← LeaderboardsInvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc.
$2,608,104
Total funding
10
Grants
Funding over time
peak $1.4M · FY2014–22$2M$1.5M$1M$500K$0
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
Funding mix
By agency
NASA$2,608,104 · 10
By mechanism
—$2,608,104 · 10
Investigators at Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc.
InvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Exposure= the full size of every grant they're on ($1M each).
Rising Stars
First grant in the last 5 yrs
Not enough data
Emerging Leaders
6–10 yrs in
Not enough data
All-Time
Most funded here, all years
Not enough data
Largest grants
LAS CUMBRES OBSERVATORY (LCO) HAS BEEN OPERATING THE FIRST PHASE OF A DISTRIBUTED TELESCOPE NETWORK FOR NEARLY THREE YEARS. THE TELESCOPE NETWORK NOW CONSISTS OF TWO 2-METER TELESCOPES ONE EACH AT A SITE IN EACH HEMISPHERE NINE 1-METER TELESCOPES WITH ONE TELESCOPE AT ONE LOCATION IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE AND EIGHT TELESCOPES AT THREE LOCATIONS IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. THE GLOBAL COVERAGE OF THE NETWORK AND THE APERTURES OF TELESCOPE AVAILABLE MAKE THE LCO NETWORK IDEAL FOR FOLLOW-UP AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A WIDE RANGE OF SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS (E.G. ASTEROIDS KUIPER BELT OBJECTS COMETS) AND IN PARTICULAR NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS (NEOS). WE HAVE BEEN UTILIZING THE TWO 2-METER TELESCOPES AND NINE 1-METER TELESCOPES AS PART OF THE 'LCOGT/LCO NEO FOLLOW-UP NETWORK' SINCE 2013 AND THIS PROGRAM WAS GREATLY ENHANCED WITH THE RECEIPT OF A NASA NEOO GRANT FROM THE ROSES2013 PROGRAM. THE COMBINATION OF ALL-SKY ACCESS LARGE APERTURE RAPID RESPONSE ROBOTIC OPERATION AND GOOD SITE CONDITIONS HAVE ALLOWED US TO PROVIDE TIME-CRITICAL FOLLOW-UP ASTROMETRY AND PHOTOMETRY ON NEWLY DISCOVERED OBJECTS AND FAINT OBJECTS ALLOWING THE ORBITAL ARC TO BE EXTENDED AND PREVENTING LOSS OF OBJECTS. THE LCO NEO FOLLOW-UP NETWORK IS NOW PROVIDING IMPORTANT NEO FOLLOW-UP FOR THE SURVEYS PARTICULARLY IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE WHERE LCO HAS A LARGE CONCENTRATION OF TELESCOPES AND OTHER RESOURCES ARE SCARCE. DURING THE PREVIOUS NASA NEOO GRANT WE HAVE BUILT AND DEPLOYED A NEW OBSERVING PORTAL (NEOEXCHANGE) WHICH COLLECTS AND AGGREGATES DATA FOR A VARIETY OF SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS FROM THE MPC AND THE PLANETARY RADAR AND NASA TARGET LISTS. NEOEXCHANGE ALLOWS THE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING OF TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS AND THE ANALYSIS AND REPORTING OF THE DATA FOR MULTIPLE USERS RUNNING DIFFERENT OBSERVING PROGRAMS ON THE LCO NETWORK. WE WISH TO CONTINUE OUR SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM OF ROBOTIC OBSERVATIONS OF NEOS AND OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS THAT ARE BEING CARRIED OUT WITH THE LCO NEO FOLLOW-UP NETWORK AND ITS NEOEXCHANGE PORTAL AND EXTEND IT TO ALLOW FASTER AND MORE AUTOMATED RESPONSES AND TO FURTHER INCREASE THE THROUGHPUT OF CANDIDATES THAT ARE CONFIRMED. IN ADDITION WE WISH TO MAKE PHOTOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF HIGH VALUE NEOS AUTOMATIC AND ROUTINE. THESE HIGH VALUE NEOS ARE THOSE THAT ARE SCHEDULED FOR RADAR OBSERVATION COULD BECOME POTENTIAL MISSION DESTINATIONS FOR SPACECRAFT OR THAT HAVE POTENTIAL CLOSE-APPROACHES TO THE EARTH. WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS THROUGH THE AUTOMATED SCHEDULING AND ANALYSIS OF MULTI-COLOR (INCLUDING QUASI-SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATIONS MAKING USE OF LCO'S MULTIPLE TELESCOPES AT ONE SITE) AND TIME-SERIES OBSERVATIONS. THIS PROPOSAL IS HIGHLY RESPONSIVE TO THE GOALS OF THE NEOO PROGRAM BY HELPING TO INVENTORY AND CHARACTERIZE NEOS DOWN TO