VLBA Operations and Reintegration into NRAO

联合大学公司 (AUI) 通过国家射电天文台 (NRAO) 将在 2018 年 10 月 1 日至 2026 年 9 月 30 日期间管理甚长基线阵列 (VLBA)。研究界将获得微角秒天体测量的尖端能力，这是任何波长的最高分辨率成像望远镜。 VLBA 将配备最先进的仪器、先进的数据处理和广泛的用户支持，使整个天文学界能够解决天文学和天体物理学的关键问题。智力优势：天文学和天体物理学研究的机会从未如此丰富。 VLBA 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。它们共同构成了一整套强大的工具，用于探测和破译各种悬而未决的问题，从行星、恒星、类星体和星系的起源，到宇宙的结构以及暗物质和暗能量的本质。 VLBA 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。 微角秒天体测量学使得对前主序恒星的视差、恒星响应系外行星的反冲运动、银河系的结构和本星系群的动力学的精确测量成为可能。 多纪元高分辨率图像将有助于更好地了解活动星系核中发现的微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暴的性质。 观测将提供哈勃流中星系的角直径距离确定，从而更准确地确定哈勃常数，更高精度地确定宇宙学常数，并更好地约束暗能量状态方程。更广泛的影响： NRAO 设施每年被超过 1000 名科学家使用，并且根据拟议研究的智力优点向所有科学家开放，独立于机构或国家隶属关系。 NRAO 将在其科学中心提供端到端用户支持，使整个天文学界能够轻松访问其望远镜及其数据。校准后的图像将在档案中提供给广大研究界和公众。天文学是实现与多样性、科学技术教育以及提高美国竞争力相关的国家目标的重要组成部分。 NRAO 正在吸引越来越多元化的员工。通过本科生研究经验 (REU) 和合作项目、常驻研究生奖学金和外部学生资助、格林银行和索科罗暑期学校以及竞争性博士后詹斯基奖学金，它继续​​帮助培养下一代科学家。 Green Bank 科学中心、VLA 游客中心、美国-智利教师/学生交流计划以及教师和 K-12 教育计划进一步服务于培养具有科学素养的公众。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) through the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) will manage the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2026. The research community will be provided cutting-edge capabilities of micro-arcsecond astrometry, the highest resolution imaging telescope at any wavelength. The VLBA will operate with state-of-the art instrumentation, advanced data processing, and broad user support, 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 VLBA will complement the next generation of large ground based optical telescopes and space-based facilities covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Together they comprise 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 will shed new light on exoplanets, and planetary and stellar formation and evolution. Microarcsecond astrometry is making possible a new class of precision measurements of the parallax of pre-main sequence stars, recoil motions of stars in response to exoplanets, the structure of the Galaxy and the dynamics of the Local Group of galaxies. Multi-epoch high resolution 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. 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 easy access 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. 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.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.