Job Description 4-m Telecope Scientist

The 4-m telescope scientist is responsible for maintaining and improving the scientific effectiveness of the Mayall 4-m telescope. Towards this end, the 4-m telescope scientist represents the astronomer who uses the telescope, both current users and in the future.

The 4-m telescope scientist must work with the director and others in helping identify the long-term (5+ yrs) needs of the facility, planning for future instruments. In the medium term (1+ yrs), the telescope scientist must provide a leadership role in identifying needed improvement projects, and sheparding their timely completion. In the short-term (weekly) the telescope scientist must see that problems are being addressed, and provide guidance as needed to the Director, Mountain Manager, KPNO Engineering, the Mountain Programming Group, and Facilities as to priorities, and help facilitate communications between all the groups associated with the facility.

The telescope scientist should be a publishing astronomer who uses the facility for his or her own research.

Activites

1. Everyone has to find what is the most effective style for his/her self. My teaching colleagues at NAU do not all teach introductory astronomy the same way. The idea that I could prepare of list of "things to do" and somone could just do it that way is saying "here is a set of lecture notes; now anyone can teach the class equally effectively." To me, this is backwards. Each teacher developes and refines his/her own lecture notes. Thus, the list below is highly idiocencratic, just as my list of "what I do during operations verification time" is idiocencratic. (When I began this job there was no "operations verification time"; I made this up to fulfill what I saw as a need. Someone else may see a different need, else we might as well just be robots.)
2. The most useful thing I do is keep my door open to Skip, Tony, and the rest of the gang. If it's "science Tuesday" and one of them wants to talk about what is going on, I drop what I'm doing and listen. I simply decided at some point this was more important than anything else I might be about. My view has been that people know how to do their job; where I can help is by acting as a sounding board, giving my advice when needed.

• Daily to Weekly:

  • Check service and the LTO logs daily to see what what the recent problems have been. Contacting John Glaspey, Tony Abraham, Scott Bulau, David Mills, Chuck Claver, Daryl Willmarth, and/or Bob Marshall if I have concerns.
  • Co-chair the weekly "Thursday Morning Meetings".
  • Check the DIQ logs (weekly) to ascertain that the seeing measurements are being take, and to make sure that the mirror cooling system and other thermal control systems (floor glycol, dome air mixing fan) are being run to good advantage.
  • Oversee all T&E at the 4-m, usually going up and doing it myself, after organizing the troops.
  • Check on status of projects with Tony (informally).
  • Talk to other telescope scientists about their concerns.
  • Respond to observing run evaluations that pertain to the 4-m.

• Monthly to Yearly

  • Represent the 4-m as needed at other meetings (instrumentation, "creative telescope scheduling working group", and so on).
  • Do one instrument start per month in order to keep in close contact with the telescope.
  • Revise 4-m seeing histograms. Post on Web.
  • Review the telescope schedule for "reasonability" re instrument changes and T&E time.
  • Convene the DIQ group to identify needed improvement projects. Draft the "phase I" requests, the "phase II" requests, and in some cases act as project scientist (dome vents, mirror cooling), and in others simply being the mother hen (4mAPS).
  • Identify minor things to be done during each summer shutdown, reviewing the shutdown list, and participating in the (weekly) shudown meetings.
  • Bring the telescope back on-line after summer shutdown ("operational verification time"). Help Chuck plan his "optics time".
  • Prepare NOAO Newsletter article on 4-m DIQ improvements.