NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY · i ≈−10.0 mag. Analysis of the two-point correlation...

QUARTERLY SCIENTIFIC REPORT (1) FY 2016 1 October–31 December 2015

Roberto Muñoz and colleagues report the first results from the “Next Genera-tion Fornax Survey” (NGFS), a study of the central 30 square degree region of the Fornax galaxy cluster using ex-tremely deep u, g, i optical imaging with DECam and near-infrared imag-ing with ESO’s VISTA/VIRCam (see Figure 1 on page 3; Muñoz et al. 2015, ApJL, 813, L15).

Submitted to the National Science Foundation Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-1421197

Cooperative Agreement No. AST-1546092

Also published on the NOAO Web site: http://www.noao.edu

NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation

NATIONAL OPTICAL ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY

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Contents

1 NOAO SOUTH ....................................................................................................................... 11.1 Associate Director’s Office ................................................................................ 11.2 Blanco Operations .............................................................................................. 21.3 SOAR Operations ............................................................................................... 51.4 Engineering & Technical Services ..................................................................... 71.5 Facilities Operations ......................................................................................... 101.6 Computer Infrastructure Services ..................................................................... 11

2 KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY ................................................................... 132.1 Associate Director’s Office .............................................................................. 132.2 Mayall Operations ............................................................................................ 142.3 WIYN Operations ............................................................................................ 162.4 Kitt Peak Mountain Operations ........................................................................ 172.5 Kitt Peak Visitor Center ................................................................................... 18

3 NOAO SYSTEM SCIENCE AND DATA CENTER ........................................................ 203.1 Associate Director’s Office .............................................................................. 203.2 Telescope Allocation Committee ..................................................................... 213.3 US National Gemini Office .............................................................................. 223.4 Community Science Center .............................................................................. 233.5 Data Management Operations .......................................................................... 26

4 NOAO CORE ....................................................................................................................... 294.1 NOAO Director’s Office .................................................................................. 294.2 NOAO Core External Projects ......................................................................... 314.3 Education and Public Outreach ........................................................................ 314.4 Central Facilities Operations ............................................................................ 36

National Optical Astronomy Observatory Quarterly Scientific Report (1) FY 2016

(1 October 2015 – 31 December 2015)

Submitted to the National Science Foundation

Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-1421197

12 February 2016

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4.5 Computer Infrastructure Services .................................................................... 374.6 Infrastructure Program ..................................................................................... 38

5 OBSERVING PROPOSAL STATISTICS FOR 2016A .................................................... 40

6 USAGE OF ARCHIVED DATA ......................................................................................... 41

7 GRANTS ................................................................................................................................ 42

8 NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q1 .................................................................................. 438.2 North ................................................................................................................ 438.2 South ................................................................................................................ 44

NOAO SOUTH

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1 NOAO SOUTH

The NOAO South (NS) division is responsible for operations, mainte-nance, and development for all NOAO activities in Chile. For program management purposes, these activities are separated into the following subprograms:

• Associate Director’s Office

• Blanco Operations

• SOAR Operations

• Engineering & Technical Services

• Facilities Operations

• Computer Infrastructure Services

1.1 ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR’S OFFICE

Program Highlights

The NOAO South Associate Director’s Office coordinates all activities of NOAO in Chile, includ-ing those on both Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, together with the facilities and administration of the La Serena campus. This package includes the Associate Director and Deputy Director for NOAO South, administrative support for the Associate Director’s Office and observatory operations in Chile, and the NOAO South Safety Officer. An important activity during the reporting period, led for NOAO-S by the deputy director, was participation, together with representatives of LSST and AURA, in the architecture and engineering design study for a new La Serena headquarters building. The study, carried out by the Andes Archi-tects group, culminated in a preliminary design review held in December. The outcome is a proposal for new construction together with renovation of the existing building to produce an integrated base facility, which meets the requirements of the stakeholders at a cost consistent with the target budget. During the reporting period the NOAO-S safety officer organized the review by an external panel of workplace safety and procedures at NOAO-S. This included walkthrough inspections of the Blanco and SOAR telescopes, as well as a review of safety documents and written procedures. She also managed safety and environment aspects of the work carried out to remediate asbestos at the Blanco telescopes, coordinating with the Associate Director, manager of the TelOps group, and the external contractor doing the work and working with the local health authorities to obtain all the necessary permits and inspections.

Status of FY16 Milestones

§ Develop NOAO-S content for the scientific quarterly and annual progress reports each quarter and deliver it to the NOAO Director’s Office for inclusion in each of these reports.

Status: The NOAO-S content for the Fiscal Year Annual Report for FY15 was completed and delivered to the NOAO Director’s Office in October. The NOAO-S content of the present report is also a deliverable for this milestone.

NO

AO

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Associate Director's Office

Blanco Operations

SOAR Operations

Engineering & Technical Services

Facilities Operations

Computer Infrastructure Services

NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2016 (1)

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§ Develop the NOAO-S component of the Program Operations Plan for FY17, to be delivered to the NOAO Director’s Office by the end of Q3.

Status: No progress planned this quarter.

§ During Q1 organize and carry out the review by an external panel of safety experts of workplace safety and procedures at all the facilities operated by NOAO-S, which shall include a walkthrough inspection of the Blanco, SOAR, and SMARTS telescopes, and the La Serena la-boratories and workshops.

Status: Completed. A safety review of the facilities operated by NOAO-S was carried out on 1–2 December 2015 by an external panel consisting of C. Gessner (LSST, chair), E. McHugh (FNAL), and C. Spille (ESO). The review included a walkthrough of the Blanco, SMARTS, and SOAR telescopes and the TelOps building on the mountains and of the laboratory and machine shop in La Serena. The panel’s report highlights the progress made since the previous review in 2013: a safety culture has been inculcated in managers and staff, formal safety management processes (for example, regular use of Job Hazard Analyses) are part of standard working pro-cedure, and there has been a notable improvement in housekeeping at the Blanco telescope. A formal response to the report is being written detailing the steps taken, or to be taken during Q2, to address the specific observations made by the committee.

§ During Q1 provide input on NOAO-S requirements to the architecture and engineering study for a possible joint LSST/AURA/NOAO headquarters building and participate in the evaluation of the resulting design proposal when it is delivered. If it is decided to proceed with a joint project, continue to provide input on requirements and feedback on design choices, as requested during the detailed design phase.

Status: Initial design study has been completed. Together with LSST and AURA, NOAO-S par-ticipated in an architecture and engineering design study for the new La Serena headquarters building carried out by the Chilean company, Andes Architects. This culminated in a design re-view in December. The outcome is a proposal for new construction together with renovation of the existing building to produce an integrated base facility, which meets the requirements of all the stakeholders and is broadly consistent with the target budget. This proposal is under review by the participants preparatory to a decision to proceed with detailed design work to be carried out by Andes during the remainder of FY16.

1.2 BLANCO OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

Science

In a recent paper, Roberto Muñoz (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) and colleagues report the first results from the “Next Generation Fornax Survey” (NGFS), a study of the central 30 square degree region of the Fornax galaxy cluster using extremely deep u, g, i optical imaging with DECam and near-infrared imaging with ESO’s VISTA/VIRCam. By analyzing the optical data from the cen-tral 3 square degree tile of the survey, the team discovered 158 previously undetected dwarf galax-ies, in the central region of the cluster (Muñoz et al. 2015, ApJL, 813, L15; see also NOAO press re-lease 15-09). The new dwarf galaxies have quasi-exponential light profiles with effective radii 0.1 < re < 2.8 kpc and average effective surface brightness values 22.0 < µi < 28.0 mag arcsec-2. At the bright end of this range they find objects similar to the ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) recently dis-

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covered in the Virgo and Coma galaxy clusters, confirming that such objects occur in lower mass galaxy clusters like Fornax as well as in the most massive clusters. Significantly, Muñoz et al. also find a large population of extremely low surface brightness dwarfs several magnitudes fainter than the classical UDGs. The observed sparsity of dwarf galaxies in clusters is a long-standing difficulty for current models of hierarchical galaxy formation, which predict that normal galaxies should be greatly outnumbered by dwarf galaxies, the building blocks from which they were assembled. The discovery of a previously unsuspected population of extremely low brightness dwarfs in Fornax may help resolve this “missing satellite problem.” Muñoz et al. found that the fraction of their dwarf gal-axy sample with a nucleus varies with total luminosity, with >75% of objects having a nucleus at luminosities brighter than Mi ≈−15.0 mag, but none at luminosities fainter than Mi ≈−10.0 mag. Analysis of the two-point correlation of the NGFS dwarf sample shows an excess on length scales below ~100 kpc, suggesting that dwarf galaxies are preferentially clustered in the Fornax cluster core.

Figure 1 (Top panel): The central 3 deg2 tile of the NGFS survey footprint analyzed by Muñoz et al. It is centered on the brightest Fornax galaxy NGC1399, seen close to the center of the field. The image is a ugi color composite stretched to accentuate low-surface brightness objects. The red circles mark the newly discovered low surface brightness dwarfs, small grey circles the dwarf galaxies previously identified by Fer-guson (1989, AJ, 98, 367), and large grey circles additional galaxies identified by Mieske et al. (2007, A&A, 463, A503). Nu-cleated dwarf galaxies are indicated by a central dot of the same color as the corre-sponding circle. (Bottom left panel): Detailed view of a typical region of the field (orange box in the top panel), containing a variety of extended galaxies and several new compact and extended dwarf galaxy candidates. (Bot-tom right panel): Zoom on one ultra-low sur-face brightness dwarf galaxy candidate (or-ange box in the bottom left panel). (Image credit: Muñoz et al. 2015, ApJL, 813, L15.)

User Support and Instrumentation

A major operational activity at the Blanco 4-m telescope during Q1 was support for the third observ-ing season of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), as well as the use of DECam by the open-access community. DECam was the only instrument scheduled during the quarter. The third DES season began on 4 August 2015 and will end on 12 February 2016. The current reporting period corre-sponds to the most intense activity, with 74% of the observing nights on the Blanco telescope dedi-


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cated to DES. This has been a very strong El Niño year, with a third of the scheduled time lost due to bad weather (more than twice the weather loss during the first two seasons), and a larger fraction than normal of those images that were obtained not meeting survey requirements because they were taken under marginal conditions. As a result survey progress is running behind what had been planned for this period. On the other hand both the instrument and telescope have continued to per-form reliably so that only 3.5% of scheduled science time was lost to technical failures. There have also been further improvements in observing efficiency and in delivered image quality as a result of upgrades to the telescope, which partially offset the weather loss. Despite the focus on DES this quarter, observations were carried out for eight distinct community science programs during the re-maining 22 nights of science time.

The final touches needed to make the Astronomical Research using the Cornell InfraRed Imag-ing Spectrograph (ARCoIRIS) ready for regular science use were completed this quarter. These in-cluded modifications to the f/8 comparison lamp system to ensure that the reference sources uni-formly illuminate the ARCoIRIS focal plane. The user guide and operator reference manuals were also substantially completed, and a preliminary exposure time calculator (ETC) has been developed tied to on-telescope sensitivity measurements. A data reduction pipeline used with earlier copies of the instrument has been customized for use with ARCoIRIS with the help of Katelyn Allers (Buck-nell University) and is now undergoing beta testing. Following a final commissioning run in January 2016, the instrument will be put into regular science use with a total of 15 nights allocated to seven distinct programs scheduled for the 2016A semester.

A major activity this quarter was the completion of remediation work on fireproofing material containing asbestos throughout the Blanco telescope building. The work, carried out by a specialist contractor, involved removal and sealing of loose or damaged sections of fireproofing, installation of sheet metal covers to protect exposed fireproofing at risk of mechanical damage from contact or collisions, and removal of fiberglass thermal insulation contaminated with asbestos. A final thor-ough cleanup of all areas will be carried out in January, followed by air and wipe sampling to verify that levels of residual airborne asbestos meet applicable US and Chilean safety norms. As a byprod-uct, the entire Blanco building was subjected to rigorous housekeeping, with accumulations of sur-plus and obsolete equipment removed from storage and disposed of, the remaining spares and ser-vice equipment reorganized, and a few items of historical interest carefully curated for future use in visitor displays.


§ Support the third season of observations for the Dark Energy Survey (DES), which runs from mid-August 2015 through early February 2016.

Status: The equivalent of 108 nights on the Blanco telescope were allocated for the third season of DES, which began on 4 August 2015 and will end on 12 February 2016. Survey progress has been hampered by poor weather due to the very strong El Niño event this year, with a third of the time so far lost to poor weather. As of 31 December 2015, a total of 7792 survey quality wide-field images had been collected during season 3.

