Management, Operations, and Associated Projects for the National Solar Observatory

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Under terms of this Cooperative Agreement, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. will manage and operate the National Solar Observatory (NSO) and associated projects on behalf of the National Science Foundation and the national communities of solar physicists and space weather researchers. AURA will lead a transformation of current U.S. capabilities in solar astronomy, develop a national observatory able to offer solar physicists access to the foremost solar telescope in the world and to a robust solar synoptic program. NSO will provide forefront facilities and scientific instruments for researchers at Kitt Peak National Observatory and Sacramento Peak Observatory based on the principle of scientific merit, as well as the expert in-house support and data analysis tools that users have come to expect. At these observatories, NSO provides a range of assets that allow solar physicists to probe all aspects of the Sun, from the deep interior to its interface in the corona with the interplanetary medium. NSO provides scientific and instrumentation leadership in helioseismology, synoptic observations of solar variability, and high-resolution studies of the solar atmosphere in the visible and infrared by means of the above observatories and the six stations of the Global Oscillations Network Group. These same assets provide data to space weather researchers in their efforts to understand solar eruptions and their effect upon Earth and its climate and to apply that knowledge to the protection of satellites, astronauts, land-based power systems, and Earth?s climate. Contingent on an NSF decision to fund it, the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will move from the drawing boards to the mountaintop during the duration of this Cooperative Agreement. At the highest level NSO will enable a research portfolio that will provide quantifiable tests of solar magneto-convection, the origins of solar activity, and the flow of energy from the solar interior through the solar atmosphere and into interplanetary space. NSO synoptic programs will provide data on the long-term variability of the Sun and its consequences for humanity. Broader impacts of this program include providing access to research facilities to the entire solar community on the basis of intellectual merit, archiving and distribution of data to enable future investigations by anyone with access to the Internet, and services and support provided to students and educators. NSO leads a broad program in education for public visitors to its facilities, undergraduates interested in solar physics, graduate students conducting dissertation research on the Sun, and postdoctoral researchers needing access to its facilities. Under terms of this Cooperative Agreement, NSO will vigorously promote the advancement of under-represented minorities and persons with disabilities in solar physics and space weather research.