateur Radio Astronomy (SARA). Educational activities and information about radio astronomy and the NRAO would be packaged with each traveling telescope system.
The NRAO will participate in three IYA 09 “international cornerstone projects”. We are collaborating with the NOAO education team to broaden the IYA 2009 Dark Skies Awareness cornerstone project so that, in addition to discussing light pollution and promoting optical astronomy, it also discusses radio frequency interference (RFI) and promotes the value of radio astronomy. GB EPO personnel have developed an inexpensive RFI detector and activities for educators and students. The NRAO will coordinate its spring VLA guided tours and GBSC programs with the 100 Hours of Astronomy international cornerstone project and webcasts, which will take place 2 – 5 April 2009. We will also port radio astronomy and NRAO content to the Portal to the Universe, an on-line astronomy content aggregator and international cornerstone project that plans to go live in early 2009.
Teachers and Students
EPO formal and informal education programs increase public awareness of radio astronomy and the NRAO, improve teacher practice in science and mathematics, and encourage students to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Program Plan FY 2009 H. Community Support Programs 77
The NSF-funded Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) will be a major feature of the coming year’s education program at GB. The PSC is a 3-year program in which teachers and students assist a worldwide team of astronomers in discovering new pulsars. The project introduces students to computational mathematics and distributed computing applications, while engaging them in authentic scientific research.
As a national research center, the NRAO education program includes opportunities to engage teachers in real-world research experiences. The Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program will expand into Charlottesville in addition to mentoring 1 to 3 teachers in SOC and GB. Three-day intensive residential Chautauqua programs will take place in GB and SOC, continuing a 20+ year NRAO tradition of serving undergraduate science faculty. NRAO is collaborating with New Mexico Tech to renew its participation in the Master of Science Teaching program in summer 2009. This intensive, 2-week summer residency program is designed to host up to ten K-12 teachers.
The Sister Cities program is an educational and cultural exchange that connects the San Pedro de Atacama, Chile and Magdalena, NM communities. Two Magdalena high-school seniors are spending the Aug – Dec 08 semester in Chile; two San Pedro students will attend the Magdalena High School during the same semester. This program also enables and promotes educational video-cons between classrooms in San Pedro and Magdalena.
The West Virginia Governor’s School for Math and Science will be hosted in GB in summer 2009, providing an in-depth research experience for 60 gifted, rising 8th graders, encouraging their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers.
Education and Public Outreach Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date NRAO Town Hall planning for winter AAS meeting begins 10/2008 Install ViewSpace at GB Science Center & VLA Visitor Center 11/2008 Complete science conference exhibit booth redesign 11/2008 Complete multimedia presentation for new exhibit booth 12/2008 Sister Cities student exchange complete 12/2008 Hire ALMA web developer 01/2009 Summer student 50th anniversary program debuts on-line 01/2009 Media prospectus complete (for AAAS) 01/2009 Complete One Observatory exhibit design for GB Science Center and VLA Visitor 02/2009 Center Draft NAASC/NRAO ALMA web site map complete 02/2009 Craft science symposium proposals for 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting 03/2009 Conduct 100 Hours of Astronomy webcasts 04/2009 Complete NRAO Community Open House planning (CV) 04/2009 Hire Multimedia Designer 04/2009 NRAO experts database on-line 05/2009 RET program debuts in CV 06/2009 Complete ALMA IAU GA exhibit design 07/2009 Existing ALMA web content converted to new structure 07/2009
Program Plan FY 2009 H. Community Support Programs 78
I. Management and Infrastructure Services
1. Administration
FY 08 Carryover New NSF Total NSF New FTE Funds Budget Funds (PRL) and (PRL) AST (PRL) Carryover
Observatory Management 1.2 Administrative Services 1.2.1 Fiscal 731,068 731,068 9.7 1.2.2 Observatory Business Services 2,129,000 190,072 2,319,072 5.5 1.2.3 Manangement Information Systems 707,335 707,335 5.4 1.2.4 Environment, Safety, and Security 450,930 450,930 4.2 1.2.5 Human Resources 906,923 906,923 7.3 1.2.6 Procurement 618,099 618,099 8.3
Subtotal Administrative Services 2,129,000 3,604,427 5,733,427 40.3
Observatory Business Services (OBS)
The Observatory Business Services division provides management and support for budget development and analysis, facilities planning, and general business administration for Charlottesville operations and observatory-wide requirements. During this fiscal year the division will concentrate on improving existing models and processes to create a more integrated system of management tools. Below are the FY 2009 goals for the OBS division to achieve its goals.
Budget & Business Analysis
Budget & Business Analysis is responsible for developing, monitoring, and reporting on the Observatory budgets including multi-year forecasts, monthly budget reports, and ad hoc queries. During the upcoming year, the group will focus on the integration between individual budgets, level of effort reporting, and rate development into one interactive workbook to facilitate faster and more refined responses to “what if” scenarios and forecasts.
Grants Administration
Grants Administration is responsible to provide pre-award budget development, non-observing proposal submittals, and post-award tracking. During this fiscal year, Grants Administration will focus on developing a web-based application to post grant specific documents including budget reports, progress reports, and upcoming submittals due.
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 79
Charlottesville Facilities
During FY 2009, several projects are planned to upgrade the security of the Charlottesville facilities and the facility configuration at the NRAO Technology Center. Details for these tasks are provided below.
Edgemont Road Over the past fiscal year the Charlottesville facilities received two security reviews that identified shortfalls in the protection of employees and equipment. There were also incidents of uninvited visitors at the facilities that raised employee concerns. To address these issues the following projects are planned:
1. Surveillance: The Edgemont Road facility has a surveillance camera system installed that provides rudimentary coverage of building access points. To improve this system, additional cameras will be installed to focus on the parking lots and interior spaces where surveillance gaps exist. Monitors will be installed on the desks of select employees to monitor the lobby area and parking lot activity.
2. Security: Within the building there are three areas that require access control and entry activity tracking. The existing electronic card access system will be expanded to provide proximity pad access control to the communications room, Computer and Information Systems office and server room area, and the Human Resources employee files room.
3. Security: The University of Virginia has installed a cell phone based emergency notification system in response to the Virginia Tech incident. This system dispatches text messages to subscribers for all manner of emergencies including weather related warnings. Unfortunately, due to the RFI resistant nature of the Edgemont Road addition cell phone signal reception is minimal in many areas which limits the ability to receive warning notifications. The facility also lacks a public address system to disseminate emergency notifications. During the fiscal year a cell phone booster and PA system using the existing phone system will be installed.
NRAO Technology Center (NTC) 1. Third floor restroom conversion: There is a pressing need for an additional female restroom at the NTC where there is only one women’s restroom in the three-story building. To remedy this situation a design-build request for proposal has been released to local general contractors. Based on the level of interest the restroom conversion is expected to be completed within the first quarter.
2. Interior Offices: The increasing population at the NTC has led to a shortage of adequate office space at the NTC. A design-build request for proposal will be released to local general contractors with an expected construction completion during the end of the first quarter.
3. Surveillance Systems: In light of the valuable equipment in the various laboratories and the ALMA Front End Integration Center, the NRAO will install a comprehensive surveillance camera system to deter theft and provide valuable information in the event of a loss. With the increased building construction activity in the neighboring area, two reviews have commented about the need to provide more robust security of equipment/facility including the installation of surveillance cameras.
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 80
Observatory Business Services Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date NTC restroom conversion Q1 2009 NTC additional interior office build-out Q2 2009 Integrated budget forecast workbook Q3 2009 Grants web posting of active awards Q3 2009 ER surveillance and security enhancement systems Q4 2009 NTC surveillance system Q4 2009
Management Information Systems (MIS) Division Overview
The Management Information Systems (MIS) Division provides Observatory-wide business systems support to all aspects of Observatory operations including payroll, human resources, general ledger, accounts payable, business computer (Windows Based and SQL), and support hardware computers. MIS is also responsible for providing financial reporting via business systems, user support, and enhancements along with upgrades for business computer systems. MIS utilizes the Oracle J.D. Edwards EnterpriseOne 8.10 product as the NRAO Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) business software.
FY 2009 key objectives include stabilization and enhanced data mining for the NRAO Electronic TimeKeeping (ETK) systems in the first quarter FY 2009. The ETK system involved migrating from a paper-based time-card system to a web-based custom infrastructure to collect and distribute local labor charging for all projects within the NRAO. The ETK system is fully integrated with the J. D. Edwards ERP software and the implementation was scheduled to be completed by first quarter 2009. Other MIS objectives include, but are not limited to, update of the J.D.Edwards operating system (tools release), documentation of the last quarter FY 2008 implementation of the MIS Disaster Recovery Initiative, software enhancements and upgrades, begin the planning of a major J.D.Edwards upgrade from the current 8.10 to the 8.12 version, expanded database mining, and report distribution methods.
Management Information Systems Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Electronic Timekeeping stabilization Q1 2009 Update documentation for Disaster Recovery Initiatives, software Q1 2009 enhancements, and upgrades Update JD Edwards ERP software Q2 2009 Implementation plan for JD Edwards upgrade to version 8.12 Q4 2009
Fiscal Division Overview
The Fiscal Division provides support to the Observatory and Associated Universities, Inc. in all major financials functions such as: payroll processing, tax compliance, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed asset management, internal and external audit support, internal and external reporting and indirect cost allocations. The Fiscal Division strives to establish goals resulting in continued efficiency and excellence in services provided.
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 81
Fiscal Division Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Implement ACH transfers as primary method to reimburse employees for Q1 2009 business related travel expenses Design and implement an Observatory-wide “Leave-Pool” to allocate employee leave costs to projects and departments based on an established Q1 2009 “leave rate.” Re-design the current “fringe-pool” process to increase the efficiency of the Q1 2009 allocation of employee fringe costs to projects and departments Investigate the possibility of preparing and distributing internally all payroll checks and transmission of the “Electronic Funds Transmittal” (EFT) Q1 2009 payroll file to the Observatory’s financials institution Completion of a “Cross-Training Matrix” (Matrix) which will identify all responsibilities within the Fiscal Division, by employee, and identify the Q1 2009 person identified to be cross-trained. The Matrix will also designate the status and expected completion date of training Revise the current ‘Travel Policy Manual” to ensure all current procedures Q3 2009 and requirements are accurately documented
Environment, Safety & Security Overview
As part of the NRAO Administration, the Environment, Safety, and Security (ES&S) division plays a key role in the support and continuous improvement of the Observatory administrative goals and objectives.
ES&S has established long-term goals for FY 2009 that support and enhance the NRAO objectives and vision. The ES&S related Goals and Objectives of Administration are:
• Provide ES&S advice and counsel to ensure safety and secure facilities for our staff and visitors at all U.S. and ALMA Chilean Sites. • Protect the financial and physical assets of the NRAO and NSF. • Develop management controls and protection of assets. • Assure compliance with all OSHA, DOT, EPA, NFPA, and other Federal and State Regulations. • Provide a Business Continuity Plan to be used in the event of a natural or other disaster.
Environment, Safety & Security Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Update the ES&S Safety Manual FY 2009 Continue the new on-site inspection program for VLBA sites FY 2009 Assure implementation of the new NRAO arc flash electrical-safety program FY 2009 Assure adherence to the program requirements for asbestos management at the FY 2009 VLA, Charlottesville, and Green Bank Sites Implement the newly installed fire-suppression system at the GBT FY 2009 Develop Safety Related Performance Metrics for all employees and managers and FY 2009 make them a part of all Performance Evaluations
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 82
Item Delivery Date Continue to implement ‘New Hire’ safety training across the NRAO. FY 2009 Extend the compatible Card Access System to all NRAO facilities and continue to FY 2009 enhance the video monitoring and storage systems at all sites. Develop a training plan for each employee that assures OSHA compliance and FY 2009 begin a documentation program to verify compliance. Milestone: Implement scheduled training programs FY 2009
Contracts & Procurement
The Contracts & Procurement will continue to efficiently utilize existing resources to provide accurate and timely information for NRAO management and our NSF and non-NSF sponsors. This will involve efforts to utilize best practices, leading-edge business tools, qualified and competent staff and improved integration within the Observatory. Planned enhancements include improving our web presence, updating the procurement manual, implementing a procurement-card system and an import/export procedures manual. Below are details about each of the planned enhancements.
Procurements: To continue procuring quality goods and services to meet corporate and customer needs in a timely, cost effective manner, in accordance with our policies, the NSF Cooperative Agreement and the Federal Regulations. Improve communications through training and individual assistance. Upgrade P2P and implement the Source and Pricing Justification Form to facilitate and streamline the procurement process.
Web Presence: In order to expedite processing and ensure visibility of key documents to users, the Contracts & Procurement division will establish an expanded and user-friendly web presence. Internal and external customers will be able to obtain standard procurement forms, terms and conditions, representations and certifications, and proposal materials. The internal web will also be used to post the procurement activity forecast and the supporting documents for each major procurement. The external website is being modified to include a form that will allow potential subcontractors/suppliers to provide company information for pre-qualifications on future purchases.
Procurement Manual: The Procurement Manual will be updated based on the recommendations obtained from the NSF Total Business Systems Review, Jefferson-Wells audit, the annual OMB Circular A-133 audit and industry best-practices for contracting and procurement.
Procurement-Card Procedures Manual: Following months of reviews and customer reference checks, the Observatory has determined that the system offered by U.S. Bank best fits its procurement-card requirements. The P-Card Procedures Manual will be finalized, P-Card agreement executed with U.S. Bank and implemented across the Observatory
Import/Export Procedures Manual: Due to the increased activities surrounding Imports/Exports, an NRAO Observatory wide procedures manual will be created and implemented.
Terms and Conditions: The Procurement Manual’s various boilerplate terms and conditions will be updated and/or replaced. A strategy of using a multi-year Master Agreement for large purchases/subcontractors/consultants is being implemented and expanded.
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 83
Personnel/Training: Maintain the current staff of competent and qualified personnel by providing challenges, training opportunities and encouraging professional growth through the certification process. Conduct a Contracts and Procurement Off-site meeting to provide training by NRAO personnel and an outside specialist. Develop a Session Plan for Green Bank and Socorro to replace retiring senior personnel.
Contracts & Procurement Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Finalize Procurement Manual update Q1 2009 Finalize the Source and Pricing justification forms and Procure to Pay system Q1 2009 process Complete the Blanket Master Agreement, general Purchase Orders terms and Q2 2009 conditions for supply and services Review Contracts and Procurement organization structure for process changes Q2 2009 and work load assignment Revise the Procurement website internal and external pages Q2 2009
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 84
2. Human Resources
The Human Resources Division is a vital element of NRAO strategic and operational success, domestically and internationally. Its primary role is to ensure the Observatory is positioned to attract, develop and support the people necessary for it to succeed now and in the future. From extending NRAO’s visibility in recruiting in order to attract a more diverse pool of candidates to offering competitive pay, benefits, work-life and development packages to its existing employees, HR cares for NRAO’s most important asset, its people. Specific areas of responsibility include regulatory compliance, recruitment, compensation, benefits, training and development, HRIS, employee relations and diversity.
Diversity
NRAO’s two significant diversity challenges in the coming years, are its ability to hire and retain talented employees.
In the past year HR demonstrated that compensation for NRAO employees falls below market by up to 30% for some benchmark jobs, with a majority falling below market by more than 10%. Although some NRAO benefits programs are above benchmark levels, the continued erosion of pay-to-market and increasing employee-paid medical costs have eroded this offset to low pay. The NSF imposed flat-budget for NRAO in FY 2009 and beyond is resulting in staff cuts and very limited hiring. These two factors will make it extremely difficult for NRAO to show significant improvements in its diversity demographics over the coming years. It will also make it difficult to attract and retain diverse people given minimal hiring opportunities and constant cutbacks to manage a flat budget.
For FY 2009, Human Resourses will continue to expand and grow its outreach efforts to attract diverse candidates to NRAO for the limited job opportunities that will be available. External outreach efforts for the coming fiscal year will include:
• An exchange of Faculty Staff visits by Howard University, a HBCU college, and the key staff members of the NRAO in an effort to stimulate growth of underrepresented minority students in the field of astrophysics and identify collaborative research opportunities. • Pursue identification and relationship building with a Tribal college that has a physics and/or Engineering and Computer Science curriculum. • Attempt to attend the 2009 National Society of Black Physicist’s Conference with the AAS as recruitment booth partner. • Attend the Society of Women Engineering Conference, National Society of Black Engineers Conference and possibly the Black Engineer of the Year Award and conference. • Maintain a visual presence in the national diversity related media through the identification of observatory employees or activities that promote the diversity of our employees.
HR will again look to AUI for financial support to support diversity initiatives in supporting the employment and training of females and minorities in FY 09.
To help retain employees, HR is working with the Diversity Committee to establish a method of fostering employee feedback from each site location on issues that impact NRAO diversity efforts, especially with regard to retention.
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 85
Employment
The employment function continues the consolidation of the Scientific Staff and Directors Office hiring processes within HR. The consolidation will improve efficiency, maintain regulatory compliance and provide oversight for NRAO’s diversity hiring initiative. The employment process is being further enhanced through the implementation of an Internet based resume management and applicant tracking system in FY 2009. The system will allow HR to view all resumes submitted for employment at NRAO, including gender and race for those people who choose to self-identify their EEO status. Applicant resumes can be screened based on the same criteria and then tracked and monitored throughout the employment process, helping NRAO ensure that candidates are being evaluated properly.
HR will continue expanding its diversity outreach initiative by establishing relationships with new universities that graduate diverse students in programs that fit NRAO jobs. Advertising in diversity related publications and websites will continue as well as networking within job/professional related communities.
Compensation
A 2007 salary benchmarking study by Mercer confirmed that more than half of NRAO employee salaries fall below market by more than ten percent, which included an arbitrary geographic discount of 5% for Charlottesville, Green Bank, and Socorro. The 2007 study was updated in 2008 and additional survey sources were used to improve the accuracy and relevancy of the findings, however, the market variances of some of the 20 benchmark positions did not change by much. It was determined that the total equity shortfall for the incumbents in the 20 benchmarked positions is approximately $1.2 million. Because the study only captured 40% of NRAO’s workforce, HR is market pricing the positions of the remaining workforce to identify equity shortfalls elsewhere in the Observatory. The results of both studies will then be used to develop a strategy to correct the equity shortfall across the Observatory that will be spread out over a three to five year period. HR will work to support the NRAO Director in obtaining the funds necessary to execute the strategy.
Benefits
The benefits plans of the Observatory continue to be a valuable recruitment and retention tool. The strength of the benefits program also offsets the effect of NRAO’s below-market compensation in many cases. However, pressure from NSF and the AUI Board of Trustees to move NRAO benefits to benchmark standards, which HR has done over the past few years, is increasing employee costs thereby exasperating the equity shortfall problem. Compounding the problem, higher than expected medical plan utilization in 2008 is resulting in double-digit premium increase in 2009. HR will therefore take a total compensation approach in developing a recommendation for the 2009 benefits program.
Human Resources Information Systems
The Human Resources Information System supports the Observatory’s need to accurately track and report HR information for regulatory compliance and reporting. HR is working with NRAO’s Information Systems staff on the implementation of an ETK system in FY 2009.
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 86
Training and Development
In support of NRAO’s Diversity Program, the HR Division is making training an active part of its annual operation. Given the reality of funding limitations, the HR Manager will work with Fiscal to try to secure funds from AUI to help NRAO deliver training in fiscal year 2009. This includes diversity-related training for supervisors and support of individual career development training courses for females and minorities.
International Staff
The hiring of International Staff Members (ISM) for ALMA is growing and demand for NRAO support of its ISM employees in Chile is growing too. Supporting the hiring of JAO ISM’s with the ALMA Director and Executive Heads of HR is HR’s critical objective in FY 2009. In addition, NRAO HR will develop NRAO ISM related procedures/materials for hiring, benefits and compensation.
NRAO HR’s support of JAO HR policies, procedures, systems and processes for Chilean local staff continues to be an ongoing responsibility.
The NRAO HR Manager will continue his role as the HRAG Chairperson in 2009.
Human Resources Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Establish site-based diversity feedback process Q2 2009 Conduct quarterly Diversity Committee meetings FY 2009 Develop diversity recruiting and hiring metrics report Q2 2009 Develop diversity report on promotions, transfers, pay actions, and departures Q2 2009 Implement Resume Management/Applicant Tracking System Observatory-wide Q1 2009 Establish relationships with new universities that graduate diverse students in FY 2009 programs that fit NRAO jobs. Develop a strategy to correct the equity shortfall across the Observatory. Q2 2009 Using a total compensation approach, develop a recommendation for the 2009 Q1 2009 benefits program. Support the implementation of the ETK system Q1 2009 Deliver diversity-related training for supervisors Observatory-wide (AUI Funded) Q3 2009 Provide support for individual career development training courses for females and FY 2009 minorities. (AUI Funded) Support the hiring of JAO ISM’s with the ALMA Director and Executive Heads of FY 2009 HR Develop NRAO ISM related procedures/materials for hiring, benefits and Q4 2009 compensation. NRAO HR Manager - Support HRAG as Chairperson in 2009 FY 2009
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 87
3. Computing and Information Services
FY 08 Total Carryover New NSF NSF New Funds Funds FTE (PRL) Budget (PRL) AST (PRL) and Carryover Computer and Information Services 8.1 Management & Administration 185,298 185,298 1.0 8.5 Central Computing Services 1,324,886 1,324,886 10.0 8.8 Computing Infrastructure 330,371 330,371 - Subtotal Computer and Information Services 1,840,555 1,840,555 11.0
Headquarters Computing (Management & Administration)
CIS will evaluate the use of the ITIL Service Management life-cycle approach to infrastructure operational support in order to rationalize such fundamental processes as Incident, Change, Problem and Release Management. In addition, a simplified workload prioritization scheme will be formalized, combining impact and urgency into give four basic categories for day-to-day tasks: Critical, High, Medium and Low. The benefit to the users of this methodology will come from improved accountability for those issues not resolved in the initial contact. Internal to CIS, this approach will facilitate a more managed resource allocation of senior system administrators who split their time between operational support and project work. The underlying themes of measured service delivery performance and project support coordination are essential if new services are to be successfully managed throughout their lifecycle. A key project interacting with CIS infrastructure support is the planning for the North American ALMA Regional Center and associated Science Center for support, compute and archive.
Central Computing Services
Security
The NRAO Computing Security Policy, adopted in 1999, and the new Data Security Policy, adopted in 2007, have created the necessary foundation for instantiating a comprehensive Risk Management Framework for the Observatory's digital assets. In the coming year we will commence a more rigorous education program aimed at all staff, to increase awareness and to provide training in all key aspects of computer and network security. This will be developed in collaboration with MIS (Business Systems) and other relevant divisions to systematize our overall risk mitigation strategy.