§ Complete the commissioning of the Astronomical Research using the Cornell InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (ARCoIRIS) near-infrared spectrograph on the Blanco 4-m telescope during Q1. Fully document the instrument’s capabilities and performance and provide user manuals and da-ta reduction handbooks in time for the start of community use during the 2016A semester.

Status: During the reporting period the f/8 comparison lamps were upgraded to improve the uniformity of illumination. A Star Simulator Test Bench, which allows lab testing of the ARCoIRIS guide system and detectors, was deployed in December. The user and operator man-

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uals were completed, and a preliminary ETC tied to on-telescope sensitivity measurement was also completed. With the help of Katelyn Allers (Bucknell U.), the data reduction program Tspectool, used at the ARC 3.5-m telescope to reduce data from TripleSpec, has been adapted for use with ARCoIRIS. Tspectool is in turn based on the Spextool package developed by Mi-chael Cushing for use with the Spex instrument at the IRTF. Following a final commissioning run in January 2016, ARCoIRIS will go into regular science use, with the first observer sched-uled for April.

§ Carry out monthly monitoring of the optical performance of the Blanco 4-m telescope at both prime and f/8 foci, to optimize the lookup tables used for figure control of the primary mirror in order to maintain the best possible delivered image quality.

Status: Aaron Roodman (SLAC), working with the NOAO-S optical engineer, has been studying the residual astigmatism in DECam images using data taken during regular observing using the instrument’s onboard wavefront sensor CCDs. These measurements show a clear improvement in the fidelity with which astigmatism is controlled following changes made in the baseline look-up table of the primary mirror active support system in July 2015. Modeling of the measured re-siduals suggests that active control of the mirror figure using these wavefront measurements in real time would lead to a further improvement, resulting in slightly better delivered image quali-ty (DIQ) under the very best seeing conditions. There has been no f/8 time during Q1.

§ Complete the remediation and protection of asbestos containing fireproofing in the Blanco Tele-scope building during Q1.

Status: The work to repair and seal damaged fireproofing and install protective covers has been completed, and an initial round of cleaning has been carried out. A second round of cleaning followed by air and wipe sampling to verify that levels of residual asbestos meet safety norms will be carried out in January. A group of NOAO-S staff have received training in dealing with small spills, and air sampling will be repeated at annual intervals going forward as the basis of the in-place management plan recommended by an external consultant and approved by the Chilean health authorities.

1.3 SOAR OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

Science

In a recent paper, Jay Strader (Michigan State University) and colleagues present medium-resolution spectra of the O-type secondary component of the high-mass γ-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 ob-tained with the Goodman spectrograph on the SOAR telescope (Strader et al. 2015, ApJL, 813, L26). 1FGL J1018.6-5856 is one of only five known “γ-ray binaries”—high-mass X-ray binaries that exhibit variable γ-ray emission extending into the very high (>100GeV) energy regime. The compact object in such systems may be a black hole, with the γ-rays coming from a relativistic jet, or it could be a neutron star with the γ-ray emission arising where a pulsar wind collides with the stellar wind from the secondary. Strader et al. were able to distinguish between these two possibili-ties, in the case of 1FGL J1018.6-5856, based on medium-resolution spectra of the O-type second-ary star: on the one hand they determine a semi-amplitude of the orbital radial velocity of only 11–12 km s-1, with consistent values obtained for H and He absorption lines; on the other they measure a rotation velocity for the star of at least 205 km s-1 from the broadening of absorption lines in the


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same spectra. The low orbital velocity strongly favors a neutron star primary, unless the system is being viewed almost pole on, an orientation disallowed by the fast observed rotation of the second-ary. Strader et al. also find that the flux of high-energy (X-ray and γ-ray) is greatest at the orbital phase in which the secondary star is passing behind the compact object as viewed from the earth. This is inconsistent with a simple model of anisotropic inverse Compton scattering for the γ-ray photons, which would predict a flux maximum when the star is on the near side.

Figure 2: Orbital radial velocity curves for the O-type secondary of the high-mass γ-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 obtained with the Goodman spectrograph on the SOAR telescope. The upper panel shows measurements for the Hγ line, the lower panel for the HeII 4542Å and 4686Å lines. The solid curves are standard Keplarian model fits, which yield semi-amplitudes of 11.4 ± 1.5 km s-1 and 12.2 ± 2.7 km s-1 for Hγ and HeII re-spectively. The low orbital amplitude, coupled with a large measured rotational velocity for the secondary star, strongly imply that the compact primary is a neutron star rather than a black hole (Strader et al. 2015, ApJL, 813, L26).

User Support and Instrumentation

SOAR operations continued in a relatively routine fashion. Some facility upgrades are highlighted below; in addition to those identified in the milestones we completed implementation of a new ac-quisition camera for the Goodman spectrograph, which reduces acquisition overheads for brighter targets (and also improves overall instrument stability).

Work on the upgrades to the telescope control system (TCS) was largely completed during the previous fiscal year, and the effort is now focused on identifying residual issues and verifying all in-terfaces (especially with the SOAR science instruments). In addition, during this exercise we expect to identify tasks that might be carried out as a second round of improvements; these would need to be prioritized and scheduled according to resource availability.

Usage of the SAM adaptive optics system continues to increase, with December being particu-larly noteworthy in this regard: we had 10 scheduled nights for five different programs. We continue to work on improving the SOAR website, as we see this as our main vehicle for communicating with our user community.

Operations were affected by continuing aftershocks from the September 16 Illapel earthquake. The main quake and the stronger aftershocks have revealed vulnerabilities in the telescope, and en-gineering projects have been initiated to address them as practical. In particular, the azimuth encoder system can lose alignment for nearby events of magnitude ~6, so a high priority is designing a more resilient system.

The ongoing El Niño event has also decreased the amount of good weather we have had by sev-eral percent, including a late-winter snowstorm in October.

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§ Install and commission the new red-optimized CCD camera for the Goodman spectrograph dur-ing Q1.

Status: Progress on finishing installation was delayed by the need to return the detector dewar to the manufacturer for repair. As a result, the camera and its electronics were not shipped from UNC until the very end of the quarter, so completion of installation is now expected to occur in January (i.e., early Q2).

§ Replace the SOAR facility UPS with a modern unit, including an additional battery bank to in-crease hold time during Q1.

Status: Completed. The new system has demonstrated its reliability on several occasions al-ready.

§ Replace the commercial Peltier-cooled CCD cameras used in the facility wavefront sensor and its associated acquisition camera with newer models from the same manufacturer during Q2.

Status: The optical design work has been completed and a new field flattener lens procured. Software work on the CCD camera control software has started.

§ Redesign the control electronics for the dome shutter, during Q2, so that they can be relocated from their current position riding on the shutter to a stationary position on the building. Begin assembly of the new hardware during Q3, completing it in time for installation in November 2017 during the time the telescope is closed for recoating.

Status: Some effort on documenting the existing system is underway, but we have decided to give priority to the work on reducing seismic vulnerability described above.

§ During Q1 carry out coating tests in the Gemini sputtering plant to re-establish the optimum op-erating parameters for depositing aluminum in preparation for coating the SOAR primary mirror in November 2016. If SOAR procures a dedicated magnetron, design and fabricate mounting hardware to allow its installation in the coating plant.

Status: Initial coating tests were performed, and a final round after thorough cleaning of the magnetrons is currently scheduled for Q2; unless there are surprises after these tests we expect to proceed with coating the primary in Q1 of FY17, as scheduled. It does not appear to be nec-essary to procure a dedicated magnetron, since we hope that the more intensive cleaning proce-dures will suffice to eliminate contamination from silver. The Engineering & Technical Services coating staff were also full participants in the recent coating of the Gemini primary mirror, as part of our efforts to form an joint-observatory coating team.

1.4 ENGINEERING & TECHNICAL SERVICES

Program Highlights

During the reporting period, the NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services (NS ETS) group provided engineering and technical support for science operations of the CTIO telescopes, helping with problem diagnosis and resolution and with regular maintenance of the optical, mechanical, electronic, and software systems of the telescopes and instruments. NS ETS staff also participated in projects to upgrade the performance of the telescopes and to install and test new instrumentation


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Several NS ETS staff participated in the process of applying a new protected silver coating to the primary mirror of the Gemini South telescope in October. This activity served as training for coating the SOAR primary mirror, which will be done in the same plant, and it was also a significant step towards forming a cross-program coating team. Subsequently an initial round of aluminum coating tests was performed in the Gemini coating plant in preparation for the SOAR coating. At the same time progress was made in refurbishing the evaporative coating plant at Blanco in preparation for aluminizing its primary mirror, with replacement of the internal power cabling completed this quarter. The conceptual design for repair of the Blanco mirror lift was also completed, and the long lead-time hardware components were ordered.

An assortment of instrument-related tasks was completed during the reporting period. The new f/8 calibration lamps system used by COSMOS and ARCoIRIS on the Blanco telescopes was com-pleted, installed, and commissioned. The Blanco Star Simulator Test Bench for ARCoIRIS, de-signed and fabricated during FY15, was also installed and tested in December and was used to test the ARCoIRIS Guiding System. The new Cerro Tololo seeing monitor was completed and put into service using the old CCD and software in October and then upgraded with the installation of a new Prosilica CCD camera in December. The acquisition camera for the Goodman spectrograph at SOAR was completed and put into regular service, resulting in a significant reduction in target ac-quisition times. The upgrade of the SOAR facility wavefront sensor also advanced with the optical design completed and lenses ordered, and work started on the interface software for the new Apogee CCD cameras.

The NS ETS electronics group has been very active this quarter supporting NOAO South Facili-ties Operations with the work to restore operation of the electric power house on Cerro Tololo, par-ticipating in both the system-level diagnosis and testing of separate components and in the selection and recruitment of a new electrical engineer.

The NS ETS and Gemini engineering staffs participated in a number of joint training activities in October and November, including courses on vacuum coating technology, the CT7 reflectometer, and Zemax optical design software. Shared training in areas of common interest is cost-effective and builds valuable professional connections between the two engineering teams.


• Complete refurbishment of the Blanco aluminizing tank and optimize its control parameters to ensure stable, reliable, and reproducible deposition of a good-quality coating in time to re-aluminize the Blanco primary mirror during calendar year 2017.

Status: Documentation of the plant design and electrical layout in electronic format based on old drawings and in-situ verification and measurements was complete in Q1. Refurbishment of the cabling for electric power has been completed and that for the diffusion pump heater is un-derway. New vacuum sensors have been procured and are being installed. Oil for the diffusion pumps has been procured, and purging and replacement of the oil is underway, starting with the 1.5-m coating plant, which is being refurbished as test bench for the 4-m plant.

• Initiate replacement of the Blanco mirror lift. During Q1 complete the design trade study be-tween the approaches adopted at the Mayall telescope and AAO and start procurement of long-lead-time components. Detailed design will be completed during Q2, with procurement and fab-rication of the remaining components to be completed by the end of the year. Integration, instal-lation, and testing will be carried out at the beginning of FY17.

Status: The design trade study and preliminary design were completed in Q1, culminating in a preliminary design review in December. The basic approach follows that of the Australian As-tronomical Observatory (AAO), but incorporates important features from the Mayall design. A

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few changes of detail suggested by the review committee have been evaluated and most will be implemented. Procurement of the ball screws, actuators, and motor is underway, with the final order to be placed following a final iteration with the vendor in early January 2016. Detailed design will begin in Q2.

• Build the new handling cart for the Blanco Cassegrain cage, the design of which is ready. Fabri-cation of parts will be carried out throughout the year as machine shop resources are available, with final assembly taking place during Q4.

Status: Engineering design is complete. Detail design and fabrication drawings are needed pri-or to starting fabrication.

• Upgrade the emergency brake mechanism for the Blanco dome shutter, building on similar work carried out at the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO). Design work will be completed in Q2, with implementation beginning in Q3 but expected to continue into FY17.

Status: Our study noted several concerns with the design of the AAO emergency brake system such as the increase in overall mass and a decrease in flexibility of the shutter. Considering that the AAO shutter is substantially smaller than that for Blanco leads to the conclusion that the AAO design may not be optimal for us. Reevaluation of the engineering concept for this upgrade is therefore required.

• During Q2 and Q3, upgrade the drive mechanism of the Blanco dome shutter following the similar work carried out at the Mayall telescope.

