[ASA] Australian Call for LCO Proposals - 2026B

[Christopher Onken]

As a host institution for the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global network of telescopes, ANU is entitled to a share of the network's observing time, which it is making available to all Australian astronomers.

Applying for LCO time

The closing date for observing proposals for the 2026B semester (from 1 August 2026 to 31 January 2027) will be 4pm AEST, Tuesday, 14 July 2026.

Proposals must be led by researchers at Australian institutions. Under the ongoing ANU host agreement with LCO, at least half of the overall Australian time will consist of contributions to LCO Key Projects. The next round of LCO Key Projects is expected to be announced soon (see https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/MOGlCvl1rKi2J3R7VIQfWcQhOlv?domain=lco.global). Thus, proposals to support the new LCO Key Projects are strongly encouraged, but will be assessed on scientific merit like any other proposal.

ANU's available time for 2026B (after long-term proposals have been allocated) will be 65 hours on the 2m telescopes, 190 hours on the 1m telescopes, and 35 hours on the 0.4m telescopes. Note that this access can utilise any of the two 2m telescopes, twelve 1m telescopes, or twelve 0.4m telescopes in the entire LCO global network.

For the 2026B semester, please note the following changes of instrumentation on the 1m network: NRES has been decommissioned and should not be applied for; LCO will begin replacing the 1m Sinistro imagers in mid-2026 with Princeton Instruments SOPHIA deep depletion CCD cameras. Please find further details, exposure time calculators, and target visibility calculators in the official LCO CfP at https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/RTyACwV1vMfA5W2GrFqhycJhMWi?domain=lco.global

Proposals may ask to be considered for long-term status, with allocations extending up to 3 consecutive semesters. If requesting this, be sure to list the required number of observing hours in each mode with each instrument on the cover sheet. The ANU TAC will make the final determination about long-term status.

Proposed observations can use any of the three observing modes: standard queue-scheduled, Time Critical, and Rapid Response. All proposals that request Time Critical or Rapid Response time will be technically reviewed by LCO. The proposals must explicitly justify the need for TC/RR time. LCO will work with the PIs to make any changes to the queue/TC/RR allocations if it is determined that the science can be done with less restrictive scheduling modes. Proposals lacking justification will automatically get standard queue-mode observations. For details on the special scheduling modes, see https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/sCT0CxngwOf9p3z1NhYi9cyvCkm?domain=lco.global

Proposals will be assessed on scientific merit by the ANU TAC, taking into account that the Australian PI must be a significant team member. Note that this is not a call for Key Projects and any proposal that appears to compete with a Key Project would need to justify how it is different and why it does not conflict with the Key Project goals. Information on the next set of Key Projects should be available soon at https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/MOGlCvl1rKi2J3R7VIQfWcQhOlv?domain=lco.global/

A maximum 3-page scientific and technical justification should be sent to lco_proposals at mso.anu.edu.au<mailto:lco_proposals at mso.anu.edu.au>

In addition, list on a separate page:

  *
Title and abstract
  *
Proposers and institutions.
  *   E-mail address of the PI (an LCO-registered e-mail, if available).
  *   Whether the data is an important part of a PhD thesis.
  *   Requested telescope(s) and instrument(s).
  *   Requested number of (integer) hours in each observing mode (queue/TC/RR) for each instrument, and minimum useful allocation.
  *   Whether you want this to be considered for long-term status, and if so, for how many semesters (up to 3) and for how many hours in each observing mode with each instrument in each semester.
  *   An estimate of how much time is required beyond this semester.

Please contact Christopher Onken<mailto:christopher.onken at anu.edu.au> if you have any questions about LCO, or ANU's access to the network.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.sydney.edu.au/pipermail/asa/attachments/20260618/597076d7/attachment.htm>