Astronomy & Astrophysics in Astronomy & Astrophysics in Antarctic 2012Antarctic 2012

AAAC 11 May 2012AAAC 11 May 2012

Scott BorgScott BorgDivision of Antarctic SciencesDivision of Antarctic Sciences

Office of Polar ProgramsOffice of Polar ProgramsNational Science FoundationNational Science Foundation

IceCube

ANT and PHY partnership, with international partnersObservatory Complete, M&O and Science are underwayDetector functioning better than anticipatedGRB's are not the neutrino engines of existing modelsSupport thru FY14 - major review in a year

South Pole Telescope

Initial 5 year SZE survey completed - many discoveriesCMB constraints on re-ionization Exciting discoveries of structure of the early Universe Support thru FY13 - proposal for new work expected

BiCEP, BiCEP2 and

SPUD

Significant constraint on Inflation First meaningful constraint on inflationary gravitational wave background from B-mode polarization Current support thru FY13, renewal proposal in review

HEAT at Ridge A

TeraHertz, robotic telescope at the Dome A summitSite is 200-km south of Chinese station KunlunSuccessful testing; now into THz winter observationsUS and AustraliaSupport thru FY14

Antarctic Long Duration

Ballooning

NASA-NSF partnership since 1990; 47 flightsPioneering astrophysics and space physics payloads Agreement thru FY14 (2 more seasons)Anticipate continued interest from NASA

NRC Review of the USAP

OMB requested a high level review

Plan developed and implemented by OSTP and NSF

• Part 1: NAS/NRC Review of Science Drivers. Report issued December 2011.

• Part 2: Blue Ribbon Panel examining infrastructure: Is USAP structured appropriately to address the science drivers anticipated in the NRC report. Report anticipated July 2012.

Includes consideration of international and interagency partnerships.

Challenges• Many opportunities - too many?

• Stagnant budgets and increasing costs.

• Better integration/partnerships and priority setting with other national investments in astronomy?

• SPT after current project - what next?

- Transition to multi-user telescope?

• IceCube M&O recompetition in FY15 – what next?

Questions?

Aurora behind the 10m South Pole TelescopePhoto Credit: Dana Hrubes, SP Station Science Leader, 2010

Questions?Questions?