[INGNEWS] ING AO FOR OBSERVING TIME IN 2004B

From: Danny Lennon (djl@ing.iac.es)
Date: Thu Feb 12 2004 - 07:43:03 PST

  • Next message: Peter Nugent: "Re: updated version of the paper"

    ING ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVING TIME IN 2004B

    Contents

    1. ING Instrumentation in Semester 2004B

    2. OASIS Offered on a Shared-Risks Basis

    3. INGRID Not Offered at Cassegrain Focus

    4. LIRIS Offered on a Shared-Risks Basis

    5. WYFFOS Long-Camera Offered on a Shared-Risks Basis

    6. Backup Proposals for Adaptive Optics

    7. Opticon Trans-national Programme

    8. Time-share Agreement with TNG for NL and UK Observers

    9. Telescope Support: New Support Model for the INT

    10.New Visitor Instruments to the WHT

    11.Submission Deadlines

    1. ING Instrumentation in Semester 2004B
    ----------------------------------------

    William Herschel Telescope

    For an overview of the proposal submission process and current
    instrumentation at ING, see

    http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/INGinfo_home.html

    WHT applicants are encouraged to submit proposals for larger
    time applications. For the UK community, the PATT2 application
    form allows a 2-page scientific justification for WHT proposals
    which are for *eight* or more nights, or are long-term (multi-
    semester) or are coordinated with other telescopes.

    The following instrument/detector configurations are available:

    Instrument Detector Comments
    ISIS BLUE EEV12
    ISIS RED MARCONI2
    AUX-port imager TEK1
    Prime Focus Camera 2xEEV Mosaic
    AUTOFIB2/WYFFOS 2xEEV Mosaic Long camera, shared risks
    NAOMI/INGRID 1kx1k HgCdTe
    NAOMI/INGRID/OSCA 1kx1k HgCdTe
    NAOMI/OASIS 2kx4k MIT/LL Shared risks
    LIRIS 1kx1k HgCdTe Shared risks

    Adaptive Optics
    All AO observations are carried out in queue mode by ING
    staff. Applicants for AO observations are encouraged to consult
    the NAOMI instrument home page for more information about individual
    instruments and about AO performance:

     http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/naomi/

    Visitor Instruments
    Applicants wishing to submit proposals to use an established
    visitor instrument on the WHT should contact the relevant
    Instrument Contact in the first instance; WHT visitor
    instruments and contacts are:

    INTEGRAL Evencio Mediavilla, emg@ll.iac.es
    PN.S Nigel Douglas, ndouglas@astro.rug.nl
    SAURON Tim de Zeeuw, tim@strw.leidenuniv.nl
    S-CAM Michael Perryman, mperryma@astro.estec.esa.nl
    Ultracam Vik Dhillon, vik.dhillon@sheffield.ac.uk

    Applicants wishing to submit proposals to use a new (to ING)
    visitor instrument should read the following instructions:

    http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/NewVisitorInstruments.html

    Isaac Newton Telescope

    Only one instrument/detector configuration is available on the INT:

    Instrument Detector
    WFC 4xEEV

    ING, in collaboration with Prof. John Beckman of the IAC, has
    recently purchased two H-beta filters for the WFC on the INT,
    H-beta broad (4861/170) and H-beta narrow (4861/30). These filters
    are offered in semester 2004B.

    INT observing time is allocated in blocks of one week on
    average, and observing programmes shorter than *4* nights are
    not accepted, unless explicitly agreed in advance by the Head
    of Astronomy or the Director of ING.

    For the UK community, the PATT2 application form allows a
    2-page scientific justification for INT proposals which are
    either long-term (multi-semester) or are coordinated with
    other telescopes.

    2. OASIS Offered on a Shared-Risks Basis
    ----------------------------------------

    The optical integral-field spectrograph OASIS, formerly at
    the CFHT, had successful commissioning runs on-sky with NAOMI in
    2003, and further commissioning is scheduled in semester 2004A.
    OASIS is offered to the community on a shared-risks basis in
    semester 2004B.

    OASIS is now mounted permanently with the adaptive-optics
    system NAOMI, in the WHT's new AO-dedicated Nasmyth enclosure
    GRACE. Prospective applicants are reminded that the best-
    seeing period at ING occurs in the summer months, but applications
    are welcome for all parts of the semester. Observations
    with NAOMI/OASIS will be carried out by ING staff in queue
    mode, and are on a shared-risks basis.

    PIs need not budget for overheads such as spectral calibrations;
    standard calibration observations will be made routinely
    by ING staff as an integral part of the queue observations.

    For further information on OASIS please refer to the
    home page:

    http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/oasis/

    3. INGRID Not Offered at Cassegrain Focus
    -----------------------------------------

    INGRID is not offered at the Cassegrain focus in 2004B, but is
    offered at the GRACE Nasmyth focus with the adaptive optics suite.
    Applicants are reminded that INGRID can also be used in GRACE
    with the AO loop switched off; in this case a guide star is not
    needed, and throughput is reduced by ~0.5 magnitudes compared
    to that at Cassegrain. The FoV of INGRID in GRACE is 42 arcsec.

    At the Cassegrain focus, infrared imaging observations may be
    carried out with LIRIS (Section 4). The FoV of LIRIS at the
    Cassegrain focus is 4.2 arcmin.

    4. LIRIS Offered on a Shared-Risks Basis
    -----------------------------------------

    The long-slit intermediate resolution infrared spectrograph, LIRIS,
    built at the IAC, has imaging, long-slit and multi-object spectroscopy
    modes in the near-infrared (0.9-2.4 microns), and uses a Hawaii
    1024x1024 HgCdTe detector operating at 65K. It is mounted at the
    Cassegrain focus; the plate scale is 0.25 acrsec/pixel and the
    field-of-view is 4.2 arcmin.