SMALL SIZES. THIS DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE CONGRESSIONALLY-MANDATED GOAL OF TRACKING AND CHARACTERIZING 90% OF THOSE NEOS THAT ARE GREATER THAN 140 METERS IN DIAMETER. COMBINING THE ASTROMETRY WITH ENHANCED DATA SUCH AS COLORS ROTATION RATES AND SPECTRA WILL ALLOW BETTER CHARACTERIZATION OF POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS EARTH-CROSSING OBJECTS AND POTENTIAL NEAR-EARTH NASA SPACECRAFT MISSION TARGETS. ENHANCEMENT AND STREAMLINING OF THE OBSERVATION PLANNING SCHEDULING AND DATA ANALYSIS WILL ALLOW US TO ABLE TO RAPIDLY RESPOND TO THE SHORT WINDOW OF OBSERVATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR TARGETS SMALLER THAN 100 METERS WILL ALSO ENHANCE THE RESPONSE TO THE HAZARD POSED BY CLOSE-PASSING SMALL OBJECTS.$618,720
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
LAS CUMBRES OBSERVATORY GLOBAL TELESCOPE NETWORK (LCOGT) IS COMPLETING THE DEPLOYMENT OF A DISTRIBUTED TELESCOPE NETWORK THAT WILL CONSIST OF OVER 35$572,595
· FY2014 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
IN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND PLANET FORMATION ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TOOLS WE HAVE IS TO COMPARE THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE PHYSICAL AND ORBITAL PROPERTIES OF THE PLANETS DISCOVERED WITH THOSE PREDICTED BY FORMATION AND EVOLUTIONARY MODELS. FOR THIS TO BE EFFECTIVE WE NEED A COMPLETE CENSUS OF PLANETARY SYSTEMS AT ALL MASSES AND ORBITAL SEPARATIONS. BUT NO ONE SURVEY TECHNIQUE IS SENSITIVE TO THE WHOLE PARAMETER SPACE. KEPLER PROVIDED A LANDMARK CATALOG OF PLANETS AT SMALL ORBITAL RADII AROUND THEIR HOST STARS COMPLEMENTING THE RESULTS OF OTHER MOSTLY GROUND-BASED PROJECTS BUT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT GAP IN THE DETECTED POPULATION OF LOW-MASS PLANETS AT SEPARATIONS OF FEW-10 AU WHERE MOST DETECTION TECHNIQUES SUFFER A DRAMATIC DROP IN EFFICIENCY AND/OR SENSITIVITY. MICROLENSING OFFERS A WAY TO BRIDGE THIS GAP AND SO IS ONE OF THE GOALS OF THE FORTHCOMING WFIRST MISSION. PREPARATORY WORK FOR THE WFIRST MICROLENSING SURVEY IS ALREADY UNDERWAY. A MAJOR ELEMENT OF IT WILL BE TO DEVELOP TOOLS CAPABLE OF ANALYZING THE LARGE RESULTING DATASET AND DETECTING MICROLENSING EVENTS WITHIN WHILE CAREFULLY DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN FALSE POSITIVES AND SYSTEMATICS. THIS PRESENTS A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES SINCE THE ANALYSIS OF JUST ONE BINARY LENSING EVENT CAN BE COMPUTATIONALLY INTENSIVE AND THERE IS A MARKED SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE (~10) IN THE US WHO SPECIALIZE IN THIS SUBJECT. EXISTING SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR THIS TASK ARE MOSTLY PROPRIETARY AND HAVE LIMITATIONS WHICH MEAN THEY WILL NOT SCALE TO PROCESS THE WFIRST DATASET IN A TIMELY MANNER. WE WILL ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE BY DEVELOPING A TWO-STAGE DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR THE WFIRST BULGE SURVEY DATA USING A COMBINATION OF MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES. THE FIRST STAGE BUILDS ON PROTOTYPE RANDOM-FOREST MICROLENSING/VARIABLE STAR DETECTION SOFTWARE ALREADY DEVELOPED BY OUR TEAM TO DISTINGUISH ASTROPHYSICAL SIGNALS FROM SYSTEMATICS OR FALSE POSITIVE DETECTIONS. WE PROPOSE TO COMBINE THIS WITH A SECOND STAGE WHICH WILL LEVERAGE RECENT PROGRESS IN DEEP LEARNING SOFTWARE TO ANALYZE THE LIGHTCURVES OF BINARY LENSING EVENTS AND IDENTIFY ALL POSSIBLE MODELS WHICH ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE DATA. THIS WILL ADDRESS A LONG-STANDING PROBLEM IN THE MODELING OF BINARY LENSES FOR WHICH THERE ARE A NUMBER OF KNOWN DEGENERACIES. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MACHINE LEARNING SYSTEMS DEPENDS CRITICALLY ON THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF THE DATA USED TO TRAIN THE SYSTEM. WE WILL TO LEVERAGE A NUMBER OF PUBLIC PHOTOMETRIC CATALOGS TO HELP TO TRAIN THE SYSTEM AND APPLY IT TO ANALYZE DATA FROM THE ONGOING MICROLENSING KEY PROJECT AT LCO ROME/REA A HIGH CADENCE TRI-BAND OPTICAL SURVEY FOR MICROLENSING EVENTS IN THE GALACTIC BULGE. OUR TEAM WAS AWARDED 2650 HRS/YR FOR 3YRS STARTING IN 2017 FOR THIS SURVEY WHICH IS CURRENTLY IN ITS SECOND OBSERVING SEASON. WE WILL RELEASE A COMPLETE CATALOG OF THE IMAGING AND PHOTOMETRY FROM ROME/REA FOR COMMUNITY USE THROUGH A NASA ARCHIVE. WE WILL ALSO CONDUCT SIMULATED-EVENT INJECTION TESTS TO EVALUATE THE ALGORITHM'S PERFORMANCE AND DETECTION STATISTICS. ONCE THE ALGORITHM IS APPLIED TO WFIRST DATA THIS ANALYSIS WILL ENABLE US TO CALCULATE THE TRUE PLANET FREQUENCY. ALL SOFTWARE DEVELOPED THROUGH THIS PROPOSAL WILL BE THOROUGHLY TESTED AND DOCUMENTED AHEAD OF ITS PUBLIC RELEASE FOR COMMUNITY USE. THIS PROPOSAL IS HIGHLY RESPONSIVE TO THE AIMS OF THE EXOPLANETS RESEARCH PROGRAM SINCE IT WILL DISCOVER AND CHARACTERIZE PLANETARY SYSTEMS AND ADVANCE PREPARATIONS FOR THE WFIRST MISSION. IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR A WEALTH OF STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS.$565,916
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
KEPLER AND OTHER EXOPLANET SURVEYS HAVE OPENED A WINDOW INTO OUR GALAXY S POPULATION OF WARM EXOPLANETS WITH ORBITAL SEPARATIONS OUT TO ~1AU. TO PICK$480,899
· FY2015 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WE REQUEST SWIFT UV PHOTOMETRY OF 60 SUPERNOVAE (SNE) OVER 2 YEARS TO BE TAKEN IN CONJUNCTION WITH OPTICAL AND IR DATA FROM THE GLOBAL SUPERNOVA PROJECT (GSP).$198,188
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE PHENOMENON OF MICROLENSING OFFERS US A GLIMPSE OF DARK AND OTHERWISE UNEXPLORED POPULATIONS WITHIN OUR GALAXY. IT IS CAPABLE OF FINDING AND CHARA$55,854
· FY2016 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
EXPLOSION MECHANISMS AND ENERGY SOURCES POWERING SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE$40,000
· FY2022 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WE PROPOSE TO STUDY A NEW TOOL IN THE QUEST TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES (SMBHS). SMBHS, WITH MASSES ABOVE ONE MILLION TIMES$39,972
· FY2015 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
WE PROPOSE TO (1) REDUCE K2 LIGHTCURVES OF IDENTIFIED SUPERNOVAE IN C17 18 AND 19 AND MAKE THEM AVAILABLE TO THE COMMUNITY AND (2) TAKE SIMULTANEOUS AND COMPLEMENTARY GROUND-BASED LIGHTCURVES AND SPECTROSCOPY AND TO ALSO REDUCE AND SHARE THESE DATA WITH THE COMMUNITY. MUCH OF THIS DATA WILL COME FROM LAS CUMBRES OBSERVATORY A GLOBAL ROBOTIC NETWORK OF 21 TELESCOPES SPREAD OVER BOTH HEMISPHERES AND SPREAD IN LONGITUDE TO ALLOW IMMEDIATE AND CONTINUOUS OBSERVATIONS. WE WILL IDENTIFY SN PROGENITORS BY OBSERVING SNE WITHIN MINUTES OF DISCOVERY BY K2 AND WITHIN HOURS TO DAYS AFTER THAT WITH LCO. DATA HUNDREDS OF DAYS AFTER EXPLOSION WILL BE TAKEN WITH GEMINI AND KECK TO HELP TEST PROGENITOR MODELS. GROUND-BASED ANCILLARY DATA IS CRITICAL TO OBTAINING SUPERNOVA TYPES AND REDSHIFTS TEMPERATURE INFORMATION AND SN AND CIRCUMSTELLAR MATTER COMPOSITION. PROGENITORS WILL BE REVEALED BY MEASURING THE COOLING FOLLOWING SHOCK BREAKOUT FOR CORE-COLLAPSE SNE OR BY SEEING THE SN EJECTA SHOCKED BY INTERACTION WITH A COMPANION STAR FOR SNE IA. WE WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO COORDINATE FOLLOW-UP EFFORTS AND THE SHARING OF DATA WITHIN THE COMMUNITY WITH THE SUPERNOVA EXCHANGE (SNEX).$29,997
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE OCCURRENCE RATE OF PLANETS AS A FUNCTION OF PLANETARY MASS AND ORBITAL PERIOD AND OF STELLAR MASS PROVIDES POWERFUL CONSTRAINTS UPON MODELS OF PLANET FORMATION MIGRATION AND EVOLUTION.$5,963
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration