NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORIES NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORIES FY 1997 PROVISIONAL PROGRAM PLAN September 19,1996 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 1 II. THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: MILESTONES PAST AND FUTURE 3 IE. NIGHTTIME PROGRAM 6 A. Major Projects 6 1. SOAR ".""".6 2. WIYN 8 B. Joint Nighttime Instrumentation Program 9 1. Overview 9 2. Description of Individual Major Projects 10 3. Detectors 13 4. NOAO Explorations of Technology (NExT) Program 14 C. USGP 15 1. Overview 15 2. US Gemini Instrument Program 16 D. Telescope Operations and User Support 17 1. Changes in User Services 17 2. Telescope Upgrades 18 a. CTIO 18 b. KPNO 21 3. Instrumentation Improvements 24 a. CTIO 24 b. KPNO 26 4. Smaller Telescopes 29 IV. NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY 29 A. Major Projects 29 1. Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) 30 2. RISE/PSPT Program 33 3. SOLIS 34 4. Study of CLEAR 35 B. Instrumentation 36 1. General 36 2. Sacramento Peak 36 3. NSO/KittPeak 38 a. Infrared Program 38 b. Telescope Improvement 40 C. Telescope Operations and User Support 41 1. Sacramento Peak 41 2. NSO/KittPeak 42 V. THE SCIENTIFIC STAFF 42 VI. EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH 45 A. Educational Program 45 1. Direct Classroom Involvement 46 2. Development of Instructional Materials 46 3. WWW Distribution of Science Resources 47 4. Outreach Advisory Board 47 5. Undergraduate Education 47 6. Graduate Education 47 7. Educational Partnership Programs 47 B. Public Information 48 1. Press Releases and Other Interactions With the Media 48 2. Images 48 3 Visitor Center 48 C. Research Experience for Undergraduates 48 VII. COMPUTER SERVICES 50 A. NOAO-Tucson 50 B. KPNO - Kitt Peak 51 C. CTIO - La Serena 52 D. CTIO - Cerro Tololo 53 E. CTIO Communications 54 F. NSO - Sacramento Peak 55 1. Main Lab 55 2. Telescope Computers 56 G. NSO - Tucson 56 H. NSO-Kitt Peak 57 I. IRAF 57 Vin. FACILITIES MAINTENANCE 58 A. Cerro Tololo 59 B. KPNO 60 C. Tucson: Central Facilities and Operations 61 D. Sacramento Peak 62 E. NSO/KittPeak 63 IX. CENTRAL SERVICES 64 X. THE BUDGET 65 Appendix: Scientific Staff: Research Interests and Service Roles CTIO i Tucson Nighttime xv NSO xlvi I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW NOAO and AURA have recently submitted a proposal to renew for four years the cooperative agreement under which we operate. That proposal outlined what we plan to accomplish between now and the year 2000. The program plan for FY 1997, which is described in this current submission, provides more detail on the specific activities that will be undertaken during the coming fiscal year but is entirely consistent with the renewal proposal. To place the program plan in context, we summarize here the long term goals outlined in the proposal to renew the cooperativeagreement. Astronomers using NOAO facilities pursue studies of objects as nearby as the Sun and planets and as distant as quasars formed when the universe was only a few percent of its current age. These studies require both imagingand spectroscopy throughout the optical and infrared regions of the spectrum at a range of spectral and angular resolutions. To pursue these studies, NOAO plans to provide access to a suite of state-of-the-art facilities for both solar and nighttime astronomy and to supporting facilities and instruments that will provide the types of observations required to use the forefront facilities effectively. In nighttime astronomy, the first priority is to complete the Gemini telescopes, which is the task of the international Gemini project, but NOAO's own first priority is to provide the additional support expected from each of the Gemini partners. To this end, NOAO has established the US Gemini Program as a fourth division of NOAO. During the construction phase, the USGP is responsible for managing the work packages assigned to the US; managing the entire infrared instrumentation program; obtaining input on scientific requirements and goals from the US community; and disseminating information about the project. During operations, the USGP will in addition be responsiblefor supporting the US user community in all activities before and after the observingruns themselves. These activities include providing information about facilities and instruments and expert advice concerning proposal preparation; soliciting and evaluating proposals from the US; supplying data reduction support and software; coordinating maintenance support for systems provided by the US; and providing such other support for queue observing, remote observing, and access to archived data as may be required. In addition, Gemini is interested in sharing NOAO's infrared instruments, particularly in the southern hemisphere, to supplement the instrument complement being provided as part of the construction budget. Because of budget reductions over the past fourteen years (northern hemisphere operations have been essentially level-dollar funded as measured in current year dollars throughout that period of time; in effect, we have had