During the past few months there has been a sharply increasing demand for
dormitory space on Cerro Tololo. This is not surprising, given that two new
large telescope projects (Gemini South and SOAR) are now underway on Cerro
Pachon, along with three new small telescope projects on Tololo
(2MASS-South, US Naval Observatory Astrometric Survey telescope and the
Swarthmore/NASA H Robotic Survey Telescope). Work will soon start in
earnest on rehabilitating the Yale 1-m reflector on Cerro Tololo. All of
these projects put extra people on site, sometimes for extended periods, for
engineering, installation and startup.
To minimize confusion and possible conflict for dormitory space, we urge everyone who must stay overnight on Tololo to make their reservations as much in advance as possible and reconfirm them at least five days in advance. It may, unfortunately, be necessary for us to deny accommodation on Cerro Tololo to groups and individuals who fail to follow these procedures. We must also take a hard look at requests for more than two observers per telescope.
We regret that we may not be able to be as accommodating as in the past. It is part of the price of improving and augmenting our scientific capabilities for the benefit of the community.
Malcolm Smith (msmith@noao.edu)