Renewing Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research (ReSTAR) Phase 1

Association Of Universities For Research In Astronomy, Inc., Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the second year of a three year effort for the first phase (of a projected three phases) of a program to increase community access to optical and infrared telescopes and instrumentation of small and medium aperture telescopes (smaller than 6-meters). The motivation for this program comes from the report of the 2006 AST Senior Review that identified important scientific issues that could, and should, be best addressed with modest telescopes. A ReSTAR (Renewing Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research) committee was formed to formulate a path for responding to the report of the Senior Review. This committee conducted a community science survey and capabilities assessment. Their report made several recommendations including the addition of moderate resolution spectrographs designed to operate in the optical and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This award specifically supports the development and installation of two new spectrographs on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, bringing much-needed new instrumentation to this NSF funded southern observatory. One of these spectrographs - COSMOS (CTIO Ohio State Multi Object Spectrograph) - will support moderate resolution multi-object spectroscopy in the optical band. The other - TripleSpec - will offer moderate resolution spectroscopy in the near infrared. The science applications are many and varied and are given in detail in the ReSTAR Committee Report. The broader impacts of these two new instruments are very significant as they will add much needed new capabilities to a telescope that is available to the U.S. and international astronomy communities via competitive merit review.