Operational Funding for Optical and Infrared Interferometers
Abstract
In the last several years, the field of optical and infrared interferometry has reached a level of technical and operational maturity that has enabled many scientific breakthroughs, ranging from the direct measurement of Cepheid pulsations and the first image of the surface of a main sequence star other than our Sun to constraining the central 0.1 pc of active galactic nuclei. These facilities are also ideal environments for hands-on observational astronomy training for students and technical staff. There are four optical/infrared interferometers currently operating in the U.S. and two under development and these facilities now face a new set of challenges in obtaining funding to continue these advances and provide access to the community. We find that the currently available funding opportunities do not allow proposals for supporting the operations of these facilities. We recommend that the State of the Profession committee address this problem and suggest some possible solutions such as creation of a new program similar to the NSF University Radio Observatories (URO) program but for optical and infrared facilities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA515132
Entities
People
- C. Haniff
- C. Townes
- D. Hutter
- David Leisawitz
- E. Wishnow
- H. Mcalister
- J. T. Armstrong
- M. Creech-eakman
- Michelle Creech-eakman
- P. Hinz
- P. Wizinowich
- R. Akeson
- S. Ragland
- S. Ridgway
- T. Ten Brummelaar
Organizations
- United States Naval Observatory