Leading CanariCam Science Team Mid-IR Astronomy at the 10.4-m GTC

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

Located in the Canary Islands, the 10.4-meter diameter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) is the largest optical-infrared telescope in the world. The PI of this award led the team that built the GTC's "CanariCam", a unique camera that images heat radiation from galaxies, star-forming regions, young planetary systems, supernovae, and other phenomena at the frontiers of astrophysics. To maximize the science productivity of telescope time provided in return for CanariCam development and to forge a strong international science collaboration, the CanariCam Science Team (CCST) was formed to provide access to this enormous telescope to US astronomers, including graduate students and post-docs, who would not otherwise be permitted to use it. This NSF award supports essential activities of this international team, particularly science planning, observing, analysis, and dissemination of results. This program also introduces many US astronomers to observational techniques with which they are unlikely to have had much previous experience, and it provides graduate students and post-docs an unparalleled opportunity to receive training in an international environment while exposing them to advanced astronomical techniques and research at the world's largest telescope. This NSF award provides critical on-going support to assure the success of the CanariCam Science Team (CCST). A highly diverse set of science programs proposed by individual scientists on the CCST are shaped by the PI into a coherent super-program to be carried out across several observing semesters and on any particular night. Especially for more complex programs, the PI meets face-to-face with CCST members and travels to the telescope for some observing runs to ensure that all CCST observations are carried out smoothly and efficiently by GTC staff. Data reduction for CanariCam is supported formally in publicly available IRAF routines, but this award also supports community-wide dissemination of high-quality, mostly IDL, reduction and analysis routines developed by CCST members for their own purposes. Finally, annual team meetings supported by this award play a critical role in engaging and training students and postdocs, since they are scientifically intense and hands-on experiences in which real science is being planned, discussed, and debated.