NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY Observing Summary - 1979 Statistics February 1980 NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY Observing Summary - 1979 Statistics February 1980 Some Highlights of the 1979 Research Program By the end of the year observations had been made at the VLA site with an array of 19 antennas. The longest astronomically usable baseline was approximately 24 km between antennas at 17.2 km on the southwest arm and at 10.5 km on the east arm. The first VLA scientific spectral line research was completed during the last quarter of the year. As part of an extensive study of the dynamical properties of spiral galaxies of all luminosities along the Hubble sequence, the 300-ft telescope was used to survey a sample of high luminosity spirals having optical rotation curves which do not decrease at large distances from the nucleus. The search was carried out in an effort to determine if neutral hydrogen exists at radial distances of two to three times the optical image and if so at what rotational velocities. The presence of significant mass located at large nuclear distances is important for an under¬ standing of galaxy formation and evolution. Up to seven antennas have been used in conjunction with the 140-ft telescope in a VLBI experiment designed to investigate the detailed structure of the peculiar galactic source SS 433. Elongated structure on the order of an arcsecond in size is apparently roughly aligned with the bulges in the surrounding HII region, W50. The alignment suggests that the two objects are related and pose interesting parallels with extragalactic jet radio sources which are many orders of magni¬ tude larger in size and mass. The VLA was used in a series of experiments to map the radio brightness distribution of the re¬ gion around the double quasar 0957-561. The asymmetric radio picture is more complicated than the simple two-point optical one of two quasars with identical redshifts. Ultimately, it is hoped to be able to adequately test the hypothesis that these objects are gravitational lens images of a single object. Further monitoring for variability is, however, necessary. 2 Studies of the distribution of 1 C0 and -^CO in ^^ Galaxy have continued in order to probe in detail the association between the atomic and molecular gas distributions. Molecular cloud sizes, masses, typical separations, and radial distributions are under investigation. ^CO molecular features near the galactic center region were further studied in order to pursue several predictions of the model which confines the inner-galaxy gas to a smooth, rotating and expanding, tilted disk. Observing Hours 40 est. est. est. est. est. 30 est. o o o ;&-ggj 'M8& x 20 o in 1970 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Calendar Year 1300-Foot 140-Foot ^M36-Foot WJ\ Interferometer ilil/Z./? Fig. 1. This figure shows the hours scheduled for observing on each telescope during the last decade. Distribution of Scheduled Observing Time 36-Foot 140-Foot 300-Foot o o o 1970 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 1970 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 1970 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 Calendar Year Calendar Year Calendar Year \NRA0 Staff I Visitors I Testing and Calibration Fig. 2. These graphs show the number of hours scheduled for calibration and tests and for observing by the NRAO staff and by visitors on each telescope system during the last decade. 36-Foot Radio Telescope Summary 100 - — A A 4 ^ / /" ^ /" 80 Ay r A r A^ f A ^ ^* /** \ \ / - ^ / 1 \ i / / \ S \ ^1 / V 60 A A A r \l [I WV A, - / V V - Q_ 40 A / \ W A A ti /^ jI \ flV - \l A V A A / j u \ \ ,.. / \ \ / \ • \ / y \ 20- ** y / > \ 1 t ^. VV / / J. „ / \) f V J > -•*>. -«*> — V, rfr» T 7 .y J / \. I t / v.- 5/ 1 1 ._«' t J Calendar Year Observing Installation, Maintenance and Calibration Equipment Failure, Weather and Interference Fig. 3. This summary for each quarter of the calendar year shows the percentage of time the telescope was scheduled for observing, for routine calibration, maintenance, and installation of new experiments, and the percentage of time lost due to equipment failure, bad weather, and radio interference. The telescope is removed from service for a period of 4-6 weeks each summer, during the wet season. This period is used for maintenance and upgrading of the instrument. 140-Foot Radio Telescope Summary 100 >N ^_ ^_ ■N /^ ^S ^ A -" V, s~ ^ ^v r ^ / \/ v < /■ /" s /- 80 >• f V A A V - / s/ - A A / V r 60 f - - 40 ^ lO" - - \ 20 j \ / A V A /N ^ ^\ / v V ^s S / — ^ - - CM V ■— V V- ^ ..— ^7 V d v.