What's New with the Proposal Process?

The NOAO Proposal Team

Some changes have been made to our proposal form for the next observing period, but they mostly affect requests for Gemini North time (see the accompanying article in this Newsletter about the availability of Gemini North telescope time). Please follow all instructions in the on-line help at http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/noaoprop.html .

We summarize here the major changes to the proposal form and process:

• Observing Time on Gemini North. Time may be available (the availability is uncertain at the time of this writing). If Gemini time is available, investigators should request observing time on Gemini North through the NOAO proposal process starting with this observing period. See our Web page at http://www.noao.edu/gateway/gemini/ for the latest details.

• Community Access Time on the HET. Investigators may request community access time on the HET through the NOAO proposal process; proposals are being accepted for June 2000-January 2001 for the HET for this proposal round. See our Web page at http://www.noao.edu/gateway/het/ for details.

• One Title, One Proposal. A single observing proposal may request up to six observing runs at any of the facilities available through NOAO, including Gemini North (if available) and community access time on the HET and MMT. For example, a single proposal may include requests for time on Gemini North, WIYN at Kitt Peak, the 4-meter at Cerro Tololo, the HET, and the MMT.

• Web-Based Proposal Form. The NOAO observing proposal form is available through our Web form only. Starting with the 1999B proposal period, we no longer support FTP retrievals. A partially completed proposal form may be completed over the Web or downloaded, completed, and submitted by e-mail.

• Long-Term and Survey Restrictions. Long-term and survey proposals are being accepted for all facilities available through NOAO, except for Gemini (when it becomes available).

• Changes to Proposal Form. We include here a summary of the major changes to the proposal form. Please read the instructions on our Web site carefully so you are aware of these and any other changes that have been made since the last time you submitted a proposal for observing time at any NOAO facility.
  • We have added a keyword selection to the proposal form. One to five keywords are required for proposals requesting Gemini time and are optional for all other telescopes. Keywords must be selected through the Web form.

  • Gemini proposers must indicate through the Web form if the same proposal is being submitted to another partner country.

  • The number of nights from new moon used to depict moon phase for each observing run requested has been changed from a numeric entry to darkest (<=3), dark (<=7), gray (<=10), and bright (<=14).

  • The run details page for Gemini observing runs has been customized, and Gemini runs must be specified through the Web form. Information for the run details section for Gemini runs will not appear in the LaTeX file unless a Gemini run has been identified through the Web form.

  • Targets and guide stars are required for all Gemini runs. The guide stars are found automatically once the targets have been identified. Thus, it is required that all Gemini target tables be completed on the Web.

  • Required target tables. Target tables are required for all WIYN-2hr, WIYN-SYN, YALO, and Gemini runs. Target tables are no longer required for standard WIYN observing programs, since these are now scheduled classically. Target tables are included on the run details pages for each run when the proposal form is printed. Target tables may be included with any run, but are optional for other telescopes. Target tables for Gemini runs have a different format than the other target tables.

  • Target files can be imported into Web form. Targets may be uploaded to the Web form through a text file following a specified format (see our on-line help). The imported targets will be entered into the appropriate target table for further editing.

• Instrument Lists. As with each semester, the instrument lists for CTIO and KPNO have undergone some modifications. See our instrument lists page at http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/help/facilities.html for a complete list of instruments available for 2000B for all facilities including Gemini North (if available), HET, MMT, Kitt Peak, and Cerro Tololo.

  Observers should note that anyone who wishes to use a PI instrument on the MMT must consult with the PI and obtain a letter of approval and consent that should be submitted by the instrument PI to noaoprop-letter@noao.edu before the proposal deadline.

• CNTAC Proposals. Chilean National proposals for time at CTIO are being accepted through NOAO using the NOAO proposal form. Proposals received in Tucson will be checked for completeness and then forwarded to the Chilean National TAC for allocation of time. (This is new for the 1999B proposal period.) Requests for Chilean time on Gemini North may NOT be requested through the NOAO proposal process.

Details about the proposal process are available off the proposal home page (http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/noaoprop.html ). Questions may be directed to noaoprop-help@noao.edu.