NOAO > Observing Information > 2013A Instruments List
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NOAO > Observing Information > 2013A Instruments List |
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Observing time at the facilities available through the National Optical Astronomy Observatory is allocated via peer review twice a year. Proposals must be received by Thursday, 27 September 2012 for the upcoming 2013A semester (February through July 2013). All proposals are due the evening of the due date by 11:59pm MST.
Please read the following sections for information on telescope and instrument availability at Gemini North and South, Keck, MMT, AAT, CHARA, CTIO, and KPNO for the 2013A semester.
The following changes to instrumentation at all facilities available
through NOAO are
noted here to alert investigators preparing proposals. For
more information, see the NOAO Newsletter.
The Gemini Observatory released a Call for Proposals for 2013A on August 31. Proposers requesting Gemini time only are advised to use the Gemini Phase-I Tool (PIT) as opposed to the NOAO Web Proposal Form.
Gemini and Subaru are continuing their time-exchange program. Four to ten classically-scheduled nights will be available to the Gemini community. Please see the Gemini call for proposals for more information.
Keck: A total of ten nights of classically-scheduled observing time will be available to the community on the 10-m telescopes of the W.M. Keck Observatory in 2013A. All facility-class instruments and modes are available to the community.
MMT: About six nights of classically scheduled time on the 6.5-m telescope at the MMT Observatory will be available to the community during 2013A. All of the remaining time is bright (> 10 days from new moon). Proposals for grey or dark time will not be accepted.
AAT: Due to a time-exchange program between CTIO and the Australian Astronomical Observatory, ten nights of classical observing time at the 3.9m Anglo-Austrlian Telescope will be available to the community during 2013A. All facility instruments are available.
CHARA: About 50 hours of service observations with the CHARA Interferometer Array at Mt. Wilson will be available to the community during calendar year 2013. All proposals are due by 27 September (even for observations that would nominally fall in 2013B).
Availability of the Blanco in 2013A: CTIO is currently commissioning the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Blanco 4-m telescope and should begin regular science observations late in semester 2012B. For more information see the article by Nicole van der Bliek and Chris Smith on page 24 of the September 2012 issue of the NOAO Newsletter.
An accident with the f/8 secondary mirror occurred in February 2012, and the mirror has been moved to Tucson for assessment and repairs. Blanco f/8 instruments (Hydra and ISPI) will not be available in 2013A, so DECam will be the only instrument offered. See http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/blanco-f8-secondary-incident, which will be updated as more information is available.
SOAR Service & Remote Observing: Given limited staff availability, we cannot support service observing for NOAO proposals at SOAR.
For 2013A remote observing is being offered for NOAO and CNTAC proposals requesting time with SOI, OSIRIS, or the Goodman Spectrograph, provided: (a) the person who will carry out the observations has previously observed at SOAR using the instrument(s) requested in the proposal; and (b) our review of the proposal does not reveal any special technical requirements which would make it preferable to have an observer on-site. Remote observing with Spartan is not being offered at this time.
If you are requesting remote observing, please make a note of this in the "Scheduling constraints and non-usable dates" section that appears at the bottom of the first page of the NOAO proposal form.
Remote observers are strongly advised to contact us well in advance of the date of their run to arrange a check to ensure that their hardware and software are correctly configured, and in particular that there are no firewall issues; this may require the help and participation of their local computer support experts. Please note that while our connection to the US internet is quite reliable, network outages do occasionally occur, often without advance warning, and typically at points along the route not under our control. Such failures will certainly impact the efficency of remote observing, and may cause the loss of part or all of the night's observing.
For more information, see http://www.soartelescope.org/observing/remote-observing-at-soar
SOAR Goodman Spectrograph: The Goodman spectrograph will be available for 2013A in single slit mode with the full complement of gratings (see http://www.soartelescope.org/observing/documentation/goodman-high-throughput-spectrograph/goodman-manual/overview) . Recently commissioned gratings include 400 l/mm, 930 l/mm and 2100 l/mm. Imaging mode may also be used as a supporting component of a primarily spectroscopic program. Filters other than the U, B, V, and R set normally installed in the spectrograph, must be requested in the proposal, or it may not be possible to make them available.
