[ASA] AAT Proposal Call (Semester 2014A): deadline 5PM, 16 September 2013

[AAT Technical Secretary]

           Call for AAT proposals in Semester 2014A

The proposal deadline for AAT time in Semester 14A (1 February 2014
to 31 July 2014) is:

       **Monday, 16 September 2013, at 17:00** (AEST, i.e. UTC + 10 hrs)

Proposals can be submitted from the 1st of September 2013 using the AAT 
online proposal form, and are welcome from astronomers worldwide.

General information on applying for AAT time can be found at:
http://www.aao.gov.au/astro/apply/ATAC_AAT.html

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Important notes for 14A applicants:

* Following a successful call for Large Program proposals in Semester 
13B, a significant fraction of AAT dark time has already been allocated: 
in A semesters through 2016A, and in B semesters through 2017B. Details 
of ongoing Large and Long Term programs can be found at 
http://www.aao.gov.au/astro/apply/longterm.php. Combined with the usual 
other obligations on AAT time (ie, service observing, engineering time, 
time-swap nights, etc), there is a reduced amount of time available for 
the community. AAO particularly encourages the community to submit AAT 
proposals suitable for grey and bright time. The number of nights 
expected to be available for 2014A are 12 dark, 31 grey and 48 bright. 
This is the current best estimate; however, the actual numbers may 
change before the observing schedule is finalised.

* Large Programs: The AAO is inviting proposals for Large Observing 
Programs (those requiring 50 nights or more, possibly over several 
semesters) to begin in Semester 13B. Please contact the ATAC Secretary, 
Helen Woods (hmw - at - aao.gov.au), well in advance of submitting this 
kind of proposal. Details are available at 
http://www.aao.gov.au/AAO/astro/Large_Programs_RfP_14A.pdf.

* HERMES availability in semester 14A: AAO expects to carry out 
commissioning on the HERMES spectrograph during semester 13B, and it is 
available in "shared-risk" mode for normal program proposals in semester 
14A. Questions about expected instrument performance should be directed 
to the HERMES Project Scientist, Gayandhi de Silva (gdesilva - at - 
aao.gov.au).

* Instrument upgrades in semester 14A: AAO is planning to upgrade the 
CCDs in AAOmega and to replace the SPIRAL IFU feed for AAOmega with the 
new KOALA IFU feed. More details can be found at 
http://www.aao.gov.au/astro/apply/inst-status.html

* Remote observing: From Semester 13A the AAO has been encouraging 
remote observing from AAO headquarters as an option for all AAT 
instruments. Remote observing from the AAO's North Ryde headquarters has 
been successfully demonstrated for UCLES, IRIS2 and 2dF+AAOmega. We are 
developing a framework for offsite remote observing at a later stage, in 
order to allow astronomers across Australia to observe from their home 
institutions. Until that system is ready, observers who wish to travel 
to Sydney to carry out remote observations can continue to access the 
existing Travel and Accommodation support offered to AAT observers. 
Observers who wish to carry out their observations from the AAT should 
contact the AAT Head of Science, Andrew Hopkins, at ahopkins - at - aao.gov.au.

* CTIO/DECam time-swap arrangement: The AAO and NOAO/CTIO have initiated 
a time-swap arrangement, to allow our respective communities to maximise 
the scientific facilities and opportunities to which we have access. The 
DECam imager on the 4m Blanco telescope is available, having completed 
commissioning and Science Verification. CTIO are installing and 
verifying the repaired f/8 secondary mirror, meaning that f/8 
instruments (the ISPI IR imager and the Hydra multi-object optical 
spectrograph) are also available in semester 14A. All scheduled 
observations in 14A will be carried out in classical mode with observers 
required to travel to the telescope.

In Semester 14A there will be 15 nights available to the Australian 
community to apply for CTIO time.

Those who wish to apply for this time should do so using the regular AAT 
proposal form, selecting CTIO/DECam, CTIO/ISPI or CTIO/Hydra in the 
"instrument" section. Links to the CTIO webpages for further information 
about the telescope and instrument capabilities are given below, and 
will also be available from the proposal form:

     http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/dark-energy-camera-decam

     http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/ispi

     http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/hydra

The standard proposal page limits and recommendations regarding 
technical justifications should be followed. The proposals will be 
assessed by ATAC, and graded proposals provided to CTIO for scheduling.

* Proposal page limits: ATAC reminds the community that page limits and 
formatting requirements for AAT proposals are strictly enforced. The 
main science case of your proposal should be no more than three pages 
long, and this semester ATAC is requesting a maximum of two pages for 
the Science Case and a maximum of one page for Technical Justification. 
All figures and references must also fit within those three pages. 
Excessively long or dense proposals will be rejected without review. 
Please see the section "How to Apply for AAT Time" online for further 
guidance on the form and content of AAT proposals.

-- 
Sarah Martell
AAT Technical Secretary
aatts - at - aao.gov.au