From: Rene Rutten (rgmr@ing.iac.es)
Date: Thu Aug 19 2004 - 02:55:30 PDT
ING ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVING TIME IN 2005A
Contents
1. ING Instrumentation in Semester 2005A
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: INT Support Model
10. New Visitor Instruments to the WHT
11. Submission Deadlines
1. ING Instrumentation in Semester 2005A
----------------------------------------
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
INTEGRAL is available with the WYFFOS long-camera only.
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
The WFC is offered in the default rotator position angle of
180-degrees only. However, in exceptional circumstances other
rotators can be offered for the duration of the run only, i.e.
changes to rotator angle during a run are not permitted.
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 2005A.
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 2004B.
OASIS is offered to the community on a shared-risks basis in
semester 2005A.
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 (summer median seeing
0.5-arcsec, winter median seeing 0.8-arcsec), 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 web 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 2005A, 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 arcsec/pixel and the
field-of-view is 4.2 arcmin.
LIRIS had a successful commissioning runs in 2003A and 2004A, and further
commissioning is scheduled in 2004B. It is therefore offered in both
imaging and long-slit spectroscopy modes in 2005A on a shared risks basis.
LIRIS in multi-slit mode is available only in collaboration with the
instrument builders; prospective applicants for LIRIS in this mode
should contact Dr Arturo Manchado (amt@ll.iac.es) in the first instance.
For further information on LIRIS and its performance please refer to
the ING and IAC LIRIS web pages:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/liris/
and
http://www.iac.es/proyect/LIRIS/
5. WYFFOS Long-Camera Offered on a Shared-Risks Basis
------------------------------------------------------
The WYFFOS long-camera was commissioned at the end of July.
However, due to adverse weather and technical problems unrelated
to the long-camera, it did not prove possible to fully characterise
its efficiency or throughput of the fibres. We expect an improved
performance compared to the short-camera, but new performance figures
will be published in October following the next AF2 service nights.
Therefore the long-camera is offered with the 2xEEV mosaic for AF2
and the visitor instrument INTEGRAL in 2005A on a shared-risks basis.
Further information on the performance of the long-camera will appear
on the AF2 web pages as it becomes available:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/af2/index.html
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-mode 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
2005A. 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 2005A 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:
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.
NL- and UK-based astronomers may not apply to use the WHT via the
timeshare agreement, but instead should submit their WHT applications
directly to their own national TAC.
9. Telescope Support: INT Support Model
---------------------------------------
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 the WHT and, by student support astronomers, on the 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
16th August 2004
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Fri Aug 20 2004 - 04:19:43 PDT