SOAR Spartan IR Imager: The Spartan IR Camera is available in the low resolution mode. The high resolution mode is commissioned, but has seen very little use. Spartan should be preferred to OSIRIS for most IR imaging applications.
CTIO Small Telescopes: Time on the small telescopes at CTIO will be available to NOAO users in 2013A via the usual proposal process. The telescopes are operated by the SMARTS consortium and NOAO is a 15% partner. The SMARTS consortium is facing serious funding challenges and currently operates with reduced services. The 1.0-m telescope will no longer be available, service observations will no longer be available on the 0.9-m, and no RC Spectrograph proposals will be accepted for 2013A. For more information, please see the article "Availability of the CTIO Small Telescopes in 2013A" on page 29 of the September 2012 issue of the NOAO Newsletter.
The 1.5-m and 1.3-m telescopes are only available in service/queue mode. The 0.9-m is only available in classically-scheduled "user" nights, with requests for 7 full nights strongly preferred.
Non-sidereal tracking is no longer supported as service or queue observing. The only option for non-sidereal is user time on the 0.9m.
Note: Useful information for planning observations with KPNO Instruments Available for 2013A is summarized In the September 2012 NOAO Newsletter and at http://www.noao.edu/kpno/instruments.html
NEWFIRM (4m): Permanently installed filters include J, H, and Ks. See http://www.noao.edu/ets/newfirm/ for further information, filter availibility, and policy on filter changes.
Phoenix (4m and 2.1m): Phoenix, the NOAO high-resolution, 1- to 5-micron, infrared spectrograph has returned to KPNO after a stint at Gemini South. It will be offered at both the 4m and 2.1m telescopes in 2013A. Please see the article "Infrared Time-Series Observations with Phoenix" on page 29 of the September 2012 issue of the NOAO Newsletter and http://www.noao.edu/kpno/phoenix/ before preparing a proposal.
KOSMOS (4m) Proposers should write proposals using the capabilities offered by RCSP, but an interest in adapting the proposal to use KOSMOS may be expressed. See the article by Jay Elias on page 16 of the March 2012 NOAO Newsletter for more details.
MOSAIC (4m and 0.9m): The MOSAIC-1 camera has been upgraded with new E2V CCDs and Monsoon based controllers. It is offered for routine observing in 2013A. Availability at the WIYN 0.9m is strongly dependent on Mayall 4m scheduled use.
WIYN Instrument Blocking: Please see the article "Observing at WIYN in 2013A" on page 26 of the September 2012 issue of the NOAO Newsletter for important information on instrument scheduling in 2013A. Please also check http://www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html for updates before writing a proposal.
pODI (WIYN) will be available for shared-risk science observing from 1 March 2013. Please see the article "Performance of pODI in 2013A: What to Expect" on page 27 of the September 2012 issue of the NOAO Newsletter and check http://www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html for any updates.
WHIRC (WIYN) WHIRC was built by Dr. Margaret Meixner (STSci) and collaborators. Proposals requiring use with WTTM should explicitly state this; new users of WTTM are advised to consult KPNO support staff for details. Please see http://www.wiyn.org/observe/status.html for details on newly installed filters and WTTM upgrade plans.
GoldCam (2.1m) The GoldCam CCD spectrograph has been pulled from service on the 2.1-m telescope after developing a serious degradation in performance. A replacement CCD has been acquired, and an upgrade of the instrument is planned.
CFIM (2.1m) STA2, with MONSOON controller, is now the default CCD for CFIM; T2KB will serve as backup. Updated lab characteristics available shortly; contact KPNO support staff for further details.
The following telescope/instrument/detector combinations are available in 2013A. This list is revised twice a year and is published in the NOAO Newsletter and on this web page (http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/help/facilities.html .)
QUESTIONS? You can contact staff scientists using the information linked below.
Gemini assistance is available by sending email to an NOAO Gemini Science Center Instrument Support Scientist, to ngsc@noao.edu, or through the Gemini Help Desk at http://helpdesk.gemini.edu/.
Send email to this general email address: mmt@noao.edu
Send email to Steve Ridgway (sridgway@noao.edu).
Please see CTIO's Staff Contact List.
Please see KPNO's Staff Contact List.
Proposal questions, as well as any comments and/or suggestions, may be
directed to noaoprop-help@noao.edu
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NOAO > Observing Information > 2013A Instruments List |
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