[ASA] 2021A Blanco telescope (CTIO) Call for Proposals for the Australian Astronomy Community

Wed Sep 9 10:16:55 AEST 2020

2021A Blanco Telescope (CTIO) Call for Proposals

The proposal deadline for the Blanco Telescope in Semester 2021A  (1 February 2021 - 31 July 2021) is:

6 October 2020, at 17:00

Australian Eastern Daylight Time (UTC + 11 hrs)

The AAL and NOAO/CTIO is continuing a time-swap arrangement between the AAT and the 4m Blanco Telescope in 2021A 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 <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/kuWQCjZ1N7i0p5GMIWnugG?domain=ctio.noao.edu>  available to the 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 <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/F7MBCk81N9tvmWX6iVx3wD?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au>  and be submitted before the deadline using the Lens proposal form (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 <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/jbC4Clx1NjilgnP5Cyy0mU?domain=ctio.noao.edu>  and the CTIO Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/3QyfCmO5gluqEJPKh9wOCk?domain=ctio.noao.edu>  (COSMOS). The purpose-built Dark Energy Camera (DECam) was used for the Dark Energy Survey that imaged nearly a billion galaxies. 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. 

Further details about the available nights and instruments can be found from the NOAO 2021A Call for Proposals <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/8HwTCnx1jniVMO3qUmsM8i?domain=ast.noao.edu> . Note that as of the date of this Call, 1 September 2020, CTIO remains closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with no scheduled reopening date; however, proposals are being solicited for Semester 2021A.

When the CTIO resumes its operations, all observations are expected to be carried out remotely. 

The observer support and telescope operator will be available at the telescope as normal. The CTIO will waive requirement that remote observers must have prior experience with using DECam on site, although the involvement of experienced observers is encouraged whenever possible. It is recognised that first time users of DECam or first time remote users, will need more support than it has been normally provided.  The support astronomer assigned to the program will provide help and advice in advance of the run in getting set up and checking connectivity.  They will be present virtually from home or from their office during the first night of the run, and available for the rest of the run if needed.  

More detailed remote observing instructions can be found at  https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/t6aJCoV1kpfmxqPLhoBest?domain=ctio.noao.edu.

How to apply for Blanco time 

All ATAC applicants should check the  ATAC Policies and Procedures <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/F7MBCk81N9tvmWX6iVx3wD?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au>  and recent Policy Announcements <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/P2OnCp81lrtZXMONI719Dq?domain=aat.anu.edu.au> . For further clarification on any issue, please contact the ATAC Technical Secretary (aat - at - astronomyaustralia.org.au <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/xqatCq71mwfvm0kPivNtoT?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com> ).

Those who wish to apply for Blanco time should do so using the Lens proposal system (https://www.aao.gov.au/lens) 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/QpI4Cr81nytOLVn0sLo39w?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 <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/_sgqCvl1rKiZMNLjIEU3w6?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/MEdPCwV1vMfnY8VzcXuGK0?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/SHrhCxngwOfjrMR4c0dpDx?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com> 

Important information: anonymous review trial

The AAT Consortium places a high value on equity and integrity and it commenced a trial of an implementation of the dual-anonymous proposal review process for regular proposals (including proposals for the Blanco Telescope) in 2020B. The trial will continue in 2021A. In this process, the identities of the proposing team are concealed from reviewers. The goal is to enable reviewers to focus on the science, not the scientist. Several studies have shown that a reviewer's attitude toward a submission may be affected, even unconsciously, by the identity of the lead author or principal investigator (see the Anonymous-Double Blind Review Annotated Bibliography <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/QvjeCyojxQT39X2zcvnAIe?domain=stsci.edu> ). Proposers are required to anonymise their proposals following the guidelines below. Sufficient care should be used, especially if resubmitting a proposal from a previous cycle or other submission. Lead investigators should avoid directly disclosing their identity in the science or technical justification sections. 

The names and affiliations will not be included in the proposals generated for the ATAC reviews.

Anonymity Guidelines for Proposers. 

These guidelines will help conceal the identities of the proposers and ensure a fairer proposal evaluation process. 

1.      Do not include author names or affiliations anywhere in the proposal text. This includes but is not limited to, page headers, footers, diagrams, figures, or watermarks. This does not include references to past work, which should be included whenever relevant (see below).

2.      Referencing is an essential part of demonstrating knowledge of the field and progress. When citing references within the proposal, use third person neutral wording. This especially applies to self-referencing. For example, replace phrases like “as we have shown in our previous work (Doe et al. 2010)” with “as Doe et al. (2010) showed...” Do not refer to previous projects using AAT or other observatories in an identifying fashion. For instance, rather than write "we observed another cluster, similar to the one we are proposing under AAT program #XXXXX," instead write "AAT program #XXXXX has observed this target in the past..."

3.      We encourage references to published work, including work citable by a DOI. It may be occasionally important to cite exclusive access datasets or non-public software that may reveal (or strongly imply) the investigators on the proposal. We suggest proposers use language like "obtained in private communication" or "from private consultation" when referring to such potentially revealing work.

4.      Do not include acknowledgements, or the source of any grant funding. 

Examples of re-worked text can be found on The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) website <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/O0J_CzvkyVCzJgwphWr-c7?domain=outerspace.stsci.edu> . 

A strict compliance with these guidelines is required. 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/kuEWCANpgjC576l3I1FT0u?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).

Important: Proposers should demonstrate that their team has the skills and experience with the required observing modes to effectively conduct the proposed observations. Please include this information under a separate heading “Team Expertise and Background”. Note the ATAC will conduct their pre-grading without access to this section. Once the ranked list is set, the ATAC will be given access to the "Team Expertise and Background" information associated with each proposal recommended for implementation. At this point, proposals may only be flagged for downgrade (resulting in a non-selection of the proposal), if a team is clearly unqualified to undertake the work proposed.

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: 

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

Phone: +61 (0)2 93724842 

E-mail: aat - at - astronomyaustralia.org.au <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/oipcCBNqjlCNE6R9fXTpAo?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com>  

Web: www.astronomyaustralia.org.au/aat.html <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Mx9jCD1vlpTZgvJKIXSE2I?domain=protect-au.mimecast.com> 

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