QUARTERLY SCIENTIFIC REPORT (1) FY 2015

QUARTERLY SCIENTIFIC REPORT (1) FY 2015

1 October–31 December 2014

This image of HCG 07 shows galaxies undergoing a burst of star formation. A team, which includes NOAO staff scientist Dr. David James, obtained spectacular images of some Compact Galaxy Groups with the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco 4-m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.

Image credit: Dane Kleiner/Australian Astronomical Observatory

Submitted to the National Science Foundation Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-0950945, Article 3-A

Cooperative Agreement No. AST-0809409

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

http://www.noao.edu/

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Contents

1 NOAO DIVISIONS ................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 NOAO South ...................................................................................................... 1

1.1.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory .......................................... 1

1.1.2 NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services ............................... 6

1.1.3 NOAO South Facilities Operations ..................................................... 8

1.1.4 NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services ................................. 9

1.2 NOAO North .................................................................................................... 11

1.2.1 Kitt Peak National Observatory ......................................................... 12

1.2.2 NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services ............................. 14

1.2.3 NOAO North Central Facilities Operations ...................................... 16

1.2.4 NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services ............................... 18

1.3 NOAO System Science Center ........................................................................ 19

1.3.1 System User Support ......................................................................... 19

1.3.2 Science Data Management ................................................................ 21

1.3.3 System Community Development ..................................................... 23

1.3.4 Time Allocation Committee .............................................................. 27

1.4 NOAO System Technology Center .................................................................. 28

2 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS ............................................................................................... 30

2.1 Office of Science .............................................................................................. 30

2.2 Education and Public Outreach ........................................................................ 30

2.3 NOAO Director’s Office .................................................................................. 34

2.4 Risk Management ............................................................................................ 37

3 OBSERVING PROPOSAL STATISTICS FOR 2015A ................................................... 38

4 USAGE OF ARCHIVED DATA ........................................................................................ 39

5 GRANTS ............................................................................................................................... 40

National Optical Astronomy Observatory

Quarterly Scientific Report (1) FY 2015

(1 October 2014 – 31 December 2014)

Submitted to the National Science Foundation

Pursuant to Cooperative Support Agreement No. AST-0950945

30 January 2015

NOAO QUARTERLY REPORT FY 2015 (1)

ii

6 NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q1 ................................................................................. 41

6.1 North ................................................................................................................ 41

6.2 South ................................................................................................................ 41

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1 NOAO DIVISIONS

1.1 NOAO SOUTH

The NOAO South (NS) division is responsible for

operations, maintenance, and development for all

NOAO activities in Chile. For program manage-

ment purposes, these activities are separated into

the following subprograms:

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

NOAO South Engineering & Technical

Services

NOAO South Central Facilities Opera-

tions

NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services

1.1.1 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Program Highlights

Science

Two recent publications based on data obtained at CTIO provide complementary insights into the

Carina Dwarf Spheroidal galaxy. This dwarf satellite of the Milky Way is thought to have under-

gone episodic star formation, with short bursts of star formation separated by long pauses, creating

populations of old (>8 Gyrs), intermediate (2–8 Gyrs), and young (<2 Gyrs) stars, as evidenced by

the existence of multiple Main-Sequence-Turn-Offs in its color magnitude diagram (CMD).

Brendan McMonigal (University of Sydney) and colleagues (McMonegal et al. 2014, MNRAS,

444, 3139) used the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-m telescope to study the spatial

distribution of these three different age populations and to search for evidence that the Carina dwarf

has suffered tidal interactions. They obtained deep optical (g and r band) photometry over a 12-deg2

region around the Carina dwarf spheroidal, with complete coverage out to 1 deg, and partial cover-

age extending out to 2.6 deg, a much wider region than covered in previous work. They then applied

a Poisson-based matched filter analysis to statistically identify members of each of the three main

stellar populations (old, intermediate, and young) in the resulting CMDs. The relative numbers of

stars in the three populations found in this way are consistent with previous work, with the interme-

diate age population dominating. By studying the spatial distributions of these populations (Figure 1,

left) they confirm previous measurements of the tidal radius, elipticity and position angle, and radial

stellar density profile of the Carina dwarf. They also confirm the previously identified radial age

gradient, with the young population more compact, the older more diffuse, and find that the direc-

tion of the major axis of the stellar distribution progressively migrates with age. However, at vari-

ance with previous work, they find little evidence for tidal debris around Carina. Instead, they find a

stellar population with an age ~10 Gyr present over a wider area around the Carina dwarf (Figure 1,

right), at a distance of 46±2 kpc, which they deduce to be part of the halo of the Large Magellanic

Cloud (LMC) at an angular separation of over 20 degrees. They argue that the previously detected

tidal features in the old population of Carina are likely artifacts due to confusion in the CMD with

this LMC population. The absence of tidal debris suggests that past tidal interactions have not signif-


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icantly influenced the Carina dwarf, a result that challenges tidal interaction models for Carina that

predict the occurrence of prominent tidal tails.

T.J.L. DeBoer (University of

Cambridge) and colleagues (DeBoer

et al. 2014, A&A, 572, A10) inves-

tigated the star formation and chem-

ical evolution history of the Carina

dwarf, quantifying the duration and

strength of the old and intermediate

age bursts of star formation. To do

this, they obtained accurately cali-

brated optical photometry (B and V

band) with the Mosaic-II camera on

the Blanco 4-m telescope, complete-

ly covering the region within the

0.48-deg tidal radius of Carina and

extending to 1.6 deg along its major

axis (the survey footprint is marked

in green in Figure 1 above). They

also derived the metallicity distribu-

tion function (MDF, the proportion

of stars in a population with a given

metallicity) for more than 300 indi-

vidual Red Giant Branch stars in the

inner parts of Carina from spectra

Figure 1: (Left) Stellar density maps derived using matched filter analysis of the CMD for the Carina dwarf. The map in the top left-hand corner shows the full population, the other panels show stars selected as members of the young, intermediate age, and old populations. (Right) Stellar density maps for the LMC population using two different selection regions in the CMD. The right-hand map used a selection box chosen to minimize confusion with Carina stars, the map on the left used a more inclusive selection at the expense of some contamination from Carina populations. The lowest contour in all maps is at two times the background RMS contamination lev-el as measured within the red circles. The blue polygons mark the DECam field of view used for the study, the red ellipses mark the tidal extent of Carina (McMonegal et al. 2014, MNRAS, 444, 3139).

Figure 2: Star formation history (left) and chemical evolution history (right) for the Carina dwarf. The bottom row is for the whole popu-lation within the tidal radius (0.48 deg), the other rows show the data subdivided into annuli with extents indicated in each panel (DeBoer et al. 2014, A&A, 572, A10).

NOAO DIVISIONS

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obtained with FLAMES on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The star formation history was then

determined by simultaneously fitting the observed CMD and MDF to a grid of synthetic CMDs and

MDFs calculated for different star formation histories and initial metallicities. The resulting detailed

star formation history (Figure 2) is bimodal showing two main episodes of star formation at old (>8

Gyr) and intermediate (2−8 Gyr) ages, both enriching stars starting from low metallicities

([Fe/H] < −2 dex) material, with the intermediate age episode responsible for 60±9 percent of the to-

tal number of stars formed. From the spectroscopic data, they find a tight age-metallicity relation

spanning ≈6 Gyr during the older burst with steadily declining α-element abundances and a possible

α-element “knee” at [Fe/H] ≈ −2.5 dex. Conversely, for the intermediate age burst, the age-

metallicity relation is more complex starting from low metallicity, with a much more rapid decline

in α-element abundances starting from [Fe/H] = −1.8 dex and [Mg/Fe] ≈ 0.4 dex and declining to

Mg-poor values ([Mg/Fe] ≤ −0.5 dex). This suggests that the two episodes of star formation formed

from gas with different initial abundance patterns, inconsistent with simple chemical evolution in an

isolated system.

Instrumentation/Management

During the first quarter of FY15,

CTIO’s efforts were focused on im-

provements to the Blanco 4-m and

SOAR 4.1-m telescopes; supporting

the second observing season of the

Dark Energy Survey (DES), as well as

the use of DECam by the open-access

community; completing the commis-

sioning of the CTIO Ohio State Multi-

Object Spectrograph (COSMOS); and

preparing for the arrival of the

TripleSpec4 (TS4) near-infrared spec-

trograph.

The second DES season began on

15 August 2014 and will end on 15

February 2015. The current reporting

period corresponds to the most intense

activity with nearly 80% of the observ-

ing nights on the Blanco telescope

dedicated to DES. During the first

quarter (Q1) of FY15, 82% of the

10,284 collected wide-field images

were judged to be of survey quality;

for the month of December, 95% of all

images taken were of survey quality.

Comparing the second season so far to

the first, the DES team notes both a

significant improvement in the deliv-

ered image quality and an increase in

the shutter open fraction (a measure of

observing efficiency), attributable to

the improvements to the telescope and

its thermal environment that were car-

Figure 3: Status of the DES. The survey goal for seasons one and two was to cover the survey footprint with up to four expo-sures (“tilings”) in all filters. The light blue indicates tiles ob-served during the 105-night first season. The dark blue shows tiles observed during the 87 equivalent full nights observed dur-ing the second season up to 31 January 2014; the red are tiles observed on that night. The grey background marks the areas DES plans to cover in the second season, but which have not yet been addressed. The plan for season two only includes three tilings of the central section of the footprint, the fourth be-ing left for season three. (Image credit: “Dark Energy Survey Operations Report December 2014,” by Thomas Diehl.)


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ried out during FY14. The Blanco telescope and DECam have proven to be a very reliable and ro-

bust system, with only 4.5 hours of observing time (less than 1%) being lost to technical problems of

any kind during this reporting period.

Despite the focus on DES this quarter, observations were carried out for seven distinct commu-

nity science programs during the remaining 15 nights of science time.

A six-night engineering run in October was used to complete the commissioning of COSMOS at

the ƒ/8 focus of the Blanco 4-m telescope and test the proper functioning of supporting hardware

that included a new fine drive mechanism for the instrument rotator, improved control software for

the guide probe, and brighter calibration lamps. A second five-night engineering run in December

was used to carry out the regular bi-annual maintenance of the DECam cooling system, which in-

cludes replacement of the liquid nitrogen circulation pump. Data also was taken during these two

engineering runs to refine the look-up tables used to control the active optics system of the telescope

both for ƒ/8 and prime focus operation.

Fabrication and assembly of the instrument at Cornell has gone slightly slower than planned so

that delivery of TripleSpec4 to Chile will now occur in March 2015. The work carried out in Chile,

to test and characterize the detectors and their control electronics, was completed this quarter, and

the completed detector packages will be shipped back to the US in January 2015 for integration with

the instrument. Several NOAO South staff will travel to Cornell in February to participate in the fi-

nal integration of the instrument and witness the pre-ship acceptance test. The mechanical design for

the interface and handling cart needed to mount TripleSpec4 at the ƒ/8 focus of Blanco was com-

pleted and mechanical fabrication begun during this reporting period (see Figure 4).

Status of FY15 Milestones

Develop a program of regular preventative maintenance for the Blanco 4-m telescope and its

key, supporting infrastructure, and implement it starting in Q2 of FY15.

Status: During the reporting period a framework for scheduling and tracking periodic mainte-

nance activities was implemented within the JIRA issue reporting and tracking system in use at

the Blanco telescope. JIRA is being used now to schedule optics maintenance, including weekly

cleaning with CO2 snow and quarterly washing of the primary mirror. A file system check of the

large-capacity disk farm used by DECam, which takes several hours to complete, is also pro-

grammed at monthly intervals. Programming of regular maintenance of the key mechanical sys-

tems of the telescope and dome, the components of the HVAC (heating, ventilating, air condi-

Figure 4: (Left) Design drawing showing TripleSpec4 and its telescope interface (grey struc-ture at the top) mounted on their handling cart. (Right) Components of the interface structure during fabrication in the La Serena machine shop.

NOAO DIVISIONS

5

tioning) system for the building, and the backup generator and other equipment in the power-

house will be added starting in the second quarter (Q2) of FY15.

Refurbish or replace the secondary backup generator, secondary frequency converter, and asso-

ciated transfer switches in the Cerro Tololo powerhouse to ensure robust operation of this criti-

cal equipment for the next decade. Planning and prioritization will be carried out in Q1 of FY15

with procurement starting in Q2 as funding permits.

Status: Quotes were obtained for a new secondary generator and secondary frequency conver-

tor, which proved to be quite expensive. The existing equipment was evaluated, and quotes for

refurbishment of the existing hardware by an external contractor were requested. Once these

are received, a decision will be made on how to proceed.

Support the second season of observations for the Dark Energy Survey (DES), which runs from

mid-August 2014 through early February 2015. Hold a workshop in March 2015 to promote the

effective use by the community of the images collected during the first DES season.

