The astute reader of the previous article will note that several telescopes are listed in the year 2000 that are not yet built, while several telescopes currently in operation are not listed. How do we plan to get from here to there?
The plan for the south, given this concept of an observing system, depends on the construction of a modern 4-m class telescope that will provide superb image quality over a modest field of view to complement the wide-field moderate image quality offered at the Blanco. This new telescope has been given the name SOAR, and there are commitments in principle from Brazil, the University of North Carolina, Michigan State University, and NOAO that we believe would be adequate to fund construction and operation for 15 years. We are currently carrying out preliminary studies, including the exploration of some very innovative designs and the estimation of costs, to ensure that we can indeed satisfy the scientific goals of the partners within the budget we have identified. Progress on this project will be reported regularly through the NOAO Newsletter.
A proposal to build two 2.4-m telescopes was submitted to the NSF as part of an overall package for renewing NOAO facilities; also included were requests for support of SOLIS, a project to replace the telescopes used for solar synoptic studies, and of NOAO's participation in SOAR. The NSF has accepted the SOLIS proposal and is trying to identify funding for it. It appears likely that the NSF will approve the spending of $2M toward the construction of SOAR as well as support of the operations phase, subject to the development of a suitable agreement with our partners. The proposal for the 2.4-m telescopes was judged to be less mature than the proposals for the other two parts of the package, and the NSF review team recommended that we work with the user community to develop a better consensus concerning the scientific capabilities to be provided. It remains NOAO's judgment that wide-field imaging capability in both the optical and infrared regions of the spectrum to the deep limiting magnitudes that can be reached spectroscopically by the Gemini telescopes is a capability that must be provided through the national observatories. However, we need to determine the extent to which that view is shared by the community.
As a first step in evaluating what new facilities need to be built by NOAO, the USGP will host a workshop to determine what capabilities are required to ensure optimum use of the Gemini and other large telescopes now being built in the US. These capabilities might include the wide-field survey telescopes, telescopes for obtaining accurate magnitudes and positions of objects, specific surveys beyond those already planned (Sloan and 2MASS), particular technology developments required for the complex instruments being proposed for the large telescopes, etc. We will also look at where these capabilities might be provided; it may be that not all need to be provided by NOAO itself. The USGP-sponsored workshop will focus on US issues; the international Gemini project will host a later workshop in which all of the Gemini partners will look at these same issues in connection with support of the Gemini telescopes themselves. The types of capabilities proposed by the workshops will be an important factor in determining the content of any proposal for new facilities submitted by NOAO.
We will also be working with the existing user community to understand what types of capabilities are most important for supporting their future research, whether or not that research involves the use of the Gemini telescopes. It is clear that we will have to make a compelling scientific case for new facilities. Based on the reviews of the proposal for the 2.4-m telescopes, it is apparent that we will have to identify the unique science that would be done with any new facilities; simply citing the past track record of the user community as a predictor of the excellent science that would be done in the future is not adequate when funding is as tight as it is.
In short, NOAO is still committed to the 2.4-m telescope program and plans to re-submit a proposal for them - but only if the community supports the concept.
There are also a number of telescopes currently in operation that are not listed for the year 2000. CTIO has already announced that the 1-m telescope there will be jointly operated by Yale, Portugal, and Ohio State, with CTIO retaining only a 10 percent share. If budgets permit, and barring catastrophe I have guaranteed level of effort to CTIO until the year 2000, CTIO will continue to operate the remaining telescopes until they are replaced by SOAR and the 2.4-m imaging telescope. If the 2.4-m is not built, the 1.5-m would remain in operation.
At KPNO, we plan to phase out support of two telescopes, but in each case we will retain the scientific capabilities on different telescopes. This will in general be our philosophy as we change the mix of instruments and telescopes that we offer. We will try to give enough warning to people so that they can complete ongoing programs, and we will also try to maintain equivalent or better capabilities. The goal is not to preclude any specific type of research.
The first telescope for which NOAO plans to withdraw support is the Burrell Schmidt, and we have notified Case Western that we will not continue to provide support after 1 October 1997. Observers if they wish may submit proposals for time up to that date. We do plan to offer the 8K x 8K CCD imager on the 0.9-m telescope. This will be a very powerful capability that is actually better suited for more than 90 percent of the research now being done at the Schmidt because of better sampling of the PSF (see the article by Tod Lauer in the Kitt Peak section of this Newsletter). Sometime next year, probably in the spring semester, we will also withdraw NOAO support for the Coudé Feed, but not until it is possible to feed the spectrograph with a fiber from the 2.1-m telescope.
These changes were discussed with the users' committee in December. At that time, I indicated that if the budget allowed it, it would be my intention to continue to operate the 0.9-m and 2.1-m telescopes until they were replaced with a new 2.4-m telescope. Now that there is a new director of Kitt Peak, the responsibility for long range planning for the site will fall to him, but he has endorsed this plan. Operating four telescopes at even current budget levels will, however, be a challenge.
This plan for operations is more ambitious than was outlined in last year's Web posting. Were we crying "wolf?" No - many people missed the "if-then" clause in the Web statement. The level of operations is determined by the budget. This year's budget is better than last year's projections, and accordingly more of the facilities are remaining in operation. The plan to the year 2000 that we have laid out here is what NOAO believes the science requires and the demand for observing by the users justifies. The key to the future lies in our ability as a community to make a compelling case for support of astronomy at a time when the federal government is reassessing its funding priorities.
NOAO has already transferred a 0.4-m telescope to Georgia State and a 0.9-m telescope to SARA. Later this year, based on the input from the small telescope workshops, we will be developing an announcement of opportunity that would permit universities and/or consortia to propose for the operation of the 1.3-m telescope. Case Western will assume full responsibility for the operation of the Burrell Schmidt telescope on 1 October. Other NOAO telescopes are likely to become available gradually over the next five years.
Basically, NOAO is increasing the aperture of the telescopes it offers by a factor of two. What about the excellent science that is now being carried out by 1-m class telescopes? One of the most positive activities this past year has been the workshops on small telescopes. I am extremely impressed by the number of small telescopes now operated outside NOAO and the extent to which CCDs have enabled important research to be done at relatively low cost. What has come out of the meetings for me, at least, is a better understanding of what NOAO must do with smaller telescopes and what the community can do for itself. The independently-operated small telescopes can do a better job at certain types of science, especially the photometry of variable stars, than the national observatories ever could because of the ability of the independent observatories to dedicate large continuous blocks of time to single problems. Locally-sited telescopes can also support education and public outreach in a way that national facilities cannot. However, few of these telescopes offer spectroscopy, wide-field imaging, or infrared instrumentation, and so NOAO will focus its own resources on providing these more complex and costly capabilities. What I hope will be the ultimate result of the small telescope workshops will be a recognition of the crucial contribution that the independently-operated telescopes make to the overall fabric of our science - a contribution that will in the future be duplicated nowhere else. I also hope the groups operating these telescopes will find ways to make at least some public access available at low or no cost. As described in Lee Anne Willson's article in this Newsletter, NOAO and AURA would like to continue to assist as appropriate the development of an effective working group of operators of small telescopes to share technical developments and scientific plans.
Sidney C. Wolff