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颗或多颗行星。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。要确定一颗系外行星主要是气态、冰态还是岩石，就需要质量。这个项目所支持的研究将加强在附近宇宙中识别和表征类地系外行星的基础。WIYN使用的主要仪器，即NEID，超出了其技术要求，并且常规测量行星速度优于每秒1米。该提案将资助未来45个月NSF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联合了联邦机构、联邦研究中心和美国大学，目标是推进系外行星的研究。该奖项通过同行评议和开放数据促进了研究性研究的开放获取，这将使科学家和公民能够参与WIYN的研究事业，无论他们是谁或在哪里工作。许多参与者是职业生涯早期的科学家和本科生。根据该合同，NSF的国家光学红外天文研究实验室（NOIRLab）将在2024年至2027年期间继续运行WIYN望远镜，作为NSF对NN-EXPLORE计划的贡献。NN-EXPLORE使与系外行星及其主恒星特征相关的科学研究成为可能。NEID是美国唯一一个开放获取的极端精密径向速度仪器，它具有技术能力和所需的长达数年的高节奏（大约每隔一天晚上）的天空时间，以满足确定附近可居住行星的目标，跟踪美国宇航局开普勒和TESS等任务的发现，为詹姆斯韦伯和罗马太空望远镜选择关键目标，并为美国宇航局未来的可居住世界天文台开辟道路。该合同为WIYN的基本操作和维护提供支持，并为NEID的持续运行提供次要的技术升级。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.