NOIRLab

The National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab^{[pronunciation?]}) is the United States' national facility for ground-based, night-time optical and infrared astronomy. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), as a federally funded research and development center.

National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)

NOIRLab logo[1]
Motto	Discovering Our Universe Together
Established	2019 (2019)
Field of research	Astronomy
Director	Patrick McCarthy[2]
Deputy Director	Stuartt Corder[3]
Location	Tucson, Arizona, United States
Sponsoring agency	National Science Foundation
Operating agency	Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
Website	noirlab.edu

NOIRLab runs four observatories 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.^[4]

Organization

AURA operates the NOIRLab and its facilities under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF).^[5]

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