Common Computing Environments
The CCE will continue to coordinate and prioritize NRAO-wide projects between the sites, facilitated by our annual admin meeting. We will train users in the new functionality of Microsoft Office 2007 before its coordinated distribution (by group rather than by site), and continue the evaluation of Vista within our domain. The migration of Outlook users to the new Exchange 2007 server will improved performance to the business and administrative groups. We will also deploy the 5.2 version of Red Hat Linux to support 64-bit architectures as well as providing greater stability and security. With the ever increasing load of E-
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 88
mail, the option of moving to the more scalable mailbox format provided by maildir will be pursued. The success of Nagios system monitoring application at the CV site has lead to the recommendation that this solution be employed NRAO-wide to improve visibility and response throughout our infrastructure.
Networking and Telecommunications
The major telecommunications work committed for FY 09 will be the migration of GSA services to the new Networx contract. This will dovetail with a timely network architecture and perimeter security review to address such pressing needs as split view DNS and IPv6. The on-going initiative to migrate the phone system in CV to VoIP will continue as funds allow which will obviate the need to replace the end- of-life voicemail system at this site. The Green Bank voicemail system must, however, be upgraded since their traditional PBX will remain in service due to signal emission concerns for the Copper based Ethernet cabling implicit with VoIP phones. The number of different repositories for contact information (including phone number and site E-mail lists) has been identified as a good candidate for improved data management.
Web Services
The creation and filling in 2007 of a FTE NRAO webmaster position has enabled considerable progress to be made in stabilizing and enhancing the web services offered to all divisions by CIS. A new infrastructure has been put in place to enable a standard rollout of new web servers at short notice, and to allow easier access to internal content. A serious effort to investigate and deploy a pilot Web Content Management System will occur in the coming year to address the challenge of managing and publishing shared information on-line in a more integrated way than by using basic html or wiki.
Video
As the cost of High Definition IP based video and presentation units continues to fall, it is appropriate that we evaluate this next generation technology to better server the user community and reduce the need for domestic and international travel for collaborative projects. The options for desktop video are likewise in scope for review, although users tend to be polarized in their view on the value of this service.
Computing Infrastructure
Digital Infrastructure
Storage used by individual contributors in support of their duties is provided on a Network Appliance data filer with each being upgraded on a rotating basis between the three major sites. In FY 2009 we propose to upgrade the central disk filer in Green Bank.
Recurring Costs
We will continue the program to support and upgrade our installed base of computer workstations and peripherals. A critical component is to better leverage cross-site standardization of hardware and system images to reduce installation overhead and software compatibility testing. As a cost reduction exercise we are rationalizing our printer inventory and increasing the cross-platform availability of the central multi-function units (e.g. copy, fax, print, scan) due to the lower cost per page of these high volume systems.
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 89
CIS Milestones for FY 2009 Item Delivery Date Initial implementation plan for North American ARC 10/2008 Voicemail upgrade for GB site 11/2008 Migrate Outlook users to Exchange 2007 server 12/2008 Consolidation of Directory service for Phonebook/E-mail 12/2008 Fair Opportunity for GSA Networx contract 01/2009 Coordinate Scalable Computing workshop 01/2009 Service Management review for operational support 01/2009 Evaluate calendar and room reservation system replacement 02/2009 Upgrade the central disk filer in Green Bank 03/2009 Train users and Deploy Microsoft Office 2007 03/2009 Complete deployment of new Linux version (RHEL5) 03/2009 Pilot release, Web Content Management Testbed System 03/2009 Design of new Risk Management Framework 03/2009 System-administrators meeting in Socorro 04/2009 Evaluate migration of mbox to maildir 04/2009 Network Architecture and Perimeter Defenses review 05/2009 First annual employee security training presentation 06/2009 Coherent and consistent NRAO-wide system monitoring 07/2009
Program Plan FY 2008 I. Management and Infrastructure Services 90
J. Facility Infrastructure & Maintenance
FY 08 Carryover Total NSF New New NSF Funds Funds (PRL) and FTE (PRL) AST Budget (PRL) Carryover
Observatory Management Facility Infrastructure and Maintenance 834,000 834,000
Background and Goals for FY 2009
NRAO’s FY 2009 baseline program includes funds for the most critical infrastructure and maintenance items to ensure the safety of staff and the integrity and continued safe operation of its telescopes and unique instrumentation. NRAO has always made such items an operational priority and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, many years of tight budgets have resulted in an accumulation of deferred maintenance and infrastructure for facilities and laboratory and operating equipment that have introduced inefficiencies and have increased the risk of much greater maintenance expenditures in the future. At the request of the NSF, we have included an augmentation to the FY 2009 Program Plan, describing how any additional funding beyond the Observatory’s baseline budget would be used to address currently- unfunded, infrastructure needs.
The infrastructure and maintenance program described herein is intended to complement the more extensive program described in the Observatory’s pending proposal to NSF which covers fiscal years 2010 through 2016. Some items included here (such as the proposed purchase of two hydrogen masers for the VLBA) accelerate multi-year replacement programs given in the proposal. In other cases, we are proposing here to address critical infrastructure or maintenance needs which in the future would be subsumed in the larger, more general programs described in the 6-year proposal.
Infrastructure Augmentation Request
The following table provides a list of infrastructure items that are not presently within the baseline FY 2009 program. These items would help restore facilities and equipment to appropriate standards, and in many cases, lower long term operating budgets through improved operations and maintenance efficiency. The items are listed roughly in priority order. Explanatory notes are provided following the table. As indicated in the table, some of the items are one-time expenditures, and some are recurring.
Infrastructure Augmentation Items Annual Site Description Cost or FY Notes needed (E)VLA VLA FRM brakes and power supplies (28 antennas) $78,000 N a (E)VLA Antenna transporter critical maintenance 90,000 N b (E)VLA Replacement railroad vehicle 50,000 N (E)VLA Annual vehicle replacement 25,000 Y GBT Annual vehicle replacement 25,000 Y c
Program Plan FY 2008 J. Facility Infrastructure & Maintenance 91
Annual Site Description Cost or FY Notes needed GBT Telephone Replacement 100,000 N d AOC Computer Infrastructure Maintenance 70,000 Y e AOC Building repair and modernization 20,000 Y f (E)VLA Site building repair and modernization 40,000 N AOC Amortized additional payment to NM Tech 22,000 7 years VLBA New Kitt Peak facility fee for VLBA antenna 29,000 Y VLBA Maser (1 of 2 needed) 235,000 2 years g VLBA St. Croix Station Generator replacement 50,000 N
FY 2009 Total $834,000 Notes: a. VLA FRM upgrade: Replacement power supplies and brakes needed for VLA antenna focus rotation mounts (FRM). b. Antenna transported critical maintenance: Includes upgraded hydraulic system for transporter #2 and replacement axles for both transporters. c. The continued maintenance of the aging vehicle fleet in Green Bank results in technicians who could otherwise be helping with telescope work spending time keeping the vehicles running safely. d. The replacement of the Green Bank telephone system will soon become a necessity as the current system is no longer supported by Nortel, the company who installed it. e. Computer Infrastructure Maintenance: Includes continuing fiber optic maintenance upgrades, expansion of 10 Gbit service, and critical software licensing fees. f. Critical AOC building repair and modernization: Includes loading dock and office modifications and repair. g. Masers (2): Part of a staged procurement to replace the first cohort of VLBA masers, which are nearing the end of their lives and beginning to fail. If this procurement is carried out, 4 of the ten VLBA site masers will have been replaced by the end of FY 2009.
Critical infrastructure items expected in future years are listed in the following table.
Expected Future Infrastructure Items Annual Site Description Cost or FY needed GBT Chiller replacement $100,000 FY 2010 GBT Site Emergency Generator 600,000 FY 2011 VLBA Maser (2 of 2 needed) 235,000 FY 2011 GBT Telephone line replacement 85,000 FY 2012 GBT Telephone line connection to CO 45,000 FY 2012 GBT Window Replacements 600,000 FY 2013 GBT Site Elevated water tank replacement 750,000 FY 2015
Program Plan FY 2008 J. Facility Infrastructure & Maintenance 92
K. FY 2009 Preliminary Financial Plan
Table K. 1. New NSF Funds
Table K. 2. NSF New Funding by Expense Element
Program Plan FY 2009 K. FY 2009 Preliminary Financial Plan 93
Table K. 3. Total Available Funding for FY 2009
Table K. 4. FY 2008 Carryover Detail
Of the $2,763k identified for NRAO Operations (SPO-1) carryover, $1,042k is encumbered to pay for the GBT structural inspection, GBT post doc support, VLBA maser replacement, and prepaid expenses. The remaining $1,721k is presently unencumbered and will be applied to emergent requirements and funding shortfalls.
Program Plan FY 2009 K. FY 2009 Preliminary Financial Plan 94
Table K. 5. NRAO Management, Operations, and Maintenance Detail for FY 2009
Program Plan FY 2009 K. FY 2009 Preliminary Financial Plan 95
Table K. 6. OBSERVATORY WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
Program Plan FY 2009 K. FY 2009 Preliminary Financial Plan 96
Table K. 6. - Continued OBSERVATORY WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
Program Plan FY 2009 K. FY 2009 Preliminary Financial Plan 97
Operational Reductions in View of FY 2010 Budget Projections
The NSF has projected that the budget allocations for NRAO’s North American facility operations (the SPO-1 account) will be roughly flat from FY 2010 onward for several years. Because of the effect of inflation and other cost allocations, the NRAO North American facilities operating budget had projected a $3.6 M shortfall under this budget. Although the FY 2010 budget remains a projection, the long-lead nature of the most likely reductions suggested that it was prudent to take some steps in advance so that NRAO would be appropriately positioned for 2010.
The NRAO budget is dominated by personnel costs so any significant reduction in operating costs must include staffing reductions. NRAO estimated that 25-30 FTEs would need to be reduced to meet the FY 2010 budget allocation, together with some other programmatic reductions. NRAO consulted its Users Committee and other external and internal groups in developing priorities on which to base what parts of operations and development should be preserved and emphasized, and what might be reduced, under the circumstances.
NRAO had recently undergone the NSF Total Business Systems Review (TBSR), and was in the process of undergoing the NSF LMI administrative and operational review and the AUI Review of NRAO Operations (also known as the Milkey Committee). Each of these committees was reporting, in final form or through preliminary feedback, that NRAO administration and operations were very efficient and that there was no obvious opportunity for major savings or productive change in operational model. In particular, the Milkey Committee felt that any savings would have to come in observer services, community support, or development. Given this input and based on its own operational knowledge and experience, NRAO developed a set of reductions. Priority was given to the EVLA and ALMA, but with recognition that there is a certain irreducible staffing level for the GBT and VLBA, below which operations would be rendered ineffective. In the end, broad targets were identified for reductions in VLBA and GBT observer support, and some aspects of GBT development. Reductions in community support were also identified and will be taken before the beginning of FY 2010 if the FY 2010 projections materialize.
To effect these reductions, NRAO took several proactive steps in the latter part of FY 2008, and concluding at the beginning of FY 2009. A number of staff vacancies around the Observatory were frozen, resulting in a net savings of 8 FTEs. An Early Retirement Initiative was offered that resulted in 14 retirements and another transition from full-time to part-time status. Between these two initiatives, 22.5 FTEs were reduced, which is approaching the target for reductions.
The impact of the reductions has been significant. Data analysts were lost from the VLBA with a number of implications for observer support and quality control. New Mexico Operations scientific conference support and engineering services support was reduced. At the Green Bank Telescope, there is decreased observer support for proposal preparation, observing, and data reduction. Improvements in observer documentation have been cancelled or slowed; a 3 mm receiver project was cancelled, and other development projects have been slowed. Maintenance support in Green Bank has also been diminished. If the FY 2010 budget materializes, a number of the community support programs listed in the SAA section of this document, particularly for students and postdocs, will be sharply reduced or eliminated.
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Appendices
A. The NRAO Strategic Plan
NRAO Strategic Plan
The strategic planning working group at NRAO concluded its final, facilitated workshop in December 2007 with a proposed Mission Statement and a set of Strategic Goals and Strategic Initiatives. Observatory managers and working group representatives are now in the process of discussing the plan with Observatory staff, community representatives, and other stakeholders to obtain comments and to refine the plan as necessary. To date, the strategic plan has been presented to the NRAO Users Committee, the AUI/NRAO Visiting Committee, and in summary form to the AUI Board. Other, more general forums are planned. Once the comment and refinement stage is completed, the Observatory will implement the initiatives fully. Some of the more obvious and beneficial initiatives are already being implemented.
NRAO Mission Statement
The Mission Statement is a succinct, but enduring statement of NRAO’s core purpose. The proposed mission statement is as follows:
Mission Statement
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory enables forefront research into the Universe at radio wavelengths.
In partnership with the scientific community, we:
provide world leading telescopes, instrumentation and expertise,
train the next generation of scientists and engineers, and
promote astronomy to foster a more scientifically literate society.
NRAO Strategic Goals
The strategic goals are the most important achievements that will allow NRAO to carry out its mission. Four goals were proposed by the strategic planning working group, and are explained more fully in the context of the strategic initiatives that follow.
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Strategic Goals
1. Increase the scientific impact of NRAO.
2. Be a resource for all astronomers and for the public.
3. Advance the state-of-the art in mission-related technology.
4. Play a leading role in defining and developing next generation programs, such as the SKA program and lunar radio astronomy.
Strategic Initiatives
A number of strategic initiatives have been envisioned to help realize each of the strategic goals. These are outlined below.
1. Increase the Scientific Impact of NRAO
NRAO is striving to do everything reasonably possible to optimize the scientific productivity of its facilities. NRAO operates as a visitor facility in service to the community, but it does not want to leave scientific productivity and impact to chance. NRAO wants to ensure that its facilities are scheduled in the most accessible and transparent way and for the most high-impact projects, that the facilities (particularly ALMA and EVLA) meet the needs of the broad astronomical community, that facility instrumentation projects and university collaboration projects are encouraged (particularly for the GBT). Identified initiatives are
• Updated Telescope Time Allocation Process. • More community involvement & transparency.
• Continued Ease of Use Programs. • Broaden community usage and increase science throughput. • Enhanced tools for proposal submission, observation preparation, pipeline processing & image archive access.
• Facility instrumentation development. • University / community partnerships.
2. Be a resource for all astronomers and for the public
NRAO is more than just telescopes—it embodies a wealth of staff expertise and resources that can benefit the astronomical community and the public at large. As a strategic goal, NRAO wants to bring these assets to the attention of the community and the public and design and execute programs to exploit their use. Specific initiatives are as follows:
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• Develop Scientific Community Outreach programs to: • Inform non-traditional radio astronomers of the power of NRAO facilities and the scientific capabilities NRAO can bring to their research. • Inform all members of the community that NRAO has a wealth of expertise, capabilities, and infrastructure to offer -- more than just telescope time.
• Through the New Initiatives Office, annual program planning, and special workshops, continue to build community partnerships.
• Continue to develop EPO programs to bring the excitement of radio astronomy to the public and to K-12 students via special programs and visitor centers.
3. Advance the state-of-the art in mission-related technology
NRAO has traditionally been a leader in the development of state-of-the-art technology that has greatly benefitted astronomy. Examples include low noise amplifiers, SIS mixers, and electromagnetic device design. In recent years, tight budgets and the press of project work have shifted the emphasis at the Observatory’s Central Development Lab and among research engineers at the sites from R&D to production. For the future of the field, the R&D component must be re-emphasized. Specific initiatives include:
• Invest in and reinvigorate the R&D technology program within NRAO’s Central Development Laboratory and at the Telescope Sites. • Restore balance between R&D and construction & service duties at the CDL. • In partnership with the community, prepare for next-generation instrumentation and development projects. • Contribute to national technology competitiveness initiatives.
4. Play a leading role in defining and developing next generation programs, such as the SKA program and lunar radio astronomy
NRAO has been actively engaged in the international Square Kilometer Array project since its inception, but because of its many other obligations has necessarily played a supporting role to date. As the Decadal Survey nears and specific project and technical support is required, a more active leadership role by NRAO is appropriate and helpful to the project. A strategic goal has been identified to help the community realize the SKA and other next-generation projects. Specific initiatives in connection with this goal are as follows:
• Develop winning concepts for the next Decadal Survey. • Play a leading role in the national organization of SKA and continue participation in national forums. • Engage in a technical and scientific development program for the SKA. • Actively participate in other next-generation opportunities, such as lunar radio astronomy.
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B. Scientific Staff Research Activities
Cosmology, Large Scale Structure, Galaxy Formation, and Gravitational Lensing
Brian Mason, in collaboration Anthony Readhead's group at Caltech, has made the best measurements to date of radio-wavelength arcminute-scale anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using the Cosmic Background Imager (CBI). These measurements show, at the 3-sigma level, indications of signal in excess of intrinsic CMB anisotropy on the smallest angular scales, possibly caused a secondary Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) anisotropy. Recent results of a 30 GHz survey of discrete sources with the GBT have confirmed that traditional mJy-level radio galaxies contribute little to the observed high-ell excess. Further GBT data will be brought to bear on the contribution of fainter populations of sources, in particular of “starbursting” galaxies at faint flux densities. In collaboration with E.Waldram and collaborators at Cambridge and Oxford universities, further radio data will be brought to bear on the problem as well.
Mason, in collaboration with T. Robishaw (Berkeley) and D. Finkbeiner (Harvard), has developed the technique of sensitive broadband continuum polarimetry for the GBT. This technique yields nearly theoretical noise performance for broadband measurements of Stokes Q and U, and it was used to set limits on polarized emission from spinning dust in the dark cloud LDN1622 at 8 GHz. The technique will be applied at higher frequencies to LDN1622 and other Galactic sources, as well as to extragalactic discrete sources, yielding vitally important information for future CMB polarization experiments that must reach NanoKelvin sensitivities.
With a broad variety of collaborators, Mason is making first use of the GBT at 90 GHz for a variety of early science projects with the MUSTANG bolometer array. Aims of these studies range from constraining grain size distributions in star forming regions to better determining the long-wavelength SEDs of high redshift galaxies.
In collaboration with K. Spekkens and J. Aguirre, Mason is using continuum data from the GBT to detect or set limits on the self-interaction cross section of dark matter in nearby Dwarf Galaxies.
Dan Marrone, with J. Carlstrom (UChicago), M. Joy (NASA), M. Bonamente (UAH), G. Smith (Birmingham) and others, is studying galaxy clusters through their imprint on the Cosmic Microwave Background (the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect, SZE). The SZE is a unique tool for studying structure formation in the universe, but many questions about the relationship between the SZ signal and cluster properties remain unanswered. In particular, the expected low-scatter scaling between the SZ observable and cluster mass, which is critical to using these objects for dark energy studies, has not been verified observationally. Through SZE observations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA) and supporting information from gravitational lensing and X-ray measurements, they are performing the first comparison of gravitational masses and the SZ signal and SZ-derived hydrostatic mass. Over the next year, the SZ signal will be cross-calibrated against a variety of observables as part of the Local Cluster Substructure Survey. Marrone will also work to integrate the SZA into CARMA in late 2008, which will increase the sensitivity and angular dynamic range for imaging of the SZE. Finally, results from the SZA cluster survey led by S. Muchovej (Columbia) and a sensitive measurement of arcminute-scale CMB anisotropy (M. Sharp, UChicago) are being compiled for release this fall.
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Steve Myers and collaborators are using the VLBA and HSA to find and/or place limits on the existence of so-called “core images” in gravitational lens systems, which is a sensitive test of the gravitational potential in the center of the lensing galaxy. This work will place important limits on the radial profiles and relative masses of dark matter and gas. These are part of a program of follow-up observations of candidate gravitational lens systems discovered in the VLA Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS).
Myers, Brian Mason, and Marian Pospieszalski are working with the Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) collaboration to analyze the observations of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMBR) and the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect (SZE) in clusters of galaxies taken with the CBI from the ALMA site in Atacama, Chile. CBI observations of the SZE will be combined with those taken with other instruments such as X-ray observations by Chandra and XMM, weak lensing in the optical/infrared, and radio observations using VLA and ATCA, in order to constrain cosmological parameters and the astrophysics of the intra-cluster medium.
Steve Myers is working with J. Sievers, Ue-Li Pen, and Tzu-Ching Chang (CITA) on 150 MHz observations of the redshifted 21 cm hydrogen line during the epoch of reionozation using the GMRT.
Jim Braatz will continue his work on the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), which aims to make a precise determination of the Hubble Constant by measuring geometric distances to galaxies using the maser distance technique pioneered on NGC 4258. Collaborators include Cheng-Yu Kuo (UVa), Mark Reid, Lincoln Greenhill, Avanti Tilak (CfA), Fred Lo, Jim Condon (NRAO), Christian Henkel (MPIfR), Lei Hao (Cornell) and Ingyin Zaw (NYU). The MCP involves first identifying maser disk galaxies through single-dish surveys, then mapping the detected maser disks with sensitive VLBI observations, measuring centripetal accelerations using GBT monitoring of the systemic maser lines, and modeling the disk to determine the galaxy's distance. The project continues in all phases. GBT surveys concentrate on nearby narrow-line AGNs identified by the SDSS, and continue to be productive: 28 extragalactic masers have been discovered by the MCP so far, several of them being candidates for a distance measurement. The VLBI observations are sensitivity-limited and require multiple tracks on each source. The MCP team is making multi-track maps of the high-priority targets NGC 6323 and UGC 3789 to refine the distance measurements to each galaxy. The team has mapped the maser in the high-priority galaxy Mrk 1419 for the first time, and is currently working on multi-track observations to attain the sensitivity required to measure a robust maser distance to that one as well. More sophisticated 3-D modeling of the warped maser disk will be developed to refine the maser distance determinations.
As a complement to measurements of CMB anisotropy, a precise (< 3% rms) measurement of the Hubble Constant would provide a valuable constraint on several key cosmological parameters, including the equation of state of Dark Energy, the density parameter for matter, and the flatness of the universe. Jim Braatz, along with collaborators Lincoln Greenhill and Mark Reid (CfA), Jim Condon and Fred Lo, Christian Henkel (MPIfR), and Lei Hao (Cornell), will continue work on the Megamaser Cosmology Project (MCP), which has the challenging goal of measuring the Hubble constant by finding geometric distances to about 10 galaxies, measured to about 10% each. The distances are measured by making VLBI and GBT observations of water-maser emission from pc-scale accretion disks in the AGN using the technique pioneered on NGC 4258. The collaborators expect considerable progress in the coming year. They have obtained a distance to UGC 3789, the first result obtained with this “geometric” technique on a galaxy in the Hubble flow. Maser disks in Mrk 1419 and NGC 6323 were mapped with unprecedented fidelity, also potentially leading to distance determinations. Surveys for new maser disk sources will continue with the GBT. Already the MCP has yielded 18 new detections, pushing the total number of known extragalactic water masers over 100. Of these 100, about five are strong candidates for distance
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measurements using the maser-disk technique. More detections are needed. The 2008–2009 winter observing season will see the more GBT time devoted to surveys as part of the accepted NRAO large proposal. Once maser-disk galaxies are identified, their maser emission must be monitored with the GBT and mapped with the High Sensitivity Array.
The VLA will be used to probe the volume surrounding isolated galaxies searching for low-mass counterparts through their HI emission. These counterparts are predicted by current models of galaxy formation and of the formation of clusters of galaxies and large-scale structure.
