[ASA] ESO Period 102 Call for Proposals

[International Telescopes Support Office]

      ESO Period 102 Call for Proposals

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released the Call for 
Proposals for Period 102 (for observations between 1 October 2018 – 31 
March 2019). Under the terms of the Strategic Partnership between ESO 
and Australia, Australian-based astronomers have access to the 
facilities of the La Silla and Paranal Observatories, specifically the:

  * 3.6-m telescope;
  * New Technology Telescope (NTT);
  * Very Large Telescope (VLT);
  * Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI);
  * Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA); and
  * VLT Survey Telescope (VST).

The proposal deadline is *Wednesday 28 March 2018 at noon Central 
European Summer Time* (9pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time).

Complete details on how to apply can be found at 
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/6wnnC71ZgLtywE5At8wmwb?domain=eso.org 
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/1EYdC81Zj6tQEOV6i1u4MZ?domain=eso.org>. All 
applicants should consult the Call for Proposals document for Period 102 
(https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/7njmC91ZkQtxDRykS3g-zO?domain=eso.org 
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/BbMFC0YZWVF4pJOGsWJSRy?domain=eso.org>), and will 
require an ESO User Portal account (https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/GqXjCgZowLHNDPXAfEqTFz?domain=eso.org) to 
submit proposals.

Additional information for Australian applicants, including advice for 
new users, an FAQ, and copies of the ESO Community Day 2017 
presentations can be found on the ITSO ESO pages 
(https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/1IvMCjZrzqHAVlLninYf9t?domain=aao.gov.au).


      What's new in Period 102?

Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the expected changes in 
instrumentation offered and procedures for Period 102 given in Sec. 1.1 
of the Call for Proposals 
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/7njmC91ZkQtxDRykS3g-zO?domain=eso.org>. Among the 
items likely to be of most interest to the Australian community are:

