By
Jeremy Duda
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Local research group takes over operation, looks to community for support
The UA astronomy community received another blow recently when a second request for funds to keep the Pioneer telescope operating was officially denied.
The National Science Foundation denied funding for the 12-meter, millimeter-wavelength radio telescope on Kitt Peak this week after funds were initially pulled in August by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory because of budget constraints.
The Tucson-based Research Corp., an organization committed to supporting scientific research, has kept the telescope in operation since the NRAO's decision.
Operation of the telescope requires between $800,000 and $1 million annually, said Steward Observatory director Peter Strittmatter.
"We've been working hard to try to continue operations," he said. "We have been operating on a shoestring since last August."
In response to the NRAO's denial, a group of about 100 people in the astronomy community sent a proposal to the National Science Foundation asking the organization to fund the telescope. This group, the Action Committee for Millimeter Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts, was formed after the decision.
The Kitt Peak telescope is the only millimeter-wavelength radio telescope in the country.
"It is unique in its capabilities, at least in this country," Strittmatter said.
The NSF cited budget constraints as the reason for rejecting the proposal. Prior to their decision, an independent panel of reviewers from the nation's scientific community concluded that "a way must be found" to continue operating the Pioneer telescope.
Now that the NSF has officially communicated its decision to Strittmatter, the ACMA has stepped up its appeals to the NSF.
"We believe that there's room now for potential negotiations," said Aldo Apponi, who has been sending e-mail newsletters to ACMA members and local astronomers, asking them to support the group's attempts to secure funding.
While the newsletter campaign has been dormant for several months because of a lack of information from the NSF, interest has increased since Strittmatter was informed of the decision.
"It's all come to a head in the last few days. Community support must be shown," Apponi said.
The Pioneer telescope is capable of measuring light that has millimeter wavelengths, which is emitted by clouds of gas near stars or in interstellar space. This allows astronomers to learn more about how stars are formed from these clouds.
