Support for the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) Mayall 4-meter Telescope Facility

基特峰国家天文台（KPNO）将在2016 - 18财年期间运营和维护位于亚利桑那州图森附近的基特峰的Mayall 4米望远镜，以实现以下四项关键活动：(a)社区科学家的一般科学研究，由社区同行评审过程优先考虑（约240晚）；(b)在近红外光下（约250个夜晚）对四分之一的夜空进行成像调查，以产生高价值的公共数据集；(c)安装暗能量光谱仪（DESI）；(d)必要的纠正性和预防性技术维护以及小规模的技术改进，这些都是Mayall成功继续运行所必需的。这项工作将在NSF和能源部（DOE）的合作协议下完成。KPNO是国家光学天文台（NOAO）的一个单位，由天文学研究大学协会（AURA）根据与国家科学基金会（NSF）的合作协议运营。智力价值：该奖项支持的研究将探索广泛的现代天文学和天体物理学问题，包括太阳系中小行星和矮行星的性质，我们自己的银河系以及遥远宇宙中星系的形成和演化，暗物质的分布及其对宇宙演化的影响。宽视场近红外巡天将为用DESI绘制更精确的宇宙三维地图奠定基础。反过来，这张地图将被用来区分引力（“拉”）和仍然神秘的暗能量（“推”）对过去100亿年宇宙演化的相互竞争的影响。校准的图像（以及近红外成像调查的对象目录）将以一种允许创造性重用的形式公开提供，从而大大增加了它们的研究价值。更广泛的影响：通过同行评议对基于探究的研究开放获取，并对所有人开放数据，将使科学家和公民能够参与NOAO/KPNO的研究事业，无论他们是谁或在哪里工作。DESI的故事，它的技术，以及一个新的宇宙3D地图，以及我们从中学到的东西，将成为基特峰游客中心的一个中心公众参与机会，每年接待超过4万名游客。DESI项目汇集了两个联邦机构、五个美国联邦研究中心、两个主要的私人慈善组织、16所美国大学以及高度专业化的工业合作伙伴。许多参与者都是职业生涯早期的科学家，有些甚至还是本科生。反过来，DESI项目将把Mayall改造成世界上最重要的光谱调查设施之一，利用超过50年的NSF对Mayall的投资，并将其科学影响深入到21世纪。

Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) will operate and maintain the Mayall 4-m telescope located on Kitt Peak near Tucson, Arizona, during the FY16 - FY18 period to enable the following four key activities: (a) general scientific research by community scientists, prioritized by a community-based peer review process (approximately 240 nights); (b) execution of an imaging survey of the one-quarter of the night sky in near-infrared light (approximately 250 nights) to produce a high-value public dataset; (c) installation of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI); and (d) essential corrective and preventive technical maintenance as well as minor technology improvements necessary for the successful continued operation of the Mayall. This work will be accomplished within a collaborative agreement between NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE). KPNO is a unit of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF).Intellectual Merit: Research supported by this award will probe a broad range of modern astronomy and astrophysics issues including the nature of asteroids and dwarf planets in the Solar System, the formation and evolution of our own Milky Way galaxy as well as galaxies in the distant universe, and the distribution of dark matter and its influence on cosmic evolution. The wide-field near-infrared survey will be the foundation for creating a more accurate three-dimensional map of the Universe with DESI. In turn, that map will be used to distinguish between the competing effects of gravitation ("pull") and the still mysterious dark energy ("push") on the evolution of the Universe over the last 10 billion years. Calibrated images (as well as object catalogs from the near-infrared imaging survey) will be publicly available in a form that will allow creative reuse, multiplying their research value considerably.Broader Impacts: Open access for enquiry-based research via peer review and open data for all will allow scientists and citizens to engage in the NOAO/KPNO research enterprise no matter who they are or where they work. The story of DESI, its technology as well as a new 3D map of the universe and what we learn from that, will be a central public engagement opportunity at the Kitt Peak Visitor Center, which receives more than 40,000 visitors per year. The DESI project brings together two federal agencies, five US federal research centers, two major private philanthropic organizations, and 16 US universities as well as highly specialized industrial partners. Many participants are early career scientists, some as early as undergraduate. In turn, the DESI project will transform the Mayall into one of the premier spectroscopic survey facilities in the world, leveraging more than 50 years of NSF investment in the Mayall and extending its scientific impact deep into the 21st century.