A Strategy for Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy

Astronomy occupies a special place in the research portfolio of this country. Understanding the cosmos is one of the oldest intellectual goals of humanity, and the discoveries of astronomers clearly excite the imagination of the public at large. From primary schools to universities, from planetaria to features in the media, astronomy offers numerous opportunities to improve the scientific literacy of this nation, and astronomers are increasingly engaged in these educational activities.

Although for many people astronomy is a clear example of one of the noblest of basic research activities, it is often less recognized that it can and does contribute to other national goals. In particular, its research activities depend on and contribute to the applied development of sophisticated sensors, an essential enabling technology for many scientific fields and for the defense, medical, and commercial sectors.

Modern astronomical facilities, and their sophisticated instrumentation, utilizing state-of-the-art detectors, computing resources, and optical design, are expensive. Astronomers are fortunate that the Congress has authorized the construction of numerous major national facilities. National ground-based astronomical facilities are supported primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), both in the construction and operations phases. The two 8- meter telescopes of the international Gemini 8- M Telescopes Project (IGP), in which the United States is a 50% partner, are currently under construction and will be completed by the end of the decade. Considerable investment (more than $250 M in the past decade) in large telescopes has also been made with nonfederal support, such that private observatories now provide 81% of the total telescope area (and 76% of the net diameter) available to U.S. astronomers. Still, roughly half of U.S. astronomers must rely entirely on the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) for access to telescopes, and nearly all rely on NOAO facilities for some aspects of their work. The Panel on Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy was convened to determine whether the strategic balance of support by the NSF for all of optical and infrared (OIR) astronomy should be adjusted as these giant new telescopes come on line. In particular, the panel was asked to articulate a new mission for NOAO. In doing so, the panel had to address several complex questions. What is the best role for NOAO in U.S. participation in the IGP? How can the unique resources of both private and NOAO facilities best be deployed? What priorities and strategies should be pursued, recognizing that NSF resources for OIR astronomy will probably be severely constrained?

The panel believes that first priority must be given to the development of unique telescopes and instrumentation that advance technology and provide resources of national scope. The Gemini telescopes, the large telescopes at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), and the Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation (ATI) program of the NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences are clearly in this category.

The panel finds that the case for increased OIR funding is strong within NSF for operating the Gemini telescopes. However, it is necessary to face the possibility that NSF funding of OIR astronomy will remain level in real dollars for some time. In this eventuality, the panel recommends that the proper instrumentation and operation of the Gemini telescopes should have first priority. The panel also affirms the high priority for the ATI program, which was recommended by the Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee (AASC) report (The Decade of Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1991).

The panel concludes that, with level funding, major reductions in NOAO operations would be required to meet the priorities stated above. In this constrained situation the Tucson scientific, administrative, and technical services support would have to be scaled back very substantially. The level of support and convenience offered to observers would have to be reduced, and it is very likely that the smaller telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) would need to be closed or privatized. Moreover, to reduce operations costs, the 4- meter Kitt Peak telescope would have to be operated with fewer instruments and used primarily for wide-field or near-infrared applications. In this case, a large number of astronomers whose only access to front-line research tools is through NOAO telescopes would be unable to carry out their research and U.S. science would suffer.

The panel has identified a strategy that might alleviate such problems and, at the same time, better utilize the very large recent expenditure by the private sector in the construction of new telescopes. Specifically, the panel recommends the initiation of a new program at a modest level within the NSF for instrumentation of the privately operated telescopes in exchange for national access. In a constrained budgetary scenario, such funds would, of necessity, come from existing NSF OIR astronomy activities, including the existing ATI program. Even with this new plan, some 1200 observer nights would be lost, approximately 40% of the present use by the U.S. astronomy community at NOAO nighttime facilities.

The above plan is the best that the panel can envision under a flat-budget scenario. But the panel finds the costs in human, educational, and scientific terms to be unacceptably high. In view of the major capital investments in the Gemini telescopes and other major new telescopes, the panel recommends a second strategy, contingent on the availability of additional funds. Specifically, the panel recommends that $5.5 M/year be added to the NSF astronomy budget for international Gemini project operations. If this recommendation is implemented along with the proposed new instrumentation plan, it would allow for far more efficient utilization of existing telescopes. It would still be necessary to slim down the Kitt Peak/Tucson operations, but the consequences for the U.S. astronomy community would not be as draconian as they would be under the first strategy alone.

The panel recommends that a third strategy be pursued, if further funds are available. In this strategy, the NSF astronomy budget would be supplemented by $10 M/year. The first $5.5 M would be used as above for Gemini operations, and the balance would be used to support an augmented program for facility instrumentation grants. Independent observatories would be able to compete for these grants, which would be awarded strictly on the basis of scientific merit, but for which cost sharing, in the form of open access to the astronomical community at large, would be a requirement. Such a program would enable full utilization of the enormous investment in both federal and nonfederal capital in OIR telescopes.

The panel recognizes that when new, state-of-the-art facilities are brought on line, older facilities must be retired. All of the options outlined above include such painful downsizing. In the draconian, flat-budget scenario, the community would lose truly first-rate instruments, but even in the optimal plan, major economies in operations would still be required.

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