The VLA will be used for a deep survey of low frequency (320 MHz) emission from the “Mitchell- Condon” field, a wide, largely blank field previously surveyed at 1.4 GHz. Improved sensitivity follows from developments in imaging that come from novel ways to account and correct for the effects of the ionosphere. The goal is to find objects with abnormal spectral indices that should correspond to unusual objects at moderately high redshifts. A wealth of optical material is in hand for this field.
Together with Ed Fomalont and former Jansky Fellow, Neal Miller, and colleagues from ESO, K. I. Kellermann is using the VLA, Chandra, and the VLT as well as data from Spitzer to study the radio, X- ray optical, and FIR emission from galaxies over a wide range of redshift with the aim of extending and understanding the cosmic history of star-formation and black hole formation and the relation between the two or so-called AGN “feed-back.” We have published the first 20 and 6 cm radio and optical studies from the pointed Chandra and VLA observations of the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) as well as the multiple pointing VLA observations led by Miller of the Extended CDFS (ECDFS). A somewhat surprising result was the apparent large AGN content of the sub-milliJansky population. They will refine these results by a more detailed investigation of the CDFS X-ray and optical properties, of catalogued radio sources, including new spectroscopic measurements, to fill in the missing values from the early complete sample of redshifts. Over the next year, work will focus on the new 6 cm VLA observations which are being analyzed in collaboration with colleagues from Arizona State University, Miller's second release of the ECDFS catalogue, the recently released new 2 Msec Chandra observations, and the extensive FIR observations obtained under the FIDEL Spitzer program led by Mark Dickenson. An early specific goal will be to investigate the FIR-radio correlation out to cosmologically significant redshift. When the 4 GBit data rate is implemented, they may try a high sensitivity Effelsberg-GBT VLBI observation which will unambiguously distinguish between AGN and star formation even for the weakest radio sources.
Distant sub-millimeter galaxies are believed to be progenitors of massive spheroidals observed in the local universe. Whether their clustering properties are similar to those of spheroidals in galaxy clusters is a question that will be address by large scale millimeter mapping with future bolometer cameras such as SCUBA-2. However, the large amounts of multi-wavelength data provided by the COSMOS project permit to address part of this issue by studying the environment of sub-millimeter galaxies. In collaboration with F. Bertoldi (Bonn), C. Carilli (NRAO), E. Schinnerer (MPIA), H. McKracken (Paris) and M. Salvato (Caltech), Manuel Aravena will study of infrared selected galaxies in the surroundings of sub-millimeter galaxies. Current observations provide the first real evidence of clustering around sub- millimeter galaxies. The extension of this study to other deep fields such as CDF-S will allow to test these results in statistically significant galaxy samples.
Aravena has started a project to study the molecular gas, structure and dynamics of a distant millimeter selected galaxy (J100038+020822) in the COSMOS field. The X-ray, optical and infrared properties of this object strongly suggest that it constitutes a transitional case between a starburst to a QSO. Using the
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IRAM 30 m telescope, four CO emission lines have already been detected: J=2-1, 4-3, 5-4 and 6-5. Aravena and Carilli have started a program to observe the CO 1-0 molecular line using high-resolution imaging with the VLA, in order to reveal the structure and possible interaction features in this system. This will also provide insights into molecular gas physical conditions in the central kiloparsec of the galaxy.
In collaboration with M. Albrecht (Bonn) and F. Bertoldi (Bonn), Aravena will continue the study of atomic and molecular gas in nearby galaxies using the NANTEN-2 and APEX telescopes in Chile. Aravena and collaborators have started a program to map atomic carbon CI 1-0, CI 2-1, and high order CO lines, J=4-3, 7-6, in the centers of nearby galaxies. These observations will help to reveal the importance of X-ray heating as a function of environment in star forming regions and will provide a measure of the gas temperatures and masses, independently from CO. Furthermore, the study of the gas properties in local starburst galaxies via neutral or ionized atomic carbon emission lines supply templates to the study of galaxies in the very early universe, being very important with the coming of ALMA.
Veronica Strazzullo and Maurilio Pannella will continue to work with Frazer Owen and collaborators on the deep SWIRE Lockman Hole field. Photometric redshifts now in hand will provide crucial information for the analysis of the radio selected sample, as well as for several interesting studies of the non-radio emitters, including stacking of radio undetected galaxies. The extended multiwavelength catalog now completed will allow detailed characterization of galaxy samples by stellar masses, star formation and stellar populations’ properties.
Strazzullo will continue to work on high redshift galaxy clusters with particular focus on the massive X- ray luminous cluster XMMU J2235-2557 at redshift 1.39. New high resolution NIR data are being analyzed which, in combination with ACS optical data, will allow the most detailed study of the red sequence cluster galaxy population at this redshift. Making use of the whole multiwavelength dataset (U band to IRAC 4.5mu) plus VLT spectroscopy, stellar populations of the cluster members will be studied. The cluster galaxy luminosity function in optical and NIR passbands will also be derived. Collaborators include P. Rosati, R. Gobat and C. Lidman (ESO), M. Nonino (INAF-Trieste), A. Rettura (JHU), N. Menci (INAF-Roma).
Pannella will continue to work on the morphological evolution of massive galaxies in collaboration with the MPE Extragalactic group lead by Ralf Bender. The new coming high angular resolution NIR imager on board the HST will push morphological studies up to redshift 2. This will disclose unprecedented information on the dynamical assembly time scales of the giant elliptical galaxies populating the local Universe.
Pannella will also continue work on the Deep Radio COSMOS Survey, in collaboration with Chris Carilli and the whole COSMOS legacy. The Stacking analysis of the galaxy population up to redshift 4, by allowing to reach ALMA sensitivities (rms ~ 0.2 micro Jy), will give unique insights in the radio micro Jansky population as a function of galaxy stellar mass and stellar population properties, i.e., AGN contribution. Moreover the availability of ACS/HST imaging will characterize the radio detected milli Jansky population as a function of structural parameters.
Frazer Owen is working on a variety of studies of the SWIRE deep field and the GOODS-N in order to understand the connection of AGN activity and star-formation to galaxy evolution. Part of this work involves assembling the basic information from a variety of wavelengths on these fields. The more exciting goal is to combine the datasets to derive physical insight into the processes involved in galaxy
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evolution. This work is being done with Pannella, Strazzullo, Wang, Morrison (UH/CHFT), Polletta (Milan) Baker (Rutgers), Shupe (Herschel), Wilkes (CfA), Kilgard (Wesleyan), Omont (IAP), Oliver (Sussex), Ivison (ROE), Biggs (ROE), and Marvil (NMT). A key component of this work is increasing our knowledge of the distances to the faint objects in the deep fields using photometric redshifts which has primarily involved work with first four astronomers in the list. Besides studies of the individual objects, much of the analysis relies on using the redshifts to form stacks of similar objects from images at other wavelengths too shallow to detect objects individually.
Stacks of deep 24, 70, and 160 micron data from Spitzer are being combined with deep VLA 20 cm data in order to study the evolution of the radio-FIR relation with redshift and radio luminosity. New, very deep Herschel imaging of the SWIRE field in five bands between 100 and 500 microns is also expected to be available during the next year which will improve our ability to pin down the FIR component. The SWIRE and GOODS surveys are also being studied to learn how the radio brightness distribution relates to the optical and NIR light from stars. These studies use both ground-based and HST optical/NIR data combined with VLA radio images. These studies will be used to separate galaxies with significant AGN output in the form of mechanical energy from those with those whose radio emission is driven by star- formation. Chandra and XMM X-ray images (both stacks and individual detections) will be used to study relation-dominated AGN population and how closely these objects are related to radio star-forming and mechanical-energy-driven samples.
Ron Maddalena, with Paul Vanden Bout, Jeff Wagg, C. Figura (Wartburg College), and the late Phil Solomon (SUNY at Stony Brook), are using the GBT to search for low-excitation CO emission in the J=1–0 line from galaxies at high redshifts (z > 2). By comparing the emission from the J=1–0 line to that in the J=3–2 or 4–3 lines, one can determine if the CO is optically thick and whether these galaxies contain large amounts of cold molecular gas.
R.C. Bignell in collaboration with S. Curran (UNSW) carried out analysis of observations using the GBT to search for HI and OH absorption in red shifted galaxies and quasars. Observations of both blind and targeted searches were completed in the last fiscal year. HI absorption was discovered in the z=0.96 early type lensing galaxy toward MG J0414+0534. This result is interesting in that (a) the HI absorption is split into two components consistent with the two strongest lensing components and (b) there is no strong OH absorption (unlike the other three known lenses) supporting the suggestion that the under abundance of molecular gas and that the extinction occurs primarily in the quasar host galaxy (z=2.64). Observations will be undertaken next year of a more sensitive search for OH absorption in the MG J0414+0534 and to detect HI absorption in three other DLAs. The processing of the observational data for the remaining targeted and blind HI absorption searches (observations completed in this last fiscal year) will also be undertaken during the next year.
Maddalena, Vanden Bout, Carilli, and the late Solomon are also using the GBT to search for HCN emission from PSS K2322, a high-redshift FIR-luminous galaxy. Since HCN directly traces dense molecular gas from star-forming regions, these observations may provide evidence that star formation is a major source of the FIR luminosity.
Eduardo Hardy is part of the MUSYC collaboration to perform ASTE-AzTEc imaging at 1.1 mm of 1600 arcmin2 in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South (E-CDFS) and the Extended Hubble Deep Field South (E-HDFS) to rms noise level of 2.1 mJy, and 2.6 mJy at 1.1 mm, respectively. This project initiated in 2007 has received additional observing time at ASTE for 2008.
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Aaron Evans will continue his study of the star formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN) properties of Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs: 8-1000 micron infrared luminosity >~ 10^11 solar luminosities) as part of the Great Observatories All-sky LIRGs Survey (GOALS) collaboration (see http://goals.ipac.caltech.edu/). The project makes use of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Chandra Space Observatory, and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) to sample the energetics of these galaxies over much of the electromagnetic spectrum. As part of this work, Evans, who is the PI of the HST ultraviolet and optical survey, will continue to work with graduate student Tatjana Vavilkin (Stony Brook) to analyze the properties of optically-visible star clusters. In addition, Evans is the co-I of a pilot CARMA project to obtain CO(1-0) observations of a subset of the GOALS sample. Evans and the GOALS team will also begin folding in high-resolution VLA continuum data to their multi-wavelength analysis. The radio data trace star formation via supernovae feedback, an important issue in understanding the evolution of such energetic galaxies.
Radio Galaxies, Quasars, Active Galaxies, and Gamma-Ray Bursts
Emmanuel Momjian, in collaboration with K. Knudsen, C. Carilli, and W-H. Wang, will work on 1.4 GHz VLBI continuum imaging of the luminous sub-millimeter galaxy GOODS 850-3 at z=1.8 to resolve its compact radio emission as seen with the VLA+MERLIN. The VLBI observations, which have already been carried out using the High Sensitivity Array (HSA) at its highest recording rate (512 Mbps), will make it possible to conduct a detailed study on the radio continuum emission from this source on scales of 0.02 to 0.2 arcseconds, allowing us to distinguish between AGN and/or starburst components in this galaxy. This work, combined with others obtained at various wavelengths, will provide a better understating of the evolutionary status of this high-z, strong far-IR emitting object.
Esteban Araya, in collaboration with Y. Pihlstrom (UNM) and G. Taylor (UNM), will be working on high angular resolution (VLBI) observations of HI absorption in a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGN). This work will enable a study of the kinematics and distribution of atomic gas in the vicinities of supermassive black holes. The final goal of the project is to investigate the circumnuclear environment and fueling of AGNs as a function of luminosity type. Particular attention will be given to HI absorption in compact symmetric objects, which are likely to be very young radio galaxies.
Frank Ghigo is collaborating with Y. Kovalev of MPIfR (Bonn) and G. Langston in studying the motions and variability of the jet components in the BL Lac object PKS1413+135.
Rau (NMT/NRAO), Eilek (NMT/NRAO) and Owen will work on determining the radio brightness distribution of the M87 halo has a function of radio frequency with the VLA between 15 and 90 cm. The goal is to study the inflation of the bubble surrounding M87 which is drive by the mechanical energy from the central black hole. The work will require development of new multi-frequency algorithms by Rau which will be useful in the future for EVLA imaging.
Gustaaf van Moorsel, in collaboration with Bjorn Emonts, Jacqueline van Gorkom, Raffaella Morganti, Tom Oosterloo, and Clive Tadhunter, plans to analyze data taken earlier this year of a number of nearby powerful FR-II radio galaxies, which appear to have tidal HI structures, suggesting a recent merger or interaction. These galaxies have fundamentally different HI properties from low-power radio galaxies (compact and FR-I), which do not show any evidence for recent mergers/interactions. The plan is to study in detail the HI structure found in this sample in order to verify whether they are really tidal features related to a recent merger/interaction. If so, this could show a fundamental difference in large-scale HI properties between different types of radio galaxies (low power compact, FR-I and FR-II), which would
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indicate a fundamental difference in formation history and perhaps also the triggering of the radio-loud AGN.
James Miller-Jones is part of an international team, led by M. Turler (Geneva) which has recently had a proposal accepted by ISSI (Bern, Switzerland) for funding to hold two week-long retreats to work on developing and testing (via observations) theoretical models for the high-energy emission of blazars. In the light of the successful launch of the NASA satellite, GLAST, this is timely research, which will lead to a deeper understanding of the physical conditions in relativistic jets.
Together with W. Baan (ASTRON), P. Hofner (NMT), Y. Hagiwara (NAOJ), and Y. Pihlstroem (UNM), Esteban Araya will investigate the distribution of molecular gas in starburst galaxies using formaldehyde as tracer. As a first step of the project, the merger galaxy NGC 520 will be studied in detail. Comparing single dish with interferometric observations, Araya and collaborators will explore what fraction of the high density gas is associated with the nuclear starburst.
The molecular chemistry of nearby starburst galaxies and molecular absorbers at z<1 will be studied by Juergen Ott in collaboration with Christian Henkel and Axel Weiss (both Max-Plank Institut fuer Radioastronomie), Jim Braatz, Jeff Mangum, and Al Wootten.
To measure the star formation properties of an entire galaxy merger, its main body, and surrounding streamers Juergen Ott will observe the Tadpole in the CO line. This will reveal the possible existence of tidal tail dwarfs and in situ star formation outside of galaxies. Collaborators are John Hibbard, Tom Jarrett (IPAC), and Ute Lisenfeld (U Granada).
Studies of the distribution of CO emission in external galaxies have pointed to the presence of large quantities of dense molecular material in these objects. These studies have yielded a detailed picture of the molecular mass in many external galaxies. But, because the CO emission from external galaxies is dominated by radiative transfer effects, such as high optical depth, it is not a reliable probe of the physical conditions, such as spatial density and kinetic temperature that give rise to star formation in these systems. Emission from less-abundant, higher-dipole moment molecules are better-suited to the task of deriving the spatial density and kinetic temperature of the dense gas in external galaxies. For this reason, emission line studies from molecules such as CS, HCN, HCO+, HC3N, H2CO, and NH3 have been made toward a variety of mainly nearby galaxies.
The most extensive sets of measurements of the molecular line emission in external galaxies have been done using (mostly) the J=1-0 lines of CO and HCN. Since these ground-state lines of CO and HCN provide only a lower limit to the spatial density in star formation regions (n(H2) > 103 cm-3), specific information about the individual physical conditions in these regions requires multi-transition molecular line measurements from high-density tracers. To this end, Jeff Mangum is collaborating on three areas of research designed to take advantage of high-density tracers of the extragalactic star formation process.
Formaldehyde Densitometry of Starburst Galaxies: By extending a technique used to derive the spatial density in star formation regions in our own Galaxy, Jeff Mangum, in collaboration with J. Darling (University of Colorado), K. Menten (MPIfR), and C. Henkel (MPIfR) will make the first measurements of the spatial density in starburst galaxies. The relative intensity of the 1(10)-1(11) and 2(11)-2(12) K- doublet transitions of H2CO can provide a very accurate densitometer for the active star formation environments found in starburst galaxies. This technique will be applied to samples of i) IR-bright galaxies which exhibit various forms of starburst activity and ii) OH megamaser galaxies using both the
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GBT and VLA. These H2CO measurements will also be used to estimate the dense gas mass in our galaxy samples, with the purpose of searching for correlations between the infrared luminosity and the star formation reservoir in these extragalactic environments.
Cyanoacetylene Densitometry of External Galaxies: Results from a survey of a sample of galaxies measured using the GBT has shown that Formaldehyde (H2CO) line intensity ratios are a reliable and accurate density probe for extragalactic environments. These single-dish K-doublet H2CO measurements possess relatively low spatial resolution, which presents a limitation to the interpretation of the spatial density measurements derived. To add a density probe which allows for a higher spatial resolution, and to add to our list of extragalactic density probes, Mangum and Juergen Ott, along with J. Darling (University of Colorado) are investigating the feasibility of using Cyanoacetylene (HC3N) as a high- density probe of the star formation environs of luminous (mainly starburst) galaxies. This feasibility study is being evaluated by making GBT measurements of the HC3N emission in a small sample of starburst galaxies.
Kinetic Temperature in Starburst Galaxies: Results from a survey of a sample of mainly nearby galaxies measured using the GBT has shown that Formaldehyde (H2CO) is a reliable and accurate density probe for extragalactic environments. Using the unique sensitivities to kinetic temperature and spatial density afforded by the excitation characteristics of several inversion transitions of NH_3, Mangum, in collaboration with J. Darling (University of Colorado), K. Menten (MPIfR), and C. Henkel (MPIfR), propose to continue their characterization of the dense gas in galaxies exhibiting starbursts by measuring the kinetic temperature in a sample of galaxies selected for their high infrared luminosity. This extension of our successful galaxy survey will allow us to further study the range of physical conditions which give rise to star formation in some of the most starburst-active galaxies known.
Subcluster A in the Virgo Cluster is centered on the cD galaxy M87 and also contains the elliptical galaxy M84. F. Davies, C. Walker and J. Wrobel are using existing VLBA phase reference data at 43 GHz to search for changes in the relative positions of the cores of M87 and M84. The goal of this student-led project is to obtain a time sequence of relative position measurements with accuracy significantly under 100 microarcseconds using data from 2001-2008. A measurement of, or upper limit for, a linear motion would constrain the relative motion of the two galaxies and has the possibility to provide the first transverse-motion measurement of a galaxy in the heart of the Virgo Cluster. This study will be published in the program period.
Some broad-line active nuclei appear to be energized by black holes with masses below about a million Solar masses. These low-mass active galactic nuclei may be local analogs of the starting conditions, or seeds, for supermassive black holes. Only a few tens of low-mass active galactic nuclei have been reported to date. Each has a 5 GHz-to-optical flux density ratio less than 10 and is thus radio quiet. Three of these active nuclei have 5 GHz detections, all at the submilliJansky level. J. Wrobel, J. Greene, L. Ho, N. Miller, and J. Ulvestad are studying these three, emphasizing the implications of radio structural information on subarcsecond scales; these studies will be published in the program period. Greene and Ho have recently discovered a few hundred low-mass active galactic nuclei and, along with Wrobel, have begun radio studies of this newly-recognized extragalactic population.
Juergen Ott will continue to participate in a large project to map the outer lobes of Centaurus A with the ATCA and Parkes telescopes (PI: Ilana Feain, ATNF). This project will determine the polarization structure of radio lobes at very high spatial resolution, the absorption and magnetic field properties of galaxies along the line of sight, Faraday rotation measures, and the interaction of the radio lobes with the
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surrounding intra-galactic medium. Collaborators are T. Cornwell, R. Ekers, R. Norris, N. McClure- Griffiths (all ATNF), J. Bland-Hawthorne (U Sydney), and M. Haverkorn.
Ken Kellermann works with a group which includes three former Jansky Fellows, scientists in Germany, Holland, and the Netherlands as well as at Caltech and the Goddard SFC, using the VLBA to study the nature of relativistic radio jets in AGN. They use VLBA observations to study the intrinsic velocity, accelerations, and the two dimensional trajectories of the relativistic flow, and compare our data with models and simulations. Emphasis during the next year will be on the analysis of the MOJAVE complete VLBA flux density limited sample to study the statistical properties of jet kinematics, the detailed characteristics of specific sources such as M87, 3C279, NGC 5128, and NGC 1275, as well as with new observations of strong gamma-ray sources detected by GLAST in order to understand and locate the source of gamma-ray activity and the connection to the radio jets.
Robert Reid and collaborator R. Townson (Univ. of Victoria) are studying kpc-scale radio jets that appear to be precessing and, in two cases, are probably “X” jets where the brighter pair of jets is S-shaped. By fitting curves to these jets they can both check if their morphology is consistent with steady precession, and if the geometry is favorable, use special relativity to measure the jet speed kiloparsecs away from the core, since the apparent projected shape of the jet depends on its velocity.
P. Kronberg (Los Alamos) and Reid are also investigating Faraday screens around a powerful radio jet using multifrequency VLA data.
C.M.V. Impellizzeri with A. Roy and C. Henkel (MPIfR) will follow-up single-dish detections of excited OH and CH3OH with the EVLA to locate where absorption takes place in those systems and for a better estimate of filling factors and column densities. This will determine the dynamics of the gas in those systems and determine whether it is compatible with a torus-like structure. Further observations at 13.4 GHz and 12.2 GHz with the GBT will be performed to get a more complete picture of the excitation scenario and reveal the physical parameters of the interstellar medium in the innermost galactic regions.
Impellizzeri will continue her work in collaboration with J.P. McKean, A. Roy, C. Henkel, A. Brunthaler (MPIfR), P. Castangia (OAC), and O. Wucknitz (AIfA) to study the properties of a z > 2.5 gravitationally-lensed water maser observed with the global VLBI in continuum and spectral line mode. The continuum observations will better constrain the current lens models in this system, whereas the spectral line observations will map the location of the maser relative to the source continuum flux density. The two observations combined will further lead to a more accurate estimate of its true unlensed luminosity. Also, monitoring with the Arecibo 305 m telescope will be scheduled to study the maser variability on short time-scales. A follow-up project to study more gravitationally lensed, high-redshift quasars in underway, with Effelsberg observations of another ten candidates.
Craig Walker, Chun Ly (UCLA), William Junor (LANL), Phillip Hardee (U Alabama), and NRAO REU student Fred Davies (NMT) are using the VLBA to study the dynamics of the base of the jet in M87. At 43 GHz, the VLBA apparently just resolves the collimation region of the jet and is able to resolve side-to- side structures a short distance farther out. As a result of its relative proximity, high flux density, and high mass black hole, M87 is the best source for the such a study of a jet base on small scales relative to the gravitational radius. A series of 32 observations of M87 were made during 2007 and early 2008 using the VLBA at 43 GHz. For the first 18 observations, the interval was about three weeks. A preliminary movie based on the first 11 epochs demonstrated that motions of around 2 c are seen and that the three
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week interval was too long. The final 14 epochs, obtained under a separate proposal, were observed at an interval of five days.
