A Strategy for Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy

The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

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The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council. The material in this report is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. AST-9412476.

Front Cover: The summit of Mauna Kea. Owing to atmospheric conditions at an altitude of 4.2 km, this observatory is generally regarded as one of the finest sites known for OIR astronomy observations and hosts many of the world's greatest telescopes. Seen in the foreground (left to right) are the 3.8-meter United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter Telescope, a small dome soon to be demolished to allow construction of the Gemini North 8-meter Telescope, and the 3.6-meter Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Beyond them are the domes of Japan's 8-meter-class Subaru Telescope, the two sister 10-meter telescopes of the W.M. Keck Observatory, and the 3-meter NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. The summit of Haleakala, Maui, where the Phillips Laboratory is constructing a 3.7-meter telescope, is seen in the background. (Courtesy of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.)

Back Cover: The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Cerro Pachon, site of the 8-meter Gemini South Telescope, is on the skyline, some 12 km distant. (Courtesy of National Optical Astronomy Observatories.)

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Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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