Small and Moderate Aperture Telescopes for Research and Education

• Main Authors: Boley, Aaron C., Bridges, Terry, Hickson, Paul, Richer, Harvey, Heyl, Jeremy, Kavelaars, JJ, Stairs, Ingrid
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Zenodo 2019
• Subjects: astrophysics; Arctic; Canada; Gemini
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3756118; https://zenodo.org/record/3756118

In this white paper (WP), we highlight several examples of small and moderate aperture telescopes that are being used for education and/or research. We further discuss potential costs for establishing new, small observatories, as well as joining existing international consortia. The WP includes a brief overview of select observing sites, with a discussion on how small telescopes at exceptional observing locations can be competitive, under certain circumstances, with larger and more expensive facilities located at poorer sites. Furthermore, small and moderate telescope facilitates enable on-demand observing and/or unique observing opportunities that may not be possible at large (and often oversubscribed) telescopes. While not meant to be all-encompassing, we discuss research programs associated with CanCON, Dragonfly Telephoto Array, ESA's Flyeye, Evryscope, Next-Generation Transit Survey, The Plaskett and the DAO 1.2 metre, the University of British Columbia Southern Observatory, the WIYN and SMARTS 0.9 metres, and the Zwicky Transient Facility. Science programs advanced by these facilities address, for example, exoplanets, binaries, variability, Solar System minor bodies, low-surface brightness structures, spectroscopy, microlensing, and large sky surveys. We further discuss commercial telescope pay-for-service options through iTelescope. In addition to research, these facilities enable many different types of educational experiences for wide range of people, from high school students to undergraduates to graduate students to postdocs. Potential uses include direct observing by upper-level astronomy undergraduates and graduate students and incorporation of observing and citizen science into large service courses. Maintenance itself necessitates physically working with a research telescope and offers unique student training opportunities -- astronomy undergraduates at UBC participated in the USO's installation at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, for example. Canada should remain committed to partnering with large, international observatories such as CFHT, Gemini, and TMT, but it should also negotiate international agreements and commit funding to expand the use of small, capable research observatories at domestic and international sites through coordination with the NRC, the Tri-Council, and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. Both capital and operational costs (with site rental costs allowed) need to be included in support possibilities. CASCA should establish and maintain a small to moderate telescope expression of interest database that would help to facilitate Canadian institutions in organizing consortia, particularly for smaller institutions. The astronomical community should work with the NRC to make existing facilities more accessible to the astronomical community for research. This could involve, for example, automating the Plaskett and/or providing travel funds for supporting classical observing modes. Finally, a small to moderate aperture facility in the Arctic would be a world-class observatory and should be advanced over the next decade. : White paper identifier W013