Status: Replacement of the gearbox for the Mayall dome shutter drive with a new, updated model is now scheduled for the Mayall summer shutdown (early Q4). During the reporting peri-od the engineering design documentation for this upgrade has been obtained from KPNO and was evaluated by the NS ETS mechanical engineering team preparatory to adapting the design for adoption at Blanco.

• Complete during Q3 the upgrade of the SOAR Telescope Control System (TCS) to the same standard as the recently upgraded TCS of the Blanco 4-m telescope.

Status: Most of the coding and testing is complete: STCSK2 coding and testing is now complete, STCSAPP is more than 85% done, and STCSGUI is more than 80% done. The services for mov-ing mount telemetry data into the Facility DB are in place. Work has started in producing the user and programmer manuals.

Night-time commissioning started in October. Work has been structured in one or two half-nights during T&E runs (one per month). So far the CWFS, GHST, SPARTAN, and SOI instru-ment modes have been successfully commissioned (pointing, orientations, guider-star acquisi-tion, and guiding). Commissioning of the SAM instrument mode, and M2 and ADC automatic pointing adjustments, come next during T&E runs scheduled in Q2. Science verification testing will then be carried out as a complete end-to-end check of the system.

• Upgrade the control electronics for the primary mirror axial actuators in order to achieve faster correction of the mirror figure following retargeting of the telescope. Design and prototype de-velopment work will be carried out during Q1, procurement of parts and fabrication of the pro-duction hardware during Q2 and Q3, and integration in the telescope and testing during Q4.

Status: The conceptual design has been completed. Detailed design and implementation will be assigned to a new electronics engineer currently being recruited, in collaboration with an exist-ing senior electronics engineer, as an on-board and knowledge transfer exercise.


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• Commission a design study of the opto-mechanical modifications required to allow ARCoIRIS to be deployed at the SOAR telescope. This is to be completed by the end of FY16 so that the changes can be implemented during FY17.

Status: Conversations have been initiated with Cornell to ascertain their interest and availabil-ity to design and carry out the changes needed to the fore-optics internal to the instrument and to obtain an estimate of costs involved.

1.5 FACILITIES OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

The NOAO South Facilities Operations (NS FO) department is responsible for operations, mainte-nance, and long-term stewardship of physical infrastructure shared by the facilities hosted by AURA-Observatory (AURA-O) in Chile. This includes support buildings, housing, hotel and kitch-en facilities, and miscellaneous other facilities in La Serena and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón.

In the first quarter of FY16 the infrastructure group was reinforced by the hiring of a certified senior electric engineer, in charge of the electric support group and all common electric installations on the mountains and in the La Serena compound. Work on the equipment in the Cerro Tololo pow-er house, which was damaged during the electric storm in March 2015, continued, and by the end of the calendar year, a clear path for resolving the issues was defined.

Winter storms continued well into the first quarter of FY16, slowing down the repair of the roads, but by the end of the quarter, together with an external assessor, the road was examined and a plan for recovery developed.


§ Improve the reliability of the electric power transmission infrastructure for both mountains by installing re-connectors (i) at the junction between the commercial power company and AURA lines, (ii) at the bifurcation of the lines to Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, and (iii) on each summit. This improvement will be implemented in Q3 of FY16, pending funding by the pro-grams, with the priority being (i) and (iii).

Status: No progress to report.

§ Upgrade and certify heating facilities on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón to comply with Chilean regulations in Q1 of FY16 (requires agreement for funding by the other non-NOAO programs). This includes the heating facilities in the hotel, dorms, and offices on Cerro Tololo; heating fa-cilities of the Cerro Tololo houses is planned for FY17.

Status: No progress to report. This project will be postponed to Q3 of FY16.

§ In preparation for the certification of the electric substations on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, an improvement plan will be defined in Q2 of FY16, which will be implemented in Q3 (again, pending funding agreement by other programs).


§ Renovation of the kitchen on Cerro Tololo will take place during Q3 of FY16. The amplification of the kitchen on Cerro Pachón, to comply with Chilean regulations, will be designed in Q1 and implemented in Q2/Q3, if funding is available per agreement with other programs.

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§ Remodel the La Serena machine shop to provide a covered, well-ventilated area for welding and painting and to provide a direct entrance to the shop superintendent’s office without passing through the machine shop proper, for safety reasons. This project will be carried out in two steps. The first step will be taken in Q3: once the plans for the LSST offices have sufficiently matured to understand the impact on the La Serena compound, the plans for remodeling of the machine shop will be finalized.


§ Define exits/entrances for the La Serena compound in Q2 of FY16. With the re-arrangement of the La Serena traffic flows (e.g., Av. Juan Cisternas will become one-way), it is necessary to re-define the entrance/exit of the compound at the Huanhuali/Cisternas gate. At the same time, a permanent solution for an entrance/exit at the east side of the compound needs to be defined, to ensure safe access while the access through the terrain of the University of La Serena remains closed. Implementation of these improvements will be pending funding by the other programs and/or AURA.


1.6 COMPUTER INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

Program Highlights

At the start of FY16, an interim head of the Computer Infrastructure Services (CISS) group was ap-pointed, replacing the previous CISS head, who transitioned to a position with the LSST project, alt-hough he will continue to provide networking support for the AURA backbone in this new position.

With a view to the future, the Directors of NOAO, LSST, Gemini, and AURA-O have estab-lished an internal working group to evaluate the feasibility of forming a joint IT infrastructure sup-port services group meeting the needs of all the AURA centers in Chile. The working group is charged with first cataloging the existing (or planned, in the case of LSST) IT infrastructure used by each center and enumerating the total cost of its support and maintenance by the existing separate IT groups. They are then charged with developing and costing proposals for how this support could be delivered by an integrated group, including considering a transition to common software and hard-ware standards across the centers. The working group is expected to deliver its findings to the center directors by the end of Q2 of FY16.

Six new workstations for use by the REU/PIA students were specified, procured, and assembled ready for the arrival of the students in January 2016. These leading-edge workstations use the ex-tremely fast m.2 NVMe SSD technology.


• Install the fiber optics cable interconnecting Cerro Pachón, Cerro Tololo, and La Serena and in-stall the network equipment required to implement a link with capacity of at least 1 Gb from the summits to base for each of the major programs (Gemini, SOAR, CTIO, LSST).

Status: CISS has procured the 10 Gb–capable Cisco routers that will be used in these connec-tions. Work by the external contractor on the installation of the fibers is scheduled to begin in Q2.


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• Establish by the end of FY16 separate, independent sub-networks for each of the tenant tele-scopes on Cerro Tololo.

Status: This project is roughly 80% complete. A new router and several switches have been in-stalled and new fiber has been run to all tenant locations. Well over half of the tenant telescopes and sensor projects have been moved over to the independent subnet. In addition, the remaining tenant connections have been tested and/or temporarily moved to the independent subnet. Com-pletion is awaiting some final VLAN troubleshooting and configuration, along with the schedul-ing of IP address changes to move the remaining tenants to the independent subnet address space.

• Install a wireless local area network controller and captive portal with 802.1x in Q1 for im-proved performance.

Status: This project is roughly 20% complete. Centered on a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC), an experimental 802.1x capable EAP-TTLS wireless access point was successfully test-ed, as was an 802.1x capable eduroam authentication system, but there are still problems when these two systems run together on the Cisco WLC. Progress now depends on debugging the WLC problems, along with identifying and deploying a captive portal system (perhaps the open source PacketFence) to work with the existing CTIO Linux-based computer infrastructure

• Purchase and install in FY16 the Cisco Identity Services Engine to make the network more se-cure from personal mobile devices.


• Establish a network connection, in Q1, from Cerro Tololo to the water tower in the San Carlos valley to support remote monitoring of the pumping stations by the NOAO South Facilities Op-erations staff.

Status: This project is roughly 50% complete. Ubiquity Nanobeam M5 wireless bridges support-ing VLANs have been purchased and successfully tested in a simulation of the remote monitor-ing connections. The definitive installation awaits completion of concrete antenna supports at either end.

KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY

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2 KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY

The NOAO North (NN) division is responsible for the admin-istration, facilities, and information technology (IT) support for NOAO activities based in southern Arizona. For program man-agement purposes, these activities are separated into the follow-ing subprograms:


• Mayall Operations

• WIYN Operations

• Kitt Peak Mountain Operations

• Kitt Peak Visitor Center


Program Highlights

The start of FY16 ushered in the new Operations Model for KPNO, comprised of distinct operations plans for the Mayall, WIYN, and Mountain Operations facilities. The Kitt Peak Visitor Center con-tinued as it has in recent years, as a financially self-supporting organization that coordinates its ac-tivities with the other KPNO subprograms. During Q1 there was intense activity to commission the Mosaic-3 imager. The red-sensitive CCDs employed by this new imager will greatly facilitate completion of the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey (MzLS), which will serve as a primary source for DESI Survey target lists. The successful commissioning of Mosaic-3 was partly enabled by the completion of the Mayall Telescope Control System (TCS) upgrade, which was completed just prior to the beginning of Q1. The Associate Director’s Office (ADO) continued to support DESI- and EPDS-related work. Details of these activities can be found in the subprogram highlights and milestones below.


• Provide KPNO content for the scientific quarterly and annual progress reports each quarter and deliver it to the NOAO Director’s Office for inclusion in each of these reports.

Status: Ongoing.

• Develop the KPNO component of the annual program plan for FY17, to be delivered to the NOAO Director’s Office by the end of Q3.

Status: Underway. Planning meetings with management team and mountain scientific support staff in early Q2 to launch formal planning process.

• During Q1 organize and carry out the review by an external panel of safety experts of workplace safety and procedures at all the facilities operated by KPNO, which shall include a walk-through inspection of the Mayall and WIYN telescopes and the mountain and Tucson laboratories and workshops.

Status: Safety review by external panel of experts is scheduled for February 2–3.

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Mayall Operations

WIYN Operations

Kitt Peak Mountain Operations

Kitt Peak Visitor Center


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2.2 MAYALL OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

Regular operational use of the new Telescope Control System began just before the start of Q1 of FY16. The use went very smoothly; the only difference noted by observers and telescope operators was the improved pointing and tracking performance. Considerable efforts went into supporting the commissioning of the Mosaic-3 dewar as described below. Other activities appear in the milestone updates.

Science

A Large Asteroid Challenges the Rubble-Pile Spin Barrier The rotation periods of asteroids reveal tantalizing clues to their underlying structure and origin. While the rotation rates of asteroids smaller than 300 m can be very high (the record holder has a ro-tation period as small as 15 seconds), asteroids larger than 300 m have much lower rotation rates, with periods smaller than 2 hours. The remarkable difference between the maximal rotation rates of large and small asteroids is interpreted as a signpost of the limited tensile strength of large asteroids: they are thought to be rubble piles that cannot remain bound against centrifugal acceleration at high rotation rates. Smaller asteroids may instead be monolithic structures, the building blocks that the larger asteroids are made of. In a new study, Polishook et al. (2015; arXiv:1512.07088) studied a rare object: a large asteroid whose rapid rotation challenges the rubble-pile spin barrier. Using observations made with the Kitt Peak Mayall 4-m and 2.1-m telescopes as well as other facilities, the study found a rotation period of 1.9 hr for the 2 km sized asteroid, a period too short to be consistent with a rubble pile held together by gravity alone. The Kitt Peak observations were allocated through the Mission Accessible Near-Earth Objects Survey (MANOS; Moskovitz et al. 2014, AAS, DPS meeting #46, id.503.09). The authors interpret the asteroid’s high rotation rate as evidence for “strong cohesion,” an addi-tional stickiness produced by van der Waals forces between small (micron-sized) regolith grains trapped in a matrix around the larger boulders. Such small grains could be produced if the asteroid is old and has experienced numerous non-catastrophic collisions over its lifetime. Spectra for Kepler Eclipsing Binary Systems Available Online Eclipsing binaries offer unique opportunities to make a variety of fundamental astronomical meas-urements. Masses and radii can be determined for the component stars of eclipsing binaries. These quantities provide fundamental tests of models of stellar evolution. When radial velocity measure-ments are also available, the distance to an eclipsing binary can be determined, an approach that can be used to measure the distances to stellar systems, including nearby galaxies and stellar clusters. With its continuous, high-precision photometry, the Kepler Space Telescope has revolutionized the eclipsing binary field of study. Kirk et al. (2016) present their final catalog of 2878 eclipsing bi-nary systems from the primary Kepler mission. The catalog includes multi-epoch spectra for 611 systems, all of which were acquired with the Mayall 4-m telescope. The spectra, now available for download from the Eclipsing Binary Catalog website (http://keplerEBs.villanova.edu), will be ana-lyzed in detail in a forthcoming paper.


