Version 2.0: 14 August 1995, Dave Silva
**************************************************************************
Contents
1. Program Overview
2. Application Instructions
3. MOS/Hydra Information
4. Imager Information
5. Default Quality Assurance Procedures
6. Final Comments
7. IMPORTANT EMAIL ADDRESSES
8. Addendum on Target-of Opportunity Observations
**************************************************************************
1. Program Overview
The WIYN 3.5m telescope began science operations at Kitt Peak on 15 July 1995. The current median WIYN delivered image quality is 0.9" FWHM (see article in September 1995 NOAO Newsletter). This state-of-the-art alt-az telescope has a wide-field CCD Imager and wide-field multi-object fiber spectrograph (MOS/Hydra) mounted at its two Nasmyth foci.
NOAO is allocated 40% of WIYN telescope time by the WIYN (Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO) Consortium, roughly 9 - 12 nights per month. All of the NOAO observing time will be carried out in "queue mode"---i.e., observations will be carried out by the WIYN Queue Program staff. We hope that the availability of the queue observing mode and the opportunity to obtain data for small programs will permit broader access by the community to KPNO facilities. Operating in a queue mode also allows NOAO to develop new observing strategies for application to the Gemini 8m telescopes. A few projects with special or unusual requirements may also be scheduled in the traditional manner with observers present on the mountain.
We are now soliciting WIYN proposals for the Spring 1996 semester (1 Feb 1996 - 31 July 1996). Proposers should use the standard KPNO observing proposal form, and submit the additional WIYN queue observing program attachment (see below) to provide full observational details of the program.
Supported Instrumentation
NOAO will support the two major WIYN facility instruments, the WIYN CCD Imager and the HYDRA Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) formerly available at the 4m. Details of these two instruments are given below. The telescope is designed to switch quickly between these two instruments.
Supported Observing Program Types
Observing programs of all lengths will be accepted for review. Long Programs (which require more than 2 hours of telescope time) will be reviewed by the normal external KPNO TACs and ranked by scientific merit.
Short Programs (those requiring less than 2 hours of observing time) will be reviewed by an internal KPNO TAC. The goal of a typical Short Program might be to obtain a small dataset to complete a larger project or assess the feasibility of a particular type of observation before the submission of a Long Program proposal, or it could be a short, self-contained program. Individual Short Program principal investigators or co-investigators will be allocated at most six (6) hours (i.e. a maximum of three separate Short Program proposals) of WIYN telescope time during "shared risk" operations.
A maximum of two hours of WIYN time can be requested per Short Program proposal. If your program is simple, we will absorb the standard observing overhead (e.g. CCD read-down times, target acquisition times, etc.) However, if your program is more complicated, the following rules apply:
(1) If you are requesting more than three (3) program exposures, you must subtract two (2) minutes for every requested exposure when trying to fit your program within the two hour limit. This overhead charge compensates for the CCD read-down time. For example, if you are requesting six program exposures, your allowed total on-target exposure time is reduced by 12 minutes.
(2) If you are requesting more than two (2) different targets, you must subtract five (5) minutes for every requested target. This overhead charge compensates for the target acquisition time. For example, if you request four target fields, your allowed total on-target exposure time is reduced by 20 minutes.
(3) If you are requesting more than one (1) Hydra fiber configuration, you must subtract 30 minutes per configuration for each additional configuration. For example, if you request two configurations, your allowed total on-target exposure time is reduced by 30 minutes.
(4) We will continue to absorb the calibration and focussing overhead for now.
These rules apply per Short Program proposal.
Proposers should remember that not all observing time will be photometric with 0.5" seeing and should consider submitting proposals which take this into account.
Successful observations will be made available to the program principal investigator as quickly as possible. Typically, datasets will be sent to the principal investigator in FITS format on Exabyte or DAT tapes within seven (7) working days of completing their program. Small datasets may be transmitted to the principal investigator via FTP. To protect proposers' access, such datasets will not be available from NOAO via anonymous FTP. Instead, such transfers will be from NOAO to a site designated by the principal investigator.
Questions about the WIYN proposal process should be directed to the KPNO Director's Office (kpno@noao.edu); questions about expected instrument performance of MOS/Hydra should be directed to Sam Barden (sbarden@noao.edu) or Taft Armandroff (tarmandroff@noao.edu); questions about the WIYN imager should be directed to Dave Silva (dsilva@noao.edu) or Taft Armandroff; questions about WIYN operations status and queue observing should be directed to the WIYN Queue Program address (wiynq@noao.edu).
