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The Gemini Observatory has announced a Call for Proposals for the Gemini North and Gemini South Telescopes for observations during the 2014A observing period (1 February - 31 July 2014). Please read the information below before starting a proposal. |
The 2014A instrumentation for Gemini North includes GNIRS (Gemini Near InfraRed Spectrograph), NIRI (Near InfraRed Imager), GMOS-N (Gemini optical imager, Multi-Object Spectrograph, and IFU), and NIFS (near-IR IFU spectrogaph). In addition, proposals for GNIRS, NIRI and NIFS may also request Altair, the facility AO system, with natural or laser guide star AO.
For Gemini South, instrumentation includes GMOS-S, GSAOI (near-IR AO imager) with GeMS (Multi-Conjugate AO system), and FLAMINGOS-2 (near-IR imager/spectrograph).
Exchange time is available with all facility instruments at Subaru.
About 93% of the time on Gemini-North and 83% of the time on Gemini-South will be available for science programs. The US share of science time available in this call is estimated as 92 nights at Gemini-North and 77 nights at Gemini-South. NOAO strongly encourages programs of all lengths from an hour to several nights, and ranging from short pilot programs to large programs that would have a major scientific impact. The NOAO TAC will be instructed to recommend a broad distribution of programs.
Queue programs assigned by the ITAC into Band 1 will be eligible for rollover for up to two additional semesters. Eligibility for rollover will be decided at the 2014A ITAC (for rollover into 2014B-2015A); national policies will be defined by the relevent NTAC.
Details about preliminary instrument schedules, windows of accessibility for right ascension, and a summary of new capabilities are available on the Gemini Call for Proposals website.
Investigators may submit proposals for Gemini observations through the standard NOAO proposal form, which allows a single proposal to be submitted requesting time on any combination of resources offered by NOAO, including Gemini. Investigators proposing for Gemini time only are encouraged to submit their proposals using the Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT). Proposals are due by 11:59 pm MST on 26 September 2013.
Applications for time from the U.S. share of Gemini should be submitted through NOAO, which is responsible for scientific and technical assessment.
Procedures and forms for applying for telescope time can be obtained at http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/noaoprop.html. NOAO will provide assistance to investigators preparing proposals for Gemini time.
Investigators who are applying only for time on Gemini telescopes may alternatively choose to use the Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT) to prepare their observing proposals. PIT is available from the Gemini Observatory at http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/observing-gemini/proposal-submission/phase-i-tool-pit. Gemini proposals prepared using the PIT will be formatted for the NOAO Telescope Allocation Committee. Investigators interested in using the PIT should note restrictions and guidelines listed on the PIT Submissions help page of the NOAO proposal instructions.
All joint Gemini programs must be submitted through the PIT, which allows the submission of a single proposal to multiple national TACs. Investigators wishing to submit different proposals related to the same project to more than one national TAC may still do so, but the programs will not be combined at Gemini (and will thus have separate PIs, ID numbers, phase-II submissions, etc.)
The NOAO TAC will review and rank Gemini proposals for the U.S. share of Gemini time. The ranked proposals from the several partner countries will be merged together for review by the Gemini International Time Allocation Committee, which will resolve any conflicts.
Notification of the award of time will be sent to the investigators by NOAO following final approval of the draft schedule by the Director of the Gemini Observatory. NOAO will notify investigators whether or not Gemini observing time has been granted by email in June, as soon as the schedule is available.
Instruments which are being offered in the 2014A semester are listed below. More detailed information is available about each instrument from the Gemini Observatory via the links below.
The Gemini and Subaru observatories are continuing a time exchange program
that will provide the Gemini community with 5-10 nights of
classical observing
time at Subaru. Facility instruments are available as follows:
Hyper Suprime-Cam (90' wide-field optical imager, shared risk)
Suprime-Cam (wide-field optical imager)
MOIRCS (Multi-Object IR Camera and Spectrograph)
FMOS (fiber-fed multi-object near-IR spectrograph)
HDS (High Dispersion Spectrograph),
FOCAS (Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph)
COMICS (Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer)
IRCS (Infrared Camera and Spectrograph, with optional NGS AO).
Requests should be for full nights with a one-night minimum.
Gemini-Keck exchange time will not be available in 2014A. Note, however, that the NOAO community will have access to seven TSIP nights on the Keck telescopes in 2014A.
NOAO support for U.S. observing time on the Gemini 8-m telescopes is organized within the NOAO System Science Center. NSSC astronomers in Tucson and La Serena are serving as Gemini Instrument Scientists, with the responsibility to assist investigators proposing for and receiving time on Gemini.
If you have questions about Gemini instruments or about how to use those instruments, please contact NOAO's Gemini Instrument Scientists for help. You may also send email to us at nssc@noao.edu, or direct queries through the Gemini HelpDesk.
If you would like feedback about your proposal before you submit it, after you have written your proposal, you can contact one of the NOAO Gemini Instrument Scientists for an evaluation of the observing details. This is intended to be a check on technical aspects, not an analysis of the observing strategy or the scientific justification. The NSSC staff will only be able to respond to requests made well in advance of the proposal submission deadline.
Proposal comments and/or suggestions, may be directed to noaoprop-help@noao.edu.
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NOAO is operated by the
Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy
(AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the
National Science Foundation. The NSSC
represents U.S. scientific, technical, and instrumentation interests
in the international community of the Gemini project.
The NSSC is
a division of the
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
(NOAO). |
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