§ Commission the “Mosaic 3” dewar in the Mosaic instrument on the Mayall telescope during Q1 of FY16. Complete commissioning and be ready for MzLS science observations to begin by the end of Q1.


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Status: Completed. The new detector/controller system is working well after successful comple-tion of three scheduled commissioning runs. Some additional time in January 2016 will be used for further testing of MzLS observing procedures and improving observing efficiency.

§ Complete the first half of the MzLS imaging survey for DESI target catalog development. Ob-serving for this survey will be conducted throughout Q2 and Q3 of FY16.

Status: Awaiting the official start of the MzLS assigned observing time on 2 February 2016.

§ Install additional air and contact temperature sensors throughout the Mayall telescope chamber to provide detailed thermal logging required by DESI. Complete installation and testing by the end of Q1 of FY16.

Status: Essentially completed. All sensors that can be placed with current access equipment have been installed and tested. A few sensors very high on the inside of the dome cannot be in-stalled until the internal dome flatfield screen is enlarged during early DESI installation, when a rented boomlift will be available. Installing those sensors will take only a few hours at that time.

§ Write, test, and deploy the DESI ICS-TCS software interface. Complete testing by the end of Q2 of FY16. This software is needed in advance of the ProtoDESI testing later in FY16.

Status: Proceeding on schedule. The complete software package running in simulation mode was delivered to DESI collaborators at The Ohio State University on schedule on 5 December 2015. Plans and preparations are firmly in place for these collaborators to come to the Mayall for engineering tests on the nights of 21–22 January 2016 to install a prototype version of their Instrument Control System and drive the telescope using the newly written interface software package. This will complete the testing called for in this milestone.

§ Design, fabricate, test, and install new cable wrap hardware for the DESI fiber optic cables. De-sign will begin early in Q1 of FY16, and the work will continue throughout most of the year. In-stallation will take place immediately following the ProtoDESI testing campaign and be com-plete by the end of Q4.

Status: Underway. The preliminary design work is approximately 50% complete as of the end of Q1.

§ Install, test on-sky, and remove the ProtoDESI prime focus prototype unit. This activity will be carried out entirely in Q4 of FY16.

Status: Underway. Preparations for this test run are moving ahead at NOAO and throughout the DESI collaboration. NOAO will host the second (of three) detailed workshops among Pro-toDESI collaborators on 19–20 January 2016 as part of managing this preparation process.

§ Complete facilities enhancements for DESI and other observing support activities, including modernization of the Mayall-wide “clean” power system, extension of the facility glycol cooling system into the Large Coudé Room, and renovation of the U-floor lounge area into a satellite control room. The activities will be carried out throughout the first three quarters of FY16 and will be complete by the end of Q3.

Status: Underway. Final designs and plans have been drawn up for the modernization of the clean power system and the extension of the facility glycol system. The work on the clean power system will be contracted out to an outside firm and carried out during the 2016 summer shut-


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down. The work on the glycol extension will be done by Kitt Peak Facilities staff, also during the 2016 summer shutdown. Renovation of the U-floor has begun with demolition of the existing fa-cilities mostly completed in Q1, and plans for the renovated space are under development.

§ Replace the undersized and badly worn gearbox on the Mayall upper dome shutter with a properly rated unit to prevent catastrophic failure of the upper shutter drive system. Preparatory work will go on through the first two quarters of FY16, and the installation of the new unit will be completed early in Q4.

Status: On schedule. Due to the expected bad weather frequency associated with the 2015–2016 El Niño winter, the installation was deferred until the 2016 summer shutdown to allow time to design and construct fixturing needed to carry out the gearbox replacement with the dome closed instead of open. Fixturing fabrication is nearly complete as of the end of Q1, and the re-placement gearbox has been received and inspected.

2.3 WIYN OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

Efforts continued in Q1 to support the Instrument Concept Study (ICS) stage of the Extreme Preci-sion Doppler Spectrometer (EPDS) project. The WIYN consortium took delivery of a new u-band filter for the One Degree Imager; initial tests show excellent performance. Also during this period, the WIYN Scientific Steering Committee set requirements for the next ODI filter purchase, a nar-row-band red-shifted H-alpha filter.


§ Perform design studies of interfaces between the bent Cassegrain port of the WIYN telescope and optical fiber feeds to the proposed EPDS instruments (early Q2 deliverable; NASA fund-ing).

Status: Design studies of the interfaces have been completed by the WIYN staff, with help from subcontractors. The reports summarizing these studies are in preparation, on schedule for de-livery to NASA at the end of January.

§ Report findings on the schedule, costs, and risks of the EPDS instrument designs in the ICS Re-ports that will be delivered by the Penn State and MIT design teams to JPL (mid-Q2 deliverable; NASA funding).

Status: Reports are on schedule for delivery at the end of January.

§ Complete scope and cost studies, as directed by the WIYN Board, of the following telescope improvement projects: upgrading the telescope drives, applying high-efficiency mirror coatings to M1 and M2, and updating primary mirror control actuator boards (Q4; general operations and maintenance funding).

Status: This milestone was not advanced in Q1. A plan exists for undertaking these studies dur-ing Q2–Q3.


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2.4 KITT PEAK MOUNTAIN OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

Facility staff have been working to implement the mountain infrastructure operations plan while continuing to provide requested support to the Mayall and WIYN facilities. Current systems are be-ing updated to enable tracking of the various support efforts and ensure that per-use revenue recov-ery records are in place. Staff efforts have been ongoing to support the WIYN EPDS instrument fa-cility evaluation and develop plans for converting the U-floor space into a control room. Other ef-forts have focused on plans and identifying efforts necessary to proceed with installation of a fiber optic to the west ridge tenants to enable their connection to the mountaintop data system. With the anticipated retirement of the longtime Facilities Supervisor in Q2, a replacement was hired during Q1 to enable a knowledge transfer and facilitate a smooth skills transfer.


§ Complete scope and cost estimates for mountain electrical power distribution upgrade project in Q2.

Status: There has been no activity during this period.

§ Perform design studies of facilities modifications at the WIYN telescope to provide suitable working environments for the proposed EPDS instruments (early Q2 deliverable; NASA fund-ing).

Status: Tucson staff have been working with WIYN personnel on this study. A contract was is-sued to a local engineering firm to perform a preliminary design study and develop a general cost envelope for the two proposed instrument needs. Several meetings were held with the engi-neering firm during the study, with a preliminary report delivered at the end of the quarter. The final report will be delivered at the beginning of Q2 for final submission.

§ Complete design for Mayall U-floor control room layout in Q2 (joint milestone with Mayall Operations).

Status: Tucson staff have completed working drawings with scientific staff input ongoing. Dem-olition efforts have begun, and material is being ordered to begin renovation efforts. Work will continue to be ongoing in Q2 and Q3.

§ Work with our telephone service provider (TOUA) and west ridge tenants to add new fiber to expand bandwidth to telescope facilities on the West Ridge.

Status: Contractor bids have been obtained and an agreement is being finalized for the work in Q2. An application has been submitted to TOUA for attachment of the fiber to their existing pole system, and the agreement is being finalized.


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2.5 KITT PEAK VISITOR CENTER

Program Highlights

Total participation in Kitt Peak Visitor Center programs was down by 8% compared to Q1 in FY15, with 3,550 people. The largest changes occurred in the General Public Tours and our Nightly Ob-serving Program. The General Public Tours were down by 5%, or 88 fewer people participating in these daytime offerings than in Q1 of 2015. The tours are led by an all-volunteer group of trained docents drawn from the local communi-ty. The Nightly Observing Program (NOP) witnessed a 14% drop-off in attendance, or 294 fewer participants than the same period last year. A significant staff shortage meant fewer programs were offered and the class size limits were kept small. Additionally, the beginning of the El Niño weather pattern prompted multiple cancellations of evening programs, many of them filled with would-be participants. The Overnight Telescope Observing Program (OTOP), our night-long special observing pro-gram for advanced astronomy enthusiasts, served 31 guests, coming in close to the 36 in Q1 of FY15. A bright spot in this report is the attend-ance at a new program launched during this pe-riod: the Dark Sky Discovery (DSD) program. This small-group observing program for inter-mediate-level astronomy enthusiasts and ama-teur astronomers attracted 72 participants in its inaugural period. The struggling Binocular Stargazing Program, offered at a nearby na-tional park, showed signs of rebound with the addition of a new staff member to guide the program. Thirty-one people participated in this compared to five during the same period in FY15. Another bright spot is the Youth Group Overnight (YGO) program. There were no partici-pants in Q1 of FY15, whereas 54 were served in this reporting period. The redesigned Visitor Center website, www.noao.edu/kpvc, completed in August 2015, contin-ues to show positive results. It receives visits from viewers in six continents and all 50 states. A tell-ing statistic is the percentage of visitors enrolling in evening programs from the new website. The former website averaged 46% of evening program participants registering with it. The other 54% registered by phone or in person. By comparison, 91% of program participants used the new, easier-to-navigate website to register for their choice of evening programs in Q1.


§ Full rollout and implementation of the new Dark Sky Discovery program will occur in the fall of 2015. This new program spans the gap between the existing NOP and AOP programs. It is in-tended for guests with some knowledge of astronomy or familiarity with the night sky who are

Kitt Peak Visitor Center & Tours Summary of Participants (3 months ending 12/31/15)

Group/Program # of Participants

General public tours 1,635

School groups, K-college 32

Special tours 31

VIP tours 10

Nightly Observing Program (NOP) 1,725

Overnight Telescope Observing Program (OTOP) 31

Dark Sky Discovery (DSD) program 72

Youth Group Overnight (YGO) program 52

Other classes and workshops 14

TOTAL 3,602


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seeking a small-group, telescope-viewing, astronomy-learning experience. Whereas the NOP evenings serve 50 or more participants, the Dark Sky Discovery program will be capped at 8, al-lowing for more time at the telescope and much more interaction with staff.

Status: The Dark Sky Discovery (DSD) program was launched in the fall of 2015. This small-group observing program offers intermediate-level astronomy enthusiasts and amateur astron-omers the opportunity to view multiple faint objects through the Visitor Center’s Ritchey-Chrétien 16-inch reflector. The program is limited to 8 participants and lasts approximately three to three and a half hours. The program had 72 participants in its inaugural period, and winter enrollment is strong.

§ A new Visitor Center website will premiere. Although the initial go-live event will occur in Au-gust 2015, the full deployment of additional content and features will occur during FY16. The new website will be easier to navigate, provide completely updated content and other new fea-tures, and most importantly, will be dynamic, that is, fully viewable on devices of all sizes, from small smartphones to tablets to desktop computers. This development is essential as more search engines begin to exclude websites that are not fully dynamic.

Status: The redesigned Visitor Center website, www.noao.edu/kpvc, was completed in August 2015 and continues to show positive results. It receives visits from viewers in six continents and all 50 states. It is easier to navigate and is fully viewable on devices of all sizes. Currently, 91% of evening program participants use the new website to register for their choice of evening pro-grams, compared to 46% of participants with the former website.


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3 NOAO SYSTEM SCIENCE AND DATA CENTER

The NOAO System Science and Data Center (NSSDC) op-erates a telescope time allocation process recognized nation-ally for its fairness and integrity for access to all NOAO-operated facilities and all facilities that offer open-access time via NOAO (e.g., Gemini, SMARTS). NSSDC supports users of non-NOAO facilities (with particular focus on Gem-ini) and connects the astronomical community to major ex-ternal development projects (e.g., LSST, TMT). NSSDC al-so provides a robust set of data archive and data processing services including desktop image processing systems sup-port (e.g., IRAF), data calibration pipelines for wide-field imagers (e.g., Mosaic 1.1, NEWFIRM, DECam), and data management (e.g., capture, validation, and archiving of all raw data produced by NOAO-operated facilities, all data products from NOAO-operated calibration pipelines, and all data products from NOAO Survey Programs). All data holdings are publicly available from the NOAO Science Archive following the designated proprietary period. With the advent of DECam, NSSDC has stepped up to a petascale (“Big Data”) level of data volume and complexity. For pro-gram management purposes, NSSDC activities are separated into the following subprograms:


• Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC)

• US National Gemini Office (USNGO)

• Community Science Center (CSC)

• Data Management Operations (DMO)


Program Highlights

Q1 marked the start of the planned transition to increased support for data science and archival re-search within NOAO. The organizational structure and balance of resources within NSSDC were updated to support this evolution in mission, and the name of the division was changed from Na-tional System Science Center (NSSC) to National System Science and Data Center (NSSDC). In support of this new focus, NOAO concluded the search for a new Associate Director (AD) for NSSDC in Q1 with the hiring of Adam S. Bolton, who started work at NOAO at the beginning of December 2015. Bolton was previously an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Utah. At the U. of Utah, Bolton served as Principal Data Scientist for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and he was also a key contributor to the scientific case and data-systems design for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project. His research background is in obser-vational cosmology, gravitational lensing, galaxy structure, survey science, and algorithms and sta-tistics for astronomical data analysis. During Q1, the AD and the DMO program head represented NOAO at the NSF workshop on “Cyberinfrastructure for Large Facilities.”

