The National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) is the United States' national facility for ground-based, night-time optical and

infrared astronomy Infrared astronomy is a sub-discipline of astronomy which specializes in the astronomical observation, observation and analysis of astronomical objects using infrared (IR) radiation. The wavelength of infrared light ranges from 0.75 to 300 microm ...

. It is funded by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

(NSF) and operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), as a federally funded research and development center. NOIRLab runs four

observatories An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

and a center for scientific software and research data archiving. It provides access to observing time for astronomers affiliated with any US institution.

History

NOIRLab was formed in 2019 by the merger of three predecessor organizations, which were all managed by AURA and funded by NSF. They were: *The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), which managed Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile, and the Community Science and Data Center *The Gemini Observatory, which operated Gemini North in Hawaii and Gemini South in Chile *The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which was constructing the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope in Chile On October 1, 2019, these three organizations merged their operations to form NOIRLab.

Organization

AURA operates the NOIRLab and its facilities under a cooperative agreement with the

(NSF).

Facilities

NOIRLab operates the following facilities: * Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory * Community Science & Data Center * Gemini Observatory * Kitt Peak National Observatory * Vera C. Rubin Observatory

References

{{Portal bar, United States, Stars, Spaceflight, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in the United States Astronomical observatories in Chile Astronomy institutes and departments Federally Funded Research and Development Centers Science and technology in the United States Astronomy in the United States Organizations based in Tucson, Arizona National Science Foundation NOIRLab Scientific organizations established in 2019 2019 establishments in Arizona