    LIRIS had a successful commissioning run in 2003A, and further
    commissioning is scheduled in 2004A. It is therefore offered in both
    imaging and spectroscopy modes in 2004B on a shared risks basis.

    For further information on LIRIS please refer to the project web site
    at the IAC

    http://www.iac.es/proyect/LIRIS/

    5. WYFFOS Long-Camera Offered on a Shared-Risks Basis
    ------------------------------------------------------

    The WYFFOS long camera will be commissioned in July 2004. Subject to
    successful commissioning it will be offered with the 2xEEV mosaic
    detector with AF2 and the visitor instrument INTEGRAL in 2004B, on a
    shared risks basis.

    If the long camera is not successfully commissioned, the existing
    short camera will be offered with the Tek6 detector.

    6. Backup Proposals for Adaptive Optics
    ---------------------------------------

    In order to provide backup for periods of unsuitable atmospheric
    conditions for NAOMI and OASIS observations, we encourage proposals
    for ISIS which can be carried out in any sky conditions (that is,
    unspecified seeing and sky brightness).

    Such proposals will be reviewed by the national TACs in the usual way,
    and we envisage at least one such proposal per TAC will act as backup
    to the NAOMI/INGRID and NAOMI/OASIS service periods.

    7. Opticon Trans-national Programme
    -----------------------------------

    Access to the ING telescopes under the auspices of the EC-funded
    Research Infrastructure Programme OPTICON is available to eligible
    astronomers from EU Member States and Associated States, and EC
    funding is available to cover their travel, accommodation and
    subsistence costs. Applications from new users and young researchers,
    and astronomers from countries without similar research facilities,
    are strongly encouraged.

    Proposals can be submitted to any of the ING time allocation
    committees by following their submission procedures and deadlines
    (Section 11), and will be judged strictly on scientific merit.
    Applicants are urged to read the local Opticon web pages for detailed
    information on eligibility and other aspects of the programme

    http://www.otri.iac.es/opticon/

    8. Time-share Agreement with TNG for NL and UK Observers
    --------------------------------------------------------

    The time-share agreement with the TNG has proved to be very
    successful in previous semesters, and continues in semester
    2004B. In this scheme, NL and UK observers may apply to use
    three TNG instruments. These are:

     + The high resolution spectrograph, SARG
     + The near infrared camera-spectrometer, NICS, in non-AO
       spectroscopy mode only
     + The multi-object low-resolution optical spectrograph, DOLORES

    A minimum of five nights is available in total on the TNG in
    semester 2004B to the NL and UK communities, and in return the
    Italian community obtains access to the WHT for the same number
    of nights.

    For further details on the TNG observing guidelines and for
    instrumentation details, refer to:

     http://www.tng.iac.es/

    Please note that NL and UK applicants for SARG, NICS or DOLORES
    should apply using their standard PATT form and should send
    these to their own national TAGs, and not directly to TNG.
    (CAT observers should apply for TNG time in the usual way).
    Successful applicants who meet the Opticon criteria of eligibility
    will be entitled to apply to the Opticon Trans-national Access
    Programme for their travel, accommodation and subsistence costs.

    9. Telescope Support: New Support Model for the INT
    ---------------------------------------------------

    Applicants are reminded that due to the impact of cost savings at
    ING, and operation of the INT as a single-instrument telescope,
    Telescope Operator (TO) support is no longer provided on the INT.

    TO support continues to be provided for each night of all WHT
    runs, and astronomical support is provided on the first night of
    each run on both the WHT and INT.

    Observers are reminded that filter and/or grating changes within
    a run will be accommodated provided that they have been explicitly
    requested in the telescope proposal. However, due to limited human
    resources, additional changes to the instrumental configuration
    may not be accommodated.

    10. New Visitor Instruments on the WHT
    -------------------------------------

    PIs considering a proposal to the WHT around a new visitor
    instrument (i.e. new to ING) should email the Director well
    in advance of the proposal deadlines stating their intent,
    and should also submit a Technical Appraisal form. Further
    information on the protocol to be followed for submitting
    proposals centred around new visitor instruments, and a link
    to the Technical Appraisal form, is available at:

    http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/NewVisitorInstruments.html

    11. Proposal Submission Details
    -------------------------------

    Details of how to submit a proposal, including deadlines, are
    given on the web pages of the Dutch, Spanish and UK time
    allocation panels:

    Dutch: http://www.astron.nl/wsrt/PC/
    Spanish: http://www.iac.es/cat/info.html
    UK: http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/patt/PATT_Appl.html

    Ian Skillen, ING
    12 February 2004

    =============================================================
    To subscribe to [INGNEWS] send to majordomo@ing.iac.es the
    command "subscribe ingnews" from the email address you want
    to subscribe. Leave the subject field and the rest of the
    message body empty.
    To unsubscribe from [INGNEWS] send to majordomo@ing.iac.es
    the command "unsubscribe ingnews" from the email address you
    want to unsubscribe. Leave the subject field and the rest of
    the message body empty.
    You can subscribe a colleague to [INGNEWS] by sending
    an email to majordomo@ing.iac.es with the message "subscribe
    ingnews address" in the body of the message, where address
    should contain your collegue's email address. This only works
    from a previously subscribed address.
    For further information on ING, point your browser to:
    http://www.ing.iac.es/



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Thu Feb 12 2004 - 09:09:40 PST