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Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC)

US National Gemini Office (USNGO)

Community Science Center (CSC)

Data Management Operations (DMO)

NOAO SYSTEM SCIENCE AND DATA CENTER

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§ Coordinate and manage content for the quarterly reports and final annual report.

Status: Both the outgoing AD for NSSC (V. Smith) and the incoming AD for NSSDC (A. Bolton) participated in this management and coordination for the current report. Future quarters will be managed by Bolton, and regular practices for obtaining and merging contributions from the NSSDC program heads will be established based on the experience with the Q1 process.

§ Be responsible for the NSSDC input to the Program Operations Plan for FY17.

Status: As part of the application and interview process, new AD Bolton began developing pro-posals for the direction of NSSDC activities in FY17. This planning continued after the start of Bolton’s employment at NOAO, in consultation with NSSDC program heads and the NOAO di-rector, and will be summarized in a presentation to the AURA Observatory Council in early Q2.

3.2 TELESCOPE ALLOCATION COMMITTEE

Program Highlights

The Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) process was completed successfully for semester 2016A, culminating in the NOAO TAC panels meeting in Tucson from 26–30 October 2015, and proposal announcements and reviews being sent to proposers on 15 December 2015. NOAO re-ceived 363 proposals for 2016A. Semester 2016A is set to begin on 1 February 2015. During Q1 of FY16, planning began for the call for proposals for semester 2016B, with a planned release of the Call for Proposals on 1 March 2016 and a proposal deadline of 31 March 2016.


§ Issue calls for proposals for regular programs (twice a year) and survey programs (once a year).

Status: The first Call for Proposals in FY16 will occur on 1 March 2016 for semester 2016B. No NOAO Survey call is expected for FY16.

§ Convene Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) panels twice a year to review the proposals and provide recommendations to the NOAO director.

Status: The TAC panels for semester 2016A met in Tucson during the time period 26–30 Octo-ber 2015.

§ Work with the federal and non-federal observatories to prioritize and schedule the approved proposals by 15 December 2015 for 2016A and 15 June 2016 for 2017A.

Status: All semester 2016A approved programs were scheduled successfully, with announce-ments of scheduling sent out to PIs on 15 December 2015.


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3.3 US NATIONAL GEMINI OFFICE

Program Highlights

The US NGO group will hold its second mini-workshop at the January 2016 AAS meeting in Flori-da. Planning for this workshop, entitled "NOAO Mini-workshop on Adaptive Optics: From Planning Observations through Data Reductions,” was conducted in Q1. Phoenix has been approved for Gemini South, and the outcome of the 2016A TAC allowed the scheduling of a Phoenix observing block in mid-May. In preparation, the spectrograph was re-mated to the Gemini interface in the lab, and the software configured for Gemini observing. The system was checked and the instrument disassembled for shipping. Along with the working instrument, spare parts were inventoried and packaged for shipment. The NOAO carpenter’s shop made two crates, one for the Phoenix vacuum enclosure and one for the Phoenix/Gemini interface. A third commercial crate was purchased to hold supplemental computer equipment. As of early December, the crates were ready to ship. Since that time we have been awaiting an export license from the Commerce Department. Since Phoenix is a sophisticated instrument, AURA has been in a detailed discussion with the Commerce Department to ensure compliance with federal regulations.


§ Attend Gemini Operations Working Group (OpsWG) in-person and remote meetings, represent-ing the US partner, and participate in the joint Gemini/NGO meetings to discuss all operation is-sues.

Status: The next OpsWG meeting will be held 17–18 February 2016. The US NGO Head is pre-paring the semester report and items for the agenda at this time.

§ Represent the US partner in the International Telescope Allocation Committee.

Status: The US NGO Head and another representative participated in the 2016A ITAC, repre-senting the US Users for Gemini and Subaru-exchange programs.

§ Provide support (such as panel orientation materials and on-call support) to the Time Allocation Committee for Gemini. Also provide technical reviews of all highly ranked programs.

Status: The group provided all Gemini-related materials for the 2016A TAC orientation. All members of the US NGO provided ad hoc support for the 2016A TAC. The US NGO Head par-ticipated in the 2016A Merging TAC.

§ Develop new cookbooks, data reduction examples, and informed Q&A to aid US Gemini ob-servers in reducing their data. Specific current packages were agreed upon with Gemini at the OpsWG semester meetings, and new packages will be discussed in February 2016 and August 2016 at these meetings.

Status: The group produced a first draft of the GMOS cookbook and is now reviewing it through internal and external (e.g., other NGOs) referees. The GMOS IFU Q&A document is ready to be reviewed internally.


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3.4 COMMUNITY SCIENCE CENTER

Program Highlights

LSST Science Development

In collaboration with the University of Arizona (UA) Computer Science (CS) Department, NOAO scientists continued development of a prototype software infrastructure to characterize and distribute events discovered by time domain surveys. The Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES) was funded with an award to the University of Arizona from the NSF in September 2013 (CISE AST-1344024). The grant includes funding for an astronomy post-doctoral position (paid through the UA CS, but resident at NOAO). In Q1, the astronomy team ex-panded the set of catalogs used in the database of known objects that is used to annotate and add value to alerts. In addition, the team began to develop filters for features beyond the light-curve shape parameters that have been used to test the system to this point. The CS team developed a nov-el and efficient method for visualizing large feature sets. The astronomy team provided a detailed update on their progress to the LSST Project Science Team in December. Several NSSDC/CSC staff members participated in the LSST Observing Cadence white paper retreat in November 2015. Work at the retreat included making progress on the text of the white pa-per and on the supporting cadence metrics.

Data Lab

The NSSDC/CSC group continued work on the NOAO Data Lab project in Q1 of FY16. This pro-ject was started in FY15 and has a planned public release in summer 2017. Its purpose will be to help users efficiently explore, analyze, and make discoveries from the large datasets and catalogs be-ing generated by NOAO’s wide-field instruments, with particular emphasis on DECam-based cata-logs and images. NOAO’s current DECam holdings include object frames totaling more than 360 TB of data covering nearly the entire sky, and will at least double in size over the next few years. The Data Lab concept is to allow users to query and filter the large catalogs associated with these datasets, access the pixels associated with catalog objects in an efficient way, coordinate work with collaborators on large datasets, and run custom workflows close to the large datasets themselves. Work in Q1 of FY16 focused on continued development of the science use cases that will form the core of the first public demo of the project at the June 2016 AAS meeting. A detailed description of this demo was written in Q1. The demo will be built around the discovery of faint dwarf galaxies in data from the DES, SMASH, and DECaLS surveys, including the identification of variable sources in such galaxies. Effort in Q1 also included work on several key infrastructure components that will be used in the demo, such as the database backend, the Table Access Protocol (TAP) ser-vice that provides an access layer to the database, the VOSpace virtual storage implementation that provides for efficient storage and analysis of catalog and pixel data, and a quick-look photometric reduction pipeline (NIKE, based on SExtractor) for fast production of catalog data from DECam im-ages. Datasets that were uploaded to the Data Lab TAP service in Q1 included the DECaLS DR1 re-lease, DES fields containing faint dwarf galaxies processed through the NIKE pipeline, several DES supernova fields processed through the NIKE and PHOTRED (D. Nidever, based on DAO-PHOT/ALLFRAME) pipelines, and a field from the SMASH survey. Work on a TAP service specif-ically for the DECaLS DR2 release was begun in Q1 and will be completed in Q2. Work also pro-ceeded on the user interface, specifically on how TOPCAT and iPython notebooks can be used to query, analyze, and visualize data contained within the Data Lab.


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TMT Community Engagement

NOAO’s Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Liaison Office is responsible for carrying out many aspects of a cooperative agreement between NSF-AST and TMT. The aim of the cooperative agreement is to engage the US astronomy community in planning for potential NSF investment and participation in the TMT project. AURA is an associate member of the TMT International Observatory, LLC (TIO), with representation on the TIO Governing Board and the TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC). NOAO is charged with executing the responsibilities and participation activities of AURA in TMT. NOAO organizes a US TMT Science Working Group (SWG), consisting of astronomers spanning a range of scientific expertise, drawn from US non-TMT partner institutions. The SWG engages with others in the astronomical community about US participation in TMT and represents the US community’s viewpoint to the TMT project, SAC, and Board. The SWG is preparing a US TMT Science Plan, which is one element of a US National TMT Participation Plan to be delivered to the NSF as the product of the NSF-TMT cooperative agreement. Mark Dickinson from NOAO chairs the US TMT SWG. In Q1 of FY16, the SWG focused on completing its draft report to be submitted to NSF-AST early in Q2 of FY16. Dickinson also co-organized the annual TMT Open House event for the January AAS meeting. The AAS and the Open House took place in January, and so will be described in more detail in the Q2 FY16 report. The Open House was advertised through the NOAO Currents electronic newsletter. Dickinson and US TMT SWG members Jennifer Lotz (STScI) and Ian Dell’Antonio (Brown University) are AURA representatives to the TMT SAC, and Dickinson has chaired the TMT SAC since April 2014. In Q1 of FY16, Dickinson organized and chaired a remote meeting of the TMT SAC, held via WebEx over two days in October 2015. He attended the TIO Governing Board meet-ing in Pasadena in October to report on SAC activities and started planning for the next SAC meet-ing in February 2016. D. Silva (NOAO) and Catherine Pilachowski (Indiana) are AURA’s repre-sentatives on the TIO Board. The annual TMT Science Forum conference is the primary opportunity for astronomers throughout the TMT partnership to meet face to face and for US community astronomers to learn about TMT and to get involved in science planning. Dickinson organized the 2014 and 2015 meet-ings, and in Q1 of FY16 he launched planning for the next meeting, which will be held in Kyoto, Ja-pan, 24–26 May 2016. The TMT International Science Development Teams (ISDTs) are topical science groups that aid and advise the TMT project and that serve as a way to build an international community of scientists among the TMT partners. 56 US astronomers from institutions other than Caltech or UC are ISDT members, making up 28% of the total. There are annual opportunities for new members to join the ISDTs, a process that Dickinson co-organizes with TMT SAC member Tommaso Treu (UCLA). This call for membership was issued in Q1 of FY16, with applications due on 15 January 2016, and was promoted to the US community via NOAO Currents, the AAS Open House, and direct email to potentially interested individuals. Recently, ISDT members submitted concept studies in the form of observing proposals for TMT Key Science Programs. The idea of international, cross-partnership TMT Key Projects has been emphasized by the US TMT SWG as a way for US astronomers to par-ticipate in large-scale observing programs that might be difficult to accomplish within a US national share of TMT. 10 out of 23 of the Key Project “proposals” were led by US-at-large community PIs or Co-PIs. Dickinson is co-organizing a committee that is evaluating these proposals on behalf of the SAC, primarily to build a case for implementing Key Projects on TMT and to understand their po-tential implications for TMT operations, data management, and future instrumentation or AO sys-tems.


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LSST Science Development

§ Expand database of astronomical knowledge to include several major all-sky catalogs and data-bases (2MASS, SDSS, HST Guide Star Catalog, ROSAT, VLA-FIRST, SWIRE, NED, IRSA, and Veron) as well as extending covered wavelength ranges for the ANTARES project (Q1–Q4).

Status: ROSAT, SDSS, NED, and the CHANDRA XSC were added in Q1.

• By Q2, create a prototype touchstone1 consisting of a library of known variable sources/phenomena that will be used for feature comparison in ANTARES.

Status: In progress.

§ Create tools to develop synthetic alert stream for ANTARES in Q1.

Status: We now have a prototype system to generate alerts.

§ Develop multistage filtering algorithms for ANTARES.

Status: In progress.

Data Lab

§ Plan and schedule a workshop on tools for Big Data.

Status: The possible subject matter and format of the workshop was considered in Q1. NOAO staff scientist T. Lauer is returning from sabbatical leave in Q2 and is expected to take a leader-ship role in the planning and scheduling of this workshop, with the timing to be suitably coordi-nated with the public release of the Data Lab infrastructure.