Fortuitously there was a TeV flare detected by VERITAS during the every-five-day sequence of observations described above. At the time, preliminary results indicate that the M87 43 GHz flux density of the core increased and there appears to be a new jet component. So a spin-off project from the above movie project will be to try to understand the relationship between the TeV flare and the activity in the radio near the “core.” The basic nature, and even location, of such flares is not yet understood. At a minimum, the existing data will be studied. But it is likely that new coordinated observations will be proposed. The nature of those observations, and the levels of collaboration with the VERITAS group, will be determined as analysis of the existing data proceeds.
The relatively nearby superluminal source, 3C120, continues to provide interesting constraints on jet physics. This jet is seen at radio, optical, and X-ray frequencies and, in the radio, can be studied over a very wide range of scales. Previous theoretical analysis of helical instabilities in the inner few parsecs of the jet, and an analysis of the implications of X-ray detections of features on kiloparsec scales, have provided constraints on the physical properties of the jet. The current work includes an attempt by Craig Walker and Hardee to determine the structure of the jet in the transition region between parsec and kiloparsec scales using a very long integration at 327 MHz with the VLBA. Also a long term monitoring program by Walker, Hardee and John Benson (NRAO), involving observations at 1.6 GHz with the VLBA every two years, will end in late 2008. Among other things, that project will show what happens when superluminal features encounter stationary or slowly moving features. Activity in the next year will center around final data reduction, interpretation, and publication of the results of the project.
Aaron Evans, in collaboration with Peter Barthel (Groningen), Dave Sanders (Hawaii), Linda Tacconi (MPE, Garching), David Frayer (Herschel Science Center), Dean Hines (Arizona), and Jason Surace (Spitzer Science Center), has an ongoing IRAM 30 m telescope CO(1-0) survey of redshift < 0.3 optically-selected quasi-stellar object (QSO) hosts. These observations are designed to determine whether or not QSO hosts, as a class, reside in molecular gas-rich host galaxies. Such a single-dish survey is a precursor to higher resolution observations with ALMA. Evans and his co-investigators hope to finish the observations and the analysis in the next year.
Bill Cotton will be using the newly commissioned MUSTANG 3 mm bolometer array on the Green Bank Telescope this year to study the balance between particle losses and reacceleration in extended sources in AGNs.
Normal Galaxies
As a new Jansky Fellow, Brian Kent will continue probing nearby galaxies in the local universe with a variety of facilities. He will lead follow-up observations with NRAO facilities for the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey, a sensitive wide-field extragalactic HI survey. VLA observations of nearby starless gas clouds associated with the Virgo cluster will reveal hints of dynamics and their sizes. The kinematics and dynamics of these gas-rich objects will allow for their placement in the broader context of galaxy evolution and formation in a cluster environment. Collaborators include R. Giovanelli and M.P. Haynes (Cornell), K. Spekkens (Royal Military College of Canada), E. Momjian (NRAO), A. West (UC Berkeley), Juan Cortes (U Chile), and Eduardo Hardy (NRAO). In collaboration with J. Higdon (Georgia Southern) and R. Koopmann (Union College), GBT observations are currently underway to examine the 500 kpc tidal stream around NGC 4532, a galaxy located in the southern periphery of Virgo.
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Brian Kent, in collaboration with R. Giovanelli and M.P. Haynes (Cornell) and D.A. Kornreich (Humboldt State), has analyzed data from both the VLA and Arecibo of HI debris in nearby clusters and our own Local Group. The debris is often found near large disk galaxies. Taking into account the environmental effect on the clouds, including orbital velocities and the ICM density and temperature, simulations utilizing N-body/SPH (smoothed particle hydrodynamics) codes can show the evolution of the clouds after separation from the parent galaxy in various environments. Ram pressure stripping as well as gravitational effects can play important roles in the development of long tidal tails and more complex debris fields.
Dana Balser and W. M. Goss plan to explore if the GBT can be used as a survey instrument to detect optically obscured nuclear star clusters in starburst galaxies using 7 mm radio recombination lines (RRLs). Nuclear star clusters ionize the surrounding gas to produce copious amounts of thermal emission that is not visible at optical or near infrared wavelengths but has been detected in RRL and continuum emission. RRLs are excellent probes of HII regions since a mere detection indicates thermal emission, whereas, continuum emission is more ambiguous. The goal is to merely detect these star clusters that could then be followed up with higher spatial resolution observations.
Emmanuel Momjian will work with S. Borthakur and M. Yun on VLBA L-band spectral-line data sets to investigate the physical properties (e.g. size, mass, covering factor) of HI clouds in disks and halos of nearby galaxies seen in absorption toward background radio-bright quasars. By studying the kinematics of the HI gas, the project will also address whether there is an outflow or whether the HI gas consistent is in accreting and/or rotating material bound to the galaxy.
Momjian will continue working with N. Kanekar, W. Lane, F. Briggs, and J. Chengalur on VLBA observations to measure the compact flux density of a sample of QSOs with HI 21 cm absorption seen in intervening damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems on their line of sight. The 330 and 610 MHz VLBA observations will be utilized to measure the covering factor of the absorbers at the redshifted HI-21cm line frequency and thus, to accurately estimate their HI spin temperatures. The study will be used to probe the redshift evolution of the fraction of HI in the cold neutral medium in normal galaxies and provide a test of whether the observed difference in spin temperatures between high redshift DLAs and local spirals is real, stemming from a physical difference in the two classes of systems, or merely an artifact, arising from the extended nature of the quasar radio continuum.
Jim Condon and Qi-feng Yin have constructed a complete sample of several thousand 2MASS galaxies brighter than Ks = 12.5 detected by the 1.4 GHz NVSS. This sample will be used to construct accurate radio luminosity functions for nearby AGN and star-forming galaxies. The luminosity function of starforming galaxies will be used to estimate the local star-formation-rate density and constrain the evolution of star formation at moderate redshifts. Star-formation rates per unit mass will be studied via the ratios of near-infrared to radio flux densities.
The VLA will be used to study the kinematics of several edge-on, superthin galaxies by probing their HI emission with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity. The systems are located in small groups and show clear distortions such as pronounced warping, prolate nuclei and polar rings. However, in spite of the interactions they seem to be able to maintain their very cold disks. These systems are among the most dark-matter-dominated galaxies known.
Juergen Ott continues to PI the large VLA project VLA-ANGST, a volume limited survey to map the HI content of all galaxies out to ~4Mpc (excluding the Local Group). The project has become the focus of
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the PhD projects of Adrienne Stilp (U Washington) and Steven Warren (U Minnesota). The VLA- ANGST survey is a follow-up of the ANGST project to derive the spatially resolved star formation histories with the HST, PI: Julianne Dalcanton (U Washington). The other partners of VLA-ANGST are E. Skillman (U Minnesota), Fabian Walter (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie), Baerbel Koriblaski (Australia Telescope National Facility), and Andrew West (UC Berkeley). Ott is also a member of the Local Volume HI survey (PI: B. Koribalski) which observational period will end soon and Juergen will study the potential similarities of nearby galaxies and Ly alpha absorbers.
Ott will work on the STING survey, a project to map the molecular gas content of nearby IR bright galaxies at the interferometric resolution of the CARMA mm array. This will provide important input to molecular cloud and star formation theories. PI is Alberto Bolatto (U Maryland), and collaborators are Tony Wong (U Illinois), Leo Blitz and Andrew West (both UC Berkeley), Daniela Calzetti (U Mass), Fabian Walter, Adam Leroy, and Frank Bigiel (all Max-Planck Institut fuer Astronomie), Eric Rosolowski (U British Columbia), Stuart Vogel (U Maryland).
Eduardo Hardy, in collaboration with Ricardo Carrera (Padova) and Carme Gallart (IAC), has published a study of the Chemical enrichment history of the Large Magellanic Cloud using Ca II triplet spectroscopy obtained at CTIO. Additional time has been approved at the VLT for an extension of this study to more peripheral regions of the LMC.
The Interstellar Medium, Molecular Clouds, Cosmic Masers, Star Formation, and Stellar Evolution
Jeff Mangum will work in collaboration with H. A. Wootten to analyze a GBT survey of formaldehyde H2CO 2(11),1rs (B2(12), 3(12),1rs (B3(13), and 4(13), 1rs(B4(14) emission toward a sample of star- formation regions to exactly identify the high-density locations within star-formation regions, which will give us a gas-density measurement that can be used to compare with the physical properties derived from dust emission and infrared measurements of these regions. Formaldehyde is a proven tracer of the high- density environs of molecular clouds. Wootten and Mangum will also continue their investigation of high excitation thio-formaldehyde lines observed with the CSO with the purpose of developing this line as an alternative tracer of temperature and density.
Wootten, Claussen, Marvel (AAS), and Wilking (UMSL) will continue their work on using water masers to trace the kinematics of gas near young stellar objects. One study published recently, the focus of activity has moved to the IRAS16293-2422 system, where masers apparently probe a region within one AU of the central object. In collaboration with Claussen, Marvel, Wilking, and Sarma (DePaul), they have measured the polarization of a strong water maser in the well-known young stellar object IRAS16293,1x2 (B2422). This method is a direct way of measuring the strength of the magnetic field in the close environs of a Sun-like forming star.
In collaboration with the late B. E. Turner, Alwyn Wootten published results of a search for interstellar CH2D+, an isotopomer of the symmertic and hence undetectable cornerstone ion of interstellar carbon chemistry, CH3+. New receivers have enabled a deeper search for this molecule, to be carried out at the CSO and IRAM 30 m in collaboration with Lis (CIT), Gerin and Roueff (Obs de Paris).
Wootten, along with Gerin, Roueff, and others will use the GBT to survey the 15N form of NH3 in dense cores. Isotopic ratios provide important insight into the origin and history of solar system and interstellar materials as they may be preserved in the solar system during the formation of the solar nebula from a
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dense core. They recently detected 15NH2D with the IRAM 30 m and plan to complement our survey of that molecule by comparing the 15N abundance ratio in ammonia, in data to be obtained with the GBT.
Wootten with Brogan, Hunter, Indebetouw, Devine, and Drosback, will research the chemistry and physical properties of a particular Infrared-Dark Cloud using CARMA and the VLA. The cloud they will target in particular appears to be a filamentary series of cores forming massive stars in several places along its spine.
Wootten and Yancy Shirley (U Arizona) will continue a project to characterize the chemistry and kinematics of ions in massive star-forming clouds. They now have a set of images of several dozen clouds in several transitions for each of the bright ions; this data set is currently being analyzed.
Al Wootten will continue his research into the nature of the interstellar shocks that give rise to water masers, using the VLBA to detail proper motions during outbursts discovered during monitoring with the Nobeyama 45 m telescope, the VLA, and the GBT. Active masers identified by monitoring were imaged by the VLBA to detail the characteristics of the maser phenomenon. With M. Claussen, K. Marvel (AAS), and B. Wilking (Missouri, St. Louis), investigations were pursued toward the low-luminosity young binary GV Tau (IRAS 04263+2426) at six epochs over a period of two months during 2004 Jan 23 through March. Observations were interleaved with observations of the phase-reference source J0426+2327 to provide accurate position measurements of the maser features. The maser images detail a single compact structure about 1.2 mas (0.17 AU) in extent. Most authors have theorized that the flow is driven by the more embedded northerly component of the binary, GV Tau B. However, all maser components observed are located within a projected distance of tens of AU of the origin of expansion, the position of GV Tau A. In extremely cold cores surrounding very-low-mass protostars, molecules may freeze out onto grains to the extent that little molecular emission arises from the densest and coldest portion of the core.
In collaboration with H. A. Wootten and B. Matthews (NRC), Antonio Hales has observed, reduced, and analyzed GBT and VLA data of the class 0 source Barnard 1c. Ammonia (1,1) and (2,2) inversion-line maps were used to determine the kinetic temperatures in different regions of the source. The VLA data match the resolution of existing SMA polarimetry data.
Star formation in Infrared Dark Clouds (Katie Devine, Claire Chandler, Crystal Brogan, Ed Churchwell, Remy Indebetouw, and Yancy Shirley): The discovery of thousands of dense clouds opaque at 8 microns by MSX and the Spitzer GLIMPSE survey suggests that infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) may represent the earliest observable phases of massive star formation. These clouds exhibit structure on all spatial scales, and observations using the combination of the GBT and VLA are being used to investigate a sample of IRDCs to probe their morphology, physical properties, chemistry, and kinematics. The transitions of the key molecules CCS and ammonia at 23 GHz being used in this study also have the potential to establish chemical ages for the IRDCs, and will enable direct comparisons with nearby, low-mass, pre-protostellar cores. The GBT, VLA, and SMA are also being used to search for other tracers of active star formation, such as 8 GHz continuum emission, water masers, and molecular outflows, to enable the cloud properties to be correlated with star formation activity.
The Co-ordinated Radio and Infrared Survey for High-Mass Star Formation (CORNISH survey) (Melvin Hoare, Phil Diamond, Ed Churchwell, Bill Botton, Claire Chandler, Stan Kurtz, Debra Shepherd, and the CORNISH team): The CORNISH survey is a 1-arcsecond resolution 5 GHz radio continuum survey of the 110 square degree area of the Galactic plane covered by the northern GLIMPSE SPITZER Legacy
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Programme. The survey will deliver a large, unbiased sample of UCHII regions which will be used to test models of their dynamics, evolution and their feedback role in massive star formation. Radio data will also allow a separation of the radio-loud UCHIIs from their radio-quiet precursors (massive young stellar objects, or MYSOs), which otherwise have very similar IR colors. Previous studies of these early phases of massive star formation have been heavily biased away from dense regions of the plane confused in the IRAS beam, or towards already known complexes. The large (approx. 1000), well-selected sample of MYSOs right across the inner galaxy will allow follow-up observations with ALMA and EVLA to study infall, outflows and stellar winds systematically as functions of mass, age, and environment.
The kinematics of the photoevaporation disk around the massive star in MWC349 (Jesus Martin-Pintado, Claire Chandler, Clemens Thum): They have used the unmatched sensitivity and angular resolution of the VLA-Pie Town link at 22 GHz to measure, for the first time, at the highest angular resolution, the kinematics of the photoevaporation disk around a massive protostar. They have imaged the distribution of the H66-alpha line as a function of radial velocity in MWC349. These images will be used to provide unique information for testing models of ionized winds arising from the photoevaporation of disks.
Crystal Brogan continues her research on massive stars, concentrating on the earliest phases of their evolution and their final death throes as supernova remnants (SNRs). Some of the highlights of this research are described below.
Some of the massive star formation studies underway by Brogan include Submillimeter Array (SMA) studies of the massive protocluster NGC6334I at 345 and 678 GHz in collaboration with T. Hunter (NRAO), R. Indebetouw (Virginia), K. Menten (MPIfR), and H. Beuther (MPIA). The protocluster members show a wide range of properties including two hot cores, a UCHII region and a cold core. New very extended configuration SMA data will be used to unambiguously identify protostellar massive disks within the cluster. With Hunter and Indebetouw, Brogan is also using extended configuration SMA data to study two other massive protostars that span a range of evolutionary state from the very young W33A, to the intermediate age GL2136. The first two sources are particularly interesting since they show a wide range of infrared solid ice features. To better understand the ice evaporation process in young hot disks they are also using the SMA to observe these sources in a wide range of methanol and formaldehyde lines in collaboration with Hunter, M. Gerin (LERMA), E. Roueff (l’Observatoire de Paris), Q. Zhang (CfA), E. Dartois (Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale) and T. Geballe (Gemini).
Brogan is also involved in several projects to investigate the very earliest phases of massive star formation before the protostar emerges from its natal material as an infrared source. Brogan is supervising in large part the Ph.D. thesis work of Wisconsin student C. Cyganowski in collaboration with Hunter and E. Churchwell (Wisconsin). Cyganowski has identified a sample of ~100 sources in the Spitzer GLIMPSE legacy survey with extended 4.5 micron emission known as EGOs (extended green objects). Based on a small number of previously studied sources, such extended 4.5 micron emission is thought to trace shocked H2 emission in massive protostellar outflows. Thus, this sample represents a new catalog of candidate high mass protostellar objects. Detailed studies of ~30 EGOs are being pursued including VLA observations of Class I and II methanol masers, and large scale JCMT observations of the molecular gas outflow tracers HCO+, and SiO. High angular resolution observations of four of the EGOs using CARMA at 3 mm and SMA at 1.3 mm will also be observed in the coming year. Brogan, together with Indebetouw, Hunter, and A. Wootten (NRAO) will also study one IRDC in great detail in the coming year using a wide range of chemically diagnostic lines observed with the CARMA array at 3 mm.
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A fundamental question in the study of star formation is, “What is the importance of triggering by previous generations of stars versus spontaneous or turbulence mediated collapse?” In the coming year, Brogan will use Spitzer cycle-5 IRS data (in collaboration with Indebetouw, Churchwell, and Cyganowski) to carry out a detailed study of the ionized, photon-dominated region, and neutral zones of four Galactic HII region bubbles with photometric evidence of embedded young stars at their boundaries. This study will allow them to distinguish between the “collect and collapse” and “radiative implosion” models of triggering.
In collaboration with Jeremy Darling (Colorado) and Kelsey Johnson (UVa), Brogan will follow-up on their recent GBT discovery that water masers masers with luminosities typical of bright Galactic star formation masers may be ubiquitous in star forming galaxies (these Galactic analog water masers are distinct from the megamasers found in the nuclear regions of AGN). A GBT survey is planned of a large sample of nearby star forming galaxies with an unprecedented sensitivity of ~1 mJy and a high resolution VLA study of the water masers discovered in the Antennae.
Finally, Brogan continues her research on Galactic SNRs through several low frequency and X-ray projects. In particular, in collaboration (PI) B. Gaensler (Sydney) and a large international team they are in engaged in a project called ChIcAGO: Chasing the Identification of ASCA Galactic Objects, which seeks to understand the nature of all of the remaining uncategorized low latitude (>100) ASCA X-ray sources, many of which are likely to be unknown SNRs. This project includes multi-wavelength follow up of the ASCA sources in the X-ray (XMM and Chandra), radio (VLA and ATCA), and near infrared (Magellan).
Dana S. Balser, T. M. Bania (Boston University) and R. T. Rood (U of Virginia) will continue their campaign to understand the evolution of helium by using the 8.7 GHz hyperfine transition of 3He+. Recently, Eggleton et al. (2007) used a new 3-D hydrodynamic code to model a low-mass star at the tip of the red giant branch. They discovered an instability that leads to extra-mixing and a concomitant destruction of 3He. They claim this is a Raleigh-Taylor instability caused by a molecular weight inversion that is produced by 3He burning at the edge of the hydrogen burning shell. This scenario predicts that all stars should experience this instability and destroy the 3He produced during main sequence evolution. This is inconsistent with their detections of 3He at canonical abundances in the planetary nebulae NGC3242 and J320. These detections, however, were pushing the instrumental limits of the 100m Effelsberg telescope and the VLA, respectively. These collaborators plan to use the GBT and Arecibo telescope to confirm the NGC3242 detection and measure 3He in several other candidates. Robust 3He PNe detections at canonical abundances will falsify the universality of the Eggleton, et. al., mixing hypothesis.
Balser in collaboration with Bania, L. Anderson (Boston University) and Rood will continue to study Galactic HII regions using radio recombination line (RRL) and continuum observations with the GBT. A survey is underway to detect new HII regions in the Galaxy using 21 cm VGPS continuum and coincident 24 micron MIPSGAL emission. From these data the electron temperatures can be derived. Because metals are the main coolants in the photoionized gas, nebular electron temperature values across the Galactic disk are directly related to the distribution of heavy elements in the Milky Way. Galactic chemical evolution modifies Big Bang abundances by stellar nucleosynthesis that depends on stellar mass, time, and Galactic location. Probing the Galactic metallicity distribution using nebular electron temperatures constrains Galactic chemical evolution models. Chemical abundances in HII regions are typically measured using bright, collisionally excited lines at optical wavelengths which can have large discrepancies, as much as a factor of two in some cases, and where very few good measurements have
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been made in the outer Galaxy. The radio method, although indirect, has several advantages. The optically thin RRLs measure the electron temperature throughout the nebula. Temperature structure does exist and can account for some of the optically determined abundance variations. Moreover, the HII regions can be probed throughout the Galaxy at radio wavelengths to explore, for example, any azimuthal abundance variations.
Emmanuel Momjian will continue working with J. Pandian, Y. Xu, and K. Menten on multi-frequency VLA continuum imaging of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) associated with a statistically complete sample of 6.7 GHz methanol masers. The study will result in obtaining the spectral energy distribution of the MYSOs in order to distinguish between objects in different stages of evolution, which in turn will help in understanding the link between methanol maser emission and massive star formation.
Momjian will also continue working with J. Pandian, K. Menten and P. Goldsmith in imaging 6.7 GHz methanol masers with MERLIN (and with the EVLA in the near future). The project aims at determining accurate positions with subarcsecond accuracy for the methanol masers discovered in the Arecibo Methanol Galactic Plane Survey, which in turn will determine their infrared counterparts. This work will yield significant insight into the relation between high-mass star formation and the 6.7 GHz methanol maser phenomenon.
Esteban Araya, P. Hofner (NMT), and S. Kurtz (CRyA-UNAM) will continue the study of young massive stellar objects using radio continuum and 44 GHz methanol emission as tracers. The region DR21(OH) will be studied in detail. VLA observations show that methanol maser emission in DR21(OH) originates from a series of bow-shocks in an outflow. High angular resolution continuum observations reveal a double radio continuum source that may be directly associated with the outflow. The double radio source is likely tracing the bow-shocks of an ionized jet. Sub-arcsecond resolution observations of other massive star forming regions have resulted in the detection of a handful of such double radio sources. The occurrence of sequential bow-shocks (as traced by methanol masers) and double radio continuum sources (as traced by free-free emission) may be direct evidence for discrete accretion/outflow events during the formation of massive stars.
Along with P. Hofner (NMT), W. M. Goss (NRAO), S. Kurtz (CRyA-UNAM), H. Linz (MPIfA), and other researchers, Araya will also continue a comprehensive study of formaldehyde masers in the Galaxy. Based on a new single-dish survey, Araya and collaborators will explore whether formaldehyde masers are an exclusive phenomenon associated with massive star formation. Araya, et al., will also investigate the cause of the enigmatic periodic flares in IRAS18566+0408 and the relation between the variability of methanol and formaldehyde masers in the region.
Together with collaborators Jerome Pety (IRAM-Grenoble) and Robert Lucas (ALMA-Chile), Harvey Liszt has embarked on a program of imaging galactic diffuse clouds. The discovery of an unexpectedly rich and ubiquitous diffuse-cloud polyatomic chemistry in millimeter-wave absorption spectra implies formation rates much higher than for thermal chemical reactions, but evidence of shocks and other non- thermal phenomena is lacking in the absorption line profiles and the molecules are too weakly excited to derive the ambient density or temperature. However, the host gas is sometimes identifiable in maps of extinction and CO emission, revealing the local geometry and kinematics around the absorption line of sight. In this way the nature of the physical processes in the host gas may be revealed.
Identification of Star Formation Cores in Molecular Clouds: All current theories which describe the star formation process predict that an essential ingredient is a dense core which seeds the collapse process.
