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Report of CTIO Users Committee (1Mar95) (from Director's Office, NOAO Newsletter No. 41, 1 March 1995) The CTIO Users Committee held its annual meeting in Tucson on 10 and 11 November 1994, and after discussions with CTIO Director Malcolm Smith and Associate Director Mark Phillips, submitted the following report: Introduction US astronomy is undergoing fundamental changes with the construction of several 8-10 meter class telescopes and major advances in astronomical instrumentation and adaptive optics. These exciting new developments, however, are creating financial pressures on the astronomical community at a time when the federal funding outlook is very poor. In this climate of increased financial pressures the CTIO Users Committee emphasizes the crucial nature to the US astronomical community of a strong national facility in the southern hemisphere available to all astronomers on a peer-reviewed basis. This facility must provide a full range of telescopes and instrumentation capable of efficiently addressing the widest possible variety of scientific questions from planetary astronomy to extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. CTIO has done extremely well in the past in supplying such a national facility. Moreover, under the leadership of Director Malcolm Smith, the scientific, technical, and support staff are now providing the innovation and resourcefulness necessary to advance CTIO into the new era of larger aperture ground-based telescopes and new instrumentation. The Users Committee strongly endorses the efforts being undertaken by the Director to ensure that CTIO maintains its position at the cutting edge of astronomical research in the years ahead. Due to the bleak funding scenario envisioned for at least the near future, there was considerable discussion at the meeting devoted to long-term issues affecting CTIO, continuing the trend that was begun at the Users Committee meeting last year. Two issues of particular concern are (1) the reduction in size of the CTIO scientific staff, which is now severely taxing their ability to maintain the excellence of the observatory and also carry out their own vigorous scientific research programs and (2) the threat posed to the smaller aperture telescopes, and the scientific capabilities they represent, by the present funding climate. These and other issues that were addressed at the CTIO Users Committee meeting are summarized below. Those issues which are related to joint CTIO/KPNO plans and/or were discussed at the joint executive session of the KPNO and CTIO Users Committees are summarized in the joint CTIO/KPNO Users Committee report. Size of Scientific Staff During the past few years there has been a net decline in the number of CTIO scientific staff members by three FTEs (one staff scientist position and two postdoctoral positions). This situation, brought on by declining funding levels, has been dealt with over the short term through increased attention to observatory duties by a number of staff members. In addition, some of the scientific staff have deferred their sabbatical plans in order to maintain a sufficient staff in La Serena. The consequence of this short-term solution is a loss of time for several hard-pressed staff members to carry out their scientific research programs. While the Committee applauds the hard work and sacrifice of those individuals who have devoted extra time to observatory-related issues, we recognize that it is critical now to provide relief by increasing the number of scientific staff back to the required level. We therefore urge that additional resources be allocated to CTIO to allow for the hiring of scientific staff, so that staff scientists will be able to devote sufficient time to their research programs as well as to their observatory duties. Long-Range Planning and Small Telescopes Considerable discussion took place over where CTIO should strive to be around the end of the decade when Gemini South has been fully commissioned. In addition to the Gemini 8-meter and the existing 4-meter telescope, it was proposed by the Director that the construction of one or two new 4-meter class telescopes, built under university/NOAO partnerships similar in nature to the WIYN/NOAO partnership, would be extremely desirable. In this scenario each of the 4-meter telescopes could be optimized for different tasks (in particular, one of them should be optimized for the IR), rather than trying to maintain several all-purpose 4-meter telescopes. Each telescope would thereby be highly efficient at its tasks and would be economical to operate. The Committee strongly endorses this scenario as a sound long-term goal for CTIO. Along with the goals for large aperture telescopes, the Committee extensively discussed the future of research with smaller apertures. The uniqueness and importance of the scientific capabilities of the small telescopes at CTIO in the southern hemisphere is well demonstrated by their high productivity. It is absolutely critical