§ Complete work on prototypes of key software infrastructure components for the Data Lab, spe-cifically virtual storage, database storage and access, user authentication, and visualization ser-vices.

Status: A prototype virtual storage implementation (VOSpace) was completed in Q1, as was a prototype database and access mechanism. Visualization services using TOPCAT and iPython notebooks were also explored and demonstrated in Q1.

§ Review and report on at least three science interface models for the Data Lab, to inform the user interface design.

Status: Several science interface models were reviewed and a draft report was created in Q1. The user interface design remains under consideration.

§ Recruit two software developer positions to support the Data Lab project. The goal is to have them on board by the end of Q1.

Status: The two developer positions were advertised in Q1, and the hiring process is underway.

1 The touchstone is a knowledge base of the attributes and relative frequencies of the occurrence of known kinds of variable sources. It will also grow to include the expected, but as yet unknown, kinds of sources with the anticipated attributes that characterize them.


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§ Deliver prototype capabilities of Data Lab and execute a demonstration of same at the summer AAS meeting.

Status: The final development stage is in preparation for the summer AAS demo of Data Lab capabilities was started in Q1.

TMT Community Engagement

§ Direct the US TMT SWG in producing its portion of the US National TMT Participation Plan for the NSF, which is the main deliverable of the NSF-TMT Cooperative Agreement.

Status: Dickinson continues to lead the activities of the US TMT SWG, which completed its draft of the US National TMT Participation Plan, which will be delivered to NSF-AST in early 2016.

§ Organize and attend quarterly TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC) meetings, report on SAC2 activities to the TMT International Observatory Board of Governors, organize regular tel-econferences of the TMT SAC co-chairs, participate (remotely) in weekly TMT project meet-ings, and participate in weekly teleconferences with the TMT-NOAO community engagement group.

Status: Dickinson organized and ran a remote (WebEx) meeting of the TMT SAC on 6–7 Octo-ber 2015 and attended the TIO Board meeting in Pasadena on 15–16 October. He held several telecons of the SAC co-chairs during this quarter and participated in the (approximately) weekly TMT project telecons and NSF-TMT community engagement telecons.

§ Participate in the organization of a TMT Open House event at the January 2016 American As-tronomical Society (AAS) meeting and in planning for a subsequent Open House in January 2017.

Status: The TMT Open House for the January 2016 AAS meeting was largely planned during Q1 of FY16 and was advertised to the astronomical community via NOAO Currents.

§ Participate in the organization of the third annual TMT Science Forum, nominally to be held in summer 2016.

Status: The TMT SAC voted to hold the next TMT Forum in Kyoto, Japan, 24–26 May 2016. Dickinson started planning for this meeting and hopes that the work will be shared with astron-omers at TMT-Japan.

3.5 DATA MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

Q1 of FY16 marks the transition from the single branch of Science Data Management (SDM) into the two branches of Data Management Operations (DMO) and Data Lab. The transition brought about several personnel changes for DMO, requiring shifts in priorities and task assignments. New

2 M. Dickinson is currently chair of the TMT SAC, but it is anticipated that he will rotate out of that role sometime during FY16. Activities under this milestone will be considered completed when he steps down.


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efficiencies are now being realized with the Telescope Automatic Data Archiver (TADA), which has been implemented for real-time archiving of Bok 90Prime and Mosaic-3 instruments. As operational experience is gained, TADA will be refined and prepared for full implementation at NOAO-N and NOAO-S facilities. Work on NOAO Science Archive (NSA) software version 2.5.1 was completed and prepared for implementation in early Q2. This upgrade was the last phase of major infrastructure upgrades occur-ring through FY15. Version 2.5.1 includes several third-party tool upgrades, as well as graphical us-er interface improvements that enable improved searches across PI observer and survey telescope data. In particular, this version paves the way for improved access to DECam data releases from the DECaLS and DES projects as they become publicly available.


§ Deploy the Telescope Automatic Data Archiving (TADA) system at CTIO, Cerro Pachón, Kitt Peak, and Tucson to replace the aging archive system components, iSTB and DCI.

Status: TADA is implemented for the Bok 90Prime and Mosaic-3 instruments at KPNO.

§ Improve preview image support and enhance programmatic interfaces to the NOAO Science Archive.

Status: Preview image support is functional in a test environment. Final decisions remain to be made on display and functionality. Work also remains on ingesting the preview images them-selves into the mass store. No change to programmatic interfaces.

§ Support the Data Lab computer hardware and systems as required, including hardware and sys-tem upgrades.

Status: No new hardware requirements in Q1.

§ Collect all Dark Energy Survey (DES) first- and second-year single-frame reduced images from the DES survey team. Reformat the images and augment their associated metadata, as necessary, and archive them in the NSA.

Status: Y1 has been ingested and is accessible through both a general NOAO Science Archive search and a customized “collection” interface. Y2 has not been delivered from the DES team.

§ Collect all DECaLS DR1 and DR2 reduced data products from the DECaLS team and archive them into the NSA.

Status: DR1 coadds from DECaLS were not ingested due to insufficient metadata in the files provided by the DECaLS team. Following work with the DECaLS team to refine archival re-quirements, this issue has been remedied in the coadd files received for DR2, and ingest scripts are currently being developed. Community pipeline-processed DECaLS DR1 images are cur-rently available from the NSA through a customized “collection” interface.

§ Continue support for transport of DES-observed data to the DESDM group at NCSA and the ODI-observed data to the PPA group and Indiana University. Also, maintain a six-month revolv-ing store of ODI data in Tucson.

Status: This support is ongoing and successful.

§ Deliver Mosaic z-Band Survey pipeline by end of Q1.


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Status: Pipeline is being finalized and should be ready by the survey start in 2016A.

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4 NOAO CORE

4.1 NOAO DIRECTOR’S OFFICE

Program Highlights

The NOAO Director’s Office (NDO) completed recruitment of the new Associate Director for the NOAO System Science and Data Center (NSSDC), Dr. Adam Bolton, who started work in early December 2015.

The director and deputy director met with AST staff at the NSF in December for a “mini”-program review panel where they presented the FY16 program operations plan (POP16).

The NDO submitted the Fiscal Year Annual Report for FY15 to the NSF. In collaboration with the NSF and the AURA Corporate Office, the NDO produced near-final ver-sions of the AURA Performance Measurement and Evaluation Plan (PEMP) and the NOAO Strate-gic Plan: A Forward Look. The PEMP and Strategic Plans will be finalized during Q2.

Issues of diversity, equity, and ethics continue to be topics of concern and discussion in astron-omy. The diversity advocate is actively involved in productive discussion about these topics with a variety of NOAO community stakeholders.

The director attended the following meetings as a committee and/or board member: LSST Cor-poration Board (October, plus monthly telecons), TMT International Observatory (October), Gemini Board (November).

The director attended the following meetings as a participant and/or presenter: AURA Board (October), Scialog 2015: Time Domain Astrophysics (October).

The director and deputy director attended the Giant Magellan Telescope Groundbreaking Cere-mony on Cerro Las Campanas in November. They both participated in various discussions of LSST operations and the role of NOAO while working with NOAO staff in La Serena.

The deputy director attended a GMT science workshop, “(re)Solving Galaxies in the Era of Ex-tremely Large Telescopes” in Pacific Grove, California, in October. The deputy director also gave an invited colloquium at the University of Connecticut in October on “Large Surveys at the National Observatory.”

The deputy director attended a GMT science advisory committee meeting in Pasadena in No-vember as well as a DESI science readiness workshop at Argonne National Lab. The deputy director attended the AURA Workforce and Diversity Committee meeting in Tucson in December.


Observatory Management

§ Develop a Program Operations Plan for FY17, to be delivered during Q1 of FY17.

Status: Work scheduled for later in fiscal year.

§ Deliver scientific quarterly and annual progress reports as required by NSF under the terms of its cooperative agreement with AURA for the management and operations of NOAO.

Status: Fiscal Year Annual Report for FY15 delivered per plan.

NO

AO

Cor

e


NOAO Core External Projects

Education and Public Outreach

Central Facilities Operations

Computer Infrastructure Services


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§ Participate as required by AURA in reviews by NSF and other federal agencies of AURA activi-ties.

Status: The director participated in two meetings with NSF colleagues on the topic of LSST op-erations and the role of NOAO.

§ Participate as required by NSF, DOE, and other federal agencies in planning and reporting meet-ings (e.g., the semi-annual NSF Program Review Panel meeting).

Status: No activity required this quarter.

§ Organize and complete the annual EPO Advisory Committee meeting by the end of Q1 of FY16.

Status: This milestone should have been specified for Q2; no progress in Q1.

§ Organize and complete the annual NOAO Users Committee meeting by the end of Q3 of FY16.

Status: The meeting is scheduled for 1–2 June 2016 in Tucson.

§ Complete recruitment of new Associate Director for NOAO System Science and Data Center (NSSDC) by end of Q1 of FY16.

Status: Completed. Dr. Adam Bolton assumed this position on 1 December 2015.

Diversity Program

§ Maintain through the diversity advocate a national presence on issues related to diversity and use this information and recognized best practices to inform diversity activities at NOAO.

Status: The diversity advocate attended the AAS diversity summit, a meeting that included mem-bers of the AAS’s diversity-related committees and working groups, to discuss common goals and paths for achieving these goals. In October 2015, the diversity advocate began chairing a task force charged with revising the AAS ethics statement.

§ Continue the diversity advocate’s work with the AURA HR group, as appropriate, to ensure that procedures and practices in hiring, promotion, tenure, workplace climate, etc., are aligned with diversity best practices.

Status: The diversity advocate was asked in December 2015 to present the “Excellence and Di-versity” talk on unconscious bias to staff working on the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) for the National Solar Observatory. The diversity advocate continues to develop revi-sions and additional content for this talk in collaboration wit the AURA HR group and the Gem-ini diversity advocate.

§ Continue as needed the diversity advocate’s work to address, advocate for, and inform NOAO staff and management of concerns related to diversity.

Status: In December 2015, the diversity advocate visited with staff at KPNO to inform them of the role of the diversity advocate and to listen to (and address, as possible) workplace concerns. The diversity advocate later discussed these anonymously with the KPNO director.

§ Continue, in coordination with AURA, to work on broadening participation in the NSF science enterprise by engaging individuals, institutions, and geographical areas “that do not participate in NSF research programs at rates comparable to others” (quote from the Executive Summary of

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Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action, August 2008).

Status: Throughout the first quarter of FY16, the diversity advocate continued to play a signifi-cant role in mentoring students at minority-serving institutions by 1) organizing the CSMA meet and greet at the AAS winter meeting and 2) continuing to work on science research with under-graduate students at Howard University. The diversity advocate has also helped to coordinate policy recommendations to the astronomy community from the Inclusive Astronomy 2015 con-ference.

4.2 NOAO CORE EXTERNAL PROJECTS

Program Highlights

This program includes effort for engineering and technical work being done for LSST, TMT, and GMT as well as modest shop work for a variety of small jobs from UA and elsewhere. It is external-ly funded by those projects. In Q1, staff concentrated on LSST construction project efforts and engi-neering design, cost, and schedule work for GMT fast steering mirrors, the TMT tertiary mirror, and the LSST M3 optical properties.


There are no milestones for this program.

4.3 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

Program Highlights

NOAO North Education and Outreach

The NOAO EPO North group had 19 events serving more than 1,135 people in Q1 of FY16. This quarter the department’s work was focused on specific projects with deliverables (e.g., the Interna-tional Year of Light’s Quality Lighting Teaching Kit) rather than on general outreach events. This was because we are restaffing our undergraduate mentoring and outreach program as most of the students from last year have graduated or moved on to research internships. The EPO group is hiring new undergraduate students. Many of the outreach events were school oriented, serving the Tohono O’odham Nation as well as local schools. The department supported the NSF in the planning and re-alization of the Astronomy Night at the White House program for students on October 19 with two staff members present. The next day we did a Galileoscope build with high school students in Alex-andria, Virginia, in collaboration with the NSF and Gemini. Other programs were related to training programs on light pollution for the Kitt Peak Visitor Center docents and for new Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association members. Guests at a University of Arizona Museum of Art event supported by the department were treated to “Tape Art,” learning about polarization. Other events increased public awareness of astronomy in informal venues (festivals, fairs, and family nights; nighttime pro-grams and star parties), in formal venues (classroom programs), to particular audiences (the Tohono O’odham), and through social media (podcasts and Google+ Hangouts).