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Many star formation regions have been identified through molecular spectral line and dust continuum measurements, and the physical properties of many of these regions have been derived. Due to the non- selective nature of many of the physical probes used to derive these properties, the exact identification of the highest density regions, and thus the regions which are most likely to form stars, have not been identified.
Formaldehyde (H2CO) is a proven tracer of the high density environs of molecular clouds. It is ubiquitous: H2CO is associated with 80% of the HII regions surveyed by Downes et. al (1980), and possesses a large number of observationally accessible transitions from centimeter to far-infrared wavelengths. Because H2CO is a slightly asymmetric rotor molecule, each rotational energy level is split by this asymmetry into two energy levels. Therefore, the energy levels must be designated by a total angular momentum quantum number, J, the projection of J along the symmetry axis for a limiting prolate symmetric top, K(-1), and the projection of J along the symmetry axis for a limiting oblate symmetric top, K(+1). This splitting leads to two basic types of transitions: the high-frequency delta-J = 1, delta-K(-1) = 0, delta-K(+1) = -1 “P-branch” transitions and the lower-frequency delta-J = 0, delta-K(-1) = 0, delta- K(+1) = +-1 “Q-branch” transitions, popularly known as the “K-doublet” transitions. The P-branch transitions are only seen in emission in regions where n(H2) >= 105 cm-3. The excitation of the K-doublet transitions, though, is not so simple. For n(H2) <= 105 cm-3, the lower energy states of the 1(10)-1(11) through 5(14)-5(15) K-doublet transitions become overpopulated due to a collisional selection effect. This overpopulation cools the J <= 5 K-doublets to excitation temperatures lower than that of the cosmic microwave background, causing them to appear in absorption. For n(H2) >= 105.5 cm-3, this collisional pump is quenched and the J <= 5 K-doublets are then seen in emission over a wide range of kinetic temperatures and abundances.
In collaboration with A. Wootten (NRAO), Jeff Mangum will continue their long-term project to use the GBT to survey the H2CO 2(11)-2(12), 3(12)-3(13), and 4(13)-4(14) emission toward a sample of star formation regions to exactly identify the high density locations within star formation regions, which will give us a gas density measurement which can be used to compare with the physical properties derived from dust emission and infrared measurements of these regions.
Tracing Protostellar Mass During Star Formation with 7 mm and 9 mm Continuum: Two of the more direct observables which constrain protostellar evolutionary theories are the spectral energy distribution (SED) and the spatial intensity distribution of dust continuum emission. Until recently the main tool for determining the evolutionary state of a protostellar core has been measurements of the SED. Unfortunately, the relationship between the SED and the distribution of matter in a protostellar core is not unique. A powerful tool for constraining the distribution of matter in a protostellar core is the measurement of the spatial intensity of long-wavelength (optically-thin) dust continuum emission. During the last decade, instrumentation such as the Submillimeter Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) have been developed which greatly enhance our ability to make measurements of the spatial distribution of matter in protostellar cores over spatial scales (103-4 AU) which can be used to constrain evolutionary theories.
High spatial resolution measurements of the centimeter-wavelength dust continuum emission are key to these evolutionary characterizations, as long-wavelength dust continuum emission has the highest probability of being optically-thin, and therefore a direct measure of the mass in a protostellar core. When combined with dust continuum observations at submillimeter wavelengths, millimeter continuum observations provide a substantial lever-arm to constrain dust opacities. In collaboration with Y. Shirley
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(University of Arizona), B. Mason and W. Cotton, Mangum will use the GBT to image protostellar cores at 7 mm and 9 mm.
A Study of Hot Cores Using Vibrational Molecular Excitation: Studies of the physical conditions within “hot core” (n(H2) >~ 106 cm-3; Tk > 100 K) environments can be made using measurements of dust continuum or spectral line emission. Of fundamental importance to these studies are the location and intensity of the source(s) of their internal radiation fields. The high dust extinction in these cores results in reprocessing of stellar radiation to the near- and mid-infrared portions of the spectrum, but also veils the sources from observation owing to high dust optical depth. The source of radiation—often multiple in high mass star formation regions—remains poorly characterized. Fortunately, information on the internal radiation field within hot cores can be obtained through measurement of infrared—pumped radio wavelength rovibrational molecular transitions. Rovibrational emission preferentially identifies strong infrared sources, thus locating embedded nascent stars within hot core regions. Furthermore, the measurement of rovibrational emission signifies the dominance of infrared radiation processes in hot core environments, thus distinguishing between thermal and dynamical (i.e., outflow) processes in these regions. In collaboration with A. Wootten, Mangum will measure the rovibrational transitions of HC3N toward hot core environments using the GBT, with eventual follow-up using synthesis instruments.
With Farhad Yusef-Zadeh (Northwestern), Jim Braatz is searching for evidence of star formation in the circumnuclear ring that orbits SgrA* at a distance of 2-7 pc. Using the GBT, these authors are searching for both maser and thermal emission from methanol, water vapor, and SiO. Collisionally excited class I methanol masers, in particular, provide a signature of early-phase massive star formation.
Juergen Ott will continue to work in the MAGMA collaboration to map the molecular content, traced by CO, of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds with the high resolution of the 22 m Mopra telescope. The goal is to derive the state of the molecular gas in very different environments. PI of the project is Tony Wong (U Illinois) and collaborators are Annie Hughes, who is a PhD student at Swinburne University of Technology co-supervised by Juergen, Erik Muller (U Nagoya), and Jorge Pineda (JPL).
To complement the surveys of the Large Magellanic Cloud across the electromagnetic spectrum, Ott plans to submit an ultra-large XMM-Newton project to map the LMC in X-rays. The main goals are to derive the spatial distribution of the hot gas and the metals as well as to characterize the entire populations of X-ray binaries, supersoft sources and supernova remnants.
Analog to the highly successful IRAS color-color diagram to classify the circumstellar shells of late-type stars, Mark Claussen and Lorant Sjouwerman will continue the work of their summer student Stephanie Capen (Eastern Nazarene), to exploit MSX and GLIMPSE infrared color-color diagrams to define color selected samples that should yield high detection rates when searched for H2O and SiO masers.
Lorant Sjouwerman collaborates with Vincent Fish (MIT) on excited-state OH emission in ON1. Global VLBI observations, including the GBT and the new C-band receiver on the EVLA, were performed and will be analyzed to reveal the structure of this star forming region, analog to the observations done on W3(OH) by Fish and Sjouwerman.
Robert Reid, in collaboration with T. Landecker and D. Del Rizzo (DRAO), is studying the outer Galaxy’s warm ionized medium using 1420 MHz polarization data from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey. The galactic plane in linear polarization is filled with complicated structure that is thought to be from Faraday rotation of a comparatively simple synchrotron radiation field. The Faraday rotation can be
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caused by changes in either the free-electron density or magnetic field strength in the ISM, but in most cases the source of the changes is unknown. There are several known circular features, suggesting that at least in these cases they are being, or have recently been, ionized by stars. Reid is refining an algorithm to quickly and unambiguously detect circular features in a complicated and noisy image.
In collaboration with H. A. Wootten and B. Matthews (NRC), Antonio Hales has observed, reduced, and analyzed GBT data of the class 0 source Barnard 1c. Ammonia (1,1) and (2,2) inversion-line maps were used to determine the kinetic temperatures in different regions of the source. Complementary VLA data matching the resolution of exiting SMA polarimetry data has been acquired and reduced using CASA. The VLA maps show an ammonia-depleted inner region, as predicted by theoretical models of this deeply embedded protostellar source. Combining of the single dish and VLA data is undergoing.
Robert L. Dickman and collaborators Darek Lis (Caltech), Michael Skrutskie (UVa), and REU summer student Alex Savello (Emory) will continue their work on the archetypical starless Bok Globule CB4. Recently-obtained CSO observations of the cloud in the J=3-2 isotopic lines of CO made at high spatial and velocity resolution appear to confirm that the cloud is globally subsonic. In the upcoming months the new molecular line data will be analyzed to set an upper limit of the velocity field correlation length. The results of that analysis will be combined with a highly flexible radiative transfer model of the cloud that will constrain the lifetime and thermal structure of the globule.
Dickman will also continue his work on developing and carrying out observational tests to falsify MOND and other theories of modified gravity.
Todd Hunter continues his research in star formation with an emphasis on high mass protostars and protoclusters. In collaboration with Brogan, Indebetouw (NRAO/UVa), Menten (MPIfR), and Beuther (MPIA), subarcsecond-resolution 345 GHz Submillimeter Array (SMA) images obtained in 2007 have revealed tentative evidence for a massive protostellar disk in NGC6334I in a variety of high-excitation, optically-thin lines. Further proof requires the highest angular resolution possible with the SMA (0.3”). Such observations are difficult from Mauna Kea, but this project was recently granted observing time. Hunter and Brogan are also studying the neighboring object NGC 6334I(N). By comparing high resolution VLA water maser and methanol maser images with SMA 1.3 mm molecular line and continuum images, they intend to write a definitive description of this massive protocluster. Hunter is also collaborating with Indebetouw, Brogan, and Wootten in a project to use the CARMA millimeter array to image the dark cloud G24.9-0.2 in six molecular lines in the 3 mm band, including deuterated ammonia, methanol, CCS, N2H+ and HCO+. Combined with existing VLA ammonia and CCS images at similar angular resolution, these observations should help quantify the variety of evolutionary stages present across the cloud.
Walter Brisken will continue studies of small scale features of the interstellar medium using unique VLBI observations of pulsar scintillation. The ISM toward pulsar B0834+06 has shown to be rich in structure. These observations build on the scintillation arcs methods developed by Stinebring. Walter will be working with J. P. MacQuart and Steven Tingay (Curtin University of Technology), Adam Deller (incoming Jansky Fellow) and Bill Coles & Barney Rickett (UCSD) on this project.
Time has been secured by Hardy and Cortés (U de Chile) with the APEX and ASTE telescopes in Chajnantor, Northern Chile, for a continuation of a key project of mapping southern interacting galaxies. This mapping is being conducted both in the CO(3-2) line, as well as the dust emission at 870 microns with APEXLABOCA for all sample galaxies. H-alpha observations, complementary to the CO and dust
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mapping, are being conducted with the du Pont telescope at Las Campanas, and will be completed in 2008.
Hardy is part of the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA Survey. This collaboration has completed a study of a large HI cloud complex in Virgo. This investigation included CO observations conducted with APEX by Hardy and Cortes (U de Chile) that placed an upper limit to the mass in molecular form. Allowing for uncertainties in the value of the X factor, the metallicity of the cloud gas, and the CO(3–2)/CO(1–0) integrated line ratio, they concluded that the gas mass in the largest cloud is unlikely to be dominated by molecular hydrogen.
Bill Cotton will be working on several coordinated projects studying the atmospheres and mass losing regions of Mira stars using the VLBA and IR interferometers will continue. SiO masers, which can be studied using the VLBA, arise between the outer parts of the molecular envelopes, studied by near IR interferometers (IOTA, CHARA) and the dust forming regions, studied by mid IR (ISI, VLTI/MIDI) interferometers. These coordinated observations can help in the understanding of the mass loss mechanisms in these evolved stars which are one of the major contributors to the interstellar medium and which are currently poorly understood.
The discovery of large organic molecules in the coldest regions of the interstellar medium and in the atmospheres of evolved stars has certainly changed the belief that large organic molecules would only have their origins in hot molecular cores. It has forced us to rethink the paradigms of interstellar chemistry. The work of Anthony Remijan has given us a better understanding of how large biomolecules form and if some part of the prebiotic organic chemistry that occurred on the early Earth had its beginnings in interstellar space. He will continue this investigation specifically with the GBT as the large research proposal: GBT 07A-051: GBT Legacy Survey of Prebiotic Molecules, was awarded 625 hours of time over the next 2.5 years. This project was done in collaboration with Mike Hollis (NASA/GSFC), Frank Lovas (NIST) and Phil Jewell (NRAO). In addition, high-resolution interferometric observations of large molecular species have started with CARMA, the ATCA, and the VLA in order to better understand the location, distribution, kinematics and morphology of the small-scale emission from large organic molecules. These projects are done in collaboration with M. Cunningham & P. Jones (University of new South Wales, Australia), H. L. Kuo, Y. Shaw, L. Snyder, D. Friedel (University of Illinois) and D. Meier (NMT).
In order to unite the efforts between laboratory, observational and theoretical work in astrochemistry, Anthony Remijan and his colleagues, Brooks Pate, Kevin Lehmann, Thomas Gallagher and John T. Yates, Jr. (UVa), Lucy Zuirys (UA), Mike McCarthy (CfA), Eric Herbst (OSU), Frank Lovas (NIST) and Phil Jewell (NRAO) have proposed to NSF Chemistry, with comparable contribution from UVa, for the formation of a “Center for Chemistry of the Universe”. The NSF CCI Center for Chemistry of the Universe will establish an interdisciplinary program to understand the chemical processes in the interstellar medium that provide the initial synthesis of molecules in the universe. The Center will bring together researchers with complementary interests in chemistry, astronomy, astrochemistry, and chemical physics to create a Center that will combine the tools of chemistry and astronomy to test chemical hypotheses for molecular formation under the unusual reaction conditions of the interstellar medium. Although we are still in an era where new, single-molecule observations attract broad interest in the chemistry community and challenge the theoretical models for interstellar molecule formation, they propose that a new approach to understanding the chemistry of the universe is at hand. The broad scientific goal of the Center is to effect a change in the research model of interstellar chemistry. For historical reasons, the field is currently driven by astronomical observations and chemists work to develop
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chemical models to fit these results. They propose to bring chemistry to the forefront and use the tools of astronomy combined with state-of-the-art methods in chemical physics to test mechanisms of interstellar reactions. In this research model, the field will move from survey work to the testing of specific chemical hypotheses.
The Galactic Center, Pulsars, Novae, Supernovae, X-ray Binaries, and other Radio Stars
Mioduszewski has a continuing program with J. L. Sokoloski (Columbia U) and M. P. Rupen (NRAO) to study symbiotic stars. Symbiotics are stars systems with close white dwarf companions and experience large outbursts or nova when enough material from the star accretes onto the white dwarf to start thermonuclear burning. All nova models assume that the accretion disk is destroyed in the nova, but high resolution radio images by the above group of RS Oph after its 2006 nova challenge this assumption. This shows that it is extremely important to continue studying these systems with the VLA and VLBA when they go into outburst if the nova mechanism is to be understood.
Mioduszewski, with James Miller-Jones, M. Rupen, V. Dhawan (NRAO), E. Gallo (UCSB) and P. Jonker (SRON) have a collaboration to study V404Cyg, the most luminous quiescent black hole X-ray binary. They have an global VLBI observation to image V404Cyg with the hope of for the first time imaging the jets of a quiescent black hole. This observation is designed to test the model that jets produce the radio emission seen in quiescent state in X-ray binaries. This collaboration also plans to do astrometry on V404Cyg to obtain a model independent distance. This will allow an interpretation of its 3-D space velocity and determine fundamental properties much more accurately than possible with current distance estimates which are uncertain by almost a factor of two.
Dan Marrone is involved in several studies of the polarization and variability of the Galactic supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. With J. Moran, and D. Munoz (SAO), and R. Rao (ASIAA), Marrone is using the Submillimeter Array to pursue a greater understanding of the physics that power the underluminous black hole at the center of the Milky Way. SMA measurements of Faraday rotation in Sgr A*, stable over several years, have led to a program to improve the precision of these measurements and detect the fluctuations that would indicate the location of the Faraday screen. This effort involves the SMA and ATCA and is a collaboration with Lorant Sjouwerman and J.P Macquart (see below). Joint monitoring of Sgr A* across many wavelengths has started to reveal the physics of flaring in the black hole, and these campaigns continue in collaboration with F. Yusef-Zadeh (Northwestern), M Morris (UCLA), C.D. Dowell (JPL), F. Baganoff (MIT), and many others.
The Galactic Center continued to be monitored for intraday variability at 86 GHz by Lorant Sjouwerman, J. P. Macquart (Perth), and Kevin Marvel (AAS) and for polarization variability with Dan Marrone and Ron Ekers (ATNF). The intraday variability is important to characterize the supermassive black hole in terms of existing models and has been claimed by other groups. However, calibration of the instrument and the atmosphere is crucial in the reliability of the results. These new observations were set up to include 86 GHz SiO masers in the field of view so that intraday variability of the Galactic Center source Sagittarius A* will distinguish itself with respect to the simultaneously calibrated constant flux of the masers in the same field of view.
Harvey Liszt continues his program of interpreting the kinematics and vertical structure of molecular gas in the galactic nucleus. Modelling the dynamics of strong galactic bars provides a systematic way of interpreting the complicated welter of kinematic behavior in the nucleus of the Milky Way and the
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recognizable circulation patterns in bar flow models provide a means of sequencing the secular evolution and vertical motion of the Galactic Center gas.
James Miller-Jones will apply the shock-in-jet models developed for blazars to multifrequency VLA lightcurves of the highly variable X-ray binary system Cygnus X-3, in order to compare the physical conditions in the jet in different states of the system, from the giant 10-Jy-level flares to the lower- luminosity yet still active state in which the system spends most of its time. The observations will constrain the variability timescale and polarization of the low-level jets, and the modelling aims to ascertain the physical drivers behind the huge range in radio luminosity (over three orders of magnitude) observed in this system.
With S. Migliari (UCSD), F. Shu (UCSD), and M. Cai (Academia Sinica), Miller-Jones will work on WSRT observations of X-ray binary pulsars, neutron star systems with high magnetic fields. While such systems have never previously been detected in the radio band, the upper limits are not at all constraining compared to the level of radio emission expected from their X-ray luminosities. These observations will either provide a detection or a much more stringent upper limit, constraining the effect of the neutron star magnetic field on the mechanism of jet formation, and testing a model for jet production in high magnetic field systems, originally developed for young stars, in the context of neutron star X-ray binaries. VLA observations of further systems have been requested.
Miller-Jones, Rupen, and Dhawan have also applied for VLBA time to test the prevailing paradigms for jet-disk coupling in neutron star systems (with Fomalont and Migliari) and black hole systems (with J. McClintock (CfA) and R. Narayan (CfA)). The former observations will probe neutron star X-ray binaries over a wide range of mass accretion rates, to establish the importance of this parameter in jet formation. For the black holes, a recent phenomenological model for the jet-disk coupling in such systems has been widely accepted, but its predictions as to the evolution of the jet power and morphology have never been directly tested with high-resolution imaging. These observations are crucial for establishing the reliability of the reigning paradigm. A comparison of the jets in black hole and neutron star systems will establish the importance of a deep gravitational well, a stellar surface, and a magnetic field, in jet formation.
Miller-Jones, in collaboration with R. Fender (Southampton), B. Stappers (Manchester), R. Braun (ATNF), A.G. de Bruyn (ASTRON), and other members of a large team, will continue to work on processing low-frequency (140 and 330 MHz) WSRT data sets of the fields surrounding the X-ray binaries Cygnus X-3, GRS 1915+105 and SS 433. These three persistently radio-bright X-ray binaries are ideal candidates to test the low-frequency behavior of X-ray binary systems, providing important input for the development of transient detection pipelines with LOFAR (see Section 8). These observations will also probe the environments of the sources, searching for evidence of the interactions of the microquasar jets with the ISM.
The molecular component of the Galactic Center will be investigated by Juergen Ott in several large projects, a 20-28 GHz survey of the inner 4 degrees (PI: J. Ott), a high resolution, interferometric ammonia map which is used to derive a temperature map of the inner degree between Sgr B2 and Sgr A* (with ATCA, PI: J. Ott), and a full 3 mm line survey in the 80-115 GHz range with the Mopra telescope (PI: Michael Burton, U of NSW). Other collaborators are Christian Henkel and Axel Weiss (both Max- Plank Institut fuer Radioastronomie). In addition, Juergen will work on interferometric CARMA data to derive the feeding of Sgr A* black hole from the surrounding molecular gas.
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In collaboration with Ray Protheroe, David Jones (both U South Australia), Roland Crocker (Monash U), and Ron Ekers (ATNF), Juergen Ott will determine the role of cosmic ray secondary electron production toward the massive molecular cloud complexes in the Galactic Center.
Lorant Sjouwerman and Ylva Pihlstroem (UNM/NRAO) continue to monitor the 1720 MHz masers in the Galactic Center. Most of these masers are produced by the interaction of the Sagittarius A* East supernova remnant and a giant molecular cloud. Furthermore, high-velocity 1720 MHz masers are located in the circumnuclear disk surrounding the nuclear black hole, Sagittarius A*, and are believed to be of a different nature; they may be generated by shocks from the collisions of individual clumps in the circumnuclear disk.
Mark McKinnon will continue to investigate the intriguing polarization patterns observed in pulsar radio emission. The patterns are formed when pulsar polarization data on the Poincare sphere are projected in two dimensions. The patterns have shapes of dual clusters, bars, bow ties, and annuli. McKinnon has replicated these shapes with a statistical model of pulsar polarization. Additional studies are needed to link the model with physical processes, most likely propagation effects, occurring in the pulsar magnetosphere. Some of the shapes are easily explained by the ubiquitous orthogonal modes of polarization, which are thought to be the natural modes of wave propagation in the magnetosphere. The more complicated shapes may arise from induced scattering or a stochastic version of generalized Faraday rotation. A possible connection between some shapes and the polarization properties of the so-called “core emission” in pulsars will be explored with polarization observations of individual pulses from pulsars with core-dominated radio emission.
Scott Ransom is playing key roles in two major pulsar surveys, each of which comprises tens of international collaborators. The first is the Pulsar-ALFA survey using the Arecibo telescope, while the second is the 350 MHz driftscan survey undertaken by the GBT during its track repairs in the summer of 2007. Ransom's pulsar-search code (called PRESTO) is being used as the core of the main data- processing pipeline for each of these surveys, which have so far uncovered over 50 pulsars, including 5 new millisecond pulsars. With several hundred terabytes of data taken, though, and more on the way, much work still needs to be done.
Along with Jansky Fellow P. Demorest, and several North American collaborators (including R. Jenet at U Texas, Brownsville, I. Stairs at UBC, and A. Lommen and Franklin & Marshall among others) Ransom is working on ultra-high-precision timing with the GBT and Arecibo, with the ultimate goal of directly detecting nHz gravitational waves. The name for this effort, based on a meeting held in Charlottesville last year is NANOGrav. Much work is ongoing to minimize systematics through better analysis techniques and improved instrumentation.
Along with P. Freire (NAIC), I. Stairs (UBC), J. Hessels (ASTRON), and Ransom's UVa student R. Lynch, Ransom is continuing to work on the timing of the more than 70 new globular-cluster pulsars uncovered by their team using Arecibo and the GBT over the past several years. Many of the pulsars have turned out to be interesting, including several eccentric binaries that constrain the neutron-star equation of state, the fastest-rotating neutron star known, and a millisecond pulsar that might contain one or more Mars-mass planets. New globular cluster searches of GBT data are underway and may provide additional interesting systems. Finally, new HST and ground-based adaptive optics observations will be used to search for the companions for some of these pulsars in collaboration with F. Ferraro (Bologna) and his team.
