Astronomy Colloquium: David Silva

Date: Fri. October 13th, 2017, 11:00 am-12:00 am
Location: Sears 552

NOAO Today and Tomorrow

David Silva (Director, NOAO)

The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) is the U.S. national center for ground-based optical-infrared (OIR) astronomy. It is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The NOAO mission is to enable discovery for the research community-at-large through open access to world-class facilities, capabilities, services, and data products. At NSF request, AURA is developing a plan to create the National Center for OIR Astronomy (NCOA) by restructuring the Gemini Observatory, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), and NOAO within a common organizational framework. This talk will present NOAO and its current activities, recent research highlights, and a forward look to NCOA.