[ASA] Call for Keck, Gemini, Magellan, and Blanco proposals in Semester 2017A

International Telescopes Support Office itso at aao.gov.au
Tue Sep 6 11:20:57 AEST 2016


The AAO's International Telescopes Support Office (ITSO) is pleased to 
announce that proposals for Australian community access to the four 
facilities supported by ITSO (Keck, Gemini, Magellan, and Blanco) for 
observing time in Semester 2017A are now open. The details are as 
follows, and further information can be found on the respective 
telescope web pages accessible from the ITSO home page at 
https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/home

ITSO staff are currently in the process of visiting all AAL member 
institutions to present an overview of these capabilities, and provide 
advice on how best to acquire the data that meets your needs. Please 
contact us at itso at aao.gov.au if you have any queries or require 
assistance with proposal preparation.


Stuart Ryder
International Telescopes Support Office
#ITSOaao

------------------------------------------------------------------------


      W.M. Keck Observatory 10m telescopes

Proposal deadline: *5pm AEST, Monday 26 September 2016*
Instrumentation: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/keck/instruments
How to apply: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/keck/apply


        What's new in 2017A?

  *

    *Large Programs:* In Semester 2017A KTAC will give special
    consideration to a new class of Large Program. A KTAC Large Program
    will be one that enables high-impact science of wide benefit to the
    KTAC community; requires more than 3 nights per semester over 2 or
    more semesters; and seeks time from more than one KTAC partner (AAL,
    ANU, Swinburne). Large Program proposals will be allowed an
    additional page in the Scientific Justification section to include a
    scientific management and public data release plan. KTAC expects to
    award time in Semesters 2017A and 2017B (subject to Keck scheduling
    constraints) to at least one such Large Program provided it is
    satisfied the above criteria are met.

  *

    OSIRIS will be unavailable for science through May 1, 2017 for the
    imager detector upgrade.

  *

    Keck 1 LGSAO: A new infrared tip/tilt sensor (TRICK) is now available.

  *

    NIRC2 L-Band Vortex Coronagraph: The coronagraph will be available
    for science in "shared risk" mode in 2017A.

  *

    Both NIRES and KCWI will be undergoing commissioning during Semester
    2017A, but will *not* be offered for scientific use until Semester
    2017B.

  *

    KTAC will *not* be participating in the Time Domain Astronomy
    program that enables cadence and Target-of-Opportunity observing on
    Keck.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


      Gemini 8m telescopes

Proposal deadline: *5pm AEST, Friday 30 September 2016*
Instrumentation: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/gemini/instruments
How to apply: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/gemini/apply


        What's new in 2017A?

  *

    Astronomy Australia Ltd and the AAO have secured a limited-term
    partnership in Gemini for 2017, providing a total of 7 classical
    nights over Semesters 2017A and 2017B split between Gemini North and
    Gemini South. ATAC will have up to 2 classical nights on Gemini
    North plus 2 classical nights on Gemini South to allocate in 2017A.
    As a limited-term partner, Australia is ineligible to participate in
    the Gemini queue process; the exchange program with Subaru; or in
    the joint proposal process.

  *

    The Phoenix high resolution near-infrared spectrograph will be
    available as a visitor instrument at Gemini South in 2017A, while
    the TEXES high resolution mid-infrared spectrograph will be
    available as a visitor instrument at Gemini North in February 2017.

  *

    Gemini North will not be available from Monday July 10 2017 to the
    end of the semester, for work on the dome. Gemini North will also
    have dome shutter restrictions in place through 2017A.

  *

    GMOS-North will not available February 1 through March 19 2017 for
    installation and commissioning of the Hamamatsu CCDs. Investigators
    should however use the EEV DD CCD option when using the GMOS-N ITC
    for Semester 2017A.

  *

    The non-redundant mask in the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) will be
    offered for Semester 2017A, in shared risk mode.

  *

    The use of an On-Detector Guide Window (ODGW) star for flexure
    compensation with the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) is
    no longer required, opening up many targets which were previously
    inaccessible.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


      Blanco 4m telescope

Proposal deadline: *5pm AEST, Friday 30 September 2016*
Instrumentation: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/blanco/instruments
How to apply: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/blanco/apply


        What's new in 2017A?

  *

    In Semester 2017A there will be 5 nights available to the Australian
    community to apply for. The Dark Energy Survey (DES) has been
    granted 105 nights per year, for five years, on the Blanco
    Telescope. In 2017A the first half of the nights of February 1-8 and
    15-18 are allocated to DES. NOAO has also pre-committed 22 full
    nights during 2017A for the DECals survey. The specific nights
    allocated are: Feb 28; March 1-5 and 26-31; April 18-21; and May 18-23.

  *

    It is possible that the primary mirror of the Blanco telescope will
    be re-coated towards the end of 2017A, which will require a 3-4 week
    engineering block; whether this happens and exactly when will not be
    finally decided until the telescope is scheduled in November.

------------------------------------------------------------------------


      Magellan 6.5m telescopes

Proposal deadline: *5pm AEST, Friday 7 October 2016*
Instrumentation: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/magellan/instruments
How to apply: https://www.aao.gov.au/itso/magellan/apply


        What's new in 2017A?

  *

    There will likely be a single MegaCam f/5 block, and a single MagAO
    block in 2017A, the timing of which will be determined by the
    Magellan Science Advisory Committee at its meeting on 9 Sep.

  * PFS will be taken offline in early-May or early-June 2017 for an
    upgrade to the CCD camera, spectrograph alignment, and slit input
    mechanism.
  *

    The Parallel Imager for Southern Cosmology Observations (PISCO)
    provides simultaneous imaging in the 4 SDSS bands g', r', i', and z'
    over a 9 arcminute field of view at 0.16 arcsec/pixel. PISCO is a PI
    instrument and is only available via collaborative arrangement with
    the instrument team. Contact Tony Stark (astark at cfa.harvard.edu)
    before submitting a proposal.

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