Understanding the origin of the elements, the
astrophysical sites of their production, and providing constraints
on the nuclear physics processes involved in their creation, are
several of the fundamental goals of JINA. In order to further
these ambitious undertakings, JINA has become an institutional
partner in the extension of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, SDSS-II.
This effort, funded by the Sloan Foundation,
the National Science Foundation, and contributions from participating
institutions, assumed operation of the 2.5m telescope on Apache
Point, New Mexico in July 2005, and completed in July 2008.
SDSS-II consists of three projects: (1) LEGACY, which finishes
spectroscopic observations of galaxies and quasars originally
started during SDSS-I, (2) SNS, a new-generation survey for Type
Ia supernovae, and (3) SEGUE: The Sloan Extension for Galactic
Understanding and Exploration.
SDSS data have been released to the scientific
community and the general public in annual increments, with the
final public data release from SDSS-II occurring in October 2008.
Meanwhile, SDSS is continuing with the Third Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS-III), a program of four new surveys using SDSS facilities. SDSS-III will continue operating and releasing data through 2014.
For more details, see the SDSS website: http://www.sdss.org.
