VLBA Operations and Reintegration into NRAO

联合大学公司(AUI)将通过国家射电天文台(NRAO)管理2018年10月1日至2026年9月30日的甚长基线阵列(VLBA)。研究界将获得微弧秒天体测量的尖端能力，这是任何波长下最高分辨率的成像望远镜。VLBA将使用最先进的仪器、先进的数据处理和广泛的用户支持，使整个天文学社区能够解决天文学和天体物理学中的关键问题。智力优势：天文学和天体物理学研究的机会从未像现在这样丰富。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各种悬而未决的问题。VLBA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。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团的动力学成为可能。多纪元的高分辨率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。观测将提供哈勃流动中星系的角直径距离确定，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，供广大研究人员和公众查阅。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。绿色银行科学中心、VLA访客中心、美国-智利教师/学生交流计划以及教师和K-12教育计划，进一步创建了一个有科学素养的公众。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.