**************************************************************************
2. Application Instructions
Applying for WIYN observing requires submitting the following:
(1) a regular KPNO observing proposal form (2) a WIYN queue observing program form (a.k.a the WIYNQ form)
These forms can be acquired in the following ways:
WWW via MOSAIC: http://www.noao.edu click on the "KPNO" Page, and then on "How to Get Observing Time"
ANONYMOUS FTP: ftp.noao.edu cd kpno/kpnoforms mget * bye
EMAIL: kpnoprop-request@noao.edu send email to this address to receive KPNO Proposal Information by return e-mail
PAPER: KPNO Observing Support Call (520) 318-8279 Office to request us to send materials to you.
The proposal forms are designed to be processed by LaTeX macros. Briefly, the proposal form consists of a series of keywords followed by fields in which you fill in the information. After editing this information into the form, you may produce a hardcopy by running it through LaTeX and sending it to your laser printer. Proposers will be told how to submit MOS/Hydra configuration data after the proposal review process is completed.
Electronic submission of WIYN proposals will be a two-step process. Both steps must be completed by 1700 MST on 2 October 1995 for the Febuary--July 1996 semester. (The nominal proposal dates are 31 March and 30 September) this current proposal deadline was delayed due to the weekend.) These steps are:
(1) Submit the regular KPNO proposal form to kpnoprop-submit@noao.edu. Proposals will be promptly acknowledged by e-mail. This acknowledgement will contain the proposal ID, and instructions for submitting any encapsulated post-script figures as well as instructions for submitting the WIYN queue form.
(2) Submit the WIYN queue form to "kpnoprop-submit@noao.edu", following the instructions explictly in the previous acknowlegement. If all goes well, you should then receive an additional acknowledgement.
For non-electronic submission, both the standard KPNO proposal form and the WIYN queue observing proposal form MUST be received by KPNO (950 N. Cherry, Tucson, AZ 85719 if sending by courier; P.O. 26732, Tucson, AZ 85726-6732 if sending by US Mail) before 5 PM MST on 2 October. 1995.
Questions about the application process should be directed to the KPNO Director's office (kpno@noao.edu).
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR KPNO PROPOSAL FORM:
(1) If you are applying for Long Program observations, specify "WIYN" as the telescope.
(2) If you are applying for Short Program observations, specify "WIYN---2hr" as the telescope.
(3) Short Program scientific justifications should be kept a half page or less.
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THE WIYNQ FORM "Observing Program" SECTION:
It is VERY IMPORTANT that you specify as precisely as possible a PER EXPOSURE data quality figure-of-merit, i.e. a quantitative measure of whether an individual exposure has met your technical goal. Example figures-of-merit include
(1) S/N per pixel at a specified wavelength (2) how well two lines were split at a given wavelength (3) number of detections above sky per configuration Your figure-of-merit could be some combination of these examples or something else entirely. Please be specific.
MOS/Hydra twilight sky observations are important for radial velocity calibration and potentially for other programs. If your MOS/Hydra program requires that twilight sky observations through all fibers be obtained at dusk and/or dawn for calibration purposes, you should request and justify such observations in the "Observing Program" section of your WIYNQ form.
We will NOT automatically observe spectrophotometric and radial velocity standards for MOS/Hydra programs. Such observations should be explained in the "Observing Program" section of your WIYNQ form, listed as individual targets in the "Observations" section, and cross-referenced to the objects they are calibrating using the "Xref" field in the "Observations" section (see the WIYNQ form for further explanation).
**************************************************************************
3. MOS/Hydra Information
A general description of the instrument may be found in the Hydra Users Manual, available via anonymous FTP (ftp ftp.noao.edu, cd kpno/hydra, binary, get hydramanual.ps.Z) or from the KPNO Observing Suppport Office.
Hydra/Bench Characteristics at WIYN
|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Full unvignetted field | 60 arcmin | | diameters | | |-------------------------------|------------------------------------| | Fiber diameters | 3 arcsec (blue fibers) | | | 2 arcsec (red fibers) | |-------------------------------|------------------------------------| | Fibers available | 96 blue fibers | | | 96 red fibers | | | 12 field orientation probes | | | 84 locations for future fibers| |-------------------------------|------------------------------------| | Minimum fiber separation | 37 arcsec | |-------------------------------|------------------------------------| | Configuration time | 20-25 minutes | |-------------------------------|------------------------------------| | Estimated positioning | 0.22 arcsec (20 um) | | accuracy | | |--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Grating | 316 line/mm, blaze angle 7 d (B&L 181) | | | 600 line/mm, blaze angle 13.9 d (B&L 420) | | | 860 line/mm, blaze angle 30.9 d (KPC-24) | | | 1200 line/mm, blaze angle 21.1 d | | | 316 line/mm echelle, blaze angle 63.4 d | |--------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | Cameras | Red: (all-refractive 285mm focal length bench cam.)| | | Blue: Simmons camera (381 mm focal length) | |--------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | Collimators | 6 inch f/6.7 paraboloid | |--------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | Detector | 2048 x 2048 thinned Tektronix CCD (24 um pixels) | |--------------------------------------------------------------------|
An additional 400g/mm "blue" grating has been delivered and is currently (August 1995) being tested and integrated into its grating cell. We hope to be able to use the grating during Fall 1995. It is expected to have efficiency properties similar to those of KPC-10 (in the RC spectrograph manual). Programs may be prepared in anticipation of this facility but alternative spectrograph configuration(s) should be considered. Please discuss your plans in the "Observing Program" section of your WIYNQ LaTeX form.
A "setup" program is also available for defining the spectrograph configuration and planning observations. The setup program is available via anonymous FTP or Mosaic.
Default MOS/Hydra Operation and Calibration Procedures
MOS/Hydra proposers should keep the following queue observing default operation and calibration procedures in mind when filling out their WIYNQ forms.
I. Default Operation Procedures
(1) The default mode of operation for the Bench Spectrograph CCD will be to read out the entire CCD with no on-chip binning at the default gain of 1.7 electrons/ADU. If you require a different mode of operation, please specify the desired mode and justify it on your WIYNQ form in the "Observing Program" section.
(2) We will constrain the number of spectrograph grating and camera configurations to no more than (1) one per night. We may change grating tilt.
(3) We will observe objects at airmasses of 1.5 or less unless advised that observations at higher airmass are acceptable.
(4) All target objects within your program will be assumed to have equal priority UNLESS you specify otherwise in the "Comments".
II. Default Calibration Procedures
(1) We will take 9 full bias frames at the start of each night. These frames will be medianed. The final medianed frame will be distributed as part of the final data product.
(2) Comparison lamp exposures will be taken before and after a series of program exposures on a given night with a specific Hydra configuration.
(3) Dome flat exposures will be taken at least once per Hydra configuration.
(5) In addition, we will observe spectrophotometric, radial velocity, and other user-specified standards as requested. However, these will be considered part of the approved program and must fit within the allocated time. Such standards MUST be listed as targets on the WIYNQ form and should be cross-referenced (XRef) to their program fields they are calibrating. Please indicate the frequency and timing of standard star observations relative to program objects in the "Observing Program" section. If a "generic" spectrophotometric standard can be used, please indicate that on the "Comments" section of the target list.
**********************************************************************
4. Imager Information
The current Imager detector is S2KB, a thinned Tek/STIS 2048x2048 CCD with 21 micron pixels. The default gain is 2.8 electrons/ADU. The read noise is roughly 8 electrons RMS. The plate scale is 0.195 arcsecs/pixel yielding a field-of-view of 6.8 x 6.8 arcmins.
The median WIYN Delivered Image Quality for the period June 94 to present is 0.9" FWHM. We are confident that for nights with DIQ of 0.7" or larger, closed-loop guiding does NOT degrade the DIQ. We do NOT have enough data yet to understand the impact of our current closed-loop guiding system for nights when the DIQ is 0.6" or less.
Harris UBVRI and Gunn uvgri filters are available. We have not yet received our narrow-band H-alpha filters but expect them soon. In the meantime, if your program requires these filters we will borrow their equivalents from KPNO as necessary.
Other filters may be available from the NOAO collection by specifying the needed filters on the WIYN queue observing form. Investigators may provide special filters as well. The filter holder accepts filters up to 4 x 4 inches in size.
Based on extensive testing, we have concluded that for the Harris filter set, domeflats work better than twilight flats when tested against the nightsky. We will acquire both dome and twilight flats as part of the default calibration process (see below). We do not have enough data to draw conclusions about flat-fielding through the Gunn filters.
S2KB has significant fringing in Harris I. Observers desiring Harris I or Gunn i data should indicate whether fringe correction frames are needed or not, in the "Observing Program" section of their revised WIYNQ form.
The telescope pointing accuracy is about 10 arcsecs RMS all-sky but less than 1 arcsec RMS for offsets. Please supply good coordinates.
Default Imager Operation and Calibration Procedures
Imager proposers should keep the following queue observing default operation and calibration procedures in mind when filling out their WIYNQ forms.