to absorb all inflation since 1984), we are now at the position where the nighttimeobservatories can operate and instrument only three telescopes at each site. A primary goal is to upgrade one of the three telescopes at CTIO to a new 4-m class telescope. The project that we hope to initiate this year, depending on the availability of funding from partners, is SOAR (Southern Observatory for Astronomical Research). The partners are the University of North Carolina, Michigan State, and Brazil. With the completion of that telescope, KPNO and CTIO would then each operate two 4-m class telescopes and one intermediate aperture telescope, with the intermediate-size telescope being used primarily for imaging. Those intermediate apertures are currently the 2.1-m and 1.5-m telescopes, which would require substantial upgrades to meet current image quality expectations. NOAO will work with the community in the coming year to develop a consensus on the role and desired performance of the imaging telescopes, with the longer term goal of obtaining new 2.4-m telescopes for each site through industrials partnerships. The Mayall and Blanco telescopes would be used primarily for observations requiring a large field of view (tens of arcminutes) and moderately good image quality. The WIYN and SOAR both will take advantage of new technologies to offer excellent image quality, and SOAR will be designed so that infrared instruments built for it can also be used at the Gemini telescopes. Key to keeping these telescopes competitive is the instrumentation with which they are equipped. During the time period covered by the renewal proposal, NOAO plans to build for the nighttime telescopes two CCD mosaic imagers, one for each hemisphere; an upgraded Cryogenic Optical Bench for ER imaging at CTIO; an R = 100,000 IR spectrometer (Phoenix); a multi-fiber spectrograph for CTIO (Hydra-clone); and a high throughput optical spectrograph. NOAO will also build an infrared spectrometer under contract to the international Gemini project and will provide infrared arrays (1024 x 1024 IriSb) and IR controllers to Gemini. We have initiated discussions with Ohio State University with the goal of having OSU provide an IR imager/spectrometer for KPNO. The current program plan describes what we plan to achieve on each of these projects during FY 1997. The long-range scientific program of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) is organized around a community-wide effort to understand the solar activity cycle. Helioseismology has opened a window into the Sun that will provide, for the first time, the quantitative knowledge of interior structure and dynamics that is necessary to constrain models of the solar dynamo. By combining helioseismology with measurements of the solar atmosphere from ground and space, astronomers will be able to follow solar-cycle variations from the radiative core to the outer corona and ultimately to Earth. The program that NSO proposes to exploit this unprecedented opportunity has four cornerstones: GONG, RISE, SOLIS, and CLEAR. The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) is now fully operational and surpassing its initial performance goals. Moreover, it is known that solar oscillation frequencies vary during the solar cycle. The GONG Scientific Advisory committee has recommended that the operation of GONG be continued for a solar cycle, and a proposal will be prepared by the GONG project for this extension of operations. The second cornerstone of NSO's program is a pair of Precision Solar Photometric Telescopes (PSPTs) that are currently under construction as a component of a broader national program (Radiative Inputs of the Sun to Earth or RISE) to study solar irradiance variations and their effect on global change: The PSPT telescopes will be deployed in 1997. The third NSO cornerstone is SOLIS (Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun), which will provide the sustained high-quality synoptic observations that are necessary to understand the operation of the solar cycle. A proposal to fund the construction of SOLIS is currently under review at the NSF. The final cornerstone of NSO's program is a large-aperture OIR telescope to replace both the Vacuum Tower Telescope and the McMath-Pierce Telescope. For its flagship facility, NSO is currently evaluating the technical feasibility of CLEAR (Coronagraphic and Low Emissivity Astronomical Reflector), a 2- to 4-m telescope for high angular resolution observations of the solar disk and corona. The feasibility study will be completed in 1997, and NSO will then consult with the solar community to decide which (if any) of the several concepts it has considered should be formally proposed. The NSF has requested a study from the NAS/NRC to advise the Astronomy Division on the long-term priorities of NSF-supported groundbased solar astronomy. The future plans for the current NSO facilities will have to be consistent with NSF's recommendations. This Program Plan proposes investments in facilities and site upgrades and maintenance on the assumption that NSO is continuing operations at both Kitt Peak and Sacramento Peak for the immediate term.