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Ransom is also part of a large international collaboration that is timing almost 200 young pulsars in the radio such that they might be detected in gamma-rays with GLAST. Several of the highest priority pulsars are being timed at the GBT under a project headed by F. Camilo of Columbia Univ. These observations are crucial for the success of the GLAST mission.
Walter Brisken, Shami Chatterjee (U Sydney), and Miller Goss, in collaboration with others, will aim to complete a large VLBA pulsar astrometry project, culminating in direct distance measurements to 18 pulsars. This represents a significant increase in the number of pulsars with direct distance measurements. The results will many implications including improved modelling of ionized material in the Galaxy (and hence for improving distances to other pulsars) and more data constraining the velocity distribution of pulsars and hence the energetics of supernovas.
Goss, with collaborators Jun-Hui Zhao (CfA), Mark Morris (UCLA), and Tao An (Shanghai) are using newly acquired VLA data at 1.3 cm to complete a multi-year study of the proper motions of the HII regions near Sgr A*, all components of Sgr A West. The VLA data has been acquired with the A and B array and the angular resolution is 0.1 by 0.2 arc sec; it is necessary to take account of the time variations of Sgr A* during each observation. The time span of the data is 1991 to early 2005. Typical values of proper motion (with respect to Sgr A*) are 2-4 mas/year with errors at the level of 0.2 to 0.4 mas/year). The precision of earlier VLA determinations of the proper motions of the HII gas is improved considerably. From the VLA archive a new H92 alpha radio recombination line cube is being constructed covering the velocity range -400 to + 200 km/s. The velocity resolution is 15 km/s. A number of new features are uncovered in this cube made from nine separate observations in the time range 1990 to 2002. A full 3-D velocity fit (to the two components of proper motion and radial velocity) at a number of points is being carried out. Five orbital parameters are being fit to the three ionized streams in Sgr A West. The relative orientations and locations of the streams can be determined, suggesting that the northern and eastern streams are physically interacting in the mini-bar region. In addition, the VLA archive is being used to construct a multi-year series of images at 6 cm, in order to study the proper motions in Sgr A East, the supernova remnant at the Galactic Center.
The VLA has been used by Goss and Cornelia Lang (Iowa) to study the HI line and continuum towards the central 250 pc of the Galactic Center. The CnB and DnC arrays were used with a resolution of 15 arc sec. Five fields (30 arc min each) were observed. The velocity resolution is 2.5 km/s with a velocity coverage of about -150 to +150 km/s. The continuum image has been used to constrain the possible non thermal contribution of the extended structures near Sgr B2 (with Pat Palmer, Chicago); they find no significant non-thermal contribution based on 327 MHz VLA archival data and our new 1.4 GHz continuum image. These collaborators will use the HI data to construct HI absorption data for 40-50 continuum components. A major goal is to determine the nature of the physical association of the atomic, molecular (from comparison with CO data) and the continuum sources. In many instances they expect to be able to determine relative distances along the line of sight. Of especial interest is the possible association of HI with the massive molecular cloud associated with Sgr B2 at longitude 0.7 degrees. The HI is a minor trace species compared to the hydrogen molecule; a detailed of the HI spectra with existing VLA data of the 6 cm absorption line of will be carried out. This data set should provide an archival collection of HI images in the Galactic Center.
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The Solar System and other Planetary Systems
Brigette Hesman will continue collaborating with Bryan Butler (VLA) and Mark Hofstadter (JPL) on VLA observations of Uranus and Neptune. This project also involves the development of a new radiative transfer model of Uranus for the EVLA bands in collaboration with K. Devaraj (PhD student; Georgia Tech), M. Hofstadter (JPL), and B. Butler (NRAO). Analysis of past VLA Uranus and Neptune observations, to determine the temporal changes in their atmosphere’s and comparison to model results, is expected to dominate Hesman’s research time.
Hesman will also continue her studies of Saturn’s latitudinal hydrocarbon abundance profiles. In collaboration with Don Jennings (GSFC), Pedro Sada (Universidad de Monterrey), and Gordon Bjoraker (GSFC) observations of acetylene (C2H2) and ethane (C2H6), using a high-resolution cryogenic grating spectrometer, are performed at the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF). These observations are combined with Cassini’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) observations. As these observations are complimentary to each other they are used along with temperatures derived by CIRS, to determine latitudinal hydrocarbon profiles across Saturn’s southern hemisphere. These latitudinal abundance profiles are used as tracers of atmospheric dynamics and to improve seasonal climate models. This is part of a long-standing program to observe changes in the hydrocarbon profiles throughout Saturn’s seasons. Data analysis of previous observations will be performed along with proposals being submitted for continued ground-based observations of Saturn at the IRTF.
Jonathan Romney, in collaboration with Ed Fomalont, Vivek Dhawan (NRAO), Dayton Jones, Jim Border, Myles Standish, and Bob Preston (JPL), will continue the precision VLBA astrometry of the Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn. This ongoing, multi-year project will substantially enhance the accuracy of the Saturnian orbit. Ephemerides of the outer planets are less well known than those of the inner planets, primarily because there have been few opportunities to supplement classical optical observations with modern, high-precision results from Doppler tracking and interferometric angular measurements. These observations, started as a follow-on to the VLBA Spacecraft Navigation Pilot Project, aim to reduce the Saturnian ephemeris uncertainties to 2 km in longitude, 7 km in latitude, and 0.4 km in range, a factor of 2-3 smaller than the current uncertainty for each coordinate.
Hales, in collaboration with M. Barlow (UCL) and J. Drew and Y. Unruh (Imperial College), has conducted an unbiased survey for 8 and 24 micron excesses due to hot and warm circumstellar dust around Galactic main-sequence A-type stars. Results indicate that excesses at these wavelengths are rare (1.2%), in accord with what is expected from steady evolution of collisional grinding in debris disks. The paper presenting the results from this preliminary data was submitted to ApJ. Data are still being collected at the Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma (approaching survey completion). Early Data Release (EDR) was completed in Spring 2008 (Gonzales-Solares et al. 2008), where photometry for 200 million objects was made available to the community through the Virtual Observatory (VO) network. An extension of the debris disk search is being carried out, which will allow for a more complete statistical cross-correlation with Spitzer Galactic surveys (GLIMPSE and the coming MIPSGAL survey release).
In collaboration with S. Casassus (U de Chile), Hales is studying the radio continuum of Herbig Ae/Be stars in the 26–40 GHz band using the Caltech Continuum Backend (CCB) mounted on the GBT. 16 targets were observed, of which 8 reported positive detections. Preliminary analysis indicates that 50% of the positive detections have gas-dominated (free-free) circumstellar envelopes, while the remaining sources appear to have 1cm continua mostly dominated by a dusty circumstellar disk. Identification of such dust-dominated pre-main sequence objects is crucial for the execution of the proposed eMERLIN
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Legacy Program PEBBLES, aimed at characterizing the dust content in the planet forming region (project led by J. Greaves (PI, St Andrews, UK), in collaboration with 26 others). eMERLIN will allow to image protoplanetary disks down to the scale of the Earth-formation zone in nearby star-forming regions, plus sensitivity to detect a few earth-masses of dusty raw material (C-band). A letter of intent was submitted to the eMERLIN Legacy Steering Group, with a positive response, and a final proposal is now being drafted
In collaboration with S. Casassus and D. Wilner (CfA), Hales led a project aimed at surveying the CO content of 28 protoplanetary disks, Positive detections would be perfect candidates to built up a sample of southern gas rich disks that can be targeted with ALMA. For this project three nights were allocated on the 10 m Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE, NAOJ), located in Pampa La Bola. Only one third of the time was usable due to bad weather; the proposal will be re-submitted this fall. One out of eight observed objects had a positive CO detection, confirming its ‘primordial disk’ classification, originally based on Spitzer and Optical Spectroscopy Data. SMA data for this object was recently acquired by the group, in which they detect the dust continuum but no CO emission. The single-dish CO detection will be incorporated in a full radiative transfer modeling of the disk’s structure (as part of M. Hughes’ dissertation (CfA)).
Hales, Barlow, and Crawford conducted a search for CS gas absorption in a sample of debris disks using optical echelle spectroscopy at the Anglo-Australian Telecope. Follow-up data of the tentative gaseous disk detections using the 6.5 m Magellan telescope has recently being acquired (June 2008, in collaboration with S. Casassus, U de Chile). In addition to providing higher spectral resolution and sensitivity than precious observations, the new data includes several line-of-sight calibrators that were observed in order to rule out possible interstellar contamination in the target data.
The next most important step after forming prebiotic species in the ISM is investigating the transport mechanism to early planets. Over the last several years, Anthony Remijan and his colleagues have been leading the efforts in the detection of molecular species in comets both with single dish telescopes and with interferometric arrays. These observations have been in collaboration with Milam, S. N., Ziurys, L. M., Apponi, A. J. (University of Arizona), Wyckoff, Susan (Arizona State University), Snyder, L. E. and Friedel, D. N. (University of Illinois), Womack, M., Gesmundo, M., an d Choi, S. (St. Cloud State University), Palmer, Patrick (University of Chicago), Woodney, L. M. (California State University), A'Hearn, Michael F. (University of Maryland), and Forster, J. R., Wright, M. C. H., and de Pater, I. (University of California, Berkeley). What they have found are clear differences in the chemical composition of comets. As such, they have started to build up a database for species detected in comets. With enough data, and looking at the formation models of comets in disks, it is possible to differentiate classes of comets based on their chemical composition, where they formed in the disk, and if further processing was necessary to account for any over(under) abundance of a particular molecular species. Their most recent results outline the excitation, formation, and distribution of the cometary species, methanol (CH_3 OH), methyl cyanide (CH_3 CN) and ethylene glycol [(CH_2 OH)_2 ], each of which are important prebiotic molecular species. This is all in addition to high resolution observations that are necessary to more accurately determine whether a species is a daughter or parent molecule.
Over the next year, they will investigate the sulfur and nitrogen chemistry in comets as it pertains to the formation of larger organic molecules. Finally, they have started work on a global monitoring project of short period and, when available, long period comets. This proposal will not only take advantage of current NRAO instruments including the GBT and VLA but also the ASU 12 m, the Onsala Space Observertory 20 m, CARMA, MOPRA and the ATNF to name just a few.
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Astrometry
Amy Mioduszewski, in collaboration with L. Loinard, L. F. Rodriguez, and R. M. Torres at UNAM, has a very large project to carry out an astrometric study with the VLBA of pre-main sequence stars in nearby star-forming regions. The original aim of this work was to obtain accurate distances to the Taurus and Ophiuchus clusters. This has been very successful, distances to stars in the Taurus star forming region have been obtained to the ~0.5% level and the Ophiuchus star-forming region to the <5% level, when previous distances were only good to ~20%. Much of this work is part of R. M. Torres' doctoral thesis (expected completion summer 2009). With that portion of the project mostly complete it has been expanded in several directions. First, many of the sources turned out to be multiples which, with further VLBA observations, allows a study mass and dynamics of these individual star systems. Second, the Cepheus, Perseus, and Orion clusters have been added to the project, in order to obtain accurate distances to all close by star-forming regions. Lastly, a project to search for more stars in Taurus has been started so that a three dimensional distribution and kinematics of the cluster can be studied. This, combined with pre-main sequence evolutionary models, will allow the distribution of stars with respect to their age to be studied, establishing the history of the star-formation in this important nearby star-forming site.
James Miller-Jones, Vivek Dhawan, and Walter Brisken, together with P. Jonker (SRON), G. Nelemans (Nijmegen) and S. Portegies Zwart (Amsterdam) have measured the proper motion of the black hole X- ray binary V404 Cyg, using HSA observations and archival VLA data. They will use this to trace the evolutionary history of the black hole system back to the time of the supernova explosion, in order to constrain the presence of natal kicks and hence the black hole formation mechanism. Should there be sufficiently high-resolution data in the VLA archives, three other black hole X-ray binaries have been identified where a similar technique could be applied. More statistics on black hole proper motions (V404 Cyg was only the fifth black hole X-ray binary system for which the proper motion has been determined) would help constrain theoretical models of black hole formation. With an REU student, C. Sakari (Whitman College), Miller-Jones has also measured the proper motion of the X-ray binary Cygnus X-3. This provides important input for determining the core position in high-resolution VLBI studies of the system, allowing a more accurate interpretation of the jet morphology. With Fender and V. Tudose (Amsterdam), they will re-interpret new EVN and archival VLBA data, in order to properly understand the complex interactions between the jets and their environment. They will also seek to measure a radial velocity for the system, so the full three-dimensional space velocity of the system can be determined, providing constraints on the natal kick of the system, and hence, possibly, on the nature of the compact object in this well-studied yet poorly-understood system.
In collaboration with Andreas Brunthaler (Max-Plank Institut fuer Radioastronomie), Lister Staveley- Smith (U Western Australia), and Tony Beasley (ALMA) Juergen Ott will continue to measure the positions of water masers in the Large Magellanic Cloud with the Australian VLBI network. After a few more epochs of observation, the proper motion of the LMC will be established and dynamic models of the interaction with the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Galaxy will be developed.
Instrumentation and Algorithm Development
A. Kerr, E. Bryerton S.-K. Pan, and S. Srikanth are working on low-noise receivers for submillimeter wavelengths. In collaboration with the University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory, sideband- separating and balanced SIS mixers are being developed for 385-500 GHz and 780-950 GHz based on AlN SIS junctions and NbTiN superconductors. A submillimeter-wave test facility is being constructed which will be used to measure these mixers and will be suitable for future submillimeter receiver work.
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Based on a Sumitomo closed-cycle 4-K refrigerator, it will include LO and signal sources, supporting electronics, a reconfigurable input optics unit, and multiple IF channels to enable the measurement of balanced and sideband-separating front-ends.
Low-loss front-end components are essential for submillimeter wavelength receivers. Bryerton is developing superconducting quadrature hybrids for operation up to ~1 THz, and S. Srikanth and A. Kerr are exploring a waveguide orthomode transducer scalable for use to ~1 THz.
The lack of viable waveguide and flange standards above ~110 GHz is increasingly an impediment to instrument development. Kerr is active in the IEEE Working Group on Waveguides for Millimeter and Sub-Millimeter Wavelengths, whose charter is to develop internationally accepted waveguide and flange standards for the frequency range 110 GHz to 1.1 THz.
In collaboration with NGST, Bryerton will continue to develop MMIC low-noise amplifiers using NGST’s new 35 nm InP HEMT process. Based on the record low noise temperatures obtained from 78- 95 GHz using this device at cryogenic temperatures, Bryerton will modify the cryogenic device model and use it to retune the current amplifier for 67-90 GHz (ALMA Band 2) and design a new amplifier for 84-116 GHz. By investigating scaling of the transistor gate periphery, Bryerton will also design amplifiers for 18-26 GHz and 31-45 GHz (ALMA Band 1).
Marian Pospieszalski will lead the production and testing of all amplifiers for EVLA receivers and for new receivers for the GBT. All of the amplifiers covering the current EVLA and GBT bands in the frequency range from 1–50 GHz exhibit the best-ever demonstrated noise performance, as yet unmatched in most bands by MMIC designs. The last two frequency bands that will be developed this year are the demonstration amplifiers for Band 1 and Band 2 of ALMA. A study of the feasibility of using high temperature superconductor (HTS) passive circuits in L-band and S-band balanced amplifiers will also be initiated this year.
Pospieszalski will investigate the noise-performance limits of emerging new technologies; that is, the deep submicron (35 nm gate length) InP HFET technology and InP and SiGe HBT technologies in order to asses whether further improvements of significance to the noise and 1/f gain fluctuation performance of radio-astronomy receivers are possible. Further research will also be conducted into some general noise properties of these devices that should establish practical limits of noise performance of amplifiers integrated with broadband feeds currently considered for the SKA.
Some redesign for manufacturability of L-band and S-band balanced amplifiers and also study of using HTS circuits at the input of L-and S-band amplifiers are planned for 2009.
Matt Morgan and J. Rick Fisher are experimenting with integration of analog, digital, and photonic components in compact packages to improve front-end performance and better enable focal plane arrays. Following up on the successful demonstration of digitally-enhanced single-downconversion sideband separation at 4-12 GHz in a laboratory setting, they intend to demonstrate this technique at L-band in a compact package with broader IF bandwidth and in an RFI-rich environment. They will also demonstrate digitally-enhanced polarization isolation at X-band using a four-probe OMT. Long term goals include the integration of the digitizers into a common package with the analog electronics, addressing the isolation issues that come with it, as well as a fiber-optic modulator to create an RF-in digital-fiber-out receiver module.
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Morgan will continue exploration of differential low-noise active baluns, which can be noise-matched to the impedance of log-periodic decade-bandwidth antennas. Currently this study is focusing on the low- loss, high-impedance transition between the feed terminals and the active balun circuit.
Morgan and Bryerton will continue the development of wideband MMIC power amplifiers for millimeter- wave local oscillators. Preliminary results with the first run of a developmental short-gate-length GaAs process are very encouraging. In the coming year these new designs will undergo further RF tests, and revised designs will be generated based on these results.
Morgan will develop ultra-wide IF-band downconverting MMIC mixers for cm-wave radio telescopes such as the SKA and FASR. These so-called “block-conversion” mixers are about the only commonly- required components for radio astronomy in the cm-wave range that are not easily found in commercial MMIC product listings.
Richard Bradley will continue to head the Dynamic Spectroscopy Group of the NRAO Central Development Laboratory. Both undergraduate and graduate students will participate in a variety of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and observation activities associated with initiatives designed to integrate technology R&D projects with frontier science objectives.
Bradley will continue to serve as interim project engineer for the new Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) project. This year’s goal is to develop a complete FASR B RF / IF subsystem. A prototype of the wide bandwidth, conical sinuous feed for FASR B will be developed. A proof-of- concept for the FASR A feed will also be fabricated. A cryogenic version of the 0.3–3.0 GHz sinuous feed with an integrated amplifiers will be fabricated and evaluated for use with transient search receivers. The thermal conductivity of rigid foam samples at cryogenic temperatures will also be measured in a specially-developed test Dewar.
The design and deployment of the Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization (PAPER) will continue in collaboration with D. Backer (UC Berkeley), C. Carilli, and several graduate students. Bradley will continue to lead the R&D activities surrounding the design of specialized a antennas, amplifiers, and receivers suited for the project. Bradley and Backer were recently awarded additional funds to support this effort over the next three years. Additional activities associated with PAPER include exploring the use of satellite downlink signals for in situ antenna beam mapping and ray tomography of the ionosphere. Precision tests of receiver stability and a study of active gain correction are also being conducted. Bradley is also participating in a NASA-funded collaboration led by J. Hewitt (PI, MIT) to develop a concept for the Lunar Array for Radio Cosmology (LARC).
S. Srikanth will continue his contribution to the needs of the EVLA and the GBT K-band array project. He will work on the development of a compact ortho mode transducer for the 8-12 GHz band for the EVLA. Due to the limited space available on this receiver, he will also investigate the design of a phase shifter shorter in wavelength compared to the K- and Ka-band phase shifters. Prototyping and measurement of the Ku-band (12-18 GHz) phase shifter will also be carried out.
A design of a dual-band (290–395 MHz and 680–920 MHz) prime-focus feed for the GBT yielded a gain/system-temperature ratio of <70% of that achieved with single-band feeds. Srikanth will continue work in this area to improve the gain/system temperature ratio. Srikanth will start the development of smooth-wall horns as an alternative to corrugated horns for millimeter and sub-millimeter wave
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applications. Development of feeds with about 3:1 bandwidth ratio for centimeter wave astronomy will begin.
Srikanth will collaborate with researchers at the Ohio State University in modifying the OSU reflector code to analyze antennas with shaped reflectors such as the VLA and VLBA antennas.
J. R. Fisher will concentrate mainly on technical R&D associated with RFI mitigation, low-noise beam- forming arrays, and other problems associated with increased field of view at sensitivities now achieved with single-beam receivers. This will include continued implementation of RFI mitigation algorithms in real-time hardware; development of new RFI algorithms; collaboration with BYU colleagues on developing and experimentally verifying a comprehensive model of beam-forming array mutual coupling, noise parameters, and signal processing optimization; replacement of most analog receiver components with digital signal processing; and reducing the size, weight, complexity, and power dissipation requirements of very low-noise receivers.
Robert Reid is extending the smear fitting deconvolution method to take advantage of multifrequency data, motivated both by the upcoming EVLA and a current need to make better rotation measure and spectral index maps. Reid has also begun work on a post-observation algorithm to correct pointing errors for mosaiced observations that he expects will be especially useful for ALMA, which has a small primary beam.
Steve Myers is working with J. Sievers, Ue-Li Pen, and Tzu-Ching Chang (CITA) on the development of new and powerful data analysis techniques with which to analyze interferometric observations of the redshifted 21 cm hydrogen line. This is based on the CMB power-spectrum analysis developed for the CBI project. This is being first applied to the 150MHz GMRT observations of Pen’s group, with later extension to the PAPER project of Don Backer and his group (UC Berkeley), which also includes Chris Carilli and Rich Bradley (NRAO).
As the Instrumentation Scientist for the GBT’s Precision Telescope Control System, Todd Hunter is working with Brian Mason and Bojan Nikolic (Cambridge) to further develop the out-of-focus holography technique to take advantage of the 64-pixel Mustang focal plane array. This technique has the potential to quickly measure thermal surface deformations due to solar heating, determine corrections for the GBT active surface, and thereby extend efficient 3 mm observing into the daytime hours. Hunter is also working with Fred Schwab, Frank Ghigo, and Steve White to improve the small-scale surface accuracy of the GBT via traditional holography by mapping Ku-band satellite beacons. In addition to surface improvements, Hunter is attempting to make astronomical use of the quadrant detector which measures the pose of the feedarm with respect to the primary reflector. He is mentoring UVa graduate student Paul Ries who has developed an empirical model of the quadrant detector based on half-power tracks which he is testing by applying the results to Mustang images obtained under windy conditions. Finally, Hunter is also serving the ALMA project in the newly-created position of North America Front End Project Scientist. He will work with the receiver engineers at the NTC to identify and examine the critical performance issues during front end integration.
In collaboration with Bill Cotton at NRAO and MUSTANG team members at U Penn, Brian Mason is developing practical, high-fidelity imaging algorithms for the MUSTANG bolometer array on the GBT.
Bill Cotton will continue development of interferometric calibration and imaging techniques are anticipated. In particular, techniques needed for the EVLA will be studied.
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Leonid Kogan has designed an algorithm to optimize array configurations minimizing side lobes of the beam pattern (coded in AIPS as task CONFI). This algorithm has been successfully used for EVLA E- configuration and for ALMA configurations. He has designed the six configurations for LWA’s antenna stations with different spacing between the dipoles, and now plans to participate in final choice of the configuration taking into account mutual coupling between dipoles.
As a member of AIPS group, Kogan continues designing new algorithms for calibration and data reduction. Kogan continue investigating new possible algorithms for wide field of view. In particular, he has designed the new algorithm for wide field of view at snapshot observations using a plane array (VLA, for example).
