Revitalizing Mount Wilson Observatory

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金的。该合同将允许对威尔逊山天文台(MWO)的几个研究设施进行翻新。这个天文台于1904年在南加州的圣加布里埃尔山脉建立，尽管洛杉矶盆地的夜空照亮了它，但它仍然是一个活跃的研究地点。最初的60英尺和150英尺高的太阳塔开创了太阳物理学领域，南加州大学和加州大学洛杉矶分校的团队使用这些塔来研究太阳的表面活动和磁场，并利用日震学技术探测太阳内部。加州大学伯克利分校运营着红外空间干涉仪，这是一种中红外3望远镜设备，具有研究超巨星和巨星及其尘埃环境的独特能力。威尔逊山是佐治亚州立大学高角度分辨率天文中心的所在地，该中心的查拉阵列是世界上分辨率最高的光学干涉仪。自1987年以来，根据与最初天文台设施的所有者华盛顿卡内基研究所达成的一项协议，天文台由威尔逊山研究所管理，威尔逊山研究所是一家非营利性组织，成立于加利福尼亚州，在亚特兰大设有办事处。MWI试图翻新某些设施，这些设施可以追溯到天文台成立之初，几十年来一直没有得到重大关注。这些任务包括喷漆和修复太阳能塔和由于缺乏这种维护而面临严重故障危险的原有夜间望远镜，修复用于供应饮用水和灭火水的水箱和输送系统，以及减少助长森林火灾的植被。其中许多任务涉及到人类安全，所有这些都是威尔逊山天文台作为科学研究地点继续运行的基础。威尔逊山正在进行的研究工作都涉及对下一代天文学家的培训和进一步提高公众对天文研究的认识。本科生直接参与四个主要项目，以及一个特别的为期两周的暑期项目。MWI更新了山上的天文博物馆，以更清楚地描述MWO的历史贡献，并更好地向公众介绍其当代科学计划。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award will permit the renovation of several research facilities at the Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO). This observatory was founded in 1904 in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, remains an active research site in spite of the night sky illumination from the Los Angeles basin. The original 60- and 150-ft solar towers, which established the field of solar physics, are used by teams from the University of Southern California and UCLA to study the sun's surface activity and magnetic field as well as probing its interior using the techniques of helioseismology. UC Berkeley operates the Infrared Spatial Interferometer, a mid-infrared 3-telescope facility with a unique capability for studying supergiant and giant stars and their dusty environments. Mount Wilson is home to Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy whose CHARA Array is the world's highest resolution optical interferometer.The Observatory has been managed since 1987 under an agreement with the Carnegie Institution of Washington, owner of the original Observatory facilities, by the Mount Wilson Institute (MWI), a non-profit organization incorporated in California with offices in Atlanta. MWI seeks to renovate certain facilities that date from the Observatory's beginnings that have received no major attention in decades. These tasks include painting and repairs of solar towers and the original night-time telescopes presently in danger of serious malfunction due to lack of such maintenance, repair of tanks and delivery systems used for supplying potable and fire-fighting water, and reduction of vegetation that fuels forest fires. Many of these tasks involve human safety and all are fundamental to the continued operation of Mount Wilson Observatory as a scientific research site. Ongoing research efforts from Mount Wilson all involve the training of the next generation of astronomers and further public awareness of astronomical research. Undergraduate students are associated directly with four principal projects as well as with a special two-week summer program. MWI has updated the Astronomical Museum on the mountain to more clearly depict the historical contribution from MWO as well as better inform the public of its contemporary science programs.