I. Default Operation Procedures
(1) The default mode of operation for the Imager CCD will be to read out the entire CCD with no on-chip binning at the default gain of 2.8 electrons/ADU. If you require a different mode of operation, please specify the desired mode and justify it on your WIYNQ form in the "Observing Program" section.
(2) If multiple exposures of the same field with the same filter are specified, we will: (a) take all these exposures consecutively (b) dither the telescope 10" North and 10" East between each exposure unless otherwise specified. (c) if MANY exposures are requested, we will dither in a grid pattern with a grid point spacing of 10"
(3) After dithering, if another filter has been requested, we will re-center the field.
(4) All target objects within your program will be assumed to have equal priority UNLESS you specify otherwise in the "Comments".
II. Default Calibration Procedures
(1) We will take 9 full bias frames at the start of each night. These frames will be medianed. The final medianed frame will be distributed as part of the final data product.
(2) We will take five (5) domeflats through each active filter during the preceding afternoon. Domeflats will be bias corrected and medianed. The final medianed frame will be distributed as part of the final data product.
(3) We will take twilight flats for any program which requires large scale flat fielding although we cannot guarantee that they will be taken the night of the program exposure. Note that domeflats appear to work better than twilight flats at WIYN (see comments above).
(4) We will only use 3 - 5 filters per night.
(5) For photometric programs, we will observe each night a minimum of 12 Landolt (approximate color range: -0.2 <= B-V <= 1.5), Gunn, or KPNO Spectrophotometric standards, depending on the active filters.
(6) We will observe objects at airmasses of 1.5 or less unless advised that observations at higher airmass are acceptable.
(7) In addition, we will observe user specified standards as requested. However, these will be considered part of the approved program and must fit within the allocated time. Such standards MUST be listed as targets on the WIYNQ form and should be cross-referenced (XRef) to their program fields they are calibrating. Please indicate the frequency and timing relative to program objects of special standard star observations
**************************************************************************
5. DATA QUALITY ASSURANCE PROCEDURES
Each exposure will be tested twice: a quick check by the WIYN Queue Observer immediately after the data is acquired and then a more detailed check the next morning by the WIYN Queue Scientist.
The quick check will consist of the following steps:
(a) Was data actually written to disk and does it look reasonable? Procedure: auto-display the CCD frame after readout
(b) Were the expected number of detections obtained? Procedure: examine a row cut plot
(c) Was the user specified figure-of-merit (e.g. S/N per pixel at some wavelength) achieved? Remark: if this step requires extensive processing, it may be deferred until morning
The morning detailed check repeat steps (a) - (c) above.
It is important to us (and you) that we deliver the highest possible quality data. If we are not confident that we have achieved your figure-of-merit or if testing your data requires substantial processing, we will contact you as quickly as possible to determine the best course of action. In particular, we will probably request a location where we can deposit a data sample via anonymous FTP so you can assist us in assessing your data. In the event this becomes necessary, we will send you more complete instructions.
**************************************************************************
6. Final Comments
Queue observing at WIYN is still evolving. We know that we haven't thought of everything. We will be very interested in comments and suggestions, both ahead of time and afterwards. We realize that not all programs lend themselves to this approach, but we believe that substantial gains can be made in efficiency and in guaranteeing that the highly ranked proposals are completed. If you have specific questions or comments on this program, please send them to the KPNO Director's office (kpno@noao.edu). **************************************************************************
7. EMAIL ADDRESSES
kpnoprop-request@noao.edu Send request here to receive electronic KPNO proposal form and WIYN queue form.
kpnoprop-submit@noao.edu Submit completed proposal forms here.
kpno@noao.edu Send questions or comments here. Mail sent here will be examined by a real person. **************************************************************************
8. Addendum on Imager Target-of Opportunity Observations
In addition to preplanned observations, we will consider making Imager observations on targets of opportunity. These might include such objects as supernovae, gamma ray bursters, comets, or variable stars which are exhibiting unusual behavior. Because observations are scheduled dynamically, such additional objects can be inserted into the program with minimum impact. However, because projects which have been judged scientifically important will be delayed, we will also require a short scientific justification for observations of targets of opportunity.
MOS/Hydra Target-of-Opportunity observations will not be allowed at this time.
We can accomodate target-of-opportunity proposals which adhere to the following procedure:
1) Proposals for targets of opportunity must be submitted on the standard KPNO LaTeX template form but with the scientific justification limited to 250 words. The LaTeX WIYN queue observing program addendum form must also be submitted. The justification should mention why immediate observations are required and over what timescale the observations would be interesting.
2) Any proposal received before 2 PM MST on a day during which observations will be made may be scheduled for that night.
**************************************************************************