Miller-Jones continues to retain an involvement in the Transients Key Project for LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array, currently under construction in the Netherlands. Before coming to NRAO, he worked as part of a large team, led by Fender, R. Wijers (Amsterdam) and Stappers, to develop a transient detection and response pipeline for low-frequency transients. He still takes part in the monthly meetings and provides some input and assistance for the pipeline development and testing.
Jonathan Romney will continue to lead the VLBA Sensitivity Upgrade project. Collaborators among the scientific staff include Walter Brisken and Craig Walker. This project will expand the data path of the VLBA to a capacity of 4 Gbps, 16 times what can be recorded and correlated with existing VLBA equipment, for a fourfold increase in the instrument’s continuum sensitivity. The 4-Gbps target is matched to 2-bit Nyquist sampling of the full 500-MHz bandwidth of the two IF bands normally used. Developments leading to this goal are actively being pursued in three separate, largely independent areas. A new “digital backend,” based on modern FPGA technology, will replace the VLBA’s existing baseband converters and samplers, and support both a broadband polyphase filterbank and a digital downconverter with 8 independently tunable sub-bands covering bandwidths from 1 MHz to 256 MHz. A new “Mark 5C” recording system will expand the bandwidth of the Mark 5A system currently in use to the required 4-Gbps. A new, software-based “DiFX” correlator will replace the VLBA’s original hardware correlator, and provide substantial enhancements in terms of spectral resolution, flexibility, and optimal use of processing resources. All three developments are expected to be sufficiently complete to support high- priority scientific observations at a peak rate of 4 Gbps by the end of FY 2009. Expansion of the sustainable duty cycle to full-time 4-Gbps operation will require only additional recording and processing resources, with a target completion date of 2011.
K. I. Kellermann has been working with an international team to define the next generation radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) which will bring unprecedented sensitivity to a wide range of investigations ranging from pulsar timing and gravitational physics, cosmology including the EoR and continuum and HI emission from high-z galaxies and the evolution of star formation and AGN and their interdependence, and the Galactic magnetic field through Faraday Rotation studies. Kellermann currently chairs the international SKA Science and Engineering Committee and its Executive committee with broad responsibility for the design and governance of the SKA program. During the next year, hw will be working with the newly formed SKA Project Development Office located in Manchester, UK to further develop the design and to define the science program. In addition, Kellermann is also chair of the Operations Working group with responsibility for developing an operations plan for the SKA as well as to identify operational procedures that will affect the design, construction, and cost of the SKA. He is also one of two representatives from NRAO to the US SKA Consortium which supports the SKA design and development effort in the US aspects of space VLBI. In particular he investigates the possibility of
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improving of the sensitivity of space VLBI adding the acceleration term at the delay model. Kogan will investigate the special methods of imaging for space VLBI.
Scott Ransom will continue to develop his pulsar data analysis package PRESTO, which is in use by many pulsar groups around the world for pulsar searching and timing. The software is available freely from the NRAO website.
Ransom is also the project scientist for the new GBT pulsar backend GUPPI (Green Bank Ultimate Pulsar Processing Instrument). GUPPI is based on the modular and “open-source” hardware (FPGA related) and software tools developed by the CASPER group at UC Berkeley (D. Werthimer, PI). That instrument, when complete by spring of 2009, will dramatically improve all aspects of pulsar observations at the GBT, including much improved timing precision for the gravitational wave searches of NANOGrav. Several other observatories have expressed interest in copying the machine when complete.
Ransom is also working with R. Johnson of UC Santa Cruz to develop new algorithms to search for gamma-ray pulsars blindly in extremely sparse event data from the GLAST mission. These algorithms will also be applied to new and archival X-ray data from Chandra.
Ronald Maddalena will work in collaboration with Toney Minter, C. Figura (Wartburg College), S. Hynes (Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts), and C.H. Johnson (Breck School) to develop new calibration algorithms for single-dish spectral-line observations. The new algorithms are needed owing to the wider bandwidths now in use by radio telescopes. The algorithms provide much higher precision than previous versions while reducing the spectral baselines even when observing continuum sources. The algorithms also correct for second-order nonlinearities in the telescope hardware.
Maddalena continues work on using vertical weather profiles to model the influence of the Earth's atmosphere on observations taken at frequencies below 110 GHz. This includes improved models for refraction, air mass, and the mean atmospheric temperature. The opacities derived from vertical weather profiles have the necessary accuracy for calibration, eliminating the need for antenna tipping or a tipping radiometer. Vertical profiles provide 60-hr forecasts of opacities and system temperatures that are useful predictors for dynamically scheduling the GBT.
Adam Deller will continue development of the DiFX software correlator which will replace the VLBA hardware correlator as part of the VLBA sensitivity upgrade which, when completed, will increase the maximum recording bandwidth of the VLBA eight-fold. He plans to use the high sensitivity of the upgraded VLBA to undertake a large pulsar astrometry program, which will include development of improved tools for the use multiple in-beam calibrators.
Miscellaneous
The next generation of powerful radio and millimeter/submillimeter observatories (e.g., EVLA, ALMA, SOFIA & Herschel) require extensive resources to help identify spectral line transitions. As such, Anthony Remijan and Andrew J. Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester continue to develop and expand on a complete spectral line catalog that can be used by the entire astronomical community using current and upcoming radio and millimeter/submillimeter observatories. The Spectral Line Catalog (Splatalogue) is a comprehensive transition -resolved compilation of observed, measured and calculated spectral lines. Extending the JPL and CDMS lists with the addition of the Spectral Line Atlas of Interstellar Molecules (SLAIM) and updating the Lovas/NIST list of observed astrophysical transitions,
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Splatalogue also adds atomic and recombination lines, template astronomical and laboratory spectra, and is completely VO-compliant, queryable under the IVOA SLAP standard. From a querying point-of-view, Splatalogue has two major modes of operation—one user-friendly, the other application- friendly. The former is a PHP based web interface, from which most of the output presented in the following proposal herein came. The latter returns results of IVOA-compliant queries in VO-table XML. Clearly there is scope for other data formats as well. Finally, Splatalogue has already been under development at the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) since 2006, even before the needs articulated by the Submillimeter and Far-Infrared Laboratory Spectroscopy Workshop conducted in Pasadena, California, October 19-20, 2006, and in the report from the 2006 NASA Laboratory Astrophysics Workshop (http://www.physics.unlv.edu/labastro/whitepaper.html) which stated, “Databases of atomic, molecular, and solid state parameters that are complete [...] and critically evaluated are a necessity.” The work on Splatalogue is overseen by the ALMA Working Group on Spectral Line Frequencies (AWGSLF) that was convened on July 27, 2006, whose mission statement is, “The ALMA Working Group on Spectral Line Frequencies is dedicated to generating a collated and rationalized database of spectral line frequencies, transitions, and line strengths from radio to infrared wavelengths that can be freely accessed and used by the entire astronomical community interested in spectral line astrophysics.” Version 1.0 of Splatalogue is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.
Jim Condon and Scott Ransom will continue to develop their on-line radio astronomy course “Essential Radio Astronomy (ERA).” ERA is a one-semester course intended for astronomy graduate students and advanced undergraduates with backgrounds in astronomy, physics, or engineering. The goal of ERA is fostering the community of researchers using radio astronomy by attracting and training the most talented university students. Therefore, we are making ERA available via the web (http://www.cv.nrao.edu/course/astr534/ERA.shtml) at no cost. In 2009 we will prepare a book version of this course for publication by Princeton University Press.
Ken Kellermann together with E. Bouton is continuing studies of the history of radio astronomy, with particular emphasis on the formation and early history of NRAO based on archival records and the study of correspondence and files being collected at the NRAO archives. Research during the coming year will include records located at the National Archives of Australia, the Carnegie Institute, and the Library of Congress. They will begin collecting oral histories from the key figures that shaped the early development of NRAO.
Miller Goss and R.X. McGee (CSIRO retired) will publish their book “Under the Radar - Ruby Payne- Scott, the First Woman Radio Astronomer” in the course of 2009. This project was begun in 1999 and finished in 2007 during a visit by Goss to Australia. The book contains a detailed summary of Payne- Scott’s contributions to solar physics in the years 1944 to 1951 as well as other aspects of her life (1912- 1981). Payne-Scott is one of the discoverers of Type I and Type IV bursts and played the key role in the first detection of Type II and especially Type III bursts.
Goss and Claire Hooker (University of Sydney) have started a biography of J. L. Pawsey and J. G. Bolton, pioneers of Australian radio astronomy. Both played significant roles in the development of US radio astronomy. Bolton was the founder of radio astronomy at Caltech in the early 1950s and an advisor to AUI until he returned to Australia in late 1960. Bolton became the leader of the newly completed Parkes 64 m radio telescope (opened late 1961). Pawsey had been the science leader of the Australian radio astronomy efforts since 1944. He was offered the job as the second NRAO director to start October 1, 1962. During a visit to Green Bank in spring 1962, Pawsey became ill and returned to Australia where he died on November 30, 1962.
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Interview and archival research for this project began in 2007 and will continue for some years. In the next year archival research in Sydney, Canberra, and New Zealand (the 1948 New Zealand Radio Astronomy Expedition) will continue.
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C. Research Staff
Research Staff With Tenure
T. S. Bastian—Solar/stellar radiophysics, solar chromosphere, coronal energy release, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, interplanetary radio bursts, radio propagation in the interplanetary medium, radio emission from late-type stars, substellar objects, and exoplanets; Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) planning and development.
C. Carilli—Galaxy formation, radio galaxies, QSO absorption lines, epoch of reionization; Chief Scientist.
J. J. Condon—Dark energy, Hubble constant, nearby galaxies, evolution of star formation, radio surveys, GBT precision telescope control system, GBT dynamic scheduling; Special Assistant to the Director
W. D. Cotton—Extragalactic radio sources, interferometry, cosmic masers, computational techniques for data analysis, scientific support, NRAO sky surveys.
A. S. Evans— Extragalactic, multi-wavelength studies of infrared galaxies, radio galaxies and quasar hosts; ALMA commissioning and NAASC.
J. R. Fisher— Cosmology, signal processing, antenna design, advanced receiver development; NRAO Technical Leader for R&D
E. B. Fomalont—Astrometry, X-ray binaries, deep imaging, relativity tests, VSOP and RadioAstron coordination, VLBA support, CASA testing; Principal Scientist and Deputy Assistant Director for End- to-End Operations.
D. A. Frail—Gamma-ray bursts, soft-gamma-ray repeaters, pulsar/supernova-remnant associations, pulsar wind nebulae, masers, HI absorption and interstellar scattering; Head of the Office of Science and Academic Affairs.
W. M. Goss—Galactic-center studies, galactic masers, pulsars, supernova remnants, nearby galaxies.
K. I. Kellermann—Radio galaxies, quasars, cosmology, radio telescopes; NIO, SKA.
A. R. Kerr—Millimeter-wave receiver development, SIS mixer design, ALMA Project.
H. S. Liszt—Molecular lines, millimeter-wave absorption-line spectroscopy, diffuse clouds, galactic nucleus; foreign telescope travel fund administrator and NRAO Spectrum Manager.
K. Y. Lo—Galactic center, star formation in dwarf galaxies, starburst galaxies and high-redshift galaxies, mega-masers and AGN, Hubble Constant and dark energy, intergalactic medium, microwave background radiation, millimeter- and submillimeter-wave interferometry; Director.
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F. J. Lockman—Galaxies, Galactic structure, interstellar medium, GB education and outreach; GBT Principal Scientist
S. T. Myers—Cosmology, cosmic background radiation, gravitational lenses, astronomical imaging, ALMA and VLA/EVLA scientific support, algorithm development; CASA Project Scientist.
P. J. Napier—Antenna and instrumentation systems for radio astronomy.
F. N. Owen—Evolution of galaxies, clusters of galaxies, radio galaxies, deep continuum surveys, EVLA.
R. A. Perley—Radio galaxies, QSOs, interferometer techniques; EVLA Project Scientist.
M. Pospieszalski—Microwave and millimeter-wave low-noise devices, circuits and receivers, CMBR radiometers, EVLA/VLBA/GBT/ALMA receiver development support.
D. S. Shepherd—Star formation, molecular outflows, disks around luminous young stellar objects, molecular chemistry, millimeter interferometry and mosaic techniques; Deputy Division Head, ALMA Computing.
J. S. Ulvestad—Seyfert, LINER, and starburst galaxies, extragalactic gamma-ray sources, intermediate- mass black holes; Assistant Director for New Initiatives Office.
J. M. Uson—Cosmology, dark matter, clusters of galaxies, superthin galaxies, spectral synthesis imaging.
P. A. Vanden Bout—Interstellar medium, star formation, high-redshift molecular emission galaxies, galaxy formation/evolution.
H. A. Wootten—Star formation, structure and chemistry of the ISM in galaxies, circumstellar material; ALMA Project Scientist.
Tenure-Track Astronomers
C. Brogan—High-mass star formation, astrochemistry, masers, magnetic fields, supernova remnants, small-scale structure in the interstellar medium, ALMA/NAASC, ALMA CASA subsystem scientist.
B. S. Mason—Observational Cosmology and Cosmic Microwave Background radiation; CMB foregrounds (total intensity and polarization); imaging algorithms; instrumentation development; support for GBT continuum observers; MUSTANG project scientist.
S. M. Ransom—Pulsar searches and timing (especially binary and millisecond pulsars) and applications for basic physics, GBT pulsar infrastructure improvement.
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Scientist/Astronomy
D. S. Balser—Galactic structure and abundances, H II regions, planetary nebulae; E2E operations; GBT Dynamic Scheduling; GBT Scientific Support.
D. Barkats—Cosmology, cosmic background polarization. Instrument and calibration development. Polarization interferometry; ALMA Commissioning Scientist.
R. C. Bignell—High-redshift absorption systems, planetary nebulae, polarization, GBT scheduling and GBT Scientific Support.
J. Braatz—Cosmic masers, active galaxies, cosmology, molecular gas in AGNs, scientific software and algorithms, GBT science support.
B. J. Butler— lanetary astronomy; Division Head, EVLA Computing Division
C. Chandler—Star formation, circumstellar disks, protostellar outflows, millimeter-wave interferometry; Division Head, Socorro Scientific Services, and Deputy Assistant Director for Science, NM Operations..
M. J. Claussen—Masers, young stellar objects, AGB stars, pre-planetary nebulae, spectropolarimetry, VLA/VLBA user programs, VLA+Pt link support, VLA and VLBA scientific support, EVLA testing.
V. Dhawan—Radio and X-ray observations of microquasars, VLBA astrometry, VLBA user support, and EVLA testing.
R. L. Dickman—Interstellar medium, molecular clouds, gravitation and dark matter; Assistant Director, New Mexico Operations
D. T. Emerson—Nearby galaxies, millimeter-wave techniques and instrumentation, spectrum management, history of microwaves.
F. D. Ghigo—X-ray binary sources, active galactic nuclei, Green Bank Telescope user support, GBT precision pointing and active surface improvements.
A. S. Hales—Protoplanetary and debris disks, evolution of circumstellar gas and dust evolution in environments of planet formation, near-IR polarimetry, multiwavelength surveys of the Galactic plane, radio continuum of Herbig Ae/Be stars.
E. J. Hardy—Cosmology, galaxies, stellar populations; Assistant Director for Chilean Affairs, NRAO/AUI representative in Chile.
J. E. Hibbard—Extragalactic HI, galaxy evolution, merging galaxies, spectral synthesis imaging; NA ARC Manager.
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix C - Research Staff 138
T. R. Hunter—High-mass star formation, protoclusters, UCHII regions, hot cores, outflows, masers, millimeter/submillimeter interferometry; GBT PTCS Instrumentation Scientist; ALMA North America Front End Project Scientist.
R. Indebetouw—(High mass) star formation, interstellar medium and molecular clouds, NRAO/UVA Joint Faculty.
P. R. Jewell—Interstellar molecules, and astrochemisty; Deputy Director.
L. Knee—Scientific Interest/Functional Position: Molecular clouds, star formation, protostellar outflows, interstellar medium Test Scientist, ALMA project.
G. I. Langston—Transient event surveys, astrochemistry, tests of particle-physics models, Space VLBI new initiatives, Project Manager for NRAO/MIT/LL Bi-static-Radar Project.
C. Lonsdale—Starburst galaxies, ultraluminous infrared galaxies, active galactic nuclei, galaxy evolution, extragalactic surveys; Assistant Director for the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC).
R. J. Maddalena—Molecular clouds, interstellar medium, structure of spiral galaxies, high-redshift molecular emission galaxies, single-dish calibration algorithms, radio-frequency weather forecasting; Head, GBT Science Operations.
J. G. Mangum—Star formation, astrochemistry, molecular spectroscopy of comets, ALMA; pre- doctoral, intern, and co-op student programs.
M. M. McKinnon—Pulsars, radio polarimetry, statistics;EVLA Project Manager.
A. H. Minter—Interstellar turbulence and galactic HI, GBT scientific support.
E. Momjian—(Ultra)Luminous IR Galaxies, extragalactic HI surveys, cm-wavelength molecular lines, OH megamasers, VLBI imaging of high redshift quasars, Galactic methanol masers, EVLA testing, VLA/VLBA scientific support.
K. O'Neil—Extragalactic gas and dust, low-surface-brightness galaxies; Head, GBT Program Development; Acting Assistant Director for Green Bank Operations.
J. Ott—Molecular cloud and star formation in nearby active, dwarf, and interacting galaxies; multi- wavelength observations of the ISM in galaxies; galaxy evolution; the Galactic Center; EVLA WIDAR Correlator.
A. B. Peck—AGN, high redshift galaxies, mm/submm astronomy, ALMA; JAO Deputy Project Scientist.
R. Prestage—Head of Technical Services in the Joint ALMA Observatory.
A. Remijan—Astrochemistry, astrobiology, physical and chemical conditions of the interstellar, circumstellar, and cometary media.
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix C - Research Staff 139
J. D. Romney—Active extragalactic radio sources, interstellar medium, spacecraft navigation, VLBI instrumentation, VLBA scientific support; VLBA Sensitivity Upgrade Project Leader.
M. P. Rupen—X-ray binaries and transient sources, supernovae, interstellar medium, VLA and EVLA scientific support.
L. O. Sjouwerman—Circumstellar masers and AGB stars, centers of the Galaxy and Andromeda, interstellar masers and SNR/MC interactions; VLA/VLBA data-reduction pipelines in AIPS, VLA/VLBA scientific support.
R. A. Sramek—Normal galaxies, quasars, supernovae, aperture-synthesis techniques, ALMA System Development & Verification.
G. A. van Moorsel—Dynamics of galaxies and groups of galaxies, techniques for image analysis, VLA/EVLA scientific support, EVLA CASA subsystem scientist.
R. C. Walker—Extragalactic radio sources, VLBI, VLBA development, VLBA scientific support, EVLA and SKA design.
J. M. Wrobel—Low-luminosity active galactic nuclei; low-mass active galactic nuclei; astrometry; VLA/VLBA scheduling; Scientific Editor, The Astrophysical Journal.
Scientist/Research Engineering
R. F. Bradley—Special-purpose radio telescope systems, low-noise amplifiers, array receivers, adaptive RFI excision, advanced receiver development, and radio-based particle physics; Dynamic Spectroscopy Group Leader and FASR Interim Project Engineer.
W. Brisken—Pulsars, astrometry, VLBI software correlation.
E. W. Bryerton—Advanced detector development, technologies for large focal-plane arrays, ALMA local-oscillator development.
J. Cheng—Structural design and analysis, astronomical telescope design, sensors, carbon-fiber material, ALMA antenna development.
A. Lichtenberger—ALMA and the Central Development Lab; NRAO/UVA Joint Faculty.
M. Morgan—Millimeter-wave MMIC design, MMIC-based instrumentation, arrays, and receiver component development for the EVLA, GBT, ALMA, FASR, and SKA.
S. K. Pan—Superconducting millimeter- and submillimeter-wave low-noise devices, circuit and receiver development; Deputy Assistant Director, CDL.
K. Saini—ALMA local-oscillator development, frequency-multiplier development, ALMA Front-End System engineering.
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix C - Research Staff 140
S. Srikanth—Development of polarizers for mm-wave applications and broadband prime-focus feeds at centimeter wavelengths.
J. C. Webber—Instrumentation development, program planning; Assistant Director for CDL; ALMA IPT Leader for Front End and Correlator.
Scientist/Computational Science
J. M. Benson—Extragalactic radio sources, VLBA image processing, scientific support for VLA/VLBA correlator, development and maintenance of the NRAO Science Data Archive, member of the E2E-EVLA Computing Group.
S. Bhatnagar—Supernova remnants, HII/UCHII regions, low-frequency mapping of the Galactic plane, interferometric calibration, image reconstruction, and related algorithm development, CASA.
K. Golap—Low-frequency calibration and imaging, imaging algorithm development, CASA.
E. W. Greisen—Radio galaxies, HI in galaxies, interstellar medium, computer analysis of astronomical data, AIPS.
L. R. Kogan—Theory of interferometry including space VLBI, design of array configurations (LWA, SKA), VLBA user support, AIPS group.
J. P. McMullin—Star formation, interstellar medium, astronomical software systems; ALMA CIPT offline-subsystem lead, Science Software Group Project Manager.
A. J. Mioduszewski—Astrometry of young stellar objects, microquasars, symbiotic stars, AIPS, VLBA, HSA, and VLA support, student programs.
G. Moellenbrock—Polarization interferometry, VLBI techniques, astrometry, blazers, calibration and imaging algorithms, software for ALMA and EVLA, VLA and VLBA user support.
R. I. Reid—Automated data analysis, interferometric imaging, the warm ionized medium, radio galaxies.
Scientist/Emeritus
A. H. Bridle—Extragalactic radio sources, Computing and Information Services web support, inter-site communications support, pre-doctoral, intern, and co-op student programs, and visiting-scientist support: Emeritus Scientist.
B. G. Clark—EVLA control and software development, VLA/VLBA scheduling; Emeritus Scientist.
M. A. Gordon—CO, galactic structure, gas-rich galaxies, interstellar medium; Emeritus Scientist.
D. E. Hogg—Structure of spiral galaxies, stellar winds, general support for the Director’s Office, Emeritus Scientist.
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix C - Research Staff 141
M. S. Roberts—Extragalactic hydrogen, normal galaxies, dark matter; Emeritus Scientist.
A. R. Thompson—Radio-astronomy instrumentation, theory and practice of radio interferometry and synthesis imaging, interference mitigation and spectrum protection for radio astronomy; Emeritus Scientist.
Jansky Fellows
E. D. Araya—Cosmic masers; massive star formation; molecular clouds and interstellar medium; starburst galaxies and AGN; Jansky Fellow.
A. Chung—Galaxy formation and evolution, cluster environmental effects, radio/sub-millimeter instrumentation; Jansky Fellow.
S. A. Corder—Rapid accretion events from low mass stars, outflow feedback in star-forming regions, debris disks and the search for young planetary systems, techniques in wide-field imaging, ALMA commissioning.