  * *Policy on requests for changing or adding new targets:* Teams
    asking for observations that envision the need for additions or
    changes of targets, or for adapting their observing strategy after
    the start of the Period (following, e.g., Gaia DR2 or TESS target
    releases), must declare it with a note in the Special Remarks
    section of the proposal (Box 5 of the proposal form).
  * *Scientific categories A and B:* There have been major changes in
    the scientific categories A and B, following the recommendations of
    the OPC. All A and B subcategories were redefined since Period 101.
    Category A, previously defined as “Cosmology” is now “Cosmology and
    the Intergalactic Medium”. Likewise, category B moved from “Galaxies
    and Galactic Nuclei” to “Galaxies”. The updated list of ESO’s
    scientific categories and subcategories can be found on the OPC
    Categories page
    <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/4yqNCk8vAZt4PYVOskiwjQ?domain=eso.org>
    and in the ESOFORM User Manual.
  * *New Large and Monitoring Programmes are not offered on UT4 in
    Period 102:* This is due to the very high load on this telescope
    with ongoing Large Programmes, as well as MUSE and GRAVITY
    Guaranteed Time Observations. This condition will be reviewed before
    the Call for Proposals for Period 103 is issued. In addition to the
    UT4 instruments (i.e., HAWK-I, MUSE and SINFONI), NACO and VISIR are
    also currently unavailable for Large Programmes. Furthermore, Large
    Programmes on the VLTI with the ATs are not offered on any VLTI
    instrument.
  * *Large Programmes with Target of Opportunity runs:* Starting in
    Period 102, Target of Opportunity (TOO) runs will be allowed as part
    of Large Programmes, i.e., Target of Opportunity observations can be
    requested over multiple semesters when justified. However, please
    note that Large Programme proposals with TOO runs cannot make use of
    the Rapid Response Mode.
  * *Excellent condition proposals:* Seeing at Paranal is better than
    0.5" more than 5% of the time, while episodes of precipitable water
    vapour smaller than 0.5 mm are encountered six to seven nights per
    year, mostly during the southern winter. ESO encourages the unique
    science that can be carried out under one or both of these
    conditions. Proposals designed to take advantage of one or both of
    these conditions should include the mention “Excellent condition
    proposal” in the \SpecialRemarks macro of the ESOFORM proposal form.
    Users requiring excellent seeing conditions should specify 0.4" in
    the \ObservingRun macro in their proposal. Excellent condition
    proposals must describe why their scientific objectives can only be
    achieved in these conditions.
  * *Availability of SINFONI:* To allow for the installation of VISIR at
    the Cassegrain focus of UT4 for the NEAR experiment, SINFONI will
    likely be dismounted from UT4 during the second half of Period 102
    and moved to UT3. As a consequence, no observations requiring the
    Laser Guide Star will be executed during the second half of Period 102.
  * *Adaptive Optics Facility on****UT4:* It is expected that nearly all
    AOF-related systems will be commissioned by the start of Period 102.
    The combination of HAWK-I with GRAAL was successfully commissioned
    during Period 100 in tip-tilt-star-free mode. This combination is
    now offered for operations starting in Period 102. GALACSI, the
    adaptive optics module for MUSE, was commissioned during Period 100
    in its Ground Layer Adaptive Optics mode (GLAO). The combination of
    this mode with the MUSE Wide Field Mode has been offered for the
    first time in Period 101.
  * *Availability of ESPRESSO:* the Echelle Spectrograph for Rocky
    Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations is located at the
    Incoherent Combined Coude Focus. Its commissioning in 1-UT mode
    started during Period 100 and continues in Period 101. The 1-UT mode
    is offered starting in Period 102. Two basic observing modes are
    thus available: (1) the High Resolution (HR) mode providing a
    spectral resolution of 140,000 with the diameter of the fibre
    aperture on sky of 1"; and (2) the Ultra High Resolution mode (UHR),
    providing a spectral resolution of 200,000 with the diameter of the
    fibre aperture on sky of 0.5". ESPRESSO OBs for the 1-UT mode can be
    executed from any UT.
  * *VLTI:* The installation, verification and commissioning of NAOMI,
    the New Adaptive Optics Module for Interferometry – a low-order
    adaptive optics system for the ATs – starts in Period 101 and is
    expected to be completed by the end of November 2018. Operations
    will not be possible at the start of Period 102 until the end of the
    NAOMI commissioning. The refurbishment of each of the four ATs will
    be completed during Period 101 and will result in an improvement of
    their throughput. AMBER will be decommissioned at the end of Period
    101 and is therefore not offered in Period 102.
  * *La Silla:* Approximately 15% of the available 3.6-m science time is
    committed to ongoing large programmes in Period 102. New Large
    Programmes for the 3.6-m telescope are therefore invited for this
    Period. The fraction of the available time on the NTT committed to
    ongoing Large Programmes is ~35%, particularly in dark and grey
    conditions. Bright time is generally undersubscribed and proposers
    should consider whether their science case can successfully exploit
    these conditions. Regular operations with the Laser Frequency Comb
    on HARPS are expected to become possible during Period 102.
  * *ULTRACAM:* ULTRACAM is a high-speed imaging photometer designed to
    study faint astronomical objects at high temporal resolutions.
    ULTRACAM employs two dichroic beamsplitters and three frame-transfer
    CCD cameras to provide optical imaging with a field-of-view of 6'
    and at frame rates of up to 300 Hz simultaneously in the u/g/r,
    u/g/i or u/g/z bands. This PI instrument is offered to the ESO
    community for up to 5% of the observing time at the NTT in Period
    102. For questions on the instrument and observation strategies,
    users should contact the instrument PI, Prof. Vik Dhillon
    (vik.dhillon[AT]sheffield.ac.uk), at least two weeks prior to
    submitting their proposal.


Stuart Ryder
International Telescopes Support Office, AAO
#ITSOaao

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