Status: Observations for the second season began on 15 August 2014 and have gone very

smoothly thus far. During this reporting period, 10,284 wide-field images were collected with

82% of those images judged to be of survey quality. As a result of improvements to the telescope

that were completed in FY14, delivered image quality and observing efficiency are measurably

better than they were for the first season, and remarkably little time has been lost to technical

problems. The second “DECam Community Science Workshop” will be held in Tucson, Arizo-

na, from 11–13 March 2015. This workshop will bring together those with experience in obtain-

ing, reducing, and analyzing DECam data—both from DES and the community—with those who

would like to use DECam to take their own data or do science with publicly available DES and

community images from the NOAO Science Archive. The workshop also will showcase early sci-

ence results obtained with DECam. All organizational details are in place, the fourteen invited

speakers are confirmed, and a growing number of participants have registered with many plan-

ning to give contributed talks or poster presentations.

Prepare for the delivery of the TripleSpec4 (TS4) near-infrared spectrograph, in January 2015,

and commission it on the Blanco 4-m telescope during Q3 and Q4 of FY15.

Status: Fabrication and assembly of the instrument at Cornell has gone slightly slower than

planned so that delivery of TripleSpec4 to Chile will not occur until March 2015. Supporting

work on the detector systems in Chile was completed during this reporting period and these sys-

tems are ready for integration with the instrument. The plan for pre- and post-ship acceptance

of the instrument was written this quarter. Several NOAO South staff will travel to Cornell in

February 2015 to participate in the final stage of integration and witness the pre-ship ac-

ceptance test. The mechanical design for the interface and handling cart needed to mount the

instrument on the telescope was completed this quarter and work was begun on their fabrication

in the La Serena machine shop (see Figure 4). Despite the slight delay, all remains on track for

a first commissioning run at the telescope, which is scheduled for April 2015.

Develop during Q1 of FY15 conceptual designs and resource estimates for the steps needed to

increase observing efficiency at the SOAR telescope, including improvement of the guide star

selection software, addition of an acquisition camera to the Goodman Spectrograph, and imple-

mentation of closed-loop control of focus and astigmatism, and propose them to the SOAR

board for funding. It is anticipated that, given a favorable funding decision, one or two of these

measures can be implemented during FY15, the others being carried over to FY16.


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Status: The telescope and guider pointing models were updated with a considerable reduction

in observing overheads. A design for an acquisition camera for the Goodman spectrograph was

reviewed, procurement and fabrication were begun, and implementation is expected for

Q2/early Q3 (third quarter of FY15). An algorithm was developed for more efficient focus and

astigmatism control; implementation of the algorithm at both foci requires additional engineer-

ing work and may not be completed until late in the fiscal year. Experience with the algorithm

should be acquired before trying to develop a fully closed-loop implementation, which is likely

to be expensive. Finally, user documentation to help guide observers in reducing overheads

while observing is in the process of being updated.

To strengthen post-run scientific support of users of the SOAR telescope, carry out a survey dur-

ing Q1 of FY15 of previous users of NOAO time to determine what factors have limited their

ability to publish quickly, and use this as the basis for planning and prioritization of improve-

ments to be implemented during the remainder of the year.

Status: No progress during this period.

Implement succession plans for key staff who will transition fully or on a shared basis to LSST.

Recruitment to replace the transitioning staff will take place in Q1 of FY15 with cross training

and knowledge transfer occurring over the remainder of the year.

Status: Four staff members transitioned fully to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Project

Office (LSSTPO) at the start of FY15. One of these positions will not be replaced. Recruitment

for a new head of Facilities is underway; the CTIO deputy director is serving in this role in the

interim. The head of the computer applications group and the SOAR site manger/mechanical

engineer were replaced through internal reorganization. A similar process of internal recruit-

ment is planned to replace the head of NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services when he

transitions later in the year. Discussions continued with LSSTPO concerning additional staff

who may transition on a full or part-time basis, as construction activity ramps up, in order to al-

low timely recruitment of additional staff and ensure critical knowledge is retained.

Host the third annual La Serena School for Data Science during one week in August 2015 in

collaboration with AURA, LSST, and Chilean institutional partners.

Status: No activity was planned for this period.

1.1.2 NOAO South Engineering & Technical Services

Program Highlights

During this 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. NN ETS staff also participated in

projects to upgrade the performance of the telescopes and to install and test new instrumentation.

Implementation of the active optics upgrade for the Blanco telescope was completed at the be-

ginning of Q1. Subsequently, NS ETS worked closely with DES to obtain and analyze wavefront

data in order to refine the look-up tables used to control the primary mirror supports and the Hexa-

pod and Blanco M1 in order to optimize the DECam image quality. This work, together with the

work to control the telescope thermal environment completed in FY14, resulted in a measurable im-

provement in the delivered image quality obtained during the second season of DES as compared to

the first. During this same monthly engineering process, the Telescope Pointing also was improved.

NOAO DIVISIONS

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The improved hardware for ƒ/8 operation of Blanco (secondary mirror control and Cassegrain

rotator and other instrument support infrastructure) has been operating reliably and meeting re-

quirements for COSMOS and the Infrared Side Port Imager (ISPI). Further, mainly electronic, up-

grade work on three (out of nine) ƒ/8 subsystems will be completed during FY15 in order to ensure

robust operation and to simplify maintenance. Improvements to the mechanisms and control elec-

tronics of the ƒ/8 handler used in installing the secondary mirror were completed and tested during

Q1; a mechanism to allow the fine angular positioning of the secondary mirror was designed during

Q1 and will be fabricated in Q2.

In October 2015, one of the reduction gearboxes for the Blanco dome azimuth drive suffered a

mechanical failure. These units are old and are suffering increased wear and tear as a result of the

more frequent retargeting of the dome required by DES survey operations. Replacement gears were

fabricated by a local contractor and used to refurbish the failed drive, while the dome continued to

operate using only two of its three motors. Then a spare gearbox was made by refurbishing an old

unit obtained from the Mayall telescope, and this spare was substituted to allow refurbishment of the

other two boxes. With the immediate emergency resolved, a design study was begun for a modern

drive system using variable frequency controlled motors similar to that used for the SOAR Dome,

which should be implemented by no later than FY16.

NS ETS contributed to fabrication of the TripleSpec4 near-infrared spectrometer during Q1.

Characterization and optimization of the detectors and associated control electronics for TS4 was

completed. The mechanical design of the interface box needed to mount this instrument at the ƒ/8

focus of Blanco was completed, and the mechanical fabrication was begun.

NS ETS worked on various improvement projects for the SOAR telescope during Q1. The

SOAR Telescope Control System (TCS) upgrade made steady progress and is now about 30% com-

plete. The opto-mechanics of the SOAR Tip-Tilt guiders were checked and calibrated, which led to

an improvement in the efficiency of guide star acquisition. An acquisition camera was designed for

the Goodman spectrograph and will be ready for fabrication during Q2.

Progress was made on several improvements to basic laboratory infrastructure. Laboratory in-

strumentation and hardware purchased using FY14 funds was received. These included a

monochromator for use in optical transmission and detector quantum efficiency measurements, a

larger capacity ultrasonic cleaning bath, and a new surface mount soldering station. Minor building

modifications and upgrades for the Electronics Lab & Detector Clean Room were designed and

quotes obtained that will allow work to begin in Q2, and a similar process for the extension of the

Mechanical Instrument Shop is ongoing.


Complete the Blanco telescope primary mirror active optics improvement project in Q1 of

FY15.

Status: Completed. The new, high-precision pressure controllers for the 33 pneumatic actuators

(air bags) that support the primary mirror were installed during the last quarter of FY14, and

the system was brought on line in time for the start of the DES second season. Finishing touches

such as repackaging of the control electronics and assembly and test of spare modules were

completed during Q1 as well. Collection of wavefront data to refine the look-up tables used for

open-loop control of the optics will continue in engineering time throughout FY15 as will the

tuning and testing of closed-loop control algorithms.

Refurbish the Blanco aluminizing tank in Q3 of FY15 and optimize its control parameters (work

to be completed in Q1 of FY16) to ensure stable, reliable, and reproducible deposition of a


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good-quality coating in time to re-aluminize the Blanco primary mirror during calendar year

2016.

Status: Activities during this reporting period included a thorough walk-through inspection of

the coating plant to take stock of its current condition and a step-by-step review of past operat-

ing procedures, both carried out with the help of the retired plant engineer. In addition, the op-

tical and mechanical engineers were invited to witness the coating of the primary mirror of the

Magellan Baade telescope, obtaining insight concerning this modern evaporation chamber,

which is, conceptually, very similar to the Blanco plant. This compliments the information ob-

tained during a visit in FY14 to witness coating of the primary mirror of the Mayall telescope on

Kitt Peak. All the information is now in hand to begin planning the modification of the Blanco

plant during Q2.

Repair the Blanco mirror elevator in Q4 of FY15 following the similar work being carried out at

the Mayall telescope during FY14.


Build the new handling cart for the Blanco Cassegrain cage in Q2 of FY15, the design of which

was completed in FY14.


Complete during Q1 of FY15 the evaluation and costing of improvements to the drive mecha-

nism and emergency brake for the Blanco dome shutter, building on similar work being carried

out at the Mayall telescope and Anglo-Australian Telescope. Implementation will begin in Q2 of

FY15 but is expected to continue into FY16 depending on the design finally adopted.

Status: No progress was made during this quarter because the required resources had to be di-

rected to the emergency repair of the dome azimuth drive discussed above.

Complete upgrading the SOAR Telescope Control System (TCS) to the same standard as the re-

cently upgraded TCS of the Blanco 4-m telescope in Q4 of FY15.

Status: Steady progress was made as planned during Q1 on this project, on which work began

in the last quarter of FY14. Both the main telescope control application and pointing kernel

were about 30% complete, while the operators interface was 20% complete at the end of Q1.

Work on the remaining component, the telemetry database, is not scheduled to start until Q3.

1.1.3 NOAO South Facilities Operations

Program Highlights

The NOAO South Facilities Operations (NS FO) group is responsible for operations, maintenance,

and long-term stewardship of the physical infrastructure shared by the facilities hosted by AURA

Observatory (AURA-O) in Chile. This includes support buildings, housing, and miscellaneous other

facilities in La Serena and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón.

NS FO started FY15 with the implementation of a Web-based system to record and invoice utili-

ties to AURA-O tenants. This system was developed by AURA-CAS, and tested during the last

quarter of FY14. As part of this improvement project, utility meters will be installed at all tenant fa-

cilities during FY15.

NOAO DIVISIONS

9


Improve the reliability of the electric power transmission infrastructure for both mountains by

installing contacts/connectors at the junction between the commercial power company and AURA

lines, at the bifurcation of the lines to Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón, and on each summit in

Q2 of FY15.

Status: This project was approved by the Advisory Committee, representing the AURA tenants,

as a contingency project, and will be carried out in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY15 if funds are

available. In parallel, the option to rent the equipment from the electricity company CONAFE is

being explored.

Provide separate utility metering in Q3 of FY15 for all tenants on Cerro Tololo, and implement

a Web-based database for utility consumption to improve the accuracy of billing to users.

Status: The plans for placing additional electricity and water meters were developed and the

materials were ordered. The electricity meters will be installed during Q2, followed by the in-

stallation of the water meters. The Web-based database noted under Program Highlights above

was implemented and in full use as of the beginning of FY15.

Complete repairs to the roof of the La Serena office building in Q1 of FY15, addressing the roof

sections over the Engineering & Technical Services and SOAR offices.

Status: A formal quote for the repair of the roof of the La Serena office building, the section

over NS ETS offices, was received and approved. Actual repairs will start during Q2 of FY15.

Install a new heating and air conditioning system for the La Serena offices and laboratories in

Q2 of FY15.


Remodel the La Serena machine shop in Q4 of FY15 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.


Support the ramp-up in LSST construction activity on Cerro Pachón, incrementing the capabili-

ties of the Facilities Operations group as needed by the end of Q4 of FY15 in order to meet in-

creased demand for the group’s services and the need for more frequent road maintenance.


1.1.4 NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services

Program Highlights

The NOAO South Computer Infrastructure Services (NS CIS) group provides information technolo-

gy (IT) support for NOAO personnel and facilities in Chile and supports the backbone communica-

tions and network infrastructure for all AURA-O facilities in Chile. NS CIS provides the network in-

frastructure support necessary to maintain reliable connectivity between the mountaintops (Cerro

Tololo and Cerro Pachón) and La Serena as well as between La Serena and the rest of the world.

The microwave connection from the mountain to La Serena continued to perform solidly during

Q1 with better than 99% up time, most of the down time being due to a single failure. The reliability


10

of the commercial link to the US has significantly improved following the implementation of two al-

ternate paths: one up the east coast and the other up the west coast of South America.

However, Q1 saw a significant increase in traffic, which is becoming a concern. During Q1, the

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) telescope began operation and already is

transmitting data at close to their full 100-Mbs allocation. The Brazilian telescope, T80, also is com-

plete and expected to begin generating similarly large volumes of data soon. This additional traffic,

on top of that from the older tenants, is beginning to saturate the capacity of the existing link from

Cerro Tololo to La Serena, which has had a perceptible impact on performance. In response, a

Ubiquity microwave link is being installed to increase the backbone bandwidth, with completion

scheduled for February 2015. The final bandwidth that can be achieved with this new system is un-

clear as Chilean telecommunication regulations force the reduction of the transmit power at the

5 Ghz range by 50% as compared to the US. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that this additional

bandwidth will cover the needs until installation of the new fiber-based network infrastructure that is

being funded by LSSTPO becomes operational during 2016.

Due to a sudden increase in the volume of international calls, NOAO South’s telecom provider

blocked all outgoing long-distance traffic in October. Considerable effort was expended in trying to

understand the nature and origin of this fraudulent traffic. It was eventually traced to an older Voice

over Internet Protocol (VoIP) device running an old version of the operating system (OS), which

permitted a security breach. As a result, all of the older units were replaced with new ones with the

upgraded OS. This appears to have solved the problem of fraudulent long-distance calls. Fortunate-

ly, the telecom company has been very cooperative, and NOAO South has incurred no unnecessary

bills.

During Q1, NS CIS staff worked with the CTIO DECam support staff and the developers of the

Survey Image System Process Integration (SISPI) software to define and execute a spares plan for

the DECam computer system to improve the ability to respond to machine or system failures. Sever-

al spare machines were purchased and configured so they can be used to quickly replace ANY fail-

ing element within the system of DECam computers. NS CIS also purchased components for and as-

sembled three new computers as part of the SOAR TCS upgrade project.

The final components required for implementation of the NOAO South mail server on virtual

machines were purchased and are ready for deployment in Q2.


Complete the installation of a 10-Gb network segment in La Serena for virtual machines. The

required transceivers will be purchased in Q1 of FY15 and installed in Q2 of FY15.

Status: There were some problems obtaining the correct cables, and there were compatibility

issues between the Brocade and the 10 Gb network interface cards. The correct cables were fi-

nally delivered in December, so that installation can proceed in Q2 as planned.

Establish by the end of FY15 separate, independent sub-networks for each of the tenant tele-

scopes on Cerro Tololo.

Status: This project made progress during Q1, but at a slower pace than planned. This was due

in part to the departure of a network engineer with the consequent delay while a replacement

was brought up to speed and obtained the experience and knowledge needed to carry out the

work. In addition, the arrival of several new tenants during the quarter meant that priority had

to be given to establishing new network connections rather than reconfiguring the existing ones.

NOAO DIVISIONS

11

Improve the wireless network in La Serena to enable visitors and staff to gain access in a more

consistent manner by installing a wireless local area network controller and captive portal with

802.1x in Q1 of FY15).

Status: A Cisco wireless LAN controller (WLC) device was purchased and installed. Enough

access points have been purchased to populate the La Serena offices. Implementation for Win-

dows users was held up because Microsoft omitted a standard protocol package in the Windows

8+ operating system, but implementation was completed for users of all other operating sys-

tems.

Purchase and install in Q1 of FY15 the Cisco Identity Services Engine to make the network

more secure from personal mobile devices.


Establish a network connection in Q3 of FY15 from Cerro Tololo to the water tower in the San

Carlos valley to support remote monitoring of the pumping stations by the NOAO South Facili-

ties Operations staff.


Transfer management responsibility for NS CIS from the current head of program to another

member of the group in Q1 of FY15 to allow the former to focus on support of the LSST net-

work and AURA network backbone.

Status: Execution of this personnel action was postponed to Q2 of FY15.

1.2 NOAO NORTH

The NOAO North (NN) division is responsible for

the administration, facilities, and information tech-

nology (IT) support for NOAO activities based in

southern Arizona. For program management pur-

poses, these activities are separated into the follow-

ing subprograms:

Kitt Peak National Observatory

NOAO North Engineering & Technical

Services

NOAO North Central Facilities Operations

NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services


12

1.2.1 Kitt Peak National Observatory

Program Highlights

Science

Early results from the first scheduled science observations with the new Kitt Peak Ohio State Multi-

Object Spectrograph (KOSMOS) were presented at the AAS meeting in Seattle in January 2015. Al-

ec Hirschauer and John Salzer of Indiana University used KOSMOS to study the faint end of the

Luminosity-Metallicity Relation for low-luminosity, star-forming dwarf galaxies. Using KOSMOS

spectra obtained in September 2014 on the Mayall 4-m telescope, Hirschauer and Salzer derived

metallicities for a dozen faint galaxies by measuring the oxygen abundance ([O III] 4363) of asso-

ciated point-like emission-line sources selected from the ALFALFA H survey. Sample KOSMOS

spectra for four of these so-called H “Dots” are shown in Figure 5. The inserts show the

[O III] 4363 line used to derive abundances.

Figure 5: Sample KOSMOS data from Mayall 4-m telescope for four Hα “dots” selected from the ALFALFA Hα survey. The “Dots” are point-like emission-line sources for which the oxygen abun-

dance ([O III] 4363) was measured. (Image credit: Alec Hirschauer and John Salzer, Indiana Uni-versity.)

NOAO DIVISIONS

13

In Figure 6, the R-band Luminosity-

Metallicity (L-Z) relation diagram is

shown for the H Dots (red), in compari-

son with L-Z for higher luminosity star

forming galaxies from the KPNO Interna-

tional Spectroscopic Survey (KISS)

(blue). The dashed line is fit to the KISS

data, while the solid line represents the

L-Z relation fit from Berg et al. (2012),

converted to R-band luminosities. The

new KOSMOS data, obtained as part of

Hirschauer’s PhD thesis, populates the

low-luminosity end of the L-Z relation

and provides an important contribution to

the understanding of dwarf galaxies.

Management

NOAO Astronomers and KPNO scientific

and technical personnel continued to pre-

pare for installation of the Dark Energy

Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the

Mayall 4-m telescope. These scientists

meet regularly to discuss the DESI pro-

ject. Installation planning is well advanced. The immediate focus is on preparing for the DESI Criti-

cal Decision 2 (CD-2), currently planned for late summer 2015. A pre-CD-2 review of the NOAO

work breakdown structure for DESI is being planned for sometime in the March–April timeframe

and will be held in Tucson.

A new joint initiative between NSF, NASA, and NOAO for exoplanet science (NN-EXPLORE)

at the WIYN 3.5-m telescope was announced in November. Two KPNO scientists and an engineer

are working with NASA on the Announcement of Opportunity for a high precision Doppler spec-

trometer, to be deployed at WIYN in 2018 and used to follow up transiting exoplanet systems dis-

covered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Starting in observing semester 2015B,

exoplanet researchers will have the opportunity to participate in a NASA-sponsored Guest Observer

program on WIYN, using existing instrumentation.

After an extensive nation-wide search, a new manager for the Kitt Peak Visitor Center was hired

and started in January. William “Bill” Buckingham has more than 25 years of experience at science

centers throughout the country. He will be attending the Education and Public Outreach (EPO) re-

treat in late January.

Kitt Peak Visitor Center

The table below summarizes the number of visitors who participated in paid groups/programs at Kitt

Peak during this quarter. Compared to the same period last year, there was an overall increase of

43% in total participants. Both general tours and the Nightly Observing Program saw significant in-

creases, while the number of visiting school groups was down. Both VIP tours and the Advanced

Observing Program were about the same as for the same period a year ago. The biggest increases

(over 200% each) came in the number of people attending the classes/workshops and general public

tours.

Figure 6: R-band Luminosity-Metallicity (L-Z) relation dia-

gram for H dots (red) compared to L-Z for galaxies in KISS. (Image credit: Alec Hirschauer and John Salzer (Indiana University.)


14


Assess, characterize, and (where necessary) improve

pointing and tracking of the Mayall telescope follow-

ing installation in FY15 of the new digital servo sys-

tem and pointing model for the Telescope Control Sys-

tem (TCS). Initial testing and assessment will be com-

plete by the end of Q2 of FY15. The new system will

be complete and in routine use for nighttime observing

by the end of Q3 of FY15.

Status: On target for completion in Q3. Initial on-sky

tests of the new Telescope Control System (TCS) are

scheduled for completion in January 2015. Basic func-

tionality of TCS will be confirmed with those tests. The

next test and evaluation nights on sky are scheduled

for early February, at which time integration with the

telescope facility guider will be tested.

Work with the NSF to select an operator for the 2.1-m

telescope and Coudé Feed. A recommendation will be

made to the NSF in Q2 of FY15.

Status: Completed. A committee was formed in Octo-

ber 2014, proposals were reviewed, and a conclusion was reached by the committee. A report,

including the committee’s recommendation, was submitted to the NSF before the end of January

2015.

Complete a prioritized list with full costs of Delivered Image Quality (DIQ) improvements for

the Mayall 4-m telescope by the end of Q2 of FY15.

Status: Completed. An NOAO staff scientist led the effort to produce a report with a prioritized

list, which was submitted in mid-December. That report is currently under discussion, and the

recommended actions are being integrated into the Kitt Peak projects plan.

1.2.2 NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services

Program Highlights

Shortly before the start of this reporting period, Dr. David Sprayberry took over as manager of

NOAO North Engineering & Technical Services (NN ETS) following the departure of the prior

manager, Dr. Jay Elias, to become director of SOAR Observatory. During Q1, new, regular group

meetings were implemented at various levels to enhance communications within the NN ETS group

about workflow and challenges. With support from AURA Human Resources (HR) and the NOAO

Director’s Office, personnel actions were planned and carried out to bring NN ETS to staffing levels

that can be supported from expected budgets beyond FY15.

In addition to the milestone activities reported below, NN ETS also launched a long-term effort

to document procedures used for all activities at the Mayall telescope. Documenting these proce-

dures and their safety considerations will enhance knowledge transfer throughout the KPNO staff

and help ensure safe and successful completion of all work activities. The effort began with the doc-

umentation of routine support and maintenance tasks and will progress into documenting the major

but less frequent maintenance activities such as mirror aluminizing.

Kitt Peak Visitor Center & Tours Summary of Participants

(3 months ending 12/31/14)

Group/Program # of Participants

General public tours 1,723

School groups K-college 0

Special tours 30

VIP tours 55

Nightly Obs. Program 2,017

Advanced Obs. Program 36

Other classes & workshops 26

Youth Group Overnights 0

TOTAL 3,887

NOAO DIVISIONS

15


Complete the transfer of all relevant paper documents to the new electronic document system by

the end of FY15.

Status: Progressing on schedule. Approximately 30% of the documents and drawings for the

Mayall telescope have been ingested into the system or are in process. Transfer of the remaining

Mayall documents should go more quickly now that the process is routine. WIYN drawings and

documents are on hold awaiting the resolution of policy questions concerning the degree of

budgetary, administrative, and technical separation to be established between the Mayall and

WIYN activities after FY15.

Complete a system-level plan with full costs for the improved reliability of the Mayall dome

shutter by the end of Q3 of FY15.

Status: Progress was made during Q1 on the selection of parts for the upgrading of the upper

shutter drive gearbox and on the preliminary design of fixtures to enable the removal of the ex-

isting gearbox and replacement with the new one. Progress also was made on analyzing issues

with the lower shutter drive that lead to an excess current draw by those motors, but the issue is

still under investigation.

Complete the purchase of the major components for the dome shutter system reliability upgrade

by the end of FY15.

Status: No orders were placed during Q1. See the status of the preceding milestone for a pro-

gress description.

Complete a detailed design for the implementation of the dome shutter system reliability up-

grade by the end of FY15.

Status: Design work on the upper shutter drive system is underway. Investigation of perfor-

mance issues on the lower shutter also is underway, but no design work can begin until the per-

formance issues are understood fully.

Release the initial versions of all DESI Interface Control Documents (ICDs) that affect the

Mayall telescope or building by the end of Q2 of FY15.

Status: Progress was made on the following ICDs: DESI-Doc 473 governing the software inter-

face between the Mayall Telescope Control System (TCS) and the DESI Instrument Control Sys-

tem (ICS); DESI-Doc 389 governing interfaces between the utility services (power, data, cool-

ing) to be supplied on the Mayall telescope and the DESI focal plate equipment; and DESI-Doc

388 governing the interfaces between the Mayall telescope and the DESI Fiber View Camera

(FVC). All these ICDs will be put under change control during Q2 of FY15. The status of other

ICDs was under discussion with the DESI project as of the end of this reporting period, follow-

ing changes to the DESI project plan recommended during the DESI Critical Decision 1 (CD-1)

review in Q4 of FY14.

Extend the Mayall building glycol system to provide a service point inside the Coudé laboratory

that will have sufficient capacity for the DESI equipment by the end of FY15.

Status: Preliminary investigations were carried out to determine possible locations to tap into

the building glycol system for service to the Coudé laboratory. Staff determined heat budgets for


16

DESI equipment to be located in that room and initiated an engineering analysis of flow rates

required under different seasonal temperature assumptions.

Extend the Mayall building electrical system to provide sufficient capacity to the Coudé labora-

tory for the DESI equipment by the end of FY15.

Status: In collaboration with DESI staff at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), NN

ETS staff determined expected electrical loads for the Coudé laboratory. A preliminary analysis

of the capacity available in existing electrical panels was completed. The consultant’s report on

the status of equipment at the interconnection point to the Tohono O’odham Utility Authority

was received, and planning for upgrading that equipment as required was initiated. This up-

grade will be a prerequisite to any extension of service to the Coudé laboratory, and so comple-

tion of that extension (this milestone) will likely be postponed until early in FY16.

Complete the laboratory testing of the ODI with its enlarged 5 × 5 focal plane by the end of Q3

of FY15.

Status: Progressing. The One Degree Imager (ODI) was removed from the WIYN telescope on

schedule in November 2014. Disassembly of the ODI Dewar was underway and on schedule as

this reporting period ended.

Complete the on-telescope commissioning of the upgraded ODI instrument by the end of FY15.

Status: No progress has been made yet on commissioning, but progress on the prerequisite la-

boratory work is described in the status of the previous milestone.

1.2.3 NOAO North Central Facilities Operations

Program Highlights

The first quarter was an extremely active time

for NOAO North Central Facilities Operations

(NN CFO) staff. The largest effort focused on

the bid process and startup of the contracted

renovation of space to house the Large Synoptic

Survey Telescope (LSST) engineering design

and construction team. Construction bids were

obtained in early October, and a contract was is-

sued for the work to begin in early November.

During this period, staff worked to oversee the

project, review various submittals, and ensure

conformance with the project specifications. In

addition, staff worked closely with the LSST

team to identify and procure necessary office

furnishings for the future occupants.

Staff also supported several other Tucson

facility projects during this period. Contracts were initiated for replacement of the 40-year-old fire

sprinkler heads in the east wing basement, replacement of the outdated main fire alarm panel, and a

general engineering evaluation of the Kitt Peak electrical distribution system.

Other maintenance efforts involved replacement of leaking air handler valves, replacement of a

large 25-horsepower fan motor, and preparation of the systems for the coming winter heating sea-

son.

Figure 7: New wall construction for the LSST engi-neering design and construction team offices. (Image credit: John Dunlop/NOAO/AURA/NSF.)

NOAO DIVISIONS

17


Work with contractors and staff to prepare office space to

house the LSST engineering design and construction team

in the former KPNO Engineering wing.

Status: During the quarter, renovation bids were obtained,

and a contract was issued for the project with completion

scheduled for mid-January. Staff removed excess items and

prepared for the contracted work that began in early No-

vember. Members of the NN CFO staff continue to work

with the LSST team to identify and obtain furnishings for a

planned occupancy in late January.

Continue targeted building modification and renovation ef-

forts at NOAO North to address building deficiencies and

program space demands.

Status: Staff worked on preparing documents for several

projects planned for second quarter.

Continue with ongoing programs to upgrade the various re-

strooms and fixtures to improve water conservation efforts, interior finishes, and accessibility.

Status: During the quarter, NN CFO staff began preparing documentation and identifying fix-

tures needed to convert two small, male-only restrooms into gender neutral restrooms to ac-

commodate area staff needs. Implementation will occur in the coming quarters following ap-

proval of the final layout.

Continue the ongoing window upgrade program to replace original exterior single pane win-

dows in the various buildings to improve energy efficiency and reduce solar heat gain.

Status: There was no activity this quarter. However, the east wing renovation contract includes

the replacement of 26 exterior windows.

Continue with the program to upgrade and/or replace deteriorated or obsolete portions of the

mechanical air distribution system and their associated heating/chilled water system piping and

valves.

Status: A failing 25-horsepower fan motor was replaced, and two leaking obsolete air handler

pneumatic system valves were replaced with new electrical control valves. Plans were made to

schedule replacement of two large primary chilled-water valves during the second quarter when

the weather will allow for the chilled-water system to be drained for installation. As part of the

current engineering wing renovation, the contractor is replacing ductwork and doing mainte-

nance of the supply air handlers for that area.

Figure 8: Demolition chute for debris removal. (Image credit: John Dunlop /NOAO/AURA/NSF.)


18

1.2.4 NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services

Program Highlights

During Q1 of FY15, the NOAO North Computer Infrastructure Services (NN CIS) group accom-

plished three projects in addition to those mentioned below as milestones. First, NOAO Tucson

joined the international eduroam consortium, which allows all AURA staff with NOAO North

username/password credentials to easily log in to wireless systems at scientific and academic institu-

tions around the world and vice versa. Second, in cooperation with CFO, NN CIS worked on the

network wiring portion of the LSST office construction in the engineering building. As part of this

effort, the Ethernet switch serving the area was relocated, and numerous Ethernet cables were rerun

to the new location. Third, NOAO management assigned NN CIS the task of producing an annual

cyber security audit/summary. The purpose of this document is to summarize briefly any significant

incidents, breaches, or misuse of computing infrastructure within the NOAO domain. NN CIS will

collect reports from the various groups comprising the NOAO domain: Science Data Management,

KPNO, LSST-Tucson, NSO/Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, NSO Integrated Synoptic Program,

and the tenant observatories.


Absorb the few remaining unmanaged Windows systems in Tucson and on Kitt Peak into the

NOAO North Windows Active Directory (ad.tuc.noao.edu) and install the Shavlik anti-virus and

auto-patch software. Once the Windows computers are part of the Active Directory, use group

policies to implement the AURA-mandated password and account lockout policies.

Status: In progress. Approximately 120 Windows-based machines are attached to the Active Di-

rector (AD).

Absorb the 100 or so workstations and laptops with Mac and Linux operating systems running

on the Tucson and Kitt Peak networks into the NOAO North Active Directory using software

from Centrify. Once those computers are part of the Active Directory, use group policies to im-

plement the AURA-mandated password and account lockout policies.

Status: In progress. This project has been slowed down due to issues concerning a conflict be-

tween Centrify and Apple’s filevault disk encryption technology.

Continue the effort to create customized DMZ configurations for Internet-facing servers such as

ftp.noao.edu, www.noao.edu, email.noao.edu, and ssh.noao.edu. Consult and plan to do the

same for servers run by groups outside of NN CIS.

Status: Postponed until later in FY15. The effort on Kitt Peak to isolate the tenant networks

from the NOAO network and each other is largely completed but has run into problems caused

by limitations in the Kitt Peak “backbone” switch. Efforts are underway to replace the switch

and to future-proof the setup against the installation of fibers to the observatories on the west

ridge of Kitt Peak.

Implement a centralized control system for many of the wireless access points installed in the

NOAO Tucson complex. Such a system will simplify configuration of the 30 or so access points

and allow them to cooperate with a centralized power/channel operations plan.

Status: Completed. Currently, 39 wireless access points are being used, and they average a

maximum of 125+ wireless connections per workday. When the LSST office construction is

completed, four more access points will be added in the remodeled space.

NOAO DIVISIONS

19

Undertake a number of related projects leading to the goal of a single password for email, VPN,

wireless, Active Directory login, Web Timecards, Reqless, CASNET, and UltiPro.

Status: Several conceptual studies were completed that demonstrate authentication of services

through the AD. NN CIS staff are rationalizing the username/password infrastructure and popu-

lating the AD in preparation for a cut-over later in FY15. Using the single password system for

UltiPro and the CASNET functions is still in the future.

1.3 NOAO SYSTEM SCIENCE CENTER

The NOAO System Science Center (NSSC)

operates a telescope time allocation process

recognized nationally for its fairness and integ-

rity for access to all NOAO-operated facilities

and all facilities that offer open-access time via

NOAO (e.g., Gemini, SMARTS). NSSC sup-

ports users of non-NOAO facilities (with par-

ticular focus on Gemini) and connects the as-

tronomical community to major external de-

velopment projects (e.g., LSST, TMT). NSSC

also provides a robust set of data archive and

data processing services including desktop im-

age processing systems support (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 calibra-

tion 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, NSSC has stepped up to a peta-scale (“Big Data”) level of data volume and com-

plexity. For program management purposes, NSSC activities are separated into the following sub-

programs:

System User Support (SUS)

Science Data Management (SDM)

System Community Development (SCD)

Time Allocation Committee (TAC)

1.3.1 System User Support

Program Highlights

Science

Early in FY15, four refereed papers were published based on data acquired with NOAO-approved

programs. Among these, there are two exceptional results that will change the paradigm for stellar

evolution. In the first noted result, Hui et al. (2014, MNRAS, 446, 842) used spectroscopy from the

Gemini North Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) and Gemini Near Infrared Spectro-

graph (GNIRS) to explore the origins of massive stars in clusters that reside in the Galactic Center.

This detailed study of eight massive stars near the Galactic Center is able to determine that one star

was formed in situ, a few are interlopers, and others have been ejected from nearby stellar clusters in


20

the Galactic Center. In the second result, Kilic et al. (2015, MNRAS 446L, 26) found the first milli-

second pulsar as a companion of an extremely low mass (ELM) pulsating white dwarf (WD), by us-

ing time-series photometry with the Gemini Multi Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South.

This result places the WD in the ZZ Ceti instability strip. Other ELM WD companions of pulsars

have been studied, here and elsewhere, and the non-pulsating and pulsating stars yield to the empiri-

cal definition of this rarely populated post-AGB (asymptotic giant branch) instability strip.

Management and User Support

In the first quarter of FY15, System User Support (SUS) staff supported the NOAO Time Allocation

Committee (TAC) with technical reviews of Gemini proposals and by answering technical questions

during the TAC meetings. SUS represented the US community at the Gemini International Time Al-

location Committee (ITAC), and supported proposers through the completion of the Phase II pro-

cess. SUS has also kept the US community informed on new System initiatives, such as the Large

and Long Programs at Gemini Observatory.

SUS organized a data reduction mini-workshop at the Seattle AAS meeting. This is intended as

the first of a series of mini-workshops with topics focused on reducing NOAO and Gemini observa-

tions. The mini-workshop, which took 1.5 hours on the afternoon of 7 January 2015, featured two

speakers who discussed near-infrared (IR) data. Dick Joyce (NOAO) reviewed the basics with his

talk titled “An Introduction to Infrared Detectors.” Rachel Mason’s (Gemini) talk, “Reducing

GNIRS Cross-Dispersed Data,” was on extracting spectra from data collected by a Gemini instru-

ment. The presentation slides for both talks will be posted on the SUS website.

The workshops are intended as a target of opportunity for AAS attendees interested in expand-

ing their knowledge of best data reduction techniques. The topic is narrow so the single afternoon

session allows participants to start working immediately with similar data from Gemini and other

observatories. No special registration other than attendance at the AAS is required. The mini-

workshop was filled to its seating capacity of 40: most being graduate students.


Provide effort in Q2–Q4 of FY15 toward post-observing support for Gemini observers per the

expected continuing transfer to Gemini staff of Phase II support for US-led Gemini observing

programs (which began as a test in semester 2014B): (1) By establishing data-analysis work-

shops at the AAS, the first of which will be a near-IR reduction workshop with other workshops

of the series to be held on subjects based on specific feedback from users; (2) By establishing a

dedicated website to provide supporting materials for post-data processing, with plans to include

a guided example for Gemini Planet Imager data analysis and an expanded FAQ document for

the Integral Field Unit and Nod-and-Shuffle mode of the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph.

Status: The transition is in effect, and work is progressing toward the completion of the first

batch of deliverables. (1) The first NOAO/SUS workshop on data reduction at the AAS was a

success; it is described in the Management and User Support paragraphs above. (2) The website

is in progress, and a draft is ready to go online. A final website will be ready by Q2. The Gemini

Planet Imager example and the question and answer example also are ready to be posted.

Provide user support as needed for open-access, NOAO-allocated time on the Center for High

Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) array and the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT).

Status: During the semester 2015A proposal process, detailed technical support after TAC

meetings was postponed, while broad support to the TAC members on technical issues was

available on a one to one basis. The support included CHARA and AAT.

NOAO DIVISIONS

21

Represent the US National Gemini Office (NGO) in the Gemini Operations Working Group,

and participate in the joint Gemini/NGO meetings to discuss all operation issues.

Status: The last Gemini Operations Working Group meeting was in August 2014. The report for

the next meeting in February 2015 was being prepared during Q1. The head of SUS participat-

ed in the bi-weekly, joint Gemini/NGO meetings.

Represent the US National Gemini Office on the International Time Allocation Committee.

Status: Two US NGO Members participated on the ITAC and helped build the Gemini queue

and classical schedules based on the scientific priorities elaborated by the NOAO TAC.

Host a workshop on Gemini data reduction during the January 2015 AAS meeting.

Status: Completed. The workshop at the 2015 winter AAS meeting on near-IR data reduction

was successful and had the maximum allowed attendance.

Provide support (such as panel orientation materials and on-call support) to the Time Allocation

Committee (TAC) for Gemini and other selected facilities offered through the NOAO Call for

Proposals.

Status: The SUS head of program provided presentation slides for the TAC orientation, materi-

als for the Call for Proposals, and information for NOAO Newsletter articles regarding the spe-

cifics of the Gemini instruments and those of other System-wide facilities.

Provide technical reviews after both FY15 Time Allocation Committee meetings of all highly

ranked programs to identify and eliminate technically infeasible programs.

Status: All Gemini proposals to be scheduled after the NOAO TAC for semester 2015A were re-

viewed.

1.3.2 Science Data Management

Program Highlights

Science Data Management (SDM) supports the data management needs of NOAO and its user

community. Raw data from Kitt Peak, Cerro Tololo, and SOAR on Cerro Pachón are captured and

archived in the NOAO Science Archive. Data from the NOAO wide-field imagers (DECam, Mosaic,

and NEWFIRM) are processed through pipelines, and the data products are archived. SDM also

maintains the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) software and is involved in developing

the NOAO Data Lab project.

The NOAO Science Archive continues to serve large volumes of data from DECam and other

NOAO instruments. In this reporting period, SDM worked on major “infrastructure” upgrades to the

Archive and Portal, in particular updating third-party software and improving the future maintaina-

bility of the system. This work will continue through the remainder of FY15. Development was

completed for Archive+Portal version 2.3.1, which is undergoing testing before the deployment in

Q2. As well as various infrastructure changes, version 2.3.1 updates the Archive Download Manager

to use iRODS (Integrated Rule-Oriented Data System) to pull data directly from the mass storage of

either NOAO North or NOAO South, depending on where the requesting user is located. There are

dramatic performance enhancements, so that limits on search results and staging have been greatly

relaxed.

In Q1, the Dark Energy Survey (DES) data management team delivered their first reduced and

calibrated data products to NOAO. These were ingested into the NOAO Archive and are being


22

served to the community. A simple interface was incorporated into the NOAO Archive+Portal ver-

sion 2.3.1 (mentioned above) in order to facilitate user retrieval of DES raw and reduced data. SDM

continued to operate the DECam, Mosaic, and NEWFIRM pipelines and to archive the processed

data from those instruments. Development continued on the WIYN pODI pipeline as well.

The NOAO Data Handbook is receiving a long-needed update, with new chapters for DECam

and KOSMOS/COSMOS, and significant revisions to most other chapters. This work will be com-

pleted later this year. The NOAO Archive tutorials were updated in this reporting period.

During Q1, SDM worked closely with other NOAO staff scientists, particularly in the LSST

Science group, to develop the NOAO Data Lab concept. The Data Lab will provide services and in-

terfaces for working with large, curated data sets, particularly the massive catalogs from DECam

imaging surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and various ongoing or future NOAO Sur-

vey Programs. The Data Lab also will provide a workspace environment for survey teams to share

data within their collaboration and facilities for customized data publication. This quarter, SDM

staff worked extensively on a variety of documents in preparation for a Data Lab Conceptual Design

Review to be held later in FY15. These include a Science Requirements Document (SRD), Opera-

tions Concepts Document (OCD), and Operations Requirement Document (ORD).


Continue operation in Q1–Q4 of FY15 of the NOAO data management system including data

capture, transport, archiving, and user access to all NOAO-observed data. Routinely pipeline

process and archive all Mosaic, NEWFIRM, and DECam data products. Continue support for

the data handling systems for Mosaic, NEWFIRM, KOSMOS, and COSMOS.

Status: Operation of the NOAO data management system continued without any major issues. A

single system failure of the mountain cache system on Kitt Peak was handled expeditiously, with

no loss of data, by replacing the faulty computer system. Improvements to the systems included

expanding the Science Archive mass storage to 1.1 petabyte (PB) and the DECam Community

Pipeline system with additional storage and computer nodes.

Collect all Dark Energy Survey (DES) first-year single-frame reduced images from the DES

survey team, reformat the images and their metadata as necessary, and archive them in the

NOAO Science Archive during Q1 of FY15.

Status: All of the DES Year 1 calibrated exposures, except the supernovae fields, were delivered

to NOAO in late December. These data (~12,000 calibrated science exposures) were reformat-

ted and ingested into the NOAO Science Archive. A final delivery of the data from the superno-

vae fields is anticipated in early Q2.

Complete the automation of the components of the data management system (i.e., data capture,

data archive, user administration, system monitoring, and system alerts) during Q1–Q3 of FY15

for easier deployment of system upgrades and new releases of system components.

Status: Additional components of the Archive System were evaluated for automatic deployment

through a Puppet configuration. These configuration files will be exercised with the deployment

of Archive System version 2.3.1 next quarter.

Migrate the NOAO Survey Archive data sets to the NOAO Science Archive (remediating survey

data headers as needed) and implement the Portal interface changes necessary for search and re-

trieval of Survey data sets during Q2–Q3 of FY15.

NOAO DIVISIONS

23

Status: No progress during this period. The ingest of the DES calibrated data products served

as a prototype for ingesting the older survey data sets, and the Archive user interface (Portal)

was enhanced to facilitate easy retrieval of the DES survey data products.

Upgrade the pODI pipeline during Q2–Q3 of FY15 to support the 5 × 5 upgrade of the pODI in-

strument.


Implement the SDM Archive Infrastructure Upgrade Plan over Q1–Q4 of FY15.

Status: The NOAO Archive System version 2.3.1, which includes upgrades of several third-party

infrastructure components, was delivered to the test engineer for evaluation in late December.

The test period will be longer than usual because of the extensive changes to both the back end

and user interface (Portal). Deployment is anticipated in mid-February. Version 2.4 with addi-

tional upgrades of third-party infrastructure components and many performance enhancements

was nearing completion at the end of Q1.

Prepare the Operations Concept, Operations Requirements, and System Architecture documents

and presentations in support of the Conceptual Design Review of the Data Lab, and develop the

Data Lab Project Execution Plan during Q1–Q2 of FY15.

Status: Drafts of the Operations Concept, Operations Requirements, and System Architecture

documents were completed in preparation for an internal Conceptual Design Review (CoDR) in

early February. The external review is scheduled for mid-March.

Develop an implementation of VOSpace and support the SMASH and Bulge projects, especially

in the area of tools for catalog visualization and analysis during Q2–Q3 of FY15.

Status: Two versions of VOSpace (implementations in Java and Python) were developed during

Q1 that will be used in the demo presented at the Data Lab CoDR in March.

1.3.3 System Community Development

Program Highlights

LSST Science

In collaboration with the University of Arizona (UA) Computer Science Department, NOAO scien-

tists 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 Computer Science Department, but resident at NOAO); the

postdoc began work in Q1. The astronomy portion of the ANTARES team (NOAO scientists and the

postdoc) began assembling and cross-matching catalogs that will be used to provide ancillary data

for alerts processed by the software system. Using the Ridgway et al. (2014, ApJ, 796, 53) variabil-

ity model, the NOAO team developed during Q1 a method for quantitatively estimating how unusu-

al a brightness change for a Galactic star would be based on empirical variability studies and Galac-

tic structure models. In a related study, a model for detection of variable sources has been used to

determine LSST alert rates, both for discovery and for repeat observation. This information has been

used to predict the frequency of blank field transients due to familiar sources, and hence to deter-


24

mine the requirement for rapid forced photometry of archival data needed to support the alert gener-

ation process.

System Community Development (SCD) scientists, in collaboration with the Science Data Man-

agement (SDM) group, continued work on the concept of the NOAO Data Lab in Q1. The purpose

of the Data Lab will be to help users work with large imaging and spectral data sets and their associ-

ated catalogs, with particular focus on DECam-based catalogs and images. The Data Lab will even-

tually let users explore these data sets, collaborate with other users through a shared workspace, ex-

periment with workflows to perform quantitative analysis, and export those workflows to large scale

computing facilities as necessary. Effort in Q1 included work on the foundational documents of the

Data Lab (Science Use Case, Science Requirements, Operations Concept, Operations Requirements,

System Architecture, and Project Execution Plan) and planning for a Conceptual Design Review

(CoDR) in March 2015.

Plans were completed for holding a workshop on “Tools for Astronomical Big Data” during

9-11 March 2015, with the aim of surveying the state of the art for solving the challenges of research

with large astronomical data sets. The emphasis will be on sharing practical solutions to problems

currently faced by astronomers working with frontier surveys. The topics will include visualization

of large data sets, efficient algorithms for processing large data sets, efficient development and in-

teraction with large databases, and the use of machine learning methodologies.

SCD scientists drafted a report from the “LSST & NOAO Observing Cadences Workshop,”

which was held 11–14 August 2014, in Phoenix, Arizona. The goals of the workshop were to (1) es-

tablish the boundary conditions for possible LSST cadences; (2) lay the foundation for future ca-

dence exploration by establishing quantitative metrics for the performance of a given cadence for

specific science cases, tied to LSST cadence simulations; and (3) generate ideas for future cadence

explorations and establish the goals of the next workshop on cadences. The report will be made

available to the community.

TMT Community Outreach

The NSF and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Observatory Corporation are now two years into a

five-year cooperative agreement 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 Board and the TMT Science

Advisory Committee (SAC). NOAO is charged with executing the responsibilities, privileges, and

participation activities of AURA in TMT and has established a US TMT Liaison office at NOAO for

this purpose. NOAO has formed a US TMT Science Working Group (SWG), consisting of astrono-

mers with a wide range of scientific expertise, drawn from US non-TMT partner institutions. The

SWG is charged to engage with others in the astronomical community about US participation in

TMT and to consider models for that participation and how it may shape TMT operations, instru-

mentation, data management, and other issues.

In Q1, the US TMT SWG carried out an online survey aimed primarily at the US astronomical

community, asking about priorities for TMT regarding scientific programs, instrumentation, data

management, operations modes, time allocation, and the potential level of US federal investment in

the project. There were 467 responses to this survey, and the SWG is using this information as input

to its report for the NSF. The SWG has been working on drafting this report and plans to have a

draft early this year and the final report at the end of calendar year 2015.

The NOAO TMT Liaison and the US TMT SWG led the planning for a TMT Open House at the

January AAS meeting. This event was a success and will be described in the Q2 report. Planning is

also underway for the 2015 TMT Science Forum, an annual conference that gathers scientists from

the international TMT collaboration and provides an opportunity for US-at-large astronomers to get

NOAO DIVISIONS

25

involved with TMT through their attendance. The 2014 TMT Forum was hosted by NOAO in Tuc-

son; the date and venue for the 2015 meeting are still being finalized.

TMT solicited applications for new membership in the TMT International Science Development

Teams (ISDTs), topical science groups that aid and advise the TMT project and serve as a way to

build an international community of scientists among the TMT partners. NOAO advertised this op-

portunity to the US community; applications were due on 16 January 2015.

Optical Interferometry Science

Four community programs, recommended by the NOAO TAC, have been accepted for the CHARA

Array 2015 observing program, and will be integrated into the CHARA


LSST Science

Create in Q1 of FY15 the foundational document set needed to form the Conceptual Design of

the NOAO Data Lab: Science User Case, Science Requirements, Operations Concept, Opera-

tions Requirements, System Architecture, and Project Execution Plan.

Status: Drafts of all of these documents were completed in Q1.

Hold a Conceptual Design Review of the NOAO Data Lab in Q2 of FY15 with a panel of exter-

nal reviewers.

Status: The CoDR is scheduled to be held 16–17 March 2015.

Develop prototype Data Lab capabilities during Q1–Q4 of FY15 using two community-led

DECam observational programs: the SMASH (PI: D. Nidever) and Galactic Bulge (PI: A. Saha)

surveys.

Status: Work on collaborative workspaces and needed infrastructure for the Data Lab was per-

formed during Q1.

Create a prototype database in Q1 of FY15 of astronomical knowledge from multiwavelength

catalogs for the Arizona-NOAO Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System

(ANTARES).

Status: Development of a prototype database is underway.

Develop software in Q2 of FY15 to generate variability probability distributions based on posi-

tion on the sky.

Status: An algorithm and prototype software were developed during this reporting period; full-

scale implementation will occur in Q2.

Create initial tools in Q3 of FY15 for generating a synthetic alert stream.

Status: Work is scheduled for Q3.

Define the structure and algorithms for the first stage of alert filtering by the Arizona-NOAO

Temporal Analysis and Response to Events System (ANTARES) during Q3–Q4 of FY15.



26

Write and distribute in Q1 of FY15 the report from the “Observing Cadences with LSST” work-

shop.

Status: A draft of the report was written during this period. It will be posted on the workshop

website following a final review in January 2015.

Hold a workshop in Q3 of FY15 on “Practical Big Data.”

Status: The workshop “Tools for Astronomical Big Data” is scheduled for 9–11 March 2015.

Write and distribute in Q4 of FY15 the report from the “Practical Big Data” workshop.


TMT Community Outreach

Lead the activities of the US TMT Science Working Group (SWG). This consists of the TMT li-

aison maintaining and updating the SWG membership, helping to set its agenda, and organizing

monthly (or as needed) teleconferences and face-to-face meetings at the TMT Science Forum

and at other occasions as needed.

Status: The US TMT SWG continued its activities, meeting periodically by telecon, and planned

a face-to-face meeting for January 2015. During this reporting period, the SWG carried out and

analyzed an online TMT US community survey. The SWG also wrote a white paper for the Na-

tional Research Council committee on a Strategy to Optimize the US OIR System in the Era of

the LSST.

Direct the US TMT Science Working Group (SWG) in producing a draft of the US TMT Partic-

ipation Plan for the NSF in Q2 of FY15.

Status: The SWG began writing the draft of the US TMT Participation Plan.

Organize and attend (as chair) quarterly TMT Science Advisory Committee (SAC) meetings,

organize regular teleconferences of the TMT SAC co-chairs, participate (remotely, as SAC

chair) in weekly TMT project meetings, and participate in weekly teleconferences with the

TMT-NOAO community engagement group.

Status: The TMT SAC chair organized and attended the SAC meeting in Pasadena in October

2014, and the subsequent TIO Board meeting in Waikoloa, Hawai’i. He participates regularly

in the TMT project meetings and the TMT-NOAO community engagement telecons.

Participate in the organization of a TMT Town Hall event at the January 2015 American Astro-

nomical Society (AAS) meeting and in the planning of a subsequent Town Hall in January 2016.

Status: Due to a change in the AAS rules this year, TMT is not eligible to hold a Town Hall at

the January AAS meeting. Instead, TMT will hold an Open House, planned by the NOAO TMT

Liaison and the SWG members, at the January AAS meeting in Seattle.

Participate in the organization of the third annual TMT Science Forum, nominally to be held

sometime in the summer of 2015. Working with the TMT US Science Working Group (SWG),

identify and encourage members of the US community to attend the Forum.

Status: Planning for the 2015 TMT Science Forum began and continued through Q1; the venue

and date will be announced early in Q2.

NOAO DIVISIONS

27

Optical Interferometry Science

Negotiate during Q2–Q3 of FY15 for community access in 2016 to the Center for High Angular

Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) array and provide required support to community users of the

2015 CHARA time and the NOAO time allocation process throughout FY15.

Status: This work will begin late in Q2.

1.3.4 Time Allocation Committee

Program Highlights

The Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) process was completed successfully for observing se-

mester 2015A, culminating in the NOAO TAC panels meeting in Tucson from 27–31 October 2014

and proposal announcements and reviews being sent to proposers on 18 December 2014. Observing

semester 2015A will begin on 1 February 2015. During Q1 of FY15, planning began for a call for

proposals for WIYN in semester 2015B to support the NASA-NSF partnership for exoplanet re-

search with community use of the NOAO share of WIYN telescope time. This program is called

NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE), and NOAO will add a TAC panel

to the 2015B meeting to rank proposals. The first NN-EXPLORE call for proposals will be issued

on 1 February 2015 for semester 2015B.


Work with SUS to issue calls for proposals for regular programs (twice a year) and survey pro-

grams (once a year).

Status: The first call for proposals in FY15 will occur on 1 March 2015 for semester 2015B.

Prior to this call, a separate call for the new NN-EXPLORE program on WIYN is planned for 1

February 2015. No NOAO Survey call is planned for FY15.

Coordinate with SUS and non-federal observatories to provide timely technical reviews of the

proposals.

Status: The necessary technical reviews for accepted US Gemini programs were completed suc-

cessfully for semester 2015A.

Convene Time Allocation Committee (TAC) panels twice a year to review the proposals and

provide recommendations to the NOAO director.

Status: The TAC panels for semester 2015A met in Tucson during 27–31 October 2014.

Keep the membership of the TAC panels current and ensure that they include the expertise re-

quired to review the scientific and technical aspects of the proposals.

Status: The 2015A TAC was fully staffed with qualified research astronomers. Work is ongoing

to maintain membership for the 2015B TAC, as well as recruit members for the NN-EXPLORE

TAC panel and US members for the Gemini Large Program TAC for 2015.

Work with the federal and non-federal observatories to prioritize and schedule the approved

proposals.

Status: All semester 2015A approved programs were scheduled successfully.


28

Ensure timely announcements of the results of the time allocation process.

Status: The 2015A TAC results were announced on 18 December 2014 (the same as when Gem-

ini Observatory sent their announcements).

If advised by the NOAO director, manage an NOAO Survey Call for Proposals and convene a

Survey TAC during FY15.

Status: The decision was made to not issue an NOAO Survey call this year, as there are a signif-

icant number of ongoing surveys.

Work with the Gemini Observatory to implement a Gemini Large Program international TAC

panel that is managed by NOAO as part of the overall time allocation process.

Status: Planning and work occurred in Q1 and is ongoing for a Gemini Large Program TAC to

meet in Tucson on 29 April 2015.

1.4 NOAO SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Program Highlights

The NOAO System Technology Center (NSTC) is responsible for NOAO’s engagement in techno-

logical enhancements to the US Ground-Based Optical/Infrared System (System). NSTC carries out

technical activities needed to realize new telescope projects or to enhance the instrument comple-

ments on existing System telescopes operated by NOAO or other entities. NSTC is supported

through a combination of NOAO’s base budget and supplemental awards such as the Renewing

Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research (ReSTAR) award from NSF.

During FY15, the NSTC program is focused on completing a new instrument for the Blanco 4-

m telescope at CTIO. This instrument, TripleSpec4, is the last of the remaining activities under the

supplemental award from the NSF for the ReSTAR program. Most of the work carried out in FY15,

including the sub-award to NOAO’s partner in the TripleSpec4 project, will be covered through the

ReSTAR supplemental funding award.

TripleSpec4 is the last project remaining to be completed by NSTC. In accordance with the

NOAO Transformation Plan, NSTC will be eliminated as a program within NOAO by the end of

FY15, following the commissioning of TripleSpec4.


Deliver the fully integrated detector-controller subsystems for TripleSpec4 to Cornell University

for incorporation into the instrument during laboratory integration.

Status: In progress. Integration of the detector-controller subsystems was completed in Novem-

ber 2014. Detectors were shipped from CTIO to NOAO Tucson in December with an expected

arrival in January 2015. They will be forwarded on to Cornell promptly. Controllers and asso-

ciated computers will be shipped from CTIO directly to Cornell in early January.

Receive the fully assembled and tested TripleSpec4 instrument at the Blanco 4-m telescope.

Status: In progress. During Q1, Cornell began final laboratory integration of the instrument.

The mechanical assembly was nearing completion as of the end of the quarter.

NOAO DIVISIONS

29

Complete commissioning of TripleSpec4 on the Blanco telescope and release the instrument for

scientific use by the US astronomical community.

Status: No progress pending delivery to CTIO, which is expected for March 2015. See the status

of the previous milestones for information on the progress toward delivery.

Provide oversight for two TSIP instrumentation projects still underway (Binospec: a multi-

object, dual-beam spectrograph for MMT being built by the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard-

Smithsonian; and KCWI: an optical integral field spectrograph for Keck) and ensure completion

and close-out of both TSIP project subawards by the end of FY15.

Status: In progress. Regular reports are received and teleconferences held with both instrument

teams to review progress and discuss issues.


30

2 NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

2.1 OFFICE OF SCIENCE

Program Highlights

The Office of Science (OS) and the head of the Promotion and Tenure Committee researched and

began drafting a periodic review policy for tenured NOAO staff. OS also assisted in planning two

NOAO workshops for FY15: “Tools for Astronomical Big Data” to be held 9–11 March 2015, in

Tucson, Arizona and “DECam Community Science” scheduled for 11–13 March 2015, also in Tuc-

son.


This activity has no programmatic milestones beyond standard administrative tasks (e.g., expendi-

ture monitoring and reporting).

2.2 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

Program Highlights

This quarter, NOAO staff organized and co-chaired

three education sessions at the fall American Geo-

physical Union (AGU) conference that addressed

(1) best practices in teacher development programs

that teach authentic science and (2) the design and

implementation of citizen science projects for edu-

cation. The NOAO project Globe at Night was fea-

tured in one session. Two NOAO proposals (one to

the International Astronomical Union and the other

to the Optical Society of America) led to support

for the creation and distribution of a new NOAO

program on Quality Lighting Teaching Kits for the

International Year of Light 2105 (IYL2015). De-

velopment of the program began this quarter. Globe

at Night became an official International Year of

Light 2015 citizen science campaign and preparations were made for the upcoming tenth year of

campaigns, with one campaign per month). The Globe at Night report page is now in 28 languages.

The EPO student cadre was highly active in local outreach with about two outreach activities per

week, including five dark skies student sessions at the Tucson-based Cooper Center for Environ-

mental Learning, which serves Tucson Unified School District students. The cadre assisted in three

school star parties and one Colors of Nature star party on Kitt Peak, five STEM nights, (one of

which was at Indian Oasis Elementary on the Tohono O’odham Nation, and an observing session for

Tohono O’odham Community College students on the WIYN 0.9-m telescope. The EPO students

also helped organize a science café for the Colors of Nature program.

Arizona Galileoscope Program: The Arizona Galileoscope program conducts professional de-

velopment for teachers and promotes a deeper understanding of astronomical optics and technology.

The third annual Safford Star Party was held at Discovery Park in Safford, Arizona, on Friday, Oc-

tober 17. Students from nine schools in the Safford and Thatcher area attended the event as did

Public Outreach Information Requests & Inquiries


Type/Origin of Request Number

Information requests/inquiries about

astronomy/science (phone calls, e-mails,

and walk-ins/requests for posters,

bookmarks, brochures, etc.

180

Requests and inquiries for use of NOAO

images 210

TOTAL 390

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

31

many of their parents. Approximately 200 people participated in the NOAO-supported event, which

originated as part of the Arizona Galileoscope program, a program partially supported by Science

Foundation Arizona.

This quarter brought the Marana Unified School District into the Arizona Galileoscope program.

On Saturday, November 1, a professional development workshop was held at Marana Middle

School for the eighth-grade science teachers. The teachers learned about telescope optics, how to as-

semble the Galileoscope, and how to use software programs such as Stellarium to help find objects

in the sky. The teachers received the NOAO-developed Teaching with Telescopes kits and the

school district purchased Galileoscopes and tripods. The first Marana Star Party took place on Tues-

day, December 9, with about 150 people attending.

Colors of Nature: The NSF-funded informal science education Colors of Nature project (Pro-

ject STEAM: Integrating Art with Science to Build Science Identities among Girls) continued its

development work on a kit that will be distributed to Girl Scout leaders and teachers. Research using

the video from last summer’s academies in Tucson and Fairbanks continued with a talk accepted for

the spring National Association for Research in Science Education meeting. The project sponsored a

trip to Kitt Peak National Observatory for the students and parents from the 2014 Tucson Summer

Academy, with 45 students and parents attending. The event included a tour of the Mayall 4-m tele-

scope, dinner on the mountain, and a star party. The latest Colors of Nature Science Café took place

on Thursday, December 11, at Cafe Passé. The speakers were artist Heather Green and University of

Arizona marine biologist Dr. Katrina Mangin, who spoke on their collaboration “The Art and Sci-

ence of Observing the Samurai Hydroid.” About 15 people attended the event.

Tohono O’odham Outreach: NOAO staff set up a solar telescope at Sells Elementary School

on Thursday, October 23, for students in the after-school program to observe the partial solar

eclipse. Approximately 80 students and staff observed the eclipse. NOAO staff also built kaleido-

scopes with students at Sells Elementary on November 26 as part of the Indian Day celebration.

EPO staff co-taught an elementary astronomy course at Tohono O’odham Community College. The

class of 14 had a culminating visit to Kitt Peak where they used the 0.9-m telescope to take images

and visited other telescopes.

EPO staff hosted the new Superintendent of Baboquivari School District Edna Morris, (on the

Tohono O’odham Nation) at Kitt Peak, and discussed areas of collaboration. NOAO staff met with

the American Indian Science and Engineering Students (AISES) chapter at Tohono O’odham Com-

munity College this quarter and are planning a star party with the college in February.

KPNO REU: The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site Program at Kitt Peak

National Observatory is funded by the NSF award AST-126289 (PI: Mighell, Co-PI: Silva). During

this reporting period, preparations were made for five of the six 2014 KPNO REU students (Saman-

tha Brunker, Jamison Burke, Belinda Cheeseboro, Kyle Lackey, and Anna Payne) to attend the AAS

meeting to be held 4–8 January 2015 in Seattle, Washington. Each of the five students will be a pre-

senting author of a poster at that meeting.

Activities for the upcoming 2015 KPNO REU program are well underway by the end of Q1. In

December 2014, approximately 900 posters for the 2015 KPNO REU program were mailed to US

college and university Science Department chairs and undergraduate advisors (principally in phys-

ics, astronomy, math, computer science, and engineering programs), as well as to campus job

placement and career counseling offices. The online 2015 KPNO REU application website and the

2015 version of the KPNO REU website (http://www.noao.edu/kpno/reu/) went live on 1 December

2014.

NOAO South Education & Outreach: In October, the NOAO South EPO team collaborated

with Explora-CONICYT to organize the local “Week of Science,” which includes events such as

visits by outstanding students to CTIO labs and telescopes, participation in public fairs in La Serena

and Coquimbo, and conducting planetarium sessions and astronomy workshops. During that month,

http://www.noao.edu/kpno/reu/


32

there were other follow-up activities related to the preschool student project of University Santo

Tomás and the “Sustainable Neighborhood” project with the Environmental Ministry.

In November 2014, the team participated in the creation of the Annual AURA Award for as-

tronomy education named after Padre Picetti, with the first award presented to Father Juan Bautista

Picetti in recognition of his more than 50 years of science education (see Figure 9). The award was

created by AURA in Chile to recognize the contributions of individuals or institutions to formal and

informal science education in Chile. AURA Head of Mission in Chile Chris Smith represented

AURA at the award presentation held at CTIO in La Serena.

The NOAO South EPO team traveled to Santiago in

November to participate in the International Fair of Tour-

ism. NOAO was invited by SERNATUR, the local gov-

ernment tourism authority.

In December 2014, the team participated in the third

version of the teacher’s seminar “Habla Educador,” orga-

nized by the Environmental and Education Ministries

with the support of CTIO and its partner CEAZA (the

Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones). In summary,

a total of 41 different educational events were performed

by the EPO South staff during the first quarter of FY15.

Media Releases

The AAS requested that NOAO participate in a press con-

ference at the January AAS meeting to talk about research

work done on the Blanco 4-m telescope at CTIO.

During this reporting period, NOAO had one press release:

Release No. NOAO 14-08, 18 December 2014: NOAO: “Compact Galaxy Groups Reveal

Details of Their Close Encounters,” http://www.noao.edu/news/2014/pr1408.php

Additional items were featured on the NOAO homepage, including the TMT dedication and the

2015 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for dark matter, for which a significant amount of

the science was done at the Blanco telescope at CTIO.

CTIO Visitor Center & Tours Summary of Participants


Group/Program # of Participants

CADIAS Center 602

CADIAS Outreach 2,392

Tololo Guided Tours 465

School Groups K-12 507

Special Tours 148

TOTAL 4,114

Figure 9: (Left panel: left to right) Stephen Pompea (head of EPO), Malcolm Smith (former head of AURA-O), Father Juan Bautista Picetti, Kadur Flores-Murillo (CTIO Visitors Center), and R. Chris Smith (head of AURA-O) after the awarding of the first AURA Picetti Education Prize to Padre Juan Picetti. (Right panel) Malcolm Smith (right) congratulates Padre Juan Picetti (left) for his dedication to astronomy education in Chile. (Images credit: D. Munizaga/NOAO/AURA/NSF.)

http://www.noao.edu/news/2014/pr1408.php

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

33


Support the strategic plan for NOAO South outreach and the Centro de Apoyo a la Didáctica de

la Astronomía (CADIAS) astronomy teaching center in Chile. This includes programs involving

dark skies education and teaching with Galileoscopes.

Status: Dark skies education programs were active this quarter, however a Galileoscope work-

shop in Combarbala had to be postponed because of a teacher strike. Work continued to create

more available space at CADIAS for programs.

Execute a wide-ranging, dark skies awareness program for Chile and Arizona, including the na-

tional/international citizen science program, Globe at Night, started and run by NOAO.

Status: A new infographics web page for Globe at Night was launched. The campaign was ex-

tended from 5 months to 12 months. New constellations were added to accommodate the expan-

sion, and the appropriate accompanying documents (i.e., activity guides, magnitude charts,

finder charts, and report pages) were created. Globe at Night was made an IYL2015 citizen sci-

ence campaign.

Work with the Tohono O’odham Nation to support an astronomy program at the Tohono

O’odham Community College and to support a science fair program in the Tohono O’odham

high schools.

Status: The introductory astronomy class was taught at the Tohono O’odham Community Col-

lege during this reporting period. EPO staff continued to work with the American Indian Sci-

ence and Engineering Society (AISES) group at the community college.

Support the Teaching with Telescopes program in Arizona and Chile with teacher professional

development on telescope and optics concepts, making use of Galileoscopes. Support to the ex-

tent possible the current Galileoscope star party programs in Arizona cities. Maintain the nation-

al Teaching with Telescopes teacher support website.

Status: The Teaching with Telescopes workshop in Chile was postponed because of a teacher

strike. The website was updated with a new observer’s guide for 2015.

Conduct professional development workshops and programs for formal and informal science

educators in coordination with professional organizations such as the National Science Teachers

Association (NSTA), the American Astronomical Society (AAS), the Astronomical Society of

the Pacific (ASP), and the American Geophysical Union.

Status: NOAO EPO was at the AGU meeting where EPO staff organized several sessions on

science education (see earlier discussion). EPO staff began preparing in Q1 for a dark skies

and Galileoscope workshop for the AAS in January.

Support the training of guides and provide support for astronomy programs for the public at the

major municipal and touristic observatories in northern Chile.

Status: The formal training program is on hold while it is being reorganized. Support for the

guides continued in response to the needs of each touristic observatory.

Support dark skies education programs in northern Chile with education partners such as the El

Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA).

Status: Work continued with CEAZA on dark skies education programs for sustainable tourism.


34

Maintain an active southern Arizona Project ASTRO teacher/scientist partnership program with

professional development activities held at least twice a year.

Status: The Project ASTRO fall workshop was held in September. Support for ASTRO teachers

and their classes continued.

Design and deliver (with grant partners) a successful two-week Colors of Nature summer acad-

emy for middle-school girls during the summer of 2015 in Tucson, Arizona and Fairbanks,

Alaska.

Status: Preparation for the 2015 summer academies in Tucson and Fairbanks occurred during

this reporting period.

2.3 NOAO DIRECTOR’S OFFICE

Program Highlights

During FY15, a core activity for the NOAO Director’s Office (NDO) is executing the NSF-

approved NOAO-2016 transformation plan. The key accomplishment in this area during Q1 was fi-

nalizing the projected NOAO FY16 staffing plan. Based on that finalized staffing plan, all NOAO

employees were informed at the end of November whether or not their employment with NOAO

would continue beyond 1 October 2016.

Another core FY15 NDO activity is working with AURA Corporate and NSF Astronomical Sci-

ences (AST) on the development and implementation of a new cooperative agreement (CA) between

AURA and NSF for the management of NOAO in the period of FY16–FY25. In mid-November, the

director and deputy director traveled to NSF headquarters to present responses to several findings

and recommendations of the CA proposal review panel, as well as to participate in CA implementa-

tion planning.

As required by cooperative support agreement (CSA) AST-0950945 under the current CA, NDO

produced and delivered to NSF two major reports during Q1: the NOAO Annual Program Plan for

FY15, supplemented this year by a status report on implementation of the NOAO-2016 Transfor-

mation Plan, and the NOAO Fiscal Year Annual Report for FY14. NDO also submitted to NSF dur-

ing this reporting period the FY14 Q4 Financial Report and updates to the Master Site Plan. Work

was begun on the annual project report for the NOAO Science Research Support CSA AST-

1019067.

The deputy director continued to be the overall manager of the NOAO Dark Energy Spectro-

scopic Instrument (DESI) program. Key accomplishments during this quarter include working with

NOAO technical staff to update planning for DESI/Mayall activity in the 2016–2018 timeframe fol-

lowing the successful Department of Energy (DOE) Critical Decision 1 (CD-1) review in Septem-

ber. A CD-1 is expected from DOE in Q2 of FY15. The deputy director negotiated a memorandum

of understanding between NOAO and LBNL for NOAO participation in the DESI science collabora-

tion. The principal contributions to the collaboration are preparatory work for the Mayall in 2014

and 2015 and a 5000-square-degree z-band survey to obtain DESI targets at the Mayall in 2016–

2017. The director and deputy director continued to work with both AST and DOE to complete an

agency level letter of agreement for the preparation, installation, and commissioning phase (2016-

2018). This phase is also known as the “bridge” period.

Working closely with the associate director for KPNO, the NOAO director participated in pro-

gram and budget planning for WIYN Observatory, particularly in regard to the new NASA-NSF

Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE) program.

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

35

Working closely with the NOAO North EPO group, the deputy director developed the NOAO

thematic presence for the January 2015 AAS meeting and provided general oversight for the imple-

mentation and deployment of that presence. The deputy director also organized an EPO planning re-

treat that will include both the North and South groups and be held in Tucson during Q2.

The director participated in meetings of the WIYN Board of Directors, Gemini Board of Direc-

tors, TMT International Observatory Board of Governors, and AURA Management Council for

LSST. The TMT meeting was held in conjunction with the TMT groundbreaking festivities in

Hawai’i. The deputy director participated in a meeting of the LSST Corporation Board of Directors.

The deputy director attended regular meetings (remotely) of the DESI Executive Council, the

DESI Institutional Board, and the GMT Science Advisory Committee (including a face-to-face

meeting in Pasadena in November).

By invitation, the director attended a meeting of the National Research Council (NRC) Board of

Physics and Astronomy (BPA) committee, which is charged by NSF to recommend a strategy to op-

timize the US Optical and Infrared System in the era of LSST. The director’s presentation discussed

the current and possible future roles of NOAO within that System.

Accomplishments this quarter related to workforce development included: (1) two management

training sessions with the entire NOAO senior management team, (2) participation in a meeting of

the AURA Workforce and Development Committee, (3) the launch of the annual Performance As-

sessment process (in collaboration with the AURA Human Resources group), and (4) development

and release of a job description and vacancy notice for the Associate Director of the NOAO System

Science and Data Center.


Observatory Management

Develop an annual program plan for FY16, to be delivered during the first quarter of FY16.

Status: The annual program plan for FY16 will be completed during the second half of FY15.

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: The NOAO Fiscal Year Annual Report for FY14 was delivered in this reporting period.

The report containing updates to the Master Site Plan was submitted in Q1.

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

ties.

Status: In coordination with AURA Corporate Office, the NOAO director and deputy director

participated in several discussions about the new NSF/AURA cooperative agreement for the

management of NOAO in FY16–FY25. These discussions included a face-to-face meeting in No-

vember at NSF headquarters.

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: There were no planning or reporting meetings scheduled for this quarter.

Inform all current employees by the end of Q1 of FY15 of their planned FY16 employment sta-

tus, with specific attention to employees who will separate from NOAO by the end of FY15 due

to NOAO restructuring.


36

Status: Completed. All employees were notified during last week of November 2014.

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

FY15.

Status: (This milestone should be say “by the end of Q2….” There was a typographical error in

the Annual Program Plan for FY 2015. The milestone text will be corrected in future reports.)

The current plan is to shift this meeting to Q3 or early Q4 due to the large number of other

AURA/NSF meetings taking place in the March–May timeframe.

Organize and complete the annual NOAO Users Committee meeting by the end of Q3 of FY15.

Status: The meeting is planned for May 2015.

Complete the transformation of NOAO to its FY16 structure and program by the end of FY15.

Status: In progress. The most significant activity this quarter was the finalization of the FY16

employee (staffing) plan.

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 (DA) attended the IINSPIRE Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority

Participation (LSAMP) annual conference on behalf of AURA. IINSPIRE is the Iowa, Illinois,

Nebraska STEM Partnership for Innovation in Research. During the spring 2015 semester, the

DA will be a Faculty Fellow in the Howard University ADVANCE Institutional Transformation

(ADVANCE-IT) project. The project’s mission statement is to “[s]trengthen and improve gender

diversity in the nation’s STEM workforce by developing an innovative, strategic model for insti-

tutional transformation to attract, increase, support, and retain an equitable proportion of fe-

male faculty and academic leaders in the STEM disciplines, through education, advocacy, and

empowerment.”

Continue the diversity advocate’s work with the AURA HR group, as appropriate, to insure that

procedures and practices in hiring, promotion, tenure, workplace climate, etc. are aligned with

diversity best practices.

Status: The diversity advocate met with the AURA HR head to discuss procedural changes to

make diversity training a more standard part of hiring and promotion processes. She also met

with the NSO HR specialist to discuss training for upcoming hiring searches.

Continue as needed the diversity advocate’s work to address, advocate for, and inform NOAO

staff and management of concerns related to diversity.

Status: The DA continued regular meetings with the NOAO director, bringing any staff con-

cerns to his attention.

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 Broadening Participation at the National Science Foundation: A Framework for Action, Au-

gust 2008).

NOAO-WIDE PROGRAMS

37

Status: The DA spoke about AURA’s role in building participation in the “Astronomy Enter-

prise” to students at the LSAMP IINSPIRE annual conference. The talk was designed to en-

courage more applications from students seeking summer internships at AURA Centers.

2.4 RISK MANAGEMENT

Program Highlights

Under the leadership of the AURA president, the NOAO director worked on the NOAO sections of

the new AURA Enterprise Risk Management plan. The plan considers risks in four areas: strategic,

operational, financial, and compliance. Each area has 8–10 specific risks that are defined and char-

acterized by probability and severity. The plan also includes a description of the mitigation process

for each of those risks.

No new programmatic risks arose during this reporting period. The environmental, safety and

health (ES&H) risk mitigation activities are described in the NOAO safety report for Q1 found in

section 6 of this document.


Revise as necessary internal NOAO practices to comply with AURA-level revisions resulting

from AURA’s FY15 review and revision of its overall risk management strategy.

Status: In progress. The first step was completion of a draft of the AURA Enterprise Risk Man-

agement plan and review of risk mitigation activities already in place. As necessary, those miti-

gation activities will be revised and/or extended during the course of FY15.

Complete quarterly environmental, safety and health (ES&H) meetings.

Status: The NOAO Safety Council (which includes the director, deputy director, associate direc-

tors for KPNO and NOAO South, and safety officers for KPNO and NOAO South) completed the

Q1 meeting and scheduled the Q2 meeting.

Complete annual safety reviews, using teams of external environmental, safety and health

(ES&H) experts, at the Blanco, Mayall, SOAR, and WIYN facilities. Each review shall involve

on-site walk-throughs as well as evaluation of documentation.

Status: Activities are planned for the second half of FY15.

Review and update as necessary the NOAO Safety website (ast.noao.edu/safety) before mid

year.

Status: In progress. Areas for improvement were identified, but no actions have been imple-

mented yet. This will be reviewed during the next (Q2) Safety Council meeting.

Review and update as necessary the NOAO Emergency Contingency Plans for Arizona and

Chile before mid year.

Status: Revisions are in progress.

http://ast.noao.edu/safety


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3 OBSERVING PROPOSAL STATISTICS FOR 2015A

Observing proposal (request) statistics for telescope time awarded through the NOAO telescope time

allocation process (TAC) are published on the NOAO Web site. The proposal statistics for 2015A

can be found as follows:

Request Statistics by Telescope: http://www.noao.edu/gateway/tac/obsreqs15a_s.html

The statistics provided are broken down first by observatory and then by telescope and include

the number of requests (proposals), nights requested, nights allocated, nights scheduled for new

programs (standard and survey), and subscription rates for new programs (standard and survey).

Request Statistics by Instrument: http://www.noao.edu/gateway/tac/inst15a_s.html

The statistics provided are for the 328 new proposals (standard, there were no new survey pro-

posals) submitted to the 2015A 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.

http://www.noao.edu/gateway/tac/obsreqs15a_s.html

http://www.noao.edu/gateway/tac/inst15a_s.html

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4 USAGE OF ARCHIVED DATA

The first two tables below illustrate access to and usage of reduced data in the NOAO Science Ar-

chive (R2) from NOAO Survey programs. The table on the left shows the data download volume in

gigabytes, the number of files retrieved and the number of unique visitors (for that month) who

downloaded archive data through the ftp site. The table on the right shows the Web activity logged

from the NOAO Science Archive Web site. It includes users (visitors) collecting additional infor-

mation before or after downloading data, as well as visualization of the data online.

Archive Data Retrieval Activity (ftp) NOAO Science Archive Web Site Activity

Date Retrieved

(GB) Files

Retrieved Unique Visitors

Date Bandwidth

(GB) Pages Viewed

Unique Visitors

Oct 2014 1.09 23 8 Oct 2014 49.61 7118 888

Nov 2014 9.42 874 12 Nov 2014 30.27 7479 878

Dec 2014 1 33 7 Dec 2014 20.82 5327 690

Total: 11.51 930 27 Total: 100.70 19,924 2,456

The NOAO Portal provides principal investigators (PIs) access to their raw data from all instru-

ments and to pipeline-reduced products from the Mosaic instruments at the CTIO and KPNO 4-

meter telescopes and the NEWFIRM instrument. The metadata are stored in a searchable Archive,

which allows discovery and retrieval from the NOAO Portal (portal-nvo.noao.edu). After the requi-

site proprietary period (usually 18 months), the data become accessible to the general public.

Portal Data Retrieval Activity (ftp) NVO Portal Data Retrieval Activity

Date Bandwidth

(GB) Files

Retrieved Unique Visitors

Date Bandwidth

(MB) Pages Viewed

Unique Visitors

Oct 2014 2,276.83 24,869 90 Oct 2014 7.66 147,2164 675

Nov 2014 1,988.38 47,576 90 Nov 2014 6.69 171,828 550

Dec 2014 6,123.33 28,899 55 Dec 2014 1.95 68,548 514

Total: 10,388.54 101,344 235 Total: 16.30 1,712,540 1,739

http://portal-nvo.noao.edu/


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5 GRANTS

The following table lists the grants received by NOAO staff from non-NSF agencies during the first

quarter of FY 2015.

Principle Investigator

Awarding Agency Title Budget Amount

Period of Performance

Jeyhan

Kartaltepe

STScI Probing the Most Luminous Galaxies in the

Universe at the Peak of Galaxy Assembly

$165,333 11/1/2014 –

10/31/2017

Abhijit Saha STScI Establishing a Network of Next Generation SED

Standards with DA White Dwarfs

$202,526 12/1/2014 –

11/30/2017

Constance

Walker

International Astro-

nomical Union

Cosmic Light Awareness – Quality Lighting

Teaching Kits

€9,000 12/1/2014 –

12/31/2015

Abbreviations used:

SED spectral energy distribution

STScI Space Telescope Science Institute

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6 NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q1

6.1 NORTH

There were no OSHA-reportable injuries or accidents at NOAO North during this reporting period.

Training activities for NOAO North staff during the first quarter (Q1) of FY15 included the fol-

lowing:

Training of the Kitt Peak maintenance staff on the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of

classification and labeling of chemicals, to meet the Hazard Communication – Right to

Understand requirements.

Fire prevention training for Kitt Peak staff (October).

The safety manager completed the hazardous materials training program of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act and Department of Transportation.

The safety manger became certified as a Class A/B UST (Underground Storage Tank) Op-

erator. As a result, she will be able to train B/C operators for both Kitt Peak and Tucson on

the underground storage tanks.

Fire prevention training was the October safety topic sent out to all Tucson staff.

The No Smoking Policy was reissued to both Tucson and Kitt Peak staff.

The safety manager met with the Kitt Peak docents and provided safety information perti-

nent to the Kitt Peak and Tucson sites.

The safety manager worked on the following documentation during Q1:

Writing was begun on the Standard Operating Procedure for Kitt Peak operations.

Upgrades to the Kitt Peak Emergency manual were continued.

Revised evacuation plans with updated phone numbers were installed in the Tucson offices.

A Safety Manual to be used for Tucson and Kitt Peak was begun.

Other activities during Q1 included the following:

Safety walkthroughs of various locations on the mountain.

Safety walkthroughs with CFO on renovations occurring at the Tucson site.

Upgrades to fire panels for both Kitt Peak and Tucson buildings are ongoing.

Quarterly safety meetings with NOAO North and South were begun.

Hazardous waste removal of chemicals no longer needed at the Tucson site occurred (De-

cember).

6.2 SOUTH

Three minor accidents involving NOAO South staff occurred during the first quarter (Q1) of FY15.

All were properly investigated and appropriate corrective actions were taken.


42

October 6: While removing a book from a high shelf, the librarian accidentally dropped it,

and the book fell on a laptop screen causing damage to the screen.

October 27: The plumber burned his finger when he placed his hand on the hot surface of a

freezer’s heat exchanger coil. He received first aid in the Cerro Tololo clinic.

October 30: The plumber was in a vehicle accident while driving down the access road to

Quebrada San Carlos; the vehicle collided with the roadside embankment, causing minor

damage to the vehicle.

The final inspection report and recommendations of the US Asbestos consultant was received in

November. The main findings follow:

The primary concern is the Blanco 4-m telescope building where fireproofing containing as-

bestos was applied to structural steel on most levels of the building. This fireproofing has

sustained small areas of localized damage throughout, mostly due to physical contact, but to

a lesser extent due to normal delamination. The recommended action is to safely manage the

fireproofing in place. This will require initial repair of existing damage and cleanup of exist-

ing debris/contamination. Actions must be taken to prevent future damage and address any

accidental releases of asbestos that may occur in the future. An operations and maintenance

plan containing practices and procedures for safely working around asbestos should be de-

veloped. Educating employees about asbestos also is recommended. The report includes a

detailed statement of work for these activities.

Floor tiles in many areas on the mountain and in the La Serena offices where found to con-

tain asbestos or to be fixed with cement containing asbestos. The floor tile and adhesives are

nonfriable and in good condition. The recommended action is to manage this material in

place. Ensure that workers do not sand, grind, or otherwise mechanically abrade the floor

tile or adhesives. The floor tile and adhesives should only be removed when regularly

scheduled replacement of the flooring materials is undertaken or if the materials suffer ex-

tensive damage.

Fiber cement panels containing asbestos were also found in some locations in the La Serena

offices. These panels are nonfriable and in good condition. The recommended action is to

manage this material in place. Ensure that workers do not sand, grind, cut through, or drill

through the panels. The panels should only be removed when the area is renovated in a

manner that would disturb the panels or if the panels suffer extensive damage.

The associate director for NOAO South and the safety and environmental engineer are the leads,

with the help of NS Facilities staff, on a detailed planning process to implement the asbestos con-

sultant’s recommendations. Estimates are being obtained from US and Chilean specialist contractors

for carrying out the removal, clean-up, and protection work. A small team of NOAO South staff are

being trained to carry out small-scale removal and clean-up work. The necessary equipment and per-

sonal protective equipment (PPE) was purchased, and the permits required by the local health au-

thorities to carry out the work have been requested. All staff will receive orientation on the risks of

asbestos, locations where asbestos has been found, and precautions to be taken.

During this reporting period, the safety and environmental engineer developed a series of pre-

ventive and coordination activities, which are summarized below:

She prepared and submitted all the documents required by the local Health Ministry

(SEREMI de Salud) to apply for permits to clean and remove the asbestos from the Blanco

telescope on Cerro Tololo, and she coordinated the occupational health monitoring by

NOAO SAFETY REPORT FOR Q1

43

Asociación Chilena de Seguridad (ACHS) of all staff that will participate in this work. Ap-

proval from the Ministry is pending.

She worked with the NS ETS draftsman on the design of modifications to the “2 units”

building on Cerro Pachón, which is to be converted to a First Aid Station, and she partici-

pated in the inspection of this building by the health authorities.

She worked with safety equipment supplier MSA to develop detailed plans for the installa-

tion of fall-protection lifelines in internal and external areas of the Blanco 4-m telescope.

She provided technical support for the election of the La Serena, Cerro Pachón, and Cerro

Tololo Comités Paritario de Higiene y Seguridad (Chilean workers safety committees).

She performed the following training sessions for staff:

Risks of exposure to asbestos and use of respiratory protection. Warning of restricted

areas in the Blanco telescope (November and December).

Ergonomics in the workplace (December).

She coordinated training by external organizations on:

Fall protection, use of harness and lifelines, conducted by MSA (November).

Risk of exposure to ultraviolet rays, conducted by Sunwork (November).

Defensive driving in high mountain areas, conducted by ACHS (December)

Using gas detectors, conducted by MSA (December)

She continued monthly meetings with representatives of the service provider for the moun-

tain emergency medical service, Empresa de Servicios Externos de la Asociación Chilena

de Seguridad (ESACHS).

She held regular inspections of work areas; purchased and revised personal protective

equipment; supervised the safety of larger maintenance tasks, engineering shut-downs at the

telescopes by observatory staff, and work carried out by external contractors; and participat-

ed in regular meetings of the Comité Paritario de Higiene y Seguridad (Chilean workers

safety committee).

QUARTERLY SCIENTIFIC REPORT (1) FY 2015

Documents

Transcript of QUARTERLY SCIENTIFIC REPORT (1) FY 2015