Optimizing the U.S. Ground-Based Optical and Infrared Astronomy System

Revolutionary discoveries undoubtedly will follow from the realization of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) under construction, the planned 30-meter-class telescopes, and new instrumentation on existing optical and infrared (OIR) telescopes. The challenge is to extract the best science from these and other astronomical facilities in an era of potentially flat federal budgets for both the facilities and the research grants necessary to exploit them. In the 2010s, there is increasing scientific opportunity combined with decreasing purchasing power. This report describes a vision for a nighttime U.S. OIR System that includes a telescope time exchange designed to enhance science return by broadening access to capabilities for a diverse community; an ongoing planning process to identify and construct next-generation capabilities to realize decadal science priorities; and near-term critical coordination, planning, training, and instrumentation needed to usher in the era of LSST and giant telescopes. The guiding principles used by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Committee on a Strategy to Optimize the U.S. Optical and Infrared System in the Era of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) in its deliberations were as follows: • An integrated OIR System can achieve the best science when it engages a broad population of astronomers to pursue a diversity of science and scientific approaches. • Federal investment in LSST follow-up capabilities and in community-prioritized instrumentation across the OIR System will help to maximize scientific output. • Federal support to sustain technology, instrumentation, and software development, and expertise in these fields, is necessary to optimize future science returns. This report highlights some of the progress on science questions raised by the NRC decadal surveys New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics¹ (NWNH) and Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022² (VVPS), the existing facilities and capabilities, and the human resources that make up the U.S. OIR astronomical enterprise. The report then considers the science that will be enabled by new instruments and facilities. It highlights the critical OIR instruments that are necessary in the near term to achieve decadal objectives, enable innovative research, and augment LSST with follow-up observations. It then addresses how to optimize scientific return from available resources through cooperation among public and private observatories. The committee’s top-level recommendations are presented here in priority order, driven by the statement of task (see Preface) and motivated by the guiding principles above. The committee did not have a budget or guidelines for funding; these recommendations are based on science considerations and provided as advice for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the sponsor requesting the report. The accompanying descriptions and justifications for the recommendations are in subsequent chapters.³ The committee’s highest priority is a U.S. OIR System that is well coordinated and facilitates broad access to achieve the best science. Broad access at non-federal telescopes can be accomplished in a number of creative ways, including, but not limited to, engaging in limited term partnerships for partnering on telescopes, instruments, and data; bartering time on one facility for another; and swapping instruments.