- V- - '"v. -*»* 1970 1971 ' 1972 ' 1973 ' 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Calendar Year Observing Installation, Maintenance and Calibration Equipment Failure, Weather and Interference Fig. 4. This summary for each quarter of the calendar year shows the percentage of time the telescope was scheduled for observing, for routine calibration, maintenance, and installation of new experiments, and the percentage of time lost due to equipment failure, bad weather, and radio interference. Major improvements to the telescope system include: 1972 - new control computer and resetting surface; 1974 - installation of the cassegrain system; 1977 - data processing computer and installation of the maser cassegrain system; and 1978 - tests of the deformable subreflector. 300-Foot Radio Telescope Summary 100 - — - — "N /^ **s A - /^ ^^ ^- -v ^ ^ - \^ - A i r S^ V V 80 \ f v ^ , s// ^v ^ \ \ / 60 V \ r V - - CD ^ 40 I - - / / A \ 20 s ^ / A \ A ss / -y V - —- J v ^ ^ ^- ^ — ^ \^ -— ^ < X «*•»•.. -—.-''~" -•i^ ^ 0 I Calendar Year Observing — Installation, Maintenance and Calibration Equipment Failure, Weather and Interference Fig. 5. This summary for each quarter of the calendar year shows the percentage of time the telescope was scheduled for observing, for routine calibration, maintenance, and installation of new experiments, and the percentage of time lost due to equipment failure, bad weather, and radio interference. The telescope was resurfaced in 1970 and painted in 1973. Very Large Array Telescope Summary During 1979 the principal activity at the VLA site in New Mexico continued to be the construc¬ tion and installation of the array. With the completed portion of the array the limited program of tests, calibrations, and observations that was begun in previous years was greatly expanded, using up to 19 antennas. Observing frequencies included 1400-1700 MHz, 5000 MHz, 15 GHz, and 22 GHz. Throughout 1979, approximately 1209 hours were scheduled for test and calibration, and fully 2464 additional hours were scheduled for research programs involving 159 observers. A total of 136 visitors and students used the VLA during 1979. Full-Time Permanent Employees 450 400 \\/LA Construction 350 | Research and Operations 300 250 e 200 150 100 50 1111111111111111111111111 1957 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 \ ., /\ / Fiscal Year Calendar Year Fig. 6. This figure shows the total number of NRAO full-time, permanent employees at the end of each year, projected into the future. Number of People Observing With NRAO Telescopes 1959 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Calendar Year Fig. 7. This bar chart shows for each calendar year the number of NRAO permanent research staff and the number of research associates who use the telescopes. In addition, it shows the total number of visitor-users of NRAO telescopes and the number of institutions from which the NRAO visitors come. Distribution of Telescope Time by Per Cent (Excluding VLA) 36-Foot 140-Foot 300-Foot 1979 Summary Visitors 56% 48% 39% 48% Students 8 7 21 12 Permanent Staff 11 15 17 14 Research Associates 0 16 8 8 Test and Calibrate 7 4 6 6 Maintenance and Installation 17 9 7 11 Holidays and Unscheduled 10 Institutions from which Visitors Came to Use NRAO Telescopes during 1979 Telescope Institution 36-ft 140-ft 300-ft VLA 1. Aerospace Corporation 2. American Science and Engineering 3. Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Italy 4. Arizona, U. of 5. Arizona State U. 6. Bell Telephone Laboratories x 7. Berkeley, U. of California x 8. Bo chum, U. of, W. Germany 9. Bowling Green State U. 10. Brandeis U. 11. British Columbia, U. of, Canada x 12. California Inst, of Technology x 13. Carter Obs., New Zealand 14. Chalmers U. of Tech., Sweden 15. Chicago, U. of 16. Columbia U. x 17. Copernicus, U. of, Poland x 18. Cornell U. X 19. CSIRO, Australia X 20. Davis, U. of California X 21. DTM, Carnegie 22. ESO, Switzerland 23. Florida, U. of 24. Fordham U. 25. George Mason U. 11 Telescope Institution 36-ft 140-ft 300-ft VLA 26. Hale Obs. 27. Harvard, Center for Astrophysics 28. Hawaii, U. of 29. Haystack Research Facility 30. Helsinki, U. of, Finland 31. Herzberg Inst., Canada 32. Illinois, U. of 33. Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton 34. Institute for Space Research, Moscow, USSR 35. Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK 36. Iowa, U. of 37. Jet Propulsion Laboratory x 38. JILA, Boulder x 39. Jodrell Bank, England 40. Kapteyn Lab, Groningen, Netherlands 41. Kentucky, U. of 42. Kitt Peak National Observatory 43. Laboratorio di Radio Astronomy, Bologna, Italy 44. Lick Observatory 45. Leiden Observatory, Netherlands 46. Lockheed Research Lab 47. Manhattan College 48. Maryland, U. of x 49. Massachusetts, U. of x 50. Massachusetts Inst, of Tech. X 12 Telescope Institution 36-ft 140-ft 300-ft VLA 51.