Beginning in March 2000, a significant amount of observing time on the MMT Observatory 6.5-m telescope will be made available to the astronomical community through the NOAO proposal process. Under an agreement with the National Science Foundation, 162 nights of observing time will be allocated to the astronomical community over six years. This public access time will be distributed over the phases of the moon and the seasons of the year in the same proportion as the scientific observations scheduled for the staffs of the MMT Observatory's parent institutions, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Steward Observatory. Therefore, roughly 27 nights per year will be allocated for national access, although the actual number of nights available in a given year will vary, particularly in the first year or so after the telescope's commissioning.
Access to visiting observers through the Public Access Program will begin in March 2000. Proposals for the period from 1 March through 31 July 2000 will be due on 30 September 1999. Proposals should be submitted through NOAO using the standard NOAO proposal form. Proposals will be reviewed by the NOAO TAC, and those approved will be forwarded to the MMT for scheduling (approximately 20% more proposals will be forwarded than can be scheduled to allow for block scheduling, conflicts in dates, etc).
Investigators may request telescope time on any or all nighttime facilities available through NOAO, including the MMT, in a single proposal. Time on the MMT may also be requested as part of an NOAO Survey Proposal (note that NOAO Survey Proposals are only accepted during the March call for proposals). Because of the limited support provided by the MMTO, access to the telescope will be restricted to those who have:
• some experience in observing with large telescopes;
• general familiarity with the type of instrument they will be using; and
• some expertise with IRAF.
Note that, while the NOAO TAC will meet on a semester basis, the 6.5-m telescope is scheduled trimesterly (January through April, May through August, and September through December). This means that although all proposals submitted for a given semester will be reviewed at the same time, the scheduling of those projects approved for observing time will not all happen shortly thereafter. Note also that the month of August is traditionally reserved for major telescope maintenance projects.
All observing will be carried out in classical mode. Observers will normally be expected to arrive one night early to become familiar with the MMT environment by watching the previous observer.
Procedures and forms for applying for telescope time can be obtained on the Web at http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/noaoprop.html. More detailed information about MMT access can be found on the Web at http://www.noao.edu/scope/mmt.
Todd Boroson, Craig Foltz