Annual Report 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Trustee's Letter....................................3 Director's Letter..................................4 Public Program Highlights..................5 Science Highlights..............................6 Peer-Reviewed Publications...............13 Conference Proceedings & Abstracts...18 Statement of Financial Position..........22 Photo Credits...................................25 Trustee’s Letter Lowell Putnam Trustee y remarks for 2013 are brief as MI only became Sole Trustee at the end of October. I would like to express my respect and admiration for the work of my father, Bill Putnam. As Sole Trustee for 26 years, his leadership and direction have raised the level of the observatory in so many ways. There is much challenge and opportunity ahead of us, but we have a strong base to grow on thanks to his efforts. We have a great staff, stronger participation by our Advisory Board and a growing group of supporters in the private sector. I am looking forward to 2014! ■ 3 Director's Letter Jeff Hall Director or a starting point for this letter in Bill Putnam retired after 26 years; a recently with the addition of a wildly FLowell Observatory’s 2013 Annual message from his son, and my new boss, popular suite of summer camps for Report, I took a quick look at what I accompanies this letter. pre-K and elementary school students. wrote last year. Here’s a short extract: One other thing we did was to The central tool of our profession is the “At the start of the DCT’s construction, convene a new Visiting Committee, telescope, and we have a real beauty of just three months after groundbreaking comprised of seven distinguished a new telescope. Our staff is incredibly at Happy Jack, we convened the Visiting astronomers and scientists, to pay us dedicated to the institution. We have a Committee that our Trustee Bill Putnam a visit for two days in September of skilled and committed Advisory Board refers to in his letter accompanying 2013 and provide an outside eye on our that is playing an increasingly prominent mine…the document the committee operations. As we head into 2014, we and diverse role in supporting our produced proved a thoughtful and are acting on their recommendations, mission. With these essentials in place, prescient guide that helped the addressing areas where they provided this institution has a bright future and Discovery Channel Telescope become a helpful and constructive criticism and it’s an honor to be part of it. ■ reality.” doing our best to leverage those areas By prescient, I was referring to the where they offered compliments, in Visiting Committee’s comment that particular the success of the DCT. I building the DCT would change every intend that in five years or so, when aspect of Lowell Observatory. It did, we convene the next such Committee, and you are holding the report of an they will also be able to look back institution in the midst of that profound through the current lens more clearly change. and compliment us on surmounting the Our new telescope is rapidly current challenges. coming on line, with almost 90 science On December 31, 2013, my family nights delivered in 2013 and 180 and I went down to the corner of Beaver planned for 2014. Our staff is growing, and Leroux in Flagstaff to watch the approaching 100 employees as of this annual pine cone drop. I remember writing, and further hires are needed. watching the last moments of the old Our suite of institutional partnerships year tick away and feeling happy and is growing, with Northern Arizona confident that we will surmount those University having joined Boston challenges, because the fundamentals University, the University of Maryland, are good. As you will see in the science and the University of Toledo in access highlights herein, our research is to DCT. Our operating budget is world-class. Our outreach programs increasing. And in late 2013 our Trustee are outstanding and growing, most 4 2013 Public Program Highlights n 2013, Lowell welcomed 75,410 Iguests through the doors of the Steele Visitor Center for public and private programs. Regularly scheduled daytime activities included grounds tours, hands-on presentations, science demonstrations, and solar viewing. Nighttime programming included telescope viewing, SlipherVision (our 3D portable digital planetarium) presentations, and stargazing. The Starry Skies Shop stayed open during public and private functions, as did the exhibit hall. Samantha Christensen, Education Coordinator, directed efforts to build on the success of the first summer day camps developed in 2012. For 2013, camp leaders included Lowell educators, student interns from Mesa Community College, and local Newly appointed Outreach Manager Samantha Christensen helped teach Tykes teachers from the Flagstaff Unified Camp participants about balance using mobiles. This was just one of the many School District. Professional (Lowell hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities in which scientists) and amateur astronomers campers participated. also participated. In addition to these summer camps, the observatory added and circulated by SITES). Tykes Camps to the suite of STEM- In anticipation of closing the themed, activity-rich programming. Clark Telescope for much-needed These hands-on opportunities renovation, staff supplemented targeted youth ages three to five who, normal fundraising efforts to accompanied by a parent, learned financially support this effort with a fundamental scientific concepts during crowdsourcing project that generated two-hour programs. donations via the internet. Total Following removal of the fundraising efforts resulted in nearly outdated permanent exhibit in 2012, $300,000 raised for the renovation, we continued to use the main exhibit and the project is set to take place in hall to house several traveling exhibits, 2014-2015. including A New Perspective of Mars: In November, Kevin Schindler The Red Planet in 3D (created by the stepped down from his position as European Space Agency and DLR, the Outreach Manager to take on the new German Aerospace Center), Suited role of Communications Manager. for Space (created by the Smithsonian Samantha Christensen assumed the Institution Traveling Exhibition position of Outreach Manager. ■ Service (SITES) and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum), and The Evolving Universe (developed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, 5 2013 Science Highlights Kevin Covey Last, but not least, I also had FLITECAM but also wrapped up some Over the past year, I have the pleasure and good fortune to remaining tests for HIPO. From my continued my research into the collaborate with Sarah Smith, a master's personal perspective the highlights were properties and environments of the student in Applied Physics at Northern two demonstration extrasolar planet youngest stars. Arizona University, who successfully transit observations and a series of My primary project is the INfrared defended her thesis in April. For tests aimed at understanding how to Survey of Young Nebulous Clusters her thesis, Sarah worked with me to get the best photometric precision we (IN-SYNC), a Sloan Digital Sky Survey calibrate near-infrared emission lines can manage with our instruments on ancillary science program that I am as accretion indicators for young T SOFIA. leading, along with key collaborators Tauri stars, deriving new results for We know from our previous work from ETH-Zurich (Michiel Cottaar several lines which had never been with the PSST planet search system & Michael Meyer), the University of calibrated for such heavily accreting and Kepler that precise photometry Florida (Jonathan Tan & Nicola Da stars. Sarah's analysis also suggests that doesn't come easily, and SOFIA has its Rio) and Yale University (Jonathan the relationships used to correct stellar share of troubles too. We have found Foster). With high-quality near-infrared spectra for the influence of dust may not that the star position on our CCD, spectroscopic data for thousands of apply to the youngest stars, a conclusion small focus changes, the outside air young stars in the Perseus and Orion that could have important implications density, ozone overburden (except at star-forming regions, the IN-SYNC for previous measurements of young blue and very red wavelengths), and team has provided the most accurate stars and star-forming regions. ■ the size of the area of sky around the measurements to date of the internal object we're observing are all important motions within each of these star Ted Dunham factors. Fortunately we can control forming regions, providing a critical test most of these and make measurements for theoretical models of the formation This year all the development, for the others that we can use to back and evolution of young clusters. These engineering, and test work we've put out their effects later. Although we data also reveal that stars in a single into HIPO and SOFIA since 1997 has are still working hard on all this, we've cluster with identical temperatures can finally borne fruit. In the last eight already reached a fractional noise level nonetheless vary in size by up to 25%, months, the HIPO team was finally of several hundredths of a percent with likely a signature of the different ages able to work in some science flights time resolution of a half minute or so, or magnetic properties of the stars in with SOFIA! Peter Collins, Georgi good enough to start doing useful work question. Much of this work, the final Mandushev, and I flew HIPO with that can't be done from the ground. component of Michiel Cottar's Ph.D. FLITECAM twice in September of Although SOFIA is working thesis, will be published this summer 2013, the last flight being the night really well and there are four SOFIA in two papers focusing on the young the Government shut down, and six instruments that have flown many cluster IC 348, with subsequent papers times in February 2014.