[ASA] 2020A Anglo-Australian Telescope Call for Proposals

Thu Aug 15 15:10:48 AEST 2019

2020A Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) Call for Proposals

The main proposal deadline for the AAT in Semester 2020A (February 2020 -
July 2020) is:

16 September 2019, at 17:00

Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC + 10 hrs)

Proposals to the Australian Time Allocation Committee (ATAC) must follow the
ATAC Policies and Procedures
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/NRExCZYM2VFLn02LIzQ-CZ?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au
.pdf>  and be submitted before the deadline using the Lens proposal form
(https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/ZyOJC1WZXriowl5oiGTqBR?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
).

Applying for AAT Telescope Time through ATAC

Important information: AAT is operated by a consortium of Australian
universities 

Since 1 July 2018, AAT operations have been managed and funded through a
consortium of Australian universities, led by the Australian National
University (ANU). Operating procedures for AAT observations following the
transition have changed little, with the exceptions that successful
applicants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation costs to
the observatory and will have more limited expert assistance on site.

Important information: Open Time and Paid Time on the AAT

Australian proposals may seek either Open Time or Paid Time on the AAT. A
proposal is Australian if at least half of the proposers and the lead
proposer are based at Australian institutions. Open Time is only available
to Australian proposals. There is no charge to Australian astronomers for
the use of Open Time. Paid Time is available to both Australian and
non-Australian proposals. Non-Australian proposals can only access Paid
Time, not Open Time. Inquiries regarding the terms and conditions for AAT
Paid Time can be made to Astronomy Australia Limited (info - at -
astronomyaustralia.org.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/c3ubC2xZYvCXogOXIBv1-A?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> ).

ATAC will rank all Open Time proposals by scientific merit, and time will be
allocated on this basis (subject to practical constraints) until the
available Open Time is fully allocated. More details are available in the
ATAC Policies and Procedures document
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/NRExCZYM2VFLn02LIzQ-CZ?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au
.pdf> . 

Important information: proposal preparation

- Time available for new proposals: accounting for existing Large Programs,
Director's time and instrument commissioning, there are expected to be 134
nights available for new proposals in Semester 20A (42 dark, 34 grey, 59
bright).

- Due to the reduction in expert assistance at the telescope, proposers are
required to describe the relevant experience and expertise of the team with
the instrument(s) being applied for. Observers are encouraged to arrive
sufficiently in advance of their run to gain such training as is needed for
their run.

- The current Large AAT Program, the DEVILS survey, has been allocated 7
dark or grey nights at certain RAs. New programs with targets outside of
these RAs are more likely to be scheduled. The RA information for Large AAT
Programs is available at https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/35bWC3Q8Z2FlYO0lCDazN1?domain=aat.anu.edu.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/CoeXC4QZ1RFOAq3OiVOFQN?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
.au> 

- To help address issues associated with unconscious bias (e.g. see the
study at https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/hoPSC5QZ29F7Y247i8D3Oq?domain=arxiv.org
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/RFDOC6X13Rtvlq8vIBCJRO?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
) the format of the proposals has been as follows: 

(1) PI information will not be provided to ATAC, 

(2) investigator information will be provided at the end of the proposal
without first names,

(3) the list of investigators will be sorted alphabetically, and

(4) investigators are required to use numerical citations for referencing. 

Lead investigators should avoid directly disclosing their identity in the
science or technical justification sections. Feedback on these changes are
welcome and should be sent to the ATAC Technical Secretary (aat - at -
astronomyaustralia.org.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/c3ubC2xZYvCXogOXIBv1-A?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> ).

- Based upon historical weather trends, about 33% of time is lost to bad
weather. Proposers are therefore required to multiply their time requirement
by a factor of 1.5 to allow for time lost to weather.

Important information: Large Programs

The AAT Council resolved to postpone the Call for Large Proposals until
semester 2020B due to recent failures of the 2dF, the workhorse of survey
programs. Currently 2dF is operational but has a limited supply of spare
parts. The observatory is working on securing additional spare parts for the
instrument and upgrading any obsolete systems.

Important information: instrument availability and upgrades

.         Available AAT instruments include: 2dF+AAOmega, 2dF+HERMES and
KOALA. Additionally, Veloce will be offered on a shared-risk basis. We
anticipate that Veloce will be provisionally accepted by the Observatory
before semester 2020A starts, at which point the Observatory will review the
shared-risk status.

.         Commissioning of Hector instrument will commence using Director's
Time.

.         Target of Opportunity mode is available with 2dF+AAOmega,
2dF+HERMES and KOALA. The Target of Opportunity policy is available at
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/E2NGC71ZgLtKjwoKU2xY1e?domain=aat.anu.edu.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/IKlQC81Zj6t08EL0iEHQV0?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
.au> 

.         Additional instrumentation status information is available at
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/UKL0C91ZkQtXVD9XIQPbbp?domain=aat.anu.edu.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/iPI0C0YZWVF50pZ5SpAmRD?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
.au> 

Lens proposal submission system

All proposals should be submitted with the AAT's online application system
Lens <https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/home> , 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 <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/cNayCgZowLHR5DpRsxbjOP?domain=aao.gov.au>  available for Lens online, 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/SffkCjZrzqHX1VPXIJ5NJu?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/CIR2Ck8vAZtj3P1jczLaQj?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>

Remote observing

Remote observing stations are available at ANU, ICRAR, Swinburne, UNSW and
Australian Astronomical Optics (North Ryde). If you have not used the
instrument that you are scheduled for in the last two years (either remotely
or from site), then we require you to do the observations from site.