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Dark Skies Education Program The final version of the International Year of Light’s “Quality Lighting Teaching Kit” (QLT Kit) was com-pleted; 100 kits were built and most were distributed worldwide. The kits were partially funded by IAU and The Optical Society (OSA). The goal of the Quality Lighting Teach-ing Kit is to increase student and public awareness of light pollution issues and quality lighting solutions through a teaching kit, posters, and hands-on activities. Six activities use quality lighting to address realistic situa-tions of how light pollution affects wildlife, the night sky, our eyes, en-ergy consumption, safety, and light trespass into buildings. The activities are available online at www.noao.edu/education/ qltkit.php. The distribution of kits is as fol-lows: 30 kits were sent to OSA–The Optical Society student chapters; 20 kits were sent to student chapters of SPIE (the International Society for

Optics and Photonics); and 10 kits were sent to chapters of the International Dark-Sky Association. In January, 10 kits will be sent to the regional nodes of the IAU’s Office of Astronomy for Devel-opment and 10 kits will be sent to CIE–The International Commission on Illumination. The remain-ing 20 kits will be used at NOAO and in programs with other partners. The next steps in the project include creating a video tutorial, having Q&A Google+ Hangouts, translating the posters and docu-ments into Spanish, and localizing some activities for specific countries. Globe at Night is an NOAO international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure and submit their night sky brightness observations. By the end of the first quarter of FY16, Globe at Night (www.globeatnight. org) exceeded all records for the number of observations in a year, topping out at 22,965 observa-tions from 104 countries and all 50 US states. About 55% of the observations were taken with mo-bile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Nearly three-quarters of the mobile device measure-ments were made on iOS devices. About 3 out of 5 mobile device measurements were made with the “Dark Sky Meter” application, and 1 out of 5 mobile device measurements were made with the “Loss of the Night” application. The data from both apps feed into the Globe at Night database. Nearly 9,000 measurements included readings from handheld Sky Quality Meters. Twenty-two countries qualified for the “Over 100” Club for Globe at Night. The United States led with 8207 or 36% of the observations. Croatia (2275), South Korea (1568), Uruguay (1455), and Germany (1339) all had over 1000 measurements. The other “Over 100” Club countries are Poland (986), Japan (808), Chile (739), United Kingdom (667), Spain (477), Macedonia (FYROM) (423), France (402), Canada (367), Australia (323), Italy (232), Austria (175), Puerto Rico (156), Mexico (155), Switzerland (155), The Netherlands (132), Costa Rica (113), and Belgium (111).

Public Outreach Information Requests, Inquiries, and Activities

(3 months ending 12/31/15)

Type/Origin of Request Number # of Participants

Information requests/inquiries about astronomy/science (phone calls, emails, and walk-ins/requests for posters, book-marks, brochures, etc.

– 250

Nighttime programs and star par-ties 4 400

Programs for the Tohono O'o-dham Nation 3 290

Festival, fairs, and family events 5 225

Classroom programs 4 220

Podcast/Google+ Hangouts 3 –

TOTAL 19 1,385

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Twenty USA states qualified for the “Over 100 Club” for Globe at Night. Three states obtained over 1000 measurements: Michigan (1729), Texas (1171), and California (1034). The other “Over 100 Club” states were Arizona (607), Colorado (340), Pennsylvania (322), Virginia (263), Florida (176), North Carolina (154), Massachusetts (150), New York (147), Oregon (139), Ohio (123), Washington (121), Illinois (119), Louisiana (117), Missouri (117), New Jersey (109), and Maryland (106). The Quality Lighting Teaching Kit was shown at the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) annual General Meeting, and a keynote speech and dark skies activities were held at a STEM night at Mansfeld Magnet Middle School in Tucson. A Google+ Hangout on “Light Pollution and Energy Use” was also held, and a class on light pollution issues and solutions was given in the Tucson Ama-teur Astronomy Association’s Fundamentals class.

Tohono O’odham Outreach Several events took place on the Tohono O’odham Nation. On October 7, a star party with about 50 people was held at Tohono O’odham Community College (TOCC) in partnership with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) students. NOAO staff provided hands-on activities and telescopes. The evening culminated with a launch of water rockets built by students during the event. On November 25, NOAO staff presented at Native American Day at Sells Elementary School. Students learned about Kitt Peak National Observatory and were given the opportunity to look through telescopes. On December 3 and 4, NOAO staff visited Sells Intermediate School as part of the Project ASTRO program. All four fifth grade classes learned about light pollution and its impact on astronomy. Planning is underway for a star party at Sells Intermediate School in February as well as more classroom visits. Project ASTRO Our project year began with 15 new Project ASTRO partnerships formed at our fall workshop late in the last quarter. These teachers and astronomers are actively working together this quarter on as-tronomy education activities and classroom visits. NOAO maintains a set of astronomy education kits that ASTRO teachers can check out. These kits are actively being checked out for use in the classroom, science nights, and star parties. To facilitate the check-out process, a new online form has been created allowing teachers to sign up to check out the kits electronically. This new system should make the process more efficient for both the teachers and NOAO staff. Colors of Nature The NSF-funded AISL Project “STEAM: Integrating Art with Science to Build Science Identities among Girls” (Colors of Nature) continues into its fourth year. On October 17, the Colors of Nature Arizona Summer Academy students from the summer of 2015 and their families went to Kitt Peak National Observatory. A total of 78 students, parents, and family members were treated to a tour of the 4-m telescope and the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope in addition to presentations on astronomy and dark skies. The project team is meeting regularly to design teaching kits based on the summer academies that can be distributed to informal institutions and also be used in out-of-school pro-grams. The project team is especially active right now in the science identity formation research connected with the project. Logistical work to prepare for the 2016 Summer Academies in Tucson (June 13–24) and in Fairbanks, Alaska (July 11–22) is also taking place. NOAO Mobile Device Lab The number of people accessing the NOAO website on a mobile device each month is increasing, with 25% of sessions currently happening on a mobile device. Even more telling is that 30% of first-time site visits happen on mobile devices. With these numbers in mind, the EPO Department has set


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up a Mobile Device Lab for testing websites and mobile apps. The Director's Office made funds available to enable the EPO Department to purchase several mobile devices ranging in size from Android Wear (smartwatch) up to 10-inch tablets and running Android, iOS, and Windows 8 operat-ing systems. The lab has been helpful in refining the responsiveness of the Globe at Night website (globeatnight.org), demonstrating that the site holds up well on the small screens of Android Wear smartwatches. It has also been useful in testing email newsletters and will play an important role in the redesign of the main NOAO web pages.

NOAO South Education and Outreach

On October 2015, the team continued with the annual joint projects with Explora-CONICYT, organizing the local “Week of Science”; with CEAZA in the Science & Tourism project on Starlight Reserve at Parque Nacional Fray Jorge; and with University Santo Tomás, in the astronomy education project with pre-school education students. During October, part of the team also trav-elled to Santiago to participate in the 18th Congress of Amateur Astronomers, which this year added the participation of high school students in many of the event’s activities.

In November, the joint projects continued and a special collaboration was formed with Observatory Cruz del Sur, supporting the very active outreach activity of the tourist Observatory of Combarbalá in the Region of Coquimbo. In December, the team organized, coordinated, and performed the Third

CTIO Visitor Center & Tours Summary of Participants (3 months ending 12/31/15)

Group/Program # of Participants

CADIAS Center 691

NOAO-S/out of CADIAS Out-reach 3,166

Tololo Guided Tours 634

School Groups K-12 418

Special Tours 225

TOTAL 5,134

Programs Sessions Participants Planetarium All-Day Ses-sions 9 1,034 Astronomy Education Workshops 6 503 Stargazing Events 6 956 Special Observatory Visits 9 305 Astronomy Talks and Presentations 3 222 Public Events 1 120 Astronomy Training 17 169 CADIAS Library n/a 548 Tololo Visitor Center n/a 1,277 TOTAL 51 5,134

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Preschool Astronomy Congress, with the participation of 36 preschool teachers and over 100 pre-school students presenting astronomy projects in groups. In summary, a total of 51 different educational events were offered by the EPO South staff during the first quarter of FY16.

Media Releases

• Release Number NOAO 15-07, 12 October 2015, “A Sharp-Eyed Future for Historic Kitt Peak Telescope,” www.noao.edu/news/2015/pr1507.php

• Release Number NOAO 15-08, 11 November, “NOAO Images Featured in a New Book for Astronomy Fans and Educators,” www.noao.edu/news/2015/pr1508.php

• Release Number NOAO 15-09, 23 November 2015, “NOAO: Oodles of Faint Dwarf Galax-ies in Fornax Shed Light on a Cosmological Mystery,” www.noao.edu/news/2015/pr1509.php


§ Work with the Tohono O’odham Nation to support astronomy education programs at the Tohono O’odham Community College, K-12 schools on the Tohono O’odham Nation, the Ha:San Pre-paratory and Leadership School in Tucson, and out-of-school educational opportunities to pro-vide five astronomy education events for this audience.

Status: We continue to do various programs on the Nation. We are working with the Tohono O’odham Community College on a possible astronomy course for the spring semester, with Tohono O’odham High School for science fair judging, and with the Ha:San Preparatory and Leadership School in Tucson on various educational programs.

§ Support the Teaching with Telescopes program in Arizona and Chile with teacher professional development on telescope and optics concepts, making use of Galileoscopes by executing at least three workshops.

Status: We are on track to deliver three workshops this year and have revised the Teaching with Telescopes Observing Guide for 2016. Planning is underway for a large build of Galileoscopes for the MathMovesU program with Raytheon and the University of Arizona in early February.

§ Conduct at least three professional development workshops and programs for formal and infor-mal science educators in coordination with professional organizations such as the National Sci-ence Teachers Association (NSTA), the American Astronomical Society (AAS), the Astronomi-cal Society of the Pacific (ASP), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Status: Workshops are planned for the AAS meeting in Florida, and two talks have been accept-ed for the National Science Teachers Association annual meeting in May 2016.

§ Support the training of guides and provide support for astronomy programs for the public at the major municipal and tourist observatories in northern Chile by participating in or leading at least three events or activities at the tourist observatories.

Status: We are working with Observatorio Cruz del Sur on educational programs. We are also working with the tourist observatories as part of the Chilean Astronomy Summit program. The next national Summit meeting is planned for 8–10 March 2016.


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§ Support dark skies education programs in northern Chile with education partners such as the El Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA) by conducting at least three visits/events or activities.

Status: We are on schedule for our extensive program with CEAZA related to our Science & Tourism project for the Starlight Reserve at Parque Nacional Fray Jorge. We are training park rangers on night-based programs.

§ Maintain an active southern Arizona Project ASTRO teacher/scientist partnership program with professional development activities held at least twice a year.

Status: The spring Project ASTRO workshop is planned for April 2016, and the second work-shop will be held in the fall of 2016.

§ Design and deliver (with grant partners) a successful two-week Colors of Nature summer acad-emy for middle school girls during the summer of 2016 in Tucson, Arizona, and Fairbanks, Alaska.

Status: Planning is underway for the 2106 Colors of Nature Summer Academies in Tucson (June 13–24) and in Fairbanks, Alaska (July 11–22). Recruiting will begin in February in both locations.

4.4 CENTRAL FACILITIES OPERATIONS

Program Highlights

Staff continues to provide support services to the various NOAO North divisions within the Tucson facility. Staff have been called upon to renovate several office spaces to accommodate use changes and new hires. This work has also incorporated provision of telecommunication and furniture needs for the new uses. Other efforts have involved repairs to the building high pressure air system, re-placement of the computer room UPS system batteries, replacement of a compressor within the main building chiller unit, repairs to the cooling tower, installation of new chiller system valves, and re-placement of a key sensor in the secondary building chiller unit. Plans and support were also ongoing during the quarter for evaluation of the WIYN EPDS in-strument reviews (regarding WIYN facility improvements), development of renovation documents for the Mayall U-floor renovation, and extension of a fiber link to the west ridge tenants on Kitt Peak. Throughout the quarter, recruitment of replacement staff members was ongoing for a Tucson Craftsperson, a Kitt Peak Supervisor, and a Facilities Systems Technician.


§ Continue with the program to upgrade and/or replace deteriorated or obsolete portions of the mechanical air distribution system and its associated heating/chilled water system piping and valves.

Status: Staff prepared the boilers for the upcoming heating season and then activated the system with the cooler weather near the end of the quarter. Staff were also able to drain down the chilled water system and install two new automated main valves for the chilled water system. This has enabled activation of the tower / heat exchanger system to be used in place of the pri-mary chiller, which will result in reduced energy costs. Other efforts continue on upgrading var-ious mechanical air and piping systems.

