[ASA] 2019B Blanco telescope (CTIO) Call for Proposals for Australian Community

Sat Feb 23 11:27:53 AEDT 2019

2019B Blanco Telescope (CTIO) Call for Proposals

The proposal deadline for the Blanco Telescope in Semester 2019B  (August
2019 - January 2020) is:

23 March 2019, at 17:00

Australian Eastern Daylight Time (UTC + 11 hrs)

The AAL and NOAO/CTIO are continuing a time-swap arrangement between the AAT
and the 4m Blanco Telescope to allow our respective communities to maximise
their scientific opportunities through access to a broader range of
facilities. This semester, there will be 5 nights of CTIO time on the Blanco
Telescope available to Australian community.

Proposals will be assessed by the Australian Time Allocation Committee
(ATAC), and as such they must follow the new ATAC Policies and Procedures
(see
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/pJcZCq7BKYtyNJlPsZI4Qm?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
.au> https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/observing/policies) and be submitted
before the deadline using the Lens proposal form (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/pJ4TCr8DLRtRZ4o0TzgCw7?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/). All graded proposals will be provided to CTIO
for scheduling.

The Blanco telescope offers two instruments, the wide-field imaging camera
DECam and the CTIO Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (COSMOS). The
purpose-built Dark Energy Camera (DECam) was used for the Dark Energy Survey
that imaged nearly a billion galaxies over the past 6 years. Note that DECam
can produce useful imaging in the reddest filters (izY) on all but the very
brightest nights. The COSMOS instrument can be used in imaging, long-slit
and multi-object spectroscopy modes. 

In 2019B, there will be approximately 70 nights available for allocation of
new proposals by the NOAO and Australian TACs. This includes 18 dark time
(defined as less than 7 days from new Moon). A total of 5 nights with a
balanced distribution of lunations will be available to the Australian
community.  Further details about the available nights and instruments can
be found from the last NOAO's 2019A Call for Proposals
(https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/By8gCvl0PoCn8rKjSz25AV?domain=ast.noao.edu
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/I0keCwVLQmiExg9zsKGlB4?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
u> ). The NOAO 2019B Call for Proposals is due for release 01-Mar-2019 (MST;
UTC-7:00) with the updated information. 

All scheduled observations will be carried out in classical mode, with
observers required to travel to the telescope at their own expense. 

How to apply for Blanco time 

All ATAC applicants should check the ATAC Policies and Procedures (see
https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/observing/policies
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/IojMCxnMRvt5vPw4sRKDNv?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
.au> ), 

and recent Policy Announcements
(https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/observing/policies
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/IojMCxnMRvt5vPw4sRKDNv?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
.au> ). For further clarification on any issue, please contact the ATAC
Technical Secretary (aat - at - astronomyaustralia.org.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/PzfJCyoNVrcPoAkziAhHa8?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> ).

Those who wish to apply for Blanco time should do so using the Lens proposal
system (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/TVTuCzvOWKiYqO9psBoBuB?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/home ) described below, selecting "CTIO 4m" from
the telescopes menu on the first page of the proposal form. 

Lens proposal submission system

All proposals should be submitted with the AAT's online application system
Lens (https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/home
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/hoedCANZvPiKOG23TO3ZoY?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
), which will open on the day this call is made. This system is a user
account based system, which allows for improved security and better tracking
of past and current proposals. There is a FAQ available for Lens online
(www.aao.gov.au/lens/faq
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/l4oTCBNZwLiXKzB9S7ftEU?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
), or available via the FAQ tab in Lens itself.

All new users must register (https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/register
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/tGdJCD1jy9tLAD0KSnO_ak?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
) with the system.

Note that users cannot be added to proposals if they are not registered in
Lens. Please ensure that all investigators on a proposal have registered
well before the deadline!

For any queries or comments, please email: lens - at - aao.gov.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/e3g_CE8kz9t8xkMJSKsdI0?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>

Proposal content

Full technical details, outlining how you derived your time estimates,
observing constraints, and any special requests should be included in the
scientific case (preferably under a separate section heading). Proposers
should demonstrate that their team has the skills and experience with the
required observing modes to effectively conduct the proposed observations.

Proposals should be written so that the content and significance is
understandable by astronomers with different backgrounds. 

If the observations are essential to the completion of a student's PhD
thesis, then a full explanation must be given in the science case. No
special consideration is given to proposals involving PhD students, except
when attempting to schedule proposals near the scientific ranking cut-off,
when some priority may be given.

A list of the principal targets should be prepared as a separate PDF
document. The target list should contain target name, RA (h m s), Dec (d m
s), target brightness, and priority. There is a 2-page limit for this target
list PDF file. Other document formats will not be accepted. 

Proposal submission details

Prepare your main proposal offline, including an abstract, target list,
science case, and technical justification. The science case and technical
justification together should be in PDF format, no more than three pages
total, with two pages for the science case and one page for technical
justification. Those three pages should include all references and figures,
use 11pt font (or larger), and have at least 10mm margins. Numerical
referencing should be used (e.g. "as shown by [1].", instead of "as shown by
Smith et al. (2017)" ). Colour figures are accepted. Other document formats
will not be accepted.

Submitting your proposal

When your proposal details are ready, submit your application to ATAC
through Lens, the AAT's online proposal submission system. As noted above,
this is a user-account-based system and all investigators on a proposal must
be registered.

Contacting the ATAC Secretariat 

Postal Address: 

PO Box 2100 

Hawthorn VIC 3122 

Street Address: 

Dept. Physics & Astronomy 

Macquarie University 

North Ryde NSW 2109 

Phone: +61 (0)2 9850 6379 

E-mail: aat - at -
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/fcL0CGvmB5iN42GphB9IjN?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> astronomyaustralia.org.au 

Web:
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/PHHHCJyp0qhWwg5mh8xoeX?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> www.astronomyaustralia.org.au/aat.html

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