that these capabilities be preserved. The small telescopes are remarkably cost-effective in terms of their scientific output per dollar spent, are very cheap to operate in actual dollars, and provide a unique role for highly valuable scientific projects which cannot be done on large aperture telescopes. Closing them as a cost saving measure can help alleviate the shortest term budget shortfalls, but cannot possibly make up the projected long-term deficit in the current budget picture. Thus the great loss of user access and scientific capability that would occur in closing the smaller telescopes cannot be justified. In the short term we recommend a program of upgrades to the small telescopes that is specified in a later section of this report. In the long term we encourage CTIO to aggressively investigate options to upgrade and/or replace the small telescopes with more efficient, lower maintenance telescopes of comparable or slightly larger aperture. The goal of these upgrades/replacements would be to enhance both the scientific capabilities and the telescope access that the small telescopes have traditionally provided to the user community, while at the same time easing the burden on the staff for upkeep and reducing costs in the long run. The maintenance of small telescopes is particularly sensitive in connection with the agreement that CTIO has for operating in Chile. The agreement between AURA and the University of Chile has made possible on the one hand that Chilean astronomers have access to all telescopes at CTIO, and on the other hand that CTIO operates with special benefits and tax exemption given by the Chilean government. The University of Chile is deeply concerned that budgetary restrictions at CTIO restrict the operation of the small telescopes and thus diminish the actual fraction of available telescope time. For the first time Chile has decided to participate in an international astronomical project by contributing 5% to the construction and operation of Gemini. Hence a serious restriction of access to smaller telescopes on CTIO is likely to have a strongly negative impact on our relationship with the Chilean astronomical community during this important period. 4-Meter Upgrades The Committee strongly commends CTIO, under the leadership of Jack Baldwin, for the major progress achieved in the last year in the ongoing program to upgrade the imaging performance of the 4-meter telescope. This program has, virtually without exception, been accomplished on time and on budget, and the rewards to be gained from this sustained effort are becoming apparent with the improved seeing characteristics now being observed at the 4-meter. Thus the Committee continues to endorse the ongoing efforts to improve the image quality at the 4-meter. Specifically, some additional work remains on the new active support system for the primary mirror. Second, completion of the image analyzer under construction is crucial to further progress, since its implementation will allow for a better understanding of the optical system. Third, the proposed improvements to the autoguiding are necessary before the intrinsic imaging capability of the telescope can be accurately determined. Finally, we endorse the work in progress to complete the f/14 secondary, which is in any case important to the proposed KPNO/CTIO/Gemini IR instrumentation plans. However, we question the advisability of launching immediately into the major tip/tilt implementation of the f/14 secondary, and consider other priorities (e.g., delivery of CCDs to all telescopes, upgrades to the small telescopes) to be more pressing at present. Specifically, we recommend waiting for further information regarding the status of the UNC-Brazil-NOAO SOAR 4-meter project (which is designed to have tip/tilt control of its secondary mirror) and for results from the image analyzer tests and the improved autoguiding system before committing full-scale to the f/14 tip/tilt program. In addition to endorsing the image quality improvements inherent in the above plans, we applaud the efforts being made to upgrade the 4-meter telescope control system (TCS) and drives. Not only will these upgrades greatly reduce the risk of major telescope down time due to failure of aging and hard-to-replace components, but they will result in a CTIO TCS and drives that are similar to those recently implemented on the KPNO 4-meter. Instrumentation CCDs Last year some concern was expressed by the Users Committee that new CCDs were not making their way onto telescopes at a sufficient rate. Consequently, we are pleased to see that new CCDs are being implemented at CTIO, although still at a slower rate than we would prefer. We recognize that the reduced staff makes this a difficult task, but we urge that the highest priority among instrumentation projects in the short term be given to finishing the implementation of the three new CCDs that were in progress at the time of the Users Committee meeting in November (and scheduled for rapid completion). IR Detectors We are very