1. WIYN Observing 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 0.8" FWHM. WIYN delivers images 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. 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. Operating in a queue mode also allows NOAO to develop new observing strategies for application to the Gemini 8m telescopes. 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 Spring 1997 semester (1 February 1997 - 31 July 1997). Proposers should use the standard KPNO observing proposal form, and submit the additional WIYN queue observing program attachment to provide summary observational details of the program. All proposers must submit both forms. Please follow the application instructions carefully. 1.1. Supported Instrumentation NOAO will support the two major WIYN facility instruments, the WIYN CCD Imager and the Hydra Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS/Hydra) formerly available at the 4m. The telescope is designed to switch quickly between these two instruments. 1.2. 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. 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 of the TAC results and the proposed program 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 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. 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. 1.2.1. Target of Opportunity Programs 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 queue observations are scheduled dynamically, such additional objects can be inserted into the queue 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. Proposals will be reviewed by the KPNO Director for priority and the WIYN queue observing team for feasibility before they are scheduled. 1.3. Miscellaneous Queue Program Information 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. Each exposure will be checked 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 repeats steps (a) - (c) above. It is important to both 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. 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. Smaller data subsets may be transmitted to the principal investigator early as appropriate. 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. 1.4. Final Comments The WIYN observing program 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 the queue approach, which 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 datasets in a timely manner, allowing a larger range of program lengths, and matching the observing program on 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 KPNO Director's office (kpno@noao.edu). 1.5. Further Information General information is available from the WIYN Observing Program homepage. 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 Paul Smith (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).