AURA/NOAO ANNUAL REPORT FY 2008 Submitted to the National Science Foundation July 23, 2008 Revised as Complete and Submitted December 23, 2008 NGC 660, ~13 Mpc from the Earth, is a peculiar, polar ring galaxy that resulted from two galaxies colliding. It consists of a nearly edge-on disk and a strongly warped outer disk. Image Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska, Anchorage NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY NOAO ANNUAL REPORT FY 2008 Submitted to the National Science Foundation December 23, 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 1 1 SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS ..................................................................................... 2 1.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory...................................................................................... 2 The Once and Future Supernova η Carinae...................................................................................................... 2 A Stellar Merger and a Missing White Dwarf.................................................................................................. 3 Imaging the COSMOS...................................................................................................................................... 3 The Hubble Constant from a Gravitational Lens.............................................................................................. 4 A New Dwarf Nova in the Period Gap............................................................................................................. 4 The Sooty Star RV Coronae Borealis............................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Kitt Peak National Observatory....................................................................................................... 4 Broad Scientific and Educational Impact Continues........................................................................................ 4 New Accretion Disk Paradigm from a Model Diverse Scientific Partnership ................................................ 5 The Better Known Dark Matter ........................................................................................................................ 5 Multiwavelength Science Enabled by KPNO Observations............................................................................ 6 Small Telescope Helps Discover Future Binary Black Hole System .............................................................. 6 Completed NOAO Survey Programs Produce New Discoveries.................................................................... 6 KPNO’s Role in Graduate Education and Developing Instrumentalists ......................................................... 6 1.3 NOAO Gemini Science Center ....................................................................................................... 7 GNIRS Observations of a Blast Wave from the 1843 Eruption of η Carinae................................................. 7 The Gemini Deep Planet Survey....................................................................................................................... 7 2 GROUND-BASED O/IR OBSERVING SYSTEM............................................................................. 10 2.1 Strategy and Goals ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.2 CTIO Telescopes........................................................................................................................... 10 Blanco 4-m Telescope..................................................................................................................................... 11 Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope ................................................................................... 12 SMARTS Consortium Operation of the CTIO Small Telescopes................................................................. 13 Tenant Observatories....................................................................................................................................... 13 Infrastructure and Support............................................................................................................................... 13 Site Protection.................................................................................................................................................. 14 2.3 KPNO Telescopes ......................................................................................................................... 14 The National Observatory Celebrates 50 Years ............................................................................................. 15 Mayall 4-m Telescope..................................................................................................................................... 15 WIYN 3.5-m Telescope .................................................................................................................................. 16 2.1-m Telescope .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Tenant Observatories....................................................................................................................................... 18 Relations with the Tohono O’odham Nation.................................................................................................. 19 Operations and Instrumentation Partnerships................................................................................................. 19 General Site Infrastructure Improvements...................................................................................................... 19 Site Protection.................................................................................................................................................. 19 2.4 The Gemini Observatory............................................................................................................... 20 Support of U.S. Gemini Users and Proposers................................................................................................. 20 Providing U.S. Scientific and Operational Input to Gemini........................................................................... 21 U.S. Gemini Instrumentation Program ........................................................................................................... 22 i NOAO ANNUAL REPORT FY 2008 2.5 System Development .....................................................................................................................22 ReSTAR .......................................................................................................................................................... 23 ALTAIR .......................................................................................................................................................... 25 2.6 System Implementation ..................................................................................................................26 Telescope System Instrumentation Program.................................................................................................. 26 Telescope Time Allocation............................................................................................................................. 26 2.7 System Instrumentation ..................................................................................................................27 NOAO Extremely Wide-Field IR Imager ...................................................................................................... 27 SOAR Adaptive Optics Module..................................................................................................................... 28 MONSOON Detector Controller.................................................................................................................... 29 ReSTAR Implementation ............................................................................................................................... 30 2.8 NOAO Data Products Program......................................................................................................30 Data Management System .............................................................................................................................. 30 Science Support Software ............................................................................................................................... 32 National Virtual Observatory.......................................................................................................................... 33 2.9 Large-Aperture Synoptic Survey Telescope ..................................................................................34 Telescope and Site........................................................................................................................................... 34 Science and Science Collaboration................................................................................................................. 35 2.10 Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope ...............................................................................................35 Staffing ...........................................................................................................................................................