Support for the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) Mayall 4-meter Telescope Facility

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

Investigators

Abstract

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) will operate and maintain the Mayall 4-m telescope located on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona, during the FY16 - FY18 period to enable the following four key activities: (a) general scientific research by community scientists, prioritized by a community-based peer review process (approximately 240 nights); (b) execution of an imaging survey of the one-quarter of the night sky in near-infrared light (approximately 250 nights) to produce a high-value public dataset; (c) installation of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI); and (d) essential corrective and preventive technical maintenance as well as minor technology improvements necessary for the successful continued operation of the Mayall. This work will be accomplished within a collaborative agreement between NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE). KPNO is a unit of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF). Intellectual Merit: Research supported by this award will probe a broad range of modern astronomy and astrophysics issues including the nature of asteroids and dwarf planets in the Solar System, the formation and evolution of our own Milky Way galaxy as well as galaxies in the distant universe, and the distribution of dark matter and its influence on cosmic evolution. The wide-field near-infrared survey will be the foundation for creating a more accurate three-dimensional map of the Universe with DESI. In turn, that map will be used to distinguish between the competing effects of gravitation ("pull") and the still mysterious dark energy ("push") on the evolution of the Universe over the last 10 billion years. Calibrated images (as well as object catalogs from the near-infrared imaging survey) will be publicly available in a form that will allow creative reuse, multiplying their research value considerably. Broader Impacts: Open access for enquiry-based research via peer review and open data for all will allow scientists and citizens to engage in the NOAO/KPNO research enterprise no matter who they are or where they work. The story of DESI, its technology as well as a new 3D map of the universe and what we learn from that, will be a central public engagement opportunity at the Kitt Peak Visitor Center, which receives more than 40,000 visitors per year. The DESI project brings together two federal agencies, five US federal research centers, two major private philanthropic organizations, and 16 US universities as well as highly specialized industrial partners. Many participants are early career scientists, some as early as undergraduate. In turn, the DESI project will transform the Mayall into one of the premier spectroscopic survey facilities in the world, leveraging more than 50 years of NSF investment in the Mayall and extending its scientific impact deep into the 21st century.