[ASA] ESO Period 109 Call for Proposals & Data Privacy Notice

Mon Aug 30 15:38:26 AEST 2021

ESO Period 109 Call for Proposals

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released the Call for Proposals
for Period 109 (for observations between 1 April 2022 - 30 September 2022).
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 (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/uT2UC5QPXJiZVQx5xHzu3H9?domain=eso.org> 3.6);
*	New Technology Telescope (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/2mKeC6XQ4LfrnA1j1h6HBKg?domain=eso.org> NTT);
*	Very Large Telescope (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/t5pZC71R2NTAOxQ4QFBTaLb?domain=eso.org> VLT);
*	Very Large Telescope Interferometer (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/t8aFC81V0PT67ZzDzFMEhRG?domain=eso.org> VLTI); and
*	Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/oZi_C91WPRTk5gMLMhPiY7h?domain=eso.org> VISTA).

Proposals for ESO time to use the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Nc_cC0YKPviGRDMqMF3dBea?domain=apex-telescope.org> APEX) antenna on Chajnantor will also be
considered on the same basis as those from any ESO member state.

The proposal deadline is Thursday 23 September 2021 at noon Central European
Summer Time (8pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, 6pm Australian Western
Standard Time).

Complete details on how to apply can be found at the
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/--VICgZ0N1iALxmOmFZxLOv?domain=eso.org.> P109 Call
for Proposals web page. All applicants should consult the Call for Proposals
document for Period 109
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/uYDXCjZ1N7in7M3K3CxQu1I?domain=eso.org> , and are required to
update their  <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/4JU5Ck81N9tOM6r8rF0AzZO?domain=eso.org> ESO User Portal accounts to
submit or be on proposals. 

A wealth of information for Australian applicants can be found on AAL's
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/imPtClx1Nji2B5A0AtNXh5u?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au> Australian ESO Forum.
Any questions about policies or the practical aspects of proposal
preparation should be addressed to the ESO Observing Programmes Office,
<mailto:opo at eso.org> opo at eso.org. Applicants who may wish to seek advice on
proposal or observing strategies, optimal choice of instrument, etc. are
invited to contact AAL's ESO Program Manager at
<mailto:Stuart.Ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au>
Stuart.Ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au.

Important Data Privacy Notice for all recent and intending Australian ESO
applicants

ESO supplies AAL with telescope/instrument demand and time allocation data
relating to Australian astronomers only. Australian ESO applicant data is
used only for statistical purposes, and will only be published or made
available to other third parties such as AAL member institutions, in
aggregated and anonymised form. ESO's data collection/use provisions are
available on the AAL ESO Forum
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/IXkICmO5glujmKABAHwwK3-?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au
ian-eso-proposal-statistics>  for reference. It may be necessary to use
automated data matching from data provided to the Data Central Lens proposal
database <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/vyooCnx1jni7JqKAKhzc2ht?domain=lens.datacentral.org.au>  to confirm the identity of
ESO applicants. Applicants may opt out of providing data for Australian
statistical purposes (including those from P101-P108 inclusive) by
contacting Stuart.Ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au
<mailto:Stuart.Ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au> . 

What's new in Period 109?

Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the expected changes in
instrumentation offered and procedures for Period 109 given in
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/eC29CoV1kpfr7LBjBhmD-s7?domain=eso.org>
Sec. 1.1 of the Call for Proposals. Among the items likely to be of most
interest to the Australian community are:

*	Proposal anonymisation: The Dual-Anonymous Peer Review (DAPR) is now
fully deployed, after being introduced successfully in Period 108.
Applicants must formulate the scientific rationales of their proposals
following
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/NE_dCp81lrtnjNv1vC9bgLB?domain=eso.org>
these anonymisation rules and examples, which includes a detailed
description of the DAPR paradigm. Failure to abide by the DAPR rules may
lead to the disqualification of the proposal.
*	No Large Programme proposals accepted in P109: As a reminder, Large
Programme proposals are only being accepted once per year during the Call
for even-numbered Periods.
*	CRIRES availability: The upgraded
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/57N5Cq71mwf8pPzKzhgZV2q?domain=eso.org> CRIRES
instrument has been successfully commissioned and is offered to the
community with the spectroscopy mode covering the wavelength range 0.95-5.3
microns, with spectral resolving powers of 50,000 and 100,000, and in noAO
and NGS modes. A set of two gas cells allows high-precision radial velocity
measurements. Starting in P109, the following modes are available: classical
spectroscopy, spectro-polarimetry, spectro-astrometry, differential
tracking, and generic offsets.
*	MUSE + GALACSI guide stars: The extension of the limiting J-band
magnitude for the GALACSI NFM Low Order Infrared Sensor reference star
(tip-tilt star) to 18.5 mag was commissioned and is fully available
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/CIOGCr81nyt8501P1h5x249?domain=eso.org> . For a
turbulence category of 10% and airmass less than 1.2 the limiting J-band
magnitude is 19.0.
*	GRAVITY (astrometric measurements): ESO invites proposals with the
goal of performing astrometric measurements, a capability which is still
under development (see, e.g., 2017, A
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/MLstCvl1rKi7Dj2p2hPctzw?domain=aanda.org>
&A 602, A94 and The Messenger 170, 10
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/bNYYCwV1vMfGDzAJAFzMHJa?domain=eso.org
er-no170-10-15.pdf> ). Proposers who wish to use the astrometric capability
and contribute to its development are invited to consult the GRAVITY webpage
and contact the astrometric team at least two weeks before the proposal
submission deadline.
*	Survey Telescopes availability: Due to delays in the delivery of
4MOST, the end of VIRCAM operations has been further postponed, and VIRCAM
is now offered for Period 109. A large fraction of VIRCAM time in P109 is
devoted to allow the completion of the remaining ongoing ESO Public Surveys,
as well as Large Programmes. However, a significant amount of VIRCAM
observing time is available for normal programmes within the full range of
atmospheric conditions. Particularly encouraged are open time proposals
requesting any weather conditions (THIN and turbulence category 85% or
100%), and avoiding RA ranges  RA=0-2h, 4h, 7h-10h, as those are allocated
with remaining public survey and large programme OBs. ESO observing time on
the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) with OmegaCAM is no longer offered.
*	Visitor Mode: Although requests for Visitor Mode may be submitted
for P109, any scheduled runs may need to be executed in
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/jcK4CxngwOf1249n9smK-LH?domain=eso.org
ation.html> Designated Visitor Mode instead if travel restrictions are still
in place.
*	APEX: The  <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/IIA6CyojxQTrlz0q0hLmdIf?domain=apex-telescope.org> ARTEMIS (350
μm and 450 μm), CONCERTO <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/XXbQCzvkyVCM0pxQxuy9viF?domain=apex-telescope.org>
(130-310 GHz R=1-300 spectrometer), LAsMA
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/jKp4CANpgjCNv3nLnhyJtQb?domain=mpifr-bonn.mpg.de>  (345 GHz 7-pixel array),
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/3SgcCBNqjlC7g9MpMhA3x8Z?domain=apex-telescope.org> nFLASH (200-270 GHz and 385-500
GHz), and  <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/SbnGCD1vlpT5RKnNnhmTgtt?domain=apex-telescope.org> SEPIA
(159-211 GHz, 272-376 GHz, and 578-738 GHz) instruments are all offered in
P109. Note that ESO does not plan to offer APEX time after Dec. 31, 2022,
corresponding to the end of the current APEX agreement.
*	SOFI: SOFI is expected to be decommissioned in Period 110 for the
installation and commissioning of SoXS, while EFOSC2 will be decommissioned
once SoXS enters regular operations on the NTT, which is expected for Period
111.
*	Visitor Instruments: In P109, visitor instruments can be mounted at
the VLT, NTT, and APEX telescopes, in order to permit innovative
observations by teams with their stand-alone instruments, or to test new
instrumental concepts for the development of new facility instruments. ESO
also offers two foci in the VLTI laboratory to house interferometric
instruments. At the VLT, the Nasmyth A focus of UT1 is available during
Period 109. Proposers should keep in mind that the start of preparatory work
for the arrival of MOONS limits the availability of the visitor focus during
Period 110 and beyond. Interested users should contact paranal at eso.org
<mailto:paranal at eso.org> .

______________________________

Dr. Stuart Ryder
Program Manager (Mon, Wed, Fri)
Astronomy Australia Ltd.

T: +61 (02) 9372 4843

M: +61 (0419) 970834 
E:  <mailto:stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au>
stuart.ryder at astronomyaustralia.org.au

W:  <https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/5GHoCE8wmrt3QJgVgFYzS9l?domain=astronomyaustralia.org.au> www.astronomyaustralia.org.au 

O: c/o AAO, 105 Delhi Rd, North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia

AAL endeavours to be an environmentally sustainable organisation built upon
equity, diversity and mutual respect for its staff and stakeholders.

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