pleased with the rapid implementation (on schedule) of the two new 256 X 256 IR arrays, one for imaging and one for spectroscopy, that were brought on line in 1994. We note also the close cooperation between KPNO and CTIO instrumentation groups that was required to achieve such a successful end to this IR detector upgrade. This collaborative arrangement between CTIO and KPNO instrumentation groups should serve as a model for the new regime of joint major instrumentation projects. As is described in the joint CTIO/KPNO Users Committee report, we have endorsed an ambitious program to deliver the next generation of 1024 X 1024 IR detectors to NOAO telescopes. The CTIO Users Committee was also briefly presented with a Rice/University of North Carolina plan to develop an IR Fabry-Perot for the CTIO 4-meter. The Committee endorses this project and repeats its encouragement from last year of cooperative agreements between universities and CTIO that will provide new capabilities for CTIO telescopes (such as the successful Ohio State OSIRIS program). Hydra Clone As is further described in the joint Users Committee report, the KPNO and CTIO Users Committee has advised that the highest priority project for the NOAO O/UV instrumentation group be the development of a Hydra clone for the CTIO 4-meter. While Argus has been a valuable workhorse instrument for many years, it is now crucial to expand the multifiber capability at the 4-meter. The most economical means of achieving this goal is to clone the highly successful Hydra positioner and bench spectrograph for the CTIO 4-meter. Small Telescope Upgrades CTIO has entered into an agreement with the MACHO project to allocate 15% of the time on the 0.9-meter telescope in exchange for funds which will be used to upgrade the smaller telescopes. In particular, the funds should be sufficient to hire a mechanical engineer and a mechanical technician whose main projects will center on upgrades to the small telescopes. As a result of discussions at the November meeting, the Users Committee recommends the following prioritized program of upgrades to the small telescopes: 1) Upgrades to the 0.9-meter TCS. The present aging TCS is potentially vulnerable to a major failure that could take the telescope off-line for a considerable time period. Removing this vulnerability of the 0.9-meter to a catastrophic failure is considered the highest priority by the Committee. 2) Upgrades to the Curtis Schmidt CCD camera. A relatively modest ($2K) upgrade to the CCD camera system on the Curtis will result in a large unvignetted field of view on the 2048 X 2048 CCD that is expected on the telescope in the next few months. Such a wide-field imaging capability is a high priority for the small telescopes. 3) Optics and guiding upgrades to the 0.9-meter and 1.5-meter telescopes. The recent successes in improving the imaging performance of the 4-meter underscore the advantages to be obtained from comparable improvements to the optics and guiding of the smaller telescopes. In general these improvements are being made in the spirit of increasing the reliability and efficiency of the smaller telescopes. Light Pollution The Committee was pleased to learn that a careful and serious effort is being mounted to protect both Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachon against potential sources of light pollution. The success of this effort is clearly critical to maintaining Tololo and Pachon as premier southern hemisphere observing sites. Other Issues TAC Procedures In response to the Users Committee report submitted last year, the CTIO TAC will now automatically send written comments to astronomers who have had their observing proposals rejected on the 4-meter and 1.5-meter telescopes. This extra work on the part of the TAC will be much appreciated by proposers who wish to evaluate how to strengthen their observing proposals in subsequent semesters. Computer Resources A number of DAT drives have been purchased with end of the year funds. In addition, a workstation has been purchased that is intended for visitors who do not have access to any of the workstations at the telescopes (e.g., a visitor on the mountain between observing runs or arriving early for a run). We are happy to hear of these purchases and urge that they be installed as soon as possible. New 1.5-meter Control Room Several Committee members have either used the new 1.5-meter control room themselves or heard from colleagues who have done so. All comments concerning the new control room have been very favorable. CTIO Users Committee: Suzanne Hawley, Michigan State (slh@pillan.pa.msu.edu) Karen Meech, Hawaii (meech@pavo.ifa.hawaii.edu) Joe Patterson, Columbia (jop@carmen.phys.columbia.edu) Marc Postman, STScI (postman@stsci.edu) Jim Rose (Chair), North Carolina (jim@wrath.physics.unc.edu) Monica Rubio, Chile (monica@das.uchile.cl) Kris Sellgren, Ohio State (sellgren@cannon.mps.ohio-state.edu) George Wallerstein, Washington (wall@gibbs.phys.washington.edu)
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