A. Deller—VLBI software correlation, VLBI pulsar astrometry, wide-field image calibration; Jansky Fellow.
P. Demorest—High-precision pulsar timing, gravitational radiation, interstellar scintillation, backend instrumentation development, signal processing; Jansky Fellow.
B. R. Kent—Nearby galaxies and clusters, galaxy dynamics, gas dynamics, extragalactic HI, scientific software, Virtual Observatory; Jansky Fellow.
D. P. Marrone—Galaxy cluster cosmology, Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect, Galactic center, millimeter/submillimeter interferometry and instrumentation; Jansky Fellow.
J. C. A. Miller-Jones—X-ray binary jets; their morphologies, speeds, energetics and interaction with their environments, low-frequency transient surveys; Jansky Fellow.
W-H. Wang—formation and evolution of galaxies using optical, near-IR, mid-IR, submillimeter, and radio observations; Jansky Fellow.
Research Associates and NRAO Postdoctoral Fellows
M. Aravena—Galaxy evolution, submillimetre galaxies, high-redshift galaxies, relation between starburst galaxies and QSOs, multi-wavelength surveys.
B. E. Hesman—Planetary astronomy, EVLA scientific support; EVLA postdoctoral fellow.
C. M. V. Impellizzeri—Active galaxies, Seyfert, LINER, molecular absorption, water masers; NRAO Postdoctoral fellow.
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix C - Research Staff 142
N. Kanekar—Galaxy formation and evolution, damped Lyα systems, OH megamasers, structure of the ISM, the evolution of fundamental constants; MPIfR fellow.
M. Pannella—Galaxy formation and evolution, structural and spectrophotometric properties of galaxies; Research Associate
V. Strazzullo—Galaxy formation and evolution, galaxy clusters; Research Associate.
J. Wagg—Research Associate.
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix C - Research Staff 143
D. Management Staff As of October 2008
Executive Management Group Lo, Fred K.Y. Director Jewell, Philip Deputy Director Clark, George Associate Director for Administration Russell, Adrian NA ALMA Project Director, NA ALMA Project Manager Hardy, Eduardo Assistant Director for Chilean Affairs Dickman, Robert Assistant Director for New Mexico Operations O’Neil, Karen Assistant Director for Green Bank Operations Radziwill, Nicole Assistant Director for Office of End-to-End Operations Webber, John Assistant Director for Central Development Laboratory Frail, Dale Assistant Director for Office of Science and Academic Affairs Adams, Mark Assistant Director for Office of Education and Public Outreach Ulvestad, Jim Assistant Director for New Initiatives Office Lonsdale, Carol Assistant Director for NA ALMA Science Center Halstead, David Assistant Director of Information Technology Firmani, James Human Resources Manager McKinnon, Mark EVLA Project Manager Condon, James Special Assistant to the Director
Administration Clark, George Associate Director for Administration Williams, Connie Fiscal Officer Daniels, Robert Safety & Environmental Protection Manager Miller, Ted Observatory Business Manager Beverage, Charles Management Information Systems Manager Welty, Don Senior Budget Manager Plumley, Christine Budget Manager Shepherd, Amy Budget Manager Donahue, Patrick Procurement & Contracts Manager
ALMA Russell, Adrian NA ALMA Project Director, NA ALMA Project Manager Lonsdale, Carol Assistant Director for NA ALMA Science Center Hibbard, John Manager of NA ALMA Regional Center Hardy, Eduardo NRAO/AUI Representative in Chile Pilleux, Mauricio Chile Business Manager, NA ALMA Deputy Project Manager (Technical) Davies, Antony NA ALMA Project Controller Wootten, Al NA ALMA Science IPT Leader Glendenning, Brian NA ALMA Computing Division Head/IPT Leader Langley, Christopher NA ALMA Backend Division Head/IPT Leader Perfetto, Antonio NA ALMA Project Deputy Division Head Shepherd, Debra NA ALMA Computing Deputy Division Head Webber, John ALMA Correlator and Front End IPT Leader Zivick, Jeff NA ALMA Antenna IPT Leader Michalski, Stefan Project Manager III
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix D - Management Staff 144
Central Development Laboratory Webber, John Assistant Director, Central Development Laboratory, ALMA Correlator and Front End IPT Leader Pan, Shin Kuo Deputy Assistant Director, Central Development Laboratory
Computing and Information Systems Halstead, David Assistant Director of Information Technology
E2E Operations Radziwill, Nicole Assistant Director for Office of End to End Operations Fomalont, Edward Principal Scientist and Deputy Assistant Director for End to End Operations Hunt, Gareth Deputy Assistant Director for End to End Operations
Green Bank Operations Karen O’Neil Assistant Director for Green Bank Operations Lockman, Felix Principal Scientist for the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) Holstine, Michael Green Bank Business Manager Maddalena, Ronald Head o f GBT Science Operations Anderson Jr., Robert GBT Operations Division Head Clark, Christopher Green Bank Computing Division Head Egan, Dennis Green Bank Mechanical Engineering Division Head Ford, John Green Bank Electronics Division Head Shelton, Amy Green Bank Software Development Division Head Bloss, Martin Project Manager II
Human Resources Firmani, James Human Resources Manager Norville, Roy Employment Manager Lewis, Allen Site Human resources Manager
New Mexico Operations and EVLA Project Dickman, Robert Assistant Director for New Mexico Operations McKinnon, Mark EVLA Project Manager Lagoyda, Skip New Mexico Business Manager Chandler, Claire Deputy Assistant Director for Scientific Services Perley, Margaret Deputy Assistant Director for NM Operations Durand, Steven NM Operations Electronic Division Head Serna, Lewis NM Operations Engineering Services Division Head Butler, Bryan EVLA Computing Division Head Robnett, James NM Operations Computing Division Head Thunborg, Jon NM Operations Engineering Services Deputy Division Head
Science and Academic Affairs Frail, Dale Assistant Director for Office of Science and Academic Affairs Carilli, Chris Chief Scientist Bishop, Marsha Observatory Librarian
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix D - Management Staff 145
E. Committees
External Committees
The NRAO Visiting Committee
The NRAO Visiting Committee is appointed by the AUI Board of Trustees to review the management and research programs of the Observatory. The current membership is listed below.
Stefi Alison Baum, Chair Rochester Institute of Technology Rodger Doxsey Space Telescope Science Institute Reinhard Genzel Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Timothy Heckman Johns Hopkins University Victoria M. Kaspi McGill University Robert Kennicutt University of Cambridge Douglas Lin University of California, Santa Cruz David B. Sanders University of Hawaii Jonas Zmuidzinas California Institute of Technology
The Users Committee
The Users Committee is made up of users and potential users of NRAO facilities from throughout the scientific community. It advises the Director and the Observatory staff on all aspects of Observatory activities that affect the users of the telescopes. This committee, which is appointed by the Director, meets annually in May or June. The current membership is listed below.
Edo Berger Princeton University Scott Chapman University of Cambridge Tracy Clarke, Chair Naval Research Laboratory Erica Ellingson University of Colorado, CASA Paul Green Harvard-Smithsonian CfA Luis Ho Carnegie Observatory Jan Michael Hollis NASA, GSFC Rob Ivison Royal Observatory Svetlana Jorstad Boston University Matthias Kadler NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Laurent Loinard UNAM Amy Lovell Agnes Scott College Karen Masters Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA Rachel Osten Space Telescope Science Institute Evan Skillman University of Minnesota Ingrid Stairs, Chair-Elect University of BC, Vancouver Snezana Stanimirovic U. of Wisconsin, Madison Danile Stinebring Oberlin College Lisa Storrie-Lombardi Caltech Fabian Walter Max Plank Inst. fhr Astronomie Lisa Young New Mexico Tech
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix E - Committees 146
The Program Advisory Committee (PAC)
The Program Advisory Committee reviews and provides advice on the long-range plan of the Observatory, on new programs and projects being considered for implementation, and on the priorities among Observatory program elements. The current membership is listed below.
Neal Evans University of Texas Rolf Kudritzki University of Hawaii Shrinivas Kulkarni Caltech Elizabeth Lada University of Florida Jean Turner University of California, Los Angeles Jacqueline van Gorkom Columbia University Stuart Vogel University of Maryland Min Yun University of Massachusetts
EVLA Advisory Committee
The EVLA Advisory Committee is to evaluate the EVLA Phase I project progress and requirements and advise the NRAO Director. The current membership is listed below.
Stefi Baum Rochester Institute of Technology Anthony Beasley NEON Douglas Bock CARMA Roger Brissenden SAO Marco de Vos Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy Sean Dougherty NRC Herzberg Inst of Astrophysics John Dreher SETI/Project Phoenix Karl Menten MPIfR Glen Miller STScI Gianni Raffi European Southern Observatory Luis Rodriguez Institute de Astronomia UNAM Dave Woody, Chair Caltech Liese van Zee Indiana University
Science Advisory Group for the EVLA (SAGE)
Members of the Science Advisory Group for the EVLA (SAGE) were appointed by the NRAO Director, in consultation with the VLA/VLBA Assistant Director and the EVLA Project Scientist in November 2006. The SAGE advises the Director and the Assistant Director for New Mexico Operations on science priorities during the completion of EVLA construction and will continue to advise on user priorities during the first few years of EVLA Operations. The current membership is listed below.
Andrew Baker Rutgers University Amy Barger University of Wisconsin Stefi Baum CIS, Rochester Institute of Technology Ken Chambers University of Hawaii Sean Dougherty National Research Council, HIA
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix E - Committees 147
Science Advisory Group for the EVLA (SAGE) – continue
Lincoln Greenhill Center for Astrophysics David Helfand, Chair Columbia University Zeljko Ivezic Washington University Rob Ivison ATC, Royal Observatory Edinburgh Shri Kulkarni California Institute of Technology Stan Kurtz National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Karl Menton MPIfR Joe Mohr University of Illinois Jacqueline van Gorkom Columbia University Stuart Vogel University of Maryland Min Yun University of Massachusetts
ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee (ANASAC)
The ANASAC provides scientific advice to the NRAO director on the science operation of ALMA and the North American ALMA Science Center, as representatives of the wider North American astronomical community. The current membership is listed below.
Andrew Baker, Chair Rutgers University John Bally University Colorado Andrew Blain Caltech Mike Fall Space Telescope Science Insitute Tim Heckman Johns Hopkins University Shardha Jogee University of Texas, Austin Kelsey Johnson Universtiy of Virginia Doug Johnstone NRC Canada Xavier Prochaska University of California, Santa Cruz Gordon Stacy Cornell Jacqueline van Gorkom Columbia Alycia Weinberger OCIW-DTM Jonathan Williams University Hawaii Mel Wright University of California, Berkeley
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix E - Committees 148
Internal Committees
Observatory Computing Council (OCC)
The Observatory Computing Council (OCC) is an advisory group to the NRAO Director and to the NRAO Office of End-to-End Operations, which is positioned to act on OCC recommendations. The current membership and their primary project/division affiliation are listed below (the chair is up for reappointment):
Bryan Butler, EVLA Bob Garwood, GBT Crystal Brogan, NAASC Eric Greisen, AIPS Bill Cotton, E2E Gareth Hunt, E2E Allen Farris, ALMA Steve Myers, CASA Ed Fomalont, E2E Doug Tody, NVO Brian Glendenning, ALMA
External Members include: Dick Crutcher, Illinois/NCSA Peter Teuben, Maryland Joe Schwarz, ALMA/ESO Mel Wright, Berkeley Steve Scott, Caltech
Observatory Science Council (OSC)
The OSC will advise the Director on policy issues related to science and academic affairs at the NRAO. Specific issues include the policies and activities of the SAA (Science and Academic Affairs).
Other issues include (1) the review of ideas for new telescopes, or new projects, and new instrumentation for existing telescopes; (2) to stimulate the scientific environment for research throughout the NRAO, including the organization of research support for the scientific staff. The current membership is listed below: Claire Chandler Duncan Lorimer (adjunct, WVU) Jim Condon Steve Myers Chris Carilli, Chair Scott Ransom Kelsey Johnson (adjunct, UVA)
Observatory Technical Council (OTC)
The Council will advise the NRAO Director on technical issues that confront the Observatory, and will provide Observatory-wide perspective and coordination in all technical areas, including future planning and R&D, current operations and problems, and projects such as the EVLA and ALMA.
The members of this council serve 3-year renewable terms.
R. Bradley R. Fisher (Chair) P. Napier A. Symmes W. Brisken A. Kerr R. Norrod A. R. Thompson W. Cotton R. Lacasse M. Pospieszalski J. Webber D. Emerson M. Morgan R. Sramek
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix E - Committees 149
ALMA North American Technical Advisory Committee
This advisory group was created to perform an in-depth and end-to-end look at the technical progress of the ALMA construction, on the North American (NA) side. The committee reports to the NM ALMA Project Director, who conveys findings back to the JAO and others, as appropriate.
Current membership includes:
D. Emerson, Chair R. Sramek B. Clark A. Symmes P. Napier A. R. Thompson
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix E - Committees 150
F. Acronyms and Abbreviations
Acronym Definition 2MASS 2 Micron All-Sky Survey AA Antenna Article AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science AAS American Astronomical Society ACA ALMA Compact Array ACS Advanced Camera for Surveys ACU Antenna Control Unit AGB Asymptotic Giant Branch AGN Active Galactic Nucleus, or Active Galactic Nuclei AIPS Astronomical Image Processing System AIT American Institute in Taiwan AIV Assembly, Integration, and Verification ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter Array ALMA-J ALMA Japan ANASAC ALMA North American Science Advisory Committee AOC Array Operations Center (Socorro, NM) AOP ALMA Operations Plan AOPvC ALMA Operations Plan version C AOS Array Operations Site (ALMA, Chile) APEX Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment ARC ALMA Regional Center ASAC ALMA Science Advisory Committee ASIAA Academica Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics ASTE Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment ATA Allen Telescope Array ATCA Australia Telescope Compact Array ATF Antenna Test Facility, ALMA Test Facility ATI Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation AU Astronomical Unit AUI Associated Universities, Incorporated AzTEC Astronomical Thermal Emission Camera Band 1 31.3–45 GHz Band 2 67–90 GHz Band 3 84–119 GHz Band 6 211–275 GHz Band 7 275–360 GHz Band 9 602–720 GHz Band 10 797–950 GHz BE Back End BEIPT Back-End IPT BIMA Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Array BU Boston University C band 4–8 GHz
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix F - Acronyms and Abbreviations 151
Acronym Definition CARMA Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy CASA Common Astronomy Software Applications CASPER Center for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics (UC Berkeley) CBI Cosmic Background Imager CCB Caltech Continuum Backend, Change Control Board CDL Central Development Laboratory CDR Critical Design Review CfA Center for Astrophysics CFHT Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope CHARA Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy CICADA Configurable Instrument Collaboration for Agile Data Acquisition CIPT Computing Integrated Product Team (ALMA) CIRS Composite InfraRed Spectrometer CIS Computing and Information Services cm centimeter CMB Cosmic Microwave Background CO Carbon Monoxide molecule CORF Committee on Radio Frequencies COSMOS Cosmological Evolution Survey (HST Treasury Project) CRAF Committee on Radio Astronomy Frequencies CRL Carbon Recombination Line CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Australia) CSO Caltech Submillimeter Observatory CSV Commissioning and Science Verification (ALMA) CY Calendar Year (January 1 through December 31) DAC Directly Associated Costs DAL Data Access Layer ΔVLBI Differential Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry DRAO Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory DRX Data Receiver DSAA Division of Science and Academic Affairs DSP Digital Signal Processing DTS Digital Transmission System E2E End-to-End EoR Epoch of Reionization EPO Education and Public Outreach ES&S Environment, Safety, and Security ESO European Southern Observatory ESOF2008 EuroScience Open Forum 2008 EVLA Expanded Very Large Array FASR Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope FCC Federal Communications Commission FCRAO Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory FE Front End FE IPT Front-End Integrated Product Team
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix F - Acronyms and Abbreviations 152
Acronym Definition FIR Far Infra-Red FPA Focal-Plane Array FPGA Field-programmable Gate Array FRI Fanaroff-Riley type I (edge-darkened) radio morphology FRII Fanaroff-Riley type II (edge brightened) radio morphology FRM Focus-Rotation Mount FTE Full-Time Equivalent FY Fiscal Year (October 1 through September 30) GaAs Gallium Arsenide GALEX Galaxy Evolution Explorer GASS Galactic All-Sky Survey GB Green Bank, WV Gbps Giga-bits per second GBSC Green Bank Science Center GBT Green Bank Telescope GBTIDL GBT IDL data-reduction package GC Galactic Center GHz Gigahertz GLAST Gamma-ray Large-Area Space Telescope GLIMPSE Galactic Legacy Infrared Midplane Survey Extraordinaire (Spitzer) GLOBE Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment GMRT Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope GLONASS GLObal NAvigation Satellite System GOODS Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey GPU Graphics Processing Unit GRB Gamma-Ray Burst HBT Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor HFET Heterojunction Field-Effect Transistor HI Neutral Hydrogen HIRES High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer HN Hancock, NH VLBA station HR Human Resources HSA High-Sensitivity Array (VLBA) HST Hubble Space Telescope IAU International Astronomical Union IDL Interactive Data Language IDV Intra-Day Variability IF Intermediate Frequency IGM Inter-Galactic Medium InP Indium Phosphide IOTA Infrared-Optical Telescope Array IPT Integrated Product Team (ALMA) IR InfraRed IRAC Infra-Red Array Camera (Spitzer) IRAM Institut de Radioastronomie Millemétric
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix F - Acronyms and Abbreviations 153
Acronym Definition ISI Infrared Spatial Interferometer (Mt. Wilson) ISM InterStellar Medium IT Information Technology ITEST Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers ITIL Information Technology International Library ITU-R International Telecommunications Union - Radiocommunications IUCAF Inter-Union Commission on Frequency Allocation (IAU) IVOA International Virtual Observatory Alliance JAO Joint ALMA Office JCMT James Clerk Maxwell Telescope JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory JWST James Webb Space Telescope Jy Jansky K band 18–26 GHz band Ka band 26–40 GHz band kHz kiloHertz Ku band 12–18 GHz L band 1–2 GHz LABOCA Large APEX BOlometer CAmera LCBG Luminous Compact Blue Galaxy LEO Low-Earth-Orbiting (satellite) LMT Large Millimeter Telescope LNA Low Noise Amplifier LO Local Oscillator LRU Line-Replaceable Unit LSST Large Synoptic Survey Telescope LWA Long-Wavelength Array LWDA Long-Wavelength Development Array M&C Monitor and Control M&S Materials and Supplies Mbps Mega-bits per second MHz Megahertz MIPS Multi-band Imaging Photometer for Spitzer MIS Management Information Services mJy milliJansky MK Mauna Kea, HI VLBA station mm millimeter MMIC Monolithic Millimeter-wave Integrated Circuit MoO Mission of Opportunity MOU Memorandum of Understanding MPIfR Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie MRI Major Research Instrumentation MSX Midcourse Space eXperiment μas Micro-arcsecond μJy microJansky
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix F - Acronyms and Abbreviations 154
Acronym Definition MUSTANG Multiplexed SQUID/TES Array for Ninety Gigahertz MUSYC Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile MWA Mileura Widefield Array NA North American / Not Applicable / Not Available NAm North American NAASC North American ALMA Science Center NAOJ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Nb Niobium NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NGST Northrop Grumman Space Technologies nHz nanoHertz NIO New Initiatives Office NJIT New Jersey Institute of Technology NMIMT New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology NPR National Public Radio NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory NRC National Research Council NRL Naval Research Laboratory NRQZ National Radio Quiet Zone NSF National Science Foundation NTC NRAO Technology Center (Charlottesville, VA) NVO National Virtual Observatory NVSS NRAO VLA Sky Survey OCC Observatory Computing Council OH Hydroxyl radical OMT OrthoMode Transducer OPT Optical Pointing Telescope (ALMA) OSC Observatory Science Council OSF Operations Support Facility (ALMA, Chile) OTC Observatory Technical Council OVRO Owens Valley Radio Observatory P band 327 MHz PA Product Assurance PAHs Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbons PAPER Precision Array to Probe the Epoch of Reionization pc parsec PdBI Plateau de Bure Interferometer PDR PhotoDissociation Region, Preliminary Design Review pHEMT pseudomorphic High-Electron-Mobility Transistor PI Principal Investigator PLC Programmable Logic Controller PMCS Project Management Control System PSC Pulsar Search Collaboratory PSI Prototype System Integration
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix F - Acronyms and Abbreviations 155
Acronym Definition PST Proposal Submission Tool PT Pie Town, NM VLBA station PTCS Precision Telescope Control System Q band 40–50 GHz QSO Quasi-Stellar Object R&D Research and Development RET Research Experiences for Teachers REU Research Experiences for Undergraduates RF Radio Frequency RFI Radio-Frequency Interference RFP Request for Proposal ROSES Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (NASA) RRL Radio Recombination Line S band 2–4 GHz SAO Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory SARA Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers SC St. Croix, VI VLBA station SDFITS Single-Dish Flexible Image Transport System SDSS Sloan Digital Sky Survey SE&I Systems Engineering and Integration SETI Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence SGPS Southern Galactic Plane Survey SIS Superconductor–Insulator–Superconductor SKA Square Kilometre Array SMT Sub-Millimeter Telescope (University of Arizona) SED Spectral Energy Distribution SMA Sub-Millimeter Array SNR SuperNova Remnant SOC Scientific Organizing Committee / Socorro SPIE International Society for Optical Engineering SPO Scientific Program Order SQUID Superconducting Quantum-Interference Device SRBS Solar Radio-Burst Spectrometer (Green Bank) STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics STScI Space Telescope Science Institute submm submillimeter SWIRE Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic Survey SZA Sunyaev-Zeldovich Array SZE Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect TB Technical Building TDP Technology Development Program (SKA) TES Transition-Edge Superconducting THz TeraHertz UCHII Ultra-Compact Ionized Hydrogen (region) UKIRT United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix F - Acronyms and Abbreviations 156
Acronym Definition ULIRG Ultra-Luminous InfraRed Galaxy UNAM Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico UNM University of New Mexico UV UltraViolet UVa University of Virginia UVES UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph UVML University of Virginia Microfabrication Laboratory VCO Voltage-Controlled Oscillator VLA Very Large Array VLAVC VLA Visitor Center VLBA Very Long Baseline Array VLBI Very Long Baseline Interferometry VLSS VLA Low-frequency Sky Survey VLT Very Large Telescope VLTI/MIDI VLT Interferometer/MiD-Infrared Interferometer VO Virtual Observatory VSOP-2 VLBI Space Observatory Program (2nd generation) W band 68–92 GHz WBS Work Breakdown Structure WHT William Herschel Telescope WRC World Radiocommunication Conference WSRT Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope WVR Water-Vapor Radiometer WWW World-Wide Web X band 8–12 GHz XMM X-ray Multi-Mirror telescope z Redshift
Program Plan FY 2009 Appendix F - Acronyms and Abbreviations 157
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation O operated under a cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.