in the era of the Large Synoptic Survey Tele-
scope. From these discussions has emerged
a consensus vision for a new National Center
for Optical-infrared Astronomy (NCOA) that
would combine operations of the current
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
(NOAO) and Gemini facilities with the future
operations of the Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope (LSST) system.
Such an evolution would present many ad-
vantages for Gemini and provide a host of
opportunities for the Observatory to de-
velop; opportunities that it would not have
if it remained “stand-alone.” The NCOA vision
foresees a single, coherent scientific and ser-
vice organization to exploit scientific syn-
ergies among several Optical and Infrared
(OIR) facilities, including in the domain of in-
struments, data systems, and datasets.
By taking advantage of economies of scale,
NCOA would eliminate operations redun-
dancies and thereby maximize scientific
return-on-investment. Furthermore, NCOA
would be a natural nucleus for public-private
and international partnerships to design,
construct, and operate future facilities and
capabilities.
Current NCOA planning fully recognizes that
NCOA will participate in many activities as
partners, not owner-operators. This recog-
nition is especially important for LSST and
Gemini, but is also relevant to the WIYN Ob-
servatory, Southern Astrophysical Research
(SOAR) Telescope, Dark Energy Survey, etc.
As such, the NCOA concept fully respects
that such partnerships have independ