Management and Operation of the Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and Long Baseline Observatory (LBO), amending AST-0836064 formerly entitled "Management and Operation of NRAO..."

SchreierAssociated University，Inc.(AUI)将于2009年10月1日至2015年9月30日管理国家射电天文台(NRAO)的运营，保持NRAO作为世界首屈一指的射电天文天文台的良好声誉。研究界将获得最尖端的能力：绿岸望远镜(GBT)，这是最精确的全口径、完全可操纵的射电望远镜；扩展的甚大阵列(EVLA)，取代了已经建造的最有生产力的甚大阵列；甚长基线阵列(VLBA)，具有微弧秒天文测量，这是任何波长最高分辨率的成像望远镜；以及阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列(ALMA)，具有前所未有的毫米波长灵敏度和分辨率。所有这些都将在最先进的仪器、先进的数据处理和广泛的用户支持下运行，使整个天文学社区能够解决天文学和天体物理学中的关键问题。NRAO独特的射电望远镜将补充下一代大型地面光学望远镜和覆盖整个电磁频谱的天基设施。它们共同构成了一套全面的强大工具，可以探测和破译从行星、恒星、类星体和星系的起源到宇宙的结构和暗物质和暗能量的性质等一系列悬而未决的问题。VLBA、EVLA和ALMA的观测将为系外行星、行星和恒星的形成和演化提供新的线索。EVLA和ALMA将对再电离纪元末期附近的第一批星系和z~1以外的正常星系的气体和尘埃进行成像。VLBA微弧秒天体测量使精确测量前主序恒星的视差、恒星对系外行星的反冲运动、银河系结构和局部星系群的动力学成为可能。GBT的精确脉冲星计时使得在强场极限下高精度测试广义相对论和探测纳赫兹引力波的随机背景成为可能。多纪元的高分辨率VLBA图像将使人们更好地了解活动星系核中发现的微型类星体和超大质量黑洞的相对论喷流，以及GLAST卫星看到的伽马射线爆发的性质。GBT将发现新的超级激光器，后续的VLBA观测将提供哈勃流动中星系的角直径距离测定，从而更准确地确定哈勃常数，更精确地确定宇宙常数，并更好地约束暗能量的状态方程。更广泛的影响：每年有1000多名科学家使用NRAO设施，所有科学家都可以根据拟议研究的学术价值使用这些设施，而不受机构或国家的影响。NRAO将在其科学中心提供端到端用户支持，使整个天文学社区能够轻松访问其望远镜及其数据。校准后的图像将保存在档案馆中，供广大研究界和公众通过虚拟天文台查阅。天文学是实现与多样性、科技教育和提高美国竞争力相关的国家目标的重要因素。NRAO正在吸引越来越多样化的工作人员。通过本科生研究体验(REU)和合作项目、常驻研究生奖学金和外部学生助学金、绿色银行和Socorro暑期学校以及竞争性博士后Jansky奖学金，它继续帮助培养下一代科学家。绿岸科学中心、VLA访客中心、美国-智利教师/学生交流项目以及教师和K-12教育项目，进一步有助于培养具有科学素养的公众。

ABSTRACTAST 0836064PI: SchreierAssociated Universities, Inc. (AUI) will manage the operation of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2015, maintaining the strong reputation of NRAO as the premier radio astronomy observatory in the world. The research community will be provided cutting-edgecapabilities: the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the most precise filled-aperture, fully steerable radio telescope; the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), replacing the Very Large Array, already the most productive radio telescope ever built; the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), with micro-arcsecondastrometry, the highest resolution imaging telescope at any wavelength; and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), with unprecedented millimeter-wavelength sensitivity and resolution. All will operate with state-of-the art instrumentation, advanced data processing, and broad usersupport, enabling the entire astronomy community to address key problems in astronomy and astrophysics.INTELLECTUAL MERIT: The opportunities for astronomy and astrophysics research have never been richer. The unique NRAO radio telescopes will complement the next generation of large ground based optical telescopes and space-based facilities covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Together theycomprise a comprehensive suite of powerful tools to probe and decipher the full range of outstanding problems, from the origin of planets, stars, quasars and galaxies, to the structure of the Universe and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Observations with VLBA, EVLA and ALMA will shed new light onexoplanets, and planetary and stellar formation and evolution. EVLA and ALMA will image the gas and dust of the first galaxies near the end of the epoch of reionization and normal galaxies beyond z~1. VLBA microarcsecond astrometry is making possible a new class of precision measurements of the parallax of premain sequence stars, recoil motions of stars in response to exoplanets, the structure of the Galaxy and the dynamics of the Local Group of galaxies. Accurate pulsar timing with the GBT is enabling high precisiontests of General Relativity in the strong field limit and detection of the stochastic background of nanoHertz gravitational waves. Multi-epoch high resolution VLBA images will lead to a better understanding of relativistic jets from micro-quasars and supermassive black holes found in Active Galactic Nuclei, along with the nature of gamma-ray bursts seen by the GLAST satellite. GBT will discover new megamasers, and follow-up VLBA observations will provide the angular-diameter distance determination of galaxies in the Hubble flow, leading to a more accurate determination of the Hubble Constant, higher precision determination of cosmological constants, and better constraints on the equation of state of dark energy. BROADER IMPACT: NRAO facilities are used by more than one thousand scientists each year and are available to all scientists based on the intellectual merits of the proposed studies, independent of institutional or national affiliation. NRAO will provide end-to-end user support at its science centers, enabling easyaccess to its telescope and their data by the entire astronomical community. Calibrated images will be made available in archives accessible to both the broad research community and the public through the Virtual Astronomical Observatory. Astronomy is an important element in meeting national goals related to diversity, science and technology education, and increased U.S. competitiveness. NRAO is attracting an increasingly diverse staff. Through the undergraduate Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and co-op programs, resident graduate fellowships and external student grants, Green Bank and Socorro summer schools, and competitive postdoctoral Jansky Fellowships, it continues to help train the next generation of scientists. The Green Bank Science Center, the VLA Visitors Center, US-Chile teacher/student exchange programs, and teacher and K-12 education programs, further serve to create a science-literate public.