prepublication copy - The Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics ...

A prerequisite for a successful partnership is that all parties view the arrangements as being fair
and equitable, at least when considered across the sum of shared facilities. For example, under the NSF’s
“open skies” policy, access to the U.S. national centimeter-wavelength telescopes (EVLA, GBT, VLBA
and Arecibo), which are the premier facilities in the world at these wavelengths, is allocated without
regard to nationality. As a result, overseas investigators make substantial use of those facilities,
accounting for typically one-third (for the NRAO telescopes; less for Arecibo) of the allocated observing
time. At present, it can be said that U.S. researchers have enjoyed open access to many, though not all,
premier international facilities. In addition, private U.S. telescopes do not, as a matter of course, allow
open access to the full U.S. community let alone foreign astronomers. However, the astronomical
community does get access to ground-based optical and infrared facilities through the Telescope System
Instrument Program scheme. Such imbalances are likely to arise, and when they do, it is incumbent on the
agencies and observatory directors to take corrective action. For example, when the fraction of foreign
users of a U.S. facility becomes very large, then this can be taken as a sign that the science from that
facility is less aligned with U.S. national priorities or that the balance between support of U.S. facilities
and the U.S. user community has gotten out of line. Likewise, if a serious asymmetry develops between
U.S. and foreign facilities then this is the time to propose reciprocal arrangements that will preserve the
principle of open skies. There are two caveats to this approach. The first is that care must be taken to
address the needs of scientists from countries whose ability to participate in the construction and support
of expensive international facilities is limited. The second is that when a new facility first comes on line,
it is reasonable to allow those astronomers who have contributed significantly to the construction of the
telescope and instruments priority access for a limited period. For “open skies” and similar arrangements
to work, they need to be seen to be symmetrical and fair in terms of scientific opportunity and cost
recovery over the long run and averaged over many facilities.
An important goal for the U.S. agencies is to place appropriate value on reciprocity arrangements
in providing access to foreign astronomical facilities and datasets for U.S. researchers. To encourage
reciprocal arrangements for broad merit-based access to telescopes world-wide, the observing rights and
the survey data access, e.g. during validation periods, could be restricted for U.S.-funded facilities to
scientists at U.S. institutions, any foreign partners, and other parties with such reciprocity agreements. In
any restriction of access to U.S. facilities, care must be taken to address the needs of scientists from
countries whose ability to participate in the construction and support of expensive international facilities
is limited.
RECOMMENDATION: U.S. investors in astronomy and astrophysics, both public and
private, should consider a wide range of approaches to realize participation in international
projects and to provide access for the U.S. astronomy and astrophysics community to a
larger suite of facilities than can be supported within the United States. The long-term goal
should be to maximize the scientific output from major astronomical facilities throughout
the world, a goal that is best achieved through opening access to all astronomers. These
could include not only shared construction and operation costs but also strategic timesharing
and data-sharing agreements.
International partnership should be regarded as an element of a broader strategy to coordinate
construction and support of and access to astronomical facilities worldwide and to build scientific
capability around the world. The end goal should be to maximize the scientific return from these facilities
through global parity of access to the best telescopes, based on scientific merit.
International Strategic Planning
Beyond the arena of science coordination and shared access to individual facilities, greater
international consciousness and coordination in the planning of the future astronomical agenda as a whole
PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION
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