The WIYN 3.5m telescope began science operations at Kitt Peak on 15 July 1995. The current median WIYN delivered image quality is 0.8" FWHM at R. WIYN delivers images (in the R band) 0.7" or smaller 25% of the time and 0.6" or smaller 10% of the time. 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. The imager can be replaced by an optical fiber array (DensePak) for integral field spectroscopy.
NOAO is allocated 40% of WIYN telescope time by the WIYN (Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO) Consortium; roughly 9 - 12 nights per month. Approved WIYN programs will be scheduled in two modes: classical mode, where PIs are assigned specific nights, and in queue mode, where observations are carried out by the WIYN Queue Program staff. Program assignment to classical or queue modes will be made after proposals are reviewed by the TAC and the KPNO Director. The availability of the queue observing mode and the opportunity to obtain data for small programs permits broader access by the community to KPNO facilities.
Further information about the WIYN Observing Program can be found on-line at http://www.noao.edu/wiyn/obsprog.
We are now soliciting WIYN proposals for the second semester of 1998 (1999B; 1 August 1999 - 31 January 1999). Proposers should use the standard NOAO observing proposal form, including the Target Tables to provide a detailed summary of their observational program. All proposers must complete the Target Tables for WIYN programs. The proposal forms are available at http://www.noao.edu/noaoprop/. Please follow the application instructions carefully. After proposals are accepted and placed in the NOAO WIYN queue, investigators are encouraged to submit a WIYNQ form to provide information not included in the original proposal or any revisions of the observing program that will help the queue observers more efficiently execute the science program.
NOAO supports the two major WIYN facility instruments: the WIYN CCD Imager and the Hydra Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS/Hydra). The telescope is able to to switch quickly (10-20 min) between these two instruments. NOAO also supports the DensePak fiber array for bright time programs only. Use of DensePak requires the removal of the CCD Imager and switching between these two instruments will not be allowed during the night.
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. When estimating how much telescope time to request, please take into account observing overheads as well as integration time. Approved Long Program proposals will be scheduled either classically or in queue mode, subject to review by the KPNO Director.
Short Programs (i.e., 2hr queue; those requiring less than 2 hours of observing time) will be reviewed by an internal KPNO TAC. The goal of a typical Short Program could be to obtain a small dataset to complete a larger project, 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 investigators will be allocated a maximum of three separate Short Program proposals per semester (i.e., a maximum of 6 hours of WIYN time), however, The 2hr queue programs submitted by a particular investigator must be scientifically distinct from each other (i.e., 2hr queue proposers will not be allowed to submit more than one proposal per area of inquiry per proposal cycle). All approved Short Program proposals will be scheduled in queue mode.
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, you must include observing overhead into your time request. In short, your program must fit within two hours, including observing overhead.
In addition to preplanned observations, we will consider making Imager observations of targets of opportunity. These might include such objects as supernovae, gamma ray bursters, comets, variable stars or other objects that are exhibiting unusual behavior. Because queue observations are scheduled dynamically, targets of opportunity can be inserted into the queue program with minimum impact. However, because projects that have been judged scientifically important will be delayed, we will also require a short scientific justification for observations of targets of opportunity.
MOS/Hydra and DensePak Target-of-Opportunity observations will not be allowed at this time.
We can accommodate target-of-opportunity proposals which adhere to the following procedure:
1. Proposals for targets of opportunity must be submitted on the standard NOAO LaTeX template form but with the scientific justification limited to 250 words. The LaTeX Target Table addendum form must also be submitted. The justification should mention why immediate observations are required and over what time scale the observations would be interesting.
2. Any proposal approved before 2 PM MST on a day during which observations will be made may be scheduled for that night.
Proposals will be reviewed by the KPNO Director for priority and the WIYN queue observing team for feasibility before they are scheduled.
Proposers should remember that not all observing time will be photometric with 0.5" seeing and should consider submitting proposals that take this into account.
It is important to us 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.
Successful observations will be made available to the program principal investigator as quickly as possible. Typically, data will be sent to the principal investigator in FITS format on Exabyte tapes within seven (7) working days of completing their program. Smaller data subsets may be transmitted earlier to the principal investigator as appropriate. To protect proposers' access, data will not be available from NOAO via anonymous FTP. Instead, such transfers will be from NOAO to a site designated by the principal investigator.
The WIYN observing program is still evolving and we know that we haven't thought of everything. We are very interested in comments and suggestions concerning any aspect of the WIYN Queue process. In addition, we realize that not all observing projects lend themselves to the queue approach and this is why some programs are scheduled classically.
The main goal of the WIYN queue observing experiment, however, is to empirically test the hypothesis that in the face of a high over-subscription rate, the science throughput of WIYN can be maximized by executing the most highly ranked science programs first, completing programs in a timely manner, allowing a larger range of program lengths, and matching the observing program to the observing conditions on an observation-by-observation basis. For a progress report on this experiment, please see recent NOAO Newsletters. This report is also available on the WIYN Observing Program WWW homepage.
If you have specific questions or comments about the WIYN observing program, please send them to the NOAO SCience OPErations office (noao@noao.edu).
General information is available from the WIYN Observing Program homepage.
Questions about expected instrument performance of MOS/Hydra and DensePak should be directed to Paul Smith (psmith@noao.edu); questions about the WIYN Imager should be directed to Abhijit Saha (asaha@noao.edu) or Paul Smith; questions about WIYN operations status and queue observing should be directed to the WIYN Queue Program address (wiynq@noao.edu).
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Last Updated: 3/5/99, wiynq@noao.edu