How to Apply for AAT Time

Instrument status and policies

All ATAC applicants should check the ATAC Policies and Procedures
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/NRExCZYM2VFLn02LIzQ-CZ?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au
.pdf> , the latest Instrumentation Status for the AAT
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/UKL0C91ZkQtXVD9XIQPbbp?domain=aat.anu.edu.au>  and recent
Policy Announcements <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Naf5ClxwB5C8qjp8s4sAKZ?domain=aat.anu.edu.au> .
Those seeking long term status should refer to the Long-term Programs
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/cI_nCmOxDQt3L9D3SlKuZd?domain=aat.anu.edu.au>  page. For
further clarification on any issue, please contact the ATAC Technical
Secretary (aat - at - astronomyaustralia.org.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/c3ubC2xZYvCXogOXIBv1-A?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> ).

If at least half the proposers and the lead proposer are from European
countries, they may apply for AAT time through the OPTICON
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/6jktCnxyErC2pkj2sryzU5?domain=aat.anu.edu.au
ram-at-the-AAT>  program.

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 your proposal seeks time on two instruments, outline carefully the
relative requirements of the different instrument set-ups, including the
split in observing time between the instruments.

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.

After including overheads (detector readout, calibrations and telescope
slewing), observers are required to multiply their time request by 1.5 to
account for bad weather.

Any backup project must use the same instrument as the main project.

A list of the principal targets (field centres for 2dF programs) 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.

Acknowledgements

The AAT Consortium requests all publications based upon data obtained
through the AAT include the following acknowledgement:

Based [in part] on data obtained at Siding Spring Observatory [via program
XXX]. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which the AAT
stands, the Gamilaraay people, and pay our respects to elders past and
present.

New Opportunity: Guaranteed time on GSAOI/Gemini South in 2020B

 The NGS2 is a new, more sensitive Tip-Tilt Wavefront Sensor for the Gemini
Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics systems (GeMS) that was constructed at ANU
for the Gemini-South 8m telescope.  NGS2 will allow the use of guide stars
up to at least one magnitude fainter than the current system, significantly
extending the number of astronomical objects that can be studied at high
angular resolution with GeMS.  The NGS2 system will also reduce target
acquisition overheads increasing the efficiency of science programs.  Full
details of the performance enhancements will be established once
commissioning of the system, currently scheduled for October 2019, is
completed.  Part of the agreement with Gemini for the NGS2 project is that
there are to be 7 nights of guaranteed time with GSAOI+NGS2 available for
the Australian community to use. The current expectation is that this time
will be allocated by ATAC in 2020B contingent on successful commissioning
and completion of the contract. This is a good time to start thinking of the
"killer" proposals suitable for this exciting opportunity. 

               AAO-CTIO time-swap arrangement

The AAO and NOAO/CTIO have a time-swap arrangement to allow our respective
communities to maximise their scientific opportunities through access to a
broader range of facilities. This semester, there will be 6 nights of CTIO
(Blanco) time available to the Australian community. The 2020A Call for
Proposals for Australian community on Blanco Telescope will be issued on the
22 August 2019.

Further details about the available nights and instruments can be found from
the last NOAO's 2019B Call for Proposals. The new CTIO Call for Proposals is
due for release 01-Sep-2019 (MST; UTC-7:00) with the updated information.
Generally, a uniform distribution of lunations will be available to the
Australian community. Note too that DECam can produce useful imaging in the
reddest filters (izY) on all but the very brightest nights.

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

Those who wish to apply for Blanco time should do so using the Lens proposal
system  (https://www.aao.gov.au/lens/home
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/_Er1CoVzGQiRpQZRs05W6o?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>
), selecting "CTIO 4m" from the telescopes menu on the first page of the
proposal form. 

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.

Contacting the ATAC Secretariat

Postal Address:

PO Box 2100

Hawthorn VIC 3122

Street Address:

AAO - Macquarie University
105 Delhi Rd, North Ryde NSW 2113
Australia

E-mail: aat - at - astronomyaustralia.org.au
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/c3ubC2xZYvCXogOXIBv1-A?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> 

Web: www.astronomyaustralia.org.au/aat.html
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/JIW6Cp8AJQtWE7KWH6i7mE?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com
stralia.org.au> 

Dr Lucyna Kedziora-Chudczer
Program Manager

Astronomy Australia Ltd (Sydney Office)
E: lucyna.chudczer at astronomyaustralia.org.au
<mailto:lucyna.chudczer at astronomyaustralia.org.au>  
W:  <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/5EYjCq7BKYt36Vl3S9LzRL?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au>
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/5EYjCq7BKYt36Vl3S9LzRL?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au

AAL is committed to equity and diversity and endeavours to create an
environment in which every individual is treated with dignity and respect.

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