[ASA] Call for Gemini and Subaru exchange proposals in Semester 2015B

[Australian Gemini Office]

      2015B Call for Gemini and Subaru exchange proposals


Proposals for Australian access to the Gemini and Subaru telescopes for 
Semester 2015B (1 Aug - 31 Dec 2015) are due by

*5:00pm AEST, Tuesday 31 March 2015.**
*
A separate call for Magellan proposals in Semester 2015B (with a 7 April 
2015 deadline) will be issued shortly.


        What's new for Semester 2015B?

  * Semester 2015B marks the final semester in which Australia will be a
    full partner in Gemini. For this semester Australian-led and joint
    proposals involving Australia will be assessed and scheduled in the
    usual way, but will not be executed after Australia's membership in
    Gemini formally ends on 31 December 2015. Thus programs which can
    only be executed in January 2016 will not be accepted, and
    Australian Band 1 programs will not be eligible for rollover into
    later semesters.
  * Notwithstanding the end of Australia's full partnership in Gemini,
    Astronomy Australia Ltd and the AAO have secured a limited-term
    partnership for 2016, providing a total of 7 classical nights over
    Semesters 2016A and 2016B split between Gemini North and Gemini
    South. Details of how this time will be made available to the
    Australian community will be announced prior to the Semester 2016A
    Call for Proposals.
  * The Gemini Remote Access to CFHT ESPaDOnS Spectrograph (GRACES
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/graces/?q=sciops/instruments/graces>)
    facility is now available. GRACES combines the large collecting area
    of the Gemini North telescope with the high resolving power and high
    efficiency of the ESPaDOnS spectrograph at CFHT via a 270m-long
    optical fibre, to deliver high-resolution (R~67,500) optical
    spectroscopy between 400 and 1000 nm with a sensitivity comparable
    to, or better than HIRES on Keck. GRACES observations will be
    carried out in a number of observing blocks coordinated with CFHT.
  * Pending successful commissioning in Semester 2015A the Non Redundant
    Mask
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gpi/default-mode/non-redundant-mask-nrm-faq>
    mode is available for use on the Gemini Planet Imager
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gpi/?q=sciops/instruments/gpi>.
  * It is anticipated that the On-Instrument Wavefront Sensor (OIWFS
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/flamingos2/guiding-options?q=node/12001>)
    will become the default guiding mode for FLAMINGOS-2
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/flamingos2/?q=sciops/instruments/flamingos2>
    from 2015B. This will reduce both the impact of flexure on long
    spectroscopic exposures, as well as potential vignetting in imaging
    from the use of PWFS2
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/flamingos2/guiding-options?q=node/12002>.
    Pending successful installation in Semester 2015A, an extended
    K-band filter will be offered in Semester 2015B.
  * New Hamamatsu CCDs <http://www.gemini.edu/node/12248?q=node/11395>
    offering improved and extended sensitivity out to 1 micron are now
    in regular use in GMOS-South
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gmos-0>, Applicants for
    2015B should be sure to select "CCD Type = Hamamatsu array" in the
    GMOS-South Integration Time Calculator
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gmos/itc-sensitivity-and-overheads?q=node/10479>
    in planning their proposals. Pending the delivery of CCDs and new
    video boards, a similar CCD array may be installed in GMOS-North at
    some point in Semester 2015B; however applicants should assume only
    the current e2v Deep Depletion CCDs
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/gmos/imaging/detector-array/gmosn-array-e2v-dd>
    will be available for science in Semester 2015B.
  * Student and early-career researchers involved in classical or queue
    programs are eligible to apply for Gemini's "Bring One, Get One"
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/science-visitors-gemini/instructions-visitors/bring-one-get-one>
    travel subsidy program, when accompanying a senior observer.
  * The DSSI speckle imaging camera
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/dssi-speckle-camera-north>
    is being offered as a visitor instrument on Gemini North in December
    2015.
  * Up to 5 nights on the Subaru telescope will be available to the
    Gemini community, including shared risks use of the Hyper
    Suprime-Cam <http://www.naoj.org/Observing/Instruments/HSC/> (HSC)
    very wide field optical to far-red imager, and 3 visitor instruments
    (HiCIAO
    <http://www.naoj.org/staff/kudotm/SEEDSHiCIAOPVreport_final090923e.pdf>,
    Kyoto3DII
    <http://cosmos.phys.sci.ehime-u.ac.jp/%7Ekazuya/p-3DII/index.html>,
    and SCExAO <http://www.naoj.org/Projects/SCEXAO/>) by arrangement
    with the instrument PI.
  * Due to the end of Australia's full partnership in Gemini, new
    Australian-led proposals for Large & long-term Programs (LPs)
    <http://www.gemini.edu/node/12248?q=node/12096> cannot be submitted.
    Similarly Australia is not eligible to participate in the new Fast
    Turnaround Program
    <http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/observing-gemini/observing-modes?q=node/12258>.


        How to apply


Gemini proposals must be submitted using the 2015B release of the Phase 
I Tool (PIT). Subaru applications are also submitted using the PIT. For 
full details on instrument availability and application procedures, 
please see:

http://ausgo.aao.gov.au/cfp.html

as well as the official Gemini Observatory Call for Proposals at:

http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/observing-gemini/2015b-call-proposals


        Need help?


For general enquiries about Australian access to Gemini or Subaru, 
please contact the International Telescopes Support Office 
(ausgo at aao.gov.au) at the AAO. For technical queries about a Gemini 
Phase I proposal, please use the Gemini Helpdesk:

http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/helpdesk/?q=sciops/helpdesk


Stuart Ryder
Head of International Telescopes Support
ausgo at aao.gov.au


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