Support for the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) WIYN 3.5-meter Telescope Facility

我们银河系中的许多恒星都有一个或多个行星。有了这个奖项，位于图森附近基特峰国家天文台的WIYN望远镜将继续主要用于测量这些“系外行星”的速度和质量。需要质量来确定系外行星主要是气体，冰还是岩石。该计划的研究将加强识别和描述附近宇宙中类地系外行星的基础。在WIYN使用的主要仪器，称为NEID，超过了它的技术要求，并定期测量行星速度超过每秒一米。该提案将资助NSF未来45个月对WIYN运营的贡献，以支持NASA-NSF系外行星观测研究（NN-EXPLORE）计划。NN-EXPLORE汇集了联邦机构、联邦研究中心和美国大学，目标是推进系外行星的研究。该奖项通过同行评审和开放数据促进了基于查询的研究的开放获取，这将使科学家和公民无论是谁或在哪里工作都可以参与WIYN研究企业。许多参与者是早期的职业科学家和本科生。根据该奖项，NSF的国家光学红外天文学研究实验室（NOIRLab）将在2024年至2027年期间继续运营WIYN望远镜，作为NSF对NN-EXPLORE计划的贡献。 NN-EXPLORE使科学研究与系外行星及其宿主恒星的特征有关。NEID是美国唯一一个开放获取的极高精度径向速度仪器，具有技术能力和所需的多年和高节奏（大约每隔一个晚上）在天空中的时间，以满足确定附近的可居住行星的目标，跟进开普勒和TESS等NASA任务的发现，为詹姆斯韦伯和罗马太空望远镜挑选关键目标，并为NASA未来的可居住世界天文台开辟道路。该奖项为WIYN的基本运营和维护提供支持，以及NEID持续运营所需的小型技术升级。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Many stars in our galaxy host one or more planets. With this award, the WIYN telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson will continue to be used primarily to measure the velocities and masses of these “exoplanets”. Masses are needed to determine if an exoplanet is primarily gaseous, icy, or rocky. Research enabled by this program will strengthen the foundations for identifying and characterizing Earth-like exoplanets in the nearby cosmos. The primary instrument being used at WIYN, known as NEID, exceeds its technical requirements and routinely measures planet velocities to better than a meter per second. This proposal will fund the next 45 months of NSF’s contribution to WIYN operations, in support of the NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE) Program. NN-EXPLORE brings together federal agencies, federal research centers, and U.S. universities, with the goal of advancing research in exoplanets. The open access for enquiry-based research via peer review and open data facilitated by this award will allow scientists and citizens to engage in the WIYN research enterprise no matter who they are or where they work. Many participants are early career scientists and undergraduate students.Under this award, NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) will continue to operate the WIYN telescope from 2024 through 2027 as NSF’s contribution to the NN-EXPLORE program. NN-EXPLORE enables scientific research related to the characterization of exoplanets and their host stars. NEID is the only open-access extreme-precision radial velocity instrument in the U.S. that has the technical capability and the required years-long and high cadence (approximately every other night) time on sky to meet the goal of identifying nearby habitable planets, following up on discoveries by NASA missions like Kepler and TESS, picking key targets for the James Webb and Roman Space Telescopes, and blazing the path forward to enable NASA’s future Habitable Worlds Observatory. This award provides support for essential operations and maintenance of WIYN, as well as minor technological upgrades needed for the continued operation of NEID.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.