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§ Continue with ongoing programs to upgrade the plumbing and various restrooms and fixtures to improve water conservation efforts, interior finishes, and accessibility.

Status: Plans are in progress to address this program in the coming quarters.

§ Replace and upgrade worn-out components for building access control system and update vide-oconferencing systems to enhance and improve multisite meetings.

Status: Plans are in progress to replace a motherboard in one of the access control units, and various components are being reviewed for proper operation.

4.5 COMPUTER INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

Program Highlights

We are continuing our effort to link the NOAO Tucson network to the Internet 2 (academic Internet) via a 10 Gbps link. We are also continuing our effort to increase the speed of the Tucson–Kitt Peak data connection beyond 1 Gbps. The machine ftp.noao.edu was put in a customized DMZ (DeMili-tarized Zone) network. Lessons learned from this deployment will lead to several other machines be-ing put in DMZ zones during this FY. A new version of the central SYSLOG server logs.noao.edu was installed featuring faster performance and more disk space for archiving log files. Several Wire-less Access Points in high-volume areas around the Tucson Complex were upgraded to units sup-porting 802.11ac. The Computer Infrastructure North group hired a System Administrator.


§ Continue to incorporate systems into our Active Directory system to ensure password policy en-forcement (and for Windows systems, to ensure patch application). We estimate that 35 Win-dows systems—most of them part of an older Active Directory Domain that will be merged into the NOAO Tucson AD and the rest occasionally active Virtual machines—remain to be incorpo-rated. We also estimate that 60 Mac systems and 10 Linux systems remain to be incorporated.

Status: All Windows systems that we are aware of have been incorporated into the Active Direc-tory (AD). The former Central Facilities Operations AD has been shut off, as all its members have been moved to the main AD. Efforts continue to incorporate Mac and Linux/Unix systems. Current numbers of machines in the AD are 170 Windows Systems, 54 Mac systems, and 16 Linux/Unix systems.

§ Leverage the Single Sign-On (SSO) feature of our Active Directory system into new areas to simplify the computer experience for our users. We now have a SSO for email, remote login via VPN, “inside” network wireless access, and roaming wireless via eduroam. During FY16, we hope to extend SSO to email quarantine boxes and, in cooperation with AURA Corporate, to Ul-tipro, Web timesheets, and business applications such as Reqless and CASNet.

Status: Underway.

§ Continue several projects to isolate networks (such as tenant networks on Kitt Peak and in Tuc-son) from each other and from the main NOAO network. “Internet facing” servers will be moved to “DMZ” networks.


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Status: The machine ftp.noao.edu was put in a customized DMZ network. Lessons learned from this deployment will lead to several other machines being put in DMZ zones during this fiscal year.

§ Investigate and select a scheme for documenting the NOAO Tucson and Kitt Peak networks and IT infrastructure. Initiate the documentation task.

Status: We are in the investigation stage.

4.6 INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

Program Highlights

Hiring efforts for data science specialists to aid in the development of the NSSDC Data Lab took place this quarter. Two positions will be filled in Q2–Q3 of FY16. An ANTARES event broker posi-tion was also put out for recruitment. Applications and interviews are ongoing. Plans for construct-ing a joint NOAO-LSST facility in La Serena moved ahead, with architectural plans being drawn up by a contractor in Chile. The plans are expected to go to final design in Q2 of FY16. Electrical equipment to refurbish the Cerro Tololo power generation and distribution network was purchased. The system will be brought back into normal operations in Q2 of FY16. Staff at Kitt Peak drew up final plans for refurbishment of the U-floor into a new observing console room.


§ Hire two data scientists at the postdoc level for the NOAO Data Lab.

Status: Applications have been assessed and a short list made. Interviews are planned for early Q2 of FY16.

§ Hire an archive developer to assist in implementing new capability in the NSA and NSA inter-face.

Status: Completed. Term hire made with existing staff member.

§ Resurface or repaint the Mayall dome and the Blanco dome.

Status: Some planning done. Expect bid to go out in Q2 of FY16.

§ Refurbish two water tanks on Kitt Peak.

Status: Planning is ongoing.

§ Implement NOAO South building upgrade/refurbishment within plan for LSST building in La Serena.

Status: Ongoing. Preliminary building design is complete and architectural firm has been con-tracted.

§ Complete renovation and repair of Tololo power house.

Status: Ongoing. Major repairs and replacements have been completed. Normal operations and continued refurbishment expected in Q2 of FY16. Tololo is back on commercial power as of January 2016.

NOAO CORE

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§ Hire a senior electrical engineer to lead refurbishment program of CTIO power distribution.

Status: Completed. Position has been filled and the engineer is on-site and working.


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5 OBSERVING PROPOSAL STATISTICS FOR 2016A

Observing proposal (request) statistics for telescope time awarded through the NOAO telescope time allocation process (TAC) are published on the NOAO website. The proposal statistics for 2016A can be found as follows:

• Request Statistics by Telescope: www.noao.edu/gateway/tac/obsreqs16a_s.html

The statistics provided are broken down first by observatory and then by telescope and in-clude the number of requests (proposals), nights requested, nights allocated, nights sched-uled for new programs (standard and survey), and subscription rates for new programs (standard and survey).

• Request Statistics by Instrument: www.noao.edu/gateway/tac/inst16a_s.html

The statistics provided are for the 363 new proposals (standard; there were no new survey programs) submitted to the 2016A NOAO TAC. They are broken down first by observatory, then by telescope and instrument with totals by telescope, and include the number of proposals, “runs,” total nights and dark nights; the percentage of dark nights; and the average nights/run.

USAGE OF ARCHIVED DATA

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6 USAGE OF ARCHIVED DATA

The NOAO Science Archive (http://portal-nvo.noao.edu) provides principal investigators (PIs) ac-cess to their raw data and pipeline-reduced data originating from NOAO’s Chilean (CTIO + SOAR) and Arizona (KPNO + WIYN) telescopes and instruments. A search portal interface enables data discovery and retrieval for images ranging from 2004 to present. After the requisite proprietary peri-od (usually 18 months), data become accessible to the general public. In addition, the NOAO Survey Archive (http://archive.noao. edu/nsa) provides specific access to high-level science products from the NOAO Surveys Program. The tables below illustrate access to and usage of the NOAO Science Archive and Survey Ar-chive for Q1 of FY16. The table on the left shows the total data download volume in gigabytes, the number of files retrieved, and the number of unique visitors who downloaded archive data through the ftp site. The table on the right shows the website visitor activity, which represents users search-ing, browsing, and visualizing data online.

NOAO Archive Download Activity (ftp)

NOAO Archive Website Activity

Retrieved Files Unique Bandwidth Pages Unique Date (GB) Retrieved Visitors Date (GB) Viewed Visitors

Q1 FY16 10913 93822 181 Q1 FY16 389 55169 5345 Total: 10913 93822 181 Total: 389 55169 5345


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7 GRANTS

The following table lists the grants received by NOAO staff from non-NSF agencies during Q1 of FY16.

Principal Investigator Awarding Agency Title Budget

Amount

Period of Perfor-mance

Lori Allen Jet Propulsion La-boratory (JPL)

Extreme Precision Doppler Spec-trometer (EPDS) Project — Instru-ment Concept Study (ICS)

$49,590 10/26/2015–1/29/2016

Arjun Dey Space Science Insti-tute (STScI)

Impact of Environments on Lyman alpha Emitting Galaxies at High Redshift (z ~ 2.7)

$61,255 10/1/2015–9/30/2017

Joan Najita The Kavli Founda-tion

Kavli Futures Symposium $75,000 12/1/2015–6/30/2016

Amy Reines Smithsonian Astro-physical Observato-ry

Probing the Early Evolution of Gal-axies and Massive Black Holes with Nearby Star-Forming Dwarfs

$7,575 10/4/2015–4/5/2016

David Silva Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instru-ment (DESI)

$100,061 10/1/2015–9/30/2019

NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q1

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8 NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q1

8.2 NORTH During Q1 of FY16 various safety activities occurred on Kitt Peak and at the Tucson offices. They are as follows: Kitt Peak

• Kitt Peak Visitor Center elevator cabling replacement contracted 1 December 2015, with completion scheduled for no later than 31 January 2016.

• General cleanup of the mountain being performed safely. • SE Annex platform at the 4-m telescope had safety items completed with the installation of

metal plates to prevent accidental falling through gaps in lift platform. • Hand holds, tie-off hooks, and a step were installed to make it safer and easier to change out

Mosaic. • Forklift training for all mountain personnel was completed. • Safety training was completed with the new docent hires. • Asbestos operations/removal training for three Kitt Peak maintenance crew was completed. • Safety audit was scheduled for the 4-m and WIYN telescopes for 1–3 February 2016. • The Kitt Peak Safety Manager attended a safety audit for the Blanco and SOAR telescopes

in Chile. • There were no accidents for Q1 of FY16.

o There was one incident at the Visitor Center Telescope where the newly installed telescope mount failed and the telescope fell to the floor. Maintenance staff were in the process of investigating a problem with a “wobble” in the telescope when the incident occurred. After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the event occurred due to faulty manufacturing of the mount, and the mount was replaced and re-installed. There was no harm/damage done to any individuals or to the instru-ment.

• S. Taghon, General Maintenance Person I, received an Underground Storage Tank A-license. She can now train other staff on the maintenance of the underground storage tanks.

• EPA performed a underground storage tank inspection, and there were no issues. • There was a concern about drones flying around Kitt Peak. A sign has been posted at the

gate at the entrance to Kitt Peak stating that no drones are allowed on Kitt Peak or flying around the telescopes.

Tucson • Monthly contact was maintained with Marty White, LBNL/DESI Safety Manager, regarding

DESI. • Asbestos refresher course for the Tucson maintenance crew was completed. • Forklift training was completed for the Tucson crew.


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8.2 SOUTH During Q1 of FY16, the following safety activities occurred at NOAO South:

• There were two reportable accidents during the quarter:

o On November 25 the NOAO-S plumber injured the thumb of his left hand while han-dling a manhole cover for part of the sewage system on Cerro Tololo. He was given first aid by the paramedic on duty and sent for medical evaluation in La Serena. He was pre-scribed physical therapy and was out for five days on medical leave.

o At the end of nighttime operations on November 26, the smoke alarm went off at the Blanco telescope. The telescope operator and a staff astronomer at the telescope found that the corridor on the pump level was indeed full of smoke and with the help of the duty electronic engineer turned off the electrical power on that floor. It was eventually determined that the telescope oil pump in service had seized due to a mechanical failure, and that resulting friction had caused overeating of the rubber drive belts producing co-pious amounts of smoke but no flames. A number of steps have been taken or are planned as a result of this event, including review and revision of emergency proce-dures, retraining of staff, improved documentation and signage of key electrical panels, inspection of other mechanical systems that might similarly cause a fire, and evaluation of the installation of fire suppression systems in a number of locations.

• The asbestos remediation work at the Blanco telescope was carried out by the external contrac-tor and largely completed this quarter. Damaged sections of asbestos containing fireproofing have been repaired and sealed and metal ducting or siding has been erected to protect exposed fireproofing at risk of mechanical damage in future. A final round of cleaning followed by air and swipe sampling to measure residual asbestos levels will be completed in January. A small group of staff has been trained in the cleanup of minor spills, and all staff have received general asbestos awareness training.

• As a side benefit the large accumulation of old, obsolete equipment stored in the Blanco build-ing has been evaluated, and most of it removed and properly disposed of, with only those items still potentially useful or having potential value as part of a historical exhibition being retained.

• The safety officer participated in an internal committee to evaluate a proposal to install wind power generators on the AURA mountain property, advising on safety and environmental con-cerns related to the project.

• The safety officer continued to participate in several regular meetings related to safety: o Monthly meetings with the representatives of the service provider for the mountain

emergency medical service, ESACHS, to coordinate the work of the paramedics. The safety officer also directly supervised the nurse stationed on Cerro Tololo, who is an NOAO South employee.

o Regular meetings of the Comité Paritario de Higiene y Seguridad (Chilean workers safe-ty committee), monthly safety coordination meetings with other AURA program safety officers, and the quarterly meeting of the NOAO safety council

o Weekly coordination meetings for construction work on the LSST site and a special se-ries of meetings

• The safety officer carried out regular inspections of work areas, purchased and revised personal protective equipment, and supervised the safety aspects of larger maintenance tasks and engi-neering shutdowns at the telescopes by observatory staff and work carried out by external con-tractors.

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