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From the NSO Director's Office (1Jun94) (from NSO, NOAO Newsletter No. 38, 1 June 1994) After review by the AURA Board, the report of the NOAO/NSO Visiting Committee was forwarded to the National Science Foundation and shared with the NSO staff as well as with the OIR Panel chaired by Richard McCray of the NRC Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics. It is impossible to do full justice to the report in a short summary such as this. The report conveys an overall very positive message in regard to the functioning of NSO; at the same time, the need was stressed to develop a far-term perspective plan for NSO covering some 15 to 20 years. The report emphasized the importance of NSO's program in near-infrared (1 to 5 um) research in terms of its science potential, but it also expressed concern about NSO attempting too many instrumentation projects given the funding and manpower available. It expressed caution with regard to the all-reflecting coronagraph and adaptive optics programs. On 1 March, I implemented the new NSO management plan. In it I defined a seven-member management team covering all three NSO Divisions (NSO/SP, NSO/KP and NSO/GONG), representing 3 and 2 branches in NSO/SP and NSO/KP respectively. The members of the team are: Jack Zirker (science branch/SP), Rex Hunter (administration and facilities/SP), Jim Moore (project and science facilities/SP), Doug Rabin (science branch/KP), Jeremy Wagner (administration, projects and operations/KP), and John Leibacher/Jim Kennedy (NSO/GONG). In addition, as observers representing our partner agencies, Harry Jones (NASA) and Don Neidig (PL/USAF) take part in the weekly management team meetings. I, myself, continue to divide my time equally between the NSO/SP and NSO/KP sites. During the spring joint NSO staff meeting at Sac Peak, we focused on the NSO Future Directions Plan, which responds to the need expressed by the OVC for a far-term perspective. The plan focuses on the understanding and prediction of the solar cycle and its related short- and long-term variability. GONG, and its ability to measure flows, temperatures and magnetic fields in the solar convection zone, plays a crucial role in this program. Starting with these observations spanning one or two solar cycles, the observations of the activity in the solar photosphere and in the solar envelope made with existing telescopes and improved instrumentation take on a whole new dimension. The NSO staff is presently developing this plan with the aim of including broad participation by the solar astronomy and solar-stellar communities. I am pleased to announce that the NSO/SP Vacuum Tower Telescope has again a working correlation tracker, thanks to the cooperation by Thomas Rimmele and the Kiepenheuer Institute. This is an interim solution combining still functioning parts of the broken-down NSO and KIS correlation trackers. The definition of a new correlation tracker is underway. Dick Dunn also expects improvements in the image quality at the NSO/SP Vacuum Tower Telescope by modifying the window support and thermal control system. At the NSO/KP McMath-Pierce facility we are implementing a seeing monitor system which will result in a "seeing budget" of the atmosphere and different parts of that telescope with the goal of assessing and ultimately improving its image quality by e.g. controlling the mirror temperatures under solar irradiation conditions. The international Gemini program to build two 8-m telescopes attracts most of the attention of our nighttime colleagues within NOAO. It was the central discussion topic at the NOAO-2000 meeting which was held on Sac Peak at the end of March. It tends to cast its shadow on the NSO program which wants to focus on research related to the origins of the solar cycle (its Future Directions Plan). Although the prime focus of the CAA OIR Panel is the NOAO nighttime program as it relates to Gemini, the future of the solar program is part of its charge. I advise the members of the solar community to stay aware of the panel's progress and to express their views to its chairman (caa@nas.edu) or to Bob Rosner, the primary spokesman for solar physics on the panel. Jacques M. Beckers
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