NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC)

NSF 的国家光学红外天文学研究实验室 (NOIRLab) 作为联邦资助的研究和开发中心 (FFRDC)

• 批准号: 2241526
• 负责人: Charles Mattias Mountain
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2027-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2241526&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; National; Optical; Infrared; Astronomy

NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NSF’s NOIRLab) is the U.S. national center for ground-based nighttime optical astronomy. NOIRLab includes the International Gemini Observatory, the Kitt Peak National Observatory, the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, operations of Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC). This award supports management, operations and maintenance of these facilities for five years, 2023-2027. The award supports preparations for the launch of Rubin Observatory and the first three years of Rubin’s ten-year Legacy Survey in Space and Time (LSST). Gemini is operated by NSF in collaboration with its international partners in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, the Republic of Korea, and Chile. Rubin is operated jointly with the Department of Energy. NOIRLab will also continue and further develop an ambitious program of communication, education, and outreach activities. NOIRLab communicates the wonders of astronomy through its facilities, technology and people. NOIRLab engages with the public locally through a range of face-to-face activities in Hawai’i, Chile and Arizona, and on a national and indeed international level through on-line publications, educational resources, and citizen-science projects. Through its telescopes, instruments and software services, NOIRLab supports over 400 graduate thesis projects and of order 550 non-thesis graduate students each year. On a yearly basis, NOIRLab facilities generate data for more than 700 scientific papers.NOIRLab's vision is to be the preeminent laboratory for research in modern ground-based optical-infrared (OIR) astronomy, supporting a diverse community of scientists spread across all 50 states through the entire research life cycle. NSF’s goal is to create in NOIRLab a national resource that will lead the world in data-intensive astronomy, drive exploration of the new frontiers in time-domain astronomy and multi-messenger astrophysics, maximize science return from Rubin Observatory, and provide a foundation for all U.S. scientists to make full use of potential future Extremely Large Telescopes in the 2030s and beyond. For the science community NOIRLab provides access to state-of-the-art instrumentation on large (8-meter mirror diameter) and medium-sized or “mid-scale” (approximately 4-meter diameter) OIR telescopes to enable research in all areas of astronomy. NOIRLab also provides a national focus for the development of research and educational partnerships with universities, other NSF-funded research disciplines, other funding agencies, and international communities. Over the next five years NOIRLab will continue to operate and develop the 4-meter Blanco and SOuthern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescopes in Chile and the twin 8-meter Gemini telescopes in Hawai’i and Chile. NOIRLab will support pre-operations of Rubin leading to commissioning in 2024 and the launch of LSST shortly thereafter. Rubin will undoubtedly revolutionize modern astronomy through its extensive survey of the southern skies but also by releasing millions of time domain alerts every night. Rubin, working in concert with the other NOIRLab telescopes and with software and archival support from CSDC, will have a significant impact on all of the priority science areas identified in the recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine decadal survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy & Astrophysics for the 2020s (Astro2020).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF 国家光学红外天文学研究实验室（NSF 的 NOIRLab）是美国国家地面夜间光学天文学中心，NOIRLab 包括国际双子座天文台、基特峰国家天文台、托洛洛山美洲天文台和 Vera C 运营机构。鲁宾天文台和社区科学与数据中心 (CSDC) 该奖项将在五年内支持这些设施的管理、运营和维护。 2023-2027 年，该奖项支持鲁宾天文台的启动准备工作以及由 NSF 与加拿大、巴西、巴西等地的国际合作伙伴合作开展的鲁宾十年遗产巡天计划 (LSST) 的前三年。阿根廷、大韩民国和智利的 NOIRLab 还将继续并进一步制定雄心勃勃的交流、教育和推广活动计划。 NOIRLab 通过其设施、技术和人员在夏威夷、智利和亚利桑那州开展一系列面对面的活动，并通过在线出版物、教育在国家乃至国际层面与公众进行交流。通过其望远镜、仪器和软件服务，NOIRLab 每年支持 400 多个研究生论文项目和 550 名非论文研究生。发表了 700 多篇科学论文。NOIRLab 的愿景是成为现代地面光学红外 (OIR) 天文学研究的卓越实验室，在整个研究生命周期中为遍布 50 个州的多元化科学家群体提供支持。在NOIRLab中创建一个国家资源，该资源将在数据密集型天文学领域引领世界，推动时域天文学和多信使新领域的探索NOIRLab 为科学界提供了使用最先进的仪器的机会，使鲁宾天文台的科学回报最大化，并为所有美国科学家在 2030 年代及以后充分利用未来潜在的超大望远镜奠定了基础。大型（镜面直径 8 米）和中型或“中型”（直径约 4 米）OIR 望远镜，可用于所有天文学领域的研究。 NOIRLab 还为与大学、其他 NSF 资助的研究学科、其他资助机构和国际社会的研究和教育伙伴关系的发展提供全国重点。在未来五年内，NOIRLab 将继续运营和开发 4 米 Blanco 和智利的南方天体物理研究 (SOAR) 望远镜以及夏威夷和智利的双 8 米双子座望远镜将支持鲁宾的预运行，直至 2024 年和 2024 年投入运行。此后不久，鲁宾的发射无疑将通过对南方天空的广泛调查以及鲁宾与其他 NOIRLab 望远镜的协同工作以及软件和档案支持，每天晚上发布数百万个时域警报来彻底改变现代天文学。 CSDC 将对最近美国国家科学院、工程院和医学院在天文学和天体物理学、天文学发现途径和领域的十年调查中确定的所有优先科学领域产生重大影响2020 年代的天体物理学 (Astro2020)。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。