Observatories  Enhancement

Carnegie Observatories:
Fulfilling the Promise of the New Millennium

For nearly a century, the Carnegie Observatories have made extraordinary contributions to our understanding of the universe. Observations carried out at Carnegie’s Mount Wilson Observatory in the early decades of the twentieth century transformed astronomy and laid the foundation for modern cosmology. Using what were then the world’s largest telescopes, Carnegie astronomers unraveled the mysteries of stellar evolution and the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy while Edwin Hubble captured the attention of the world with his discovery that the universe is expanding.

Two bold decisions by Carnegie’s trustees later in the century ensured the continuation of Carnegie leadership in astronomy: first, the establishment in 1965 of an observatory in the southern hemisphere and, second, the construction there in the late 1990s of the twin 6.5-meter telescopes of the Magellan Project. The Magellan telescopes at Carnegie’s Las Campanas Observatory, high in the Chilean Andes, are providing American astronomers with extraordinary access to the southern sky, with its unique view of the center of the Milky Way and neighboring galaxies.

Carnegie astronomy is now entering its most important era as the institution’s astronomers begin realizing the remarkable opportunities created by the Magellan Project, and as they lay the groundwork for a larger and even more ambitious effort, the Giant Magellan Telescope.

Researchers at the Carnegie Observatories are leaders in the study of stellar populations and the evolution of galaxies, while astronomers at Carnegie’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism lead the way in investigating how planets form and in detecting extra-solar system planets. The Carnegie Institution will augment these specialties and enlarge the scope of its astronomy research by recruiting a group of theoretical astrophysicists. Cooperation between observers and theorists is essential to meeting the challenges posed by the increasingly complex data arriving from new telescopes, and by the need to design observation projects optimized for high-impact science. Our campaign goal is to raise $5 million, which will cover much of the costs incurred in instituting a 10-year program to bring two senior theorists, two postdoctoral fellows, and a rotation of visiting theorists to the Observatories.

While the Magellan telescopes push the boundaries of current research, Carnegie astronomers are also planning a next generation telescope that will enable the institution to remain at the leading edge of astronomy well into the 21st century. In conjunction with a range of respected partners, Carnegie is in the midst of designing a 24.5-meter telescope that will answer many of the questions at the forefront of astronomy today and will pose new and unanticipated riddles for future generations. The campaign’s goal is to contribute $6.8 million, by December 2006, to the design phase of the Giant Magellan Telescope, a critical early step in the development of this new tool. As of January 2006, $2.75 million is still needed to reach this goal.

Building telescopes is only part of the success story at the Observatories. Instruments are the workhorses that enable astronomers to record and analyze light. In order to take advantage of the increased light-gathering power of the new telescopes, the Observatories must intensify its program for the design and construction of instruments for imaging and spectroscopy. To that end, the campaign has set a total goal of $2.775 million for instrumentation. This amount includes a goal of $2.1 million for the high-powered Four-Star near-infrared camera, of which $1.5 is still needed. It also includes a target of $475,000 for research into the burgeoning field of adaptive optics, of which $250,000 remains to be raised.

Finally, as an important fixture in the history of astronomy, the Carnegie Observatories have an obligation to preserve their heritage. To that end, a campaign goal of $200,000 was established to fund much-needed repairs to the Observatories’ historic 1912 headquarters building in Pasadena, and a separate goal $225,000 was set to preserve and catalog the Institution’s irreplaceable collection of hundreds of thousands of astronomical glass plates ($60,000 remaining). These plates constitute a unique and fragile record of both the Sun and the night sky for much of the 20th century.

Thus, of the total $15 million goal for the Carnegie Observatories, generous contributors have already given $5.75 million. We are actively seeking the remaining $9.25 million to fully fund these projects and priorities, which will impact the future success of Carnegie astronomy.

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