ING ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVING TIME IN 2005B
Contents
1. ING Instrumentation in Semester 2005B
2. OASIS
3. INGRID Not Offered at Cassegrain Focus
4. LIRIS
5. WYFFOS Long-Camera
6. ULTRACAM Expected To Be Offered in 2005B
7. Backup Proposals for Adaptive Optics
8. Opticon Trans-national Programme
9. Time-share Agreement with TNG for NL and UK Observers
10. Telescope Support: INT Support Model
11. New Visitor Instruments to the WHT
12. Submission Deadlines
1. ING Instrumentation in Semester 2005B
----------------------------------------
William Herschel Telescope
For an overview of the proposal submission process and current
instrumentation at ING, see
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/INGinfo_home.html
WHT applicants are encouraged to submit proposals for larger
time applications. For the UK community, the PATT2 application
form allows a 2-page scientific justification for WHT proposals
which are for *eight* or more nights, or are long-term (multi-
semester) or are coordinated with other telescopes.
The following instrument/detector configurations are available:
Instrument Detector Comments
ISIS BLUE EEV12
ISIS RED MARCONI2
AUX-port imager TEK1
Prime Focus Camera 2xEEV Mosaic
AUTOFIB2/WYFFOS 2xEEV Mosaic Long camera
INGRID 1kx1k HgCdTe At Nasmyth only, 42 arcsec FoV
NAOMI/INGRID 1kx1k HgCdTe
NAOMI/INGRID/OSCA 1kx1k HgCdTe
OASIS 2kx4k MIT/LL
NAOMI/OASIS 2kx4k MIT/LL
LIRIS 1kx1k HgCdTe
Adaptive Optics
All AO observations are carried out in service mode by ING staff.
Applicants for AO observations are encouraged to consult the NAOMI
instrument home page for more information about individual
instruments and about AO performance:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/naomi/
Visitor Instruments
Applicants wishing to submit proposals to use an established
visitor instrument on the WHT should contact the relevant
Instrument Contact in the first instance; WHT visitor instruments
and contacts are:
INTEGRAL Evencio Mediavilla, emg@ll.iac.es
PN.S Nigel Douglas, ndouglas@astro.rug.nl
SAURON Tim de Zeeuw, tim@strw.leidenuniv.nl
S-CAM Michael Perryman, mperryma@astro.estec.esa.nl
Ultracam Vik Dhillon, vik.dhillon@sheffield.ac.uk
NB: INTEGRAL is available with the WYFFOS long-camera only.
Applicants wishing to submit proposals to use a new (to ING)
visitor instrument should read the following instructions:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/NewVisitorInstruments.html
Isaac Newton Telescope
Only one instrument/detector configuration is available on the INT:
Instrument Detector
WFC 4xEEV
The WFC is offered in the default rotator position angle of
180-degrees only. However, when there is compelling scientific
justification, other rotator angles (0, 90 or 270-degrees) can be
offered for the duration of the run only; changes to rotator
angle during a run are not permitted. Such requests should be
justified in the original telescope proposal.
INT observing time is allocated in blocks of one week on average,
and observing programmes shorter than *4* nights are not accepted,
unless explicitly agreed in advance by the Head of Astronomy or
the Director of ING.
For the UK community, the PATT2 application form allows a 2-page
scientific justification for INT proposals which are either long
term (multi-semester) or are coordinated with other telescopes.
2. OASIS
--------
The optical integral-field spectrograph OASIS, formerly at the
CFHT, had successful commissioning runs on-sky with NAOMI in
2004, and further commissioning is scheduled in semester 2005A.
OASIS is mounted permanently with the adaptive-optics system
NAOMI, in the WHT's new AO-dedicated Nasmyth enclosure GRACE;
It can be used with or without adaptive optics. Prospective
applicants are reminded that the best-seeing period at ING
occurs in the summer months, but applications are welcome
for all parts of the semester. Observations with OASIS or
NAOMI/OASIS will be carried out by ING staff in service mode.
PIs need not budget for overheads such as spectral calibrations;
standard calibration observations will be made routinely by ING
staff as an integral part of the service observations.
For further information on OASIS please refer to the web page:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/oasis/
3. INGRID Not Offered at Cassegrain Focus
-----------------------------------------
INGRID is not offered at the Cassegrain focus in 2005B, but is
offered at the GRACE Nasmyth focus with the adaptive optics suite.
Applicants are reminded that INGRID can also be used in GRACE
with the AO loop switched off; in this case a guide star is not
needed, and throughput is reduced by ~0.5 magnitudes compared
to that at Cassegrain. The FoV of INGRID in GRACE is 42 arcsec.
At the Cassegrain focus, infrared imaging observations may be
carried out with LIRIS (Section 4). The FoV of LIRIS at the
Cassegrain focus is 4.2 arcmin.
4. LIRIS
--------
The long-slit intermediate resolution infrared spectrograph, LIRIS,
built at the IAC, has imaging, long-slit and multi-object spectroscopy
modes in the near-infrared (0.9-2.4 microns), and uses a Hawaii
1024x1024 HgCdTe detector operating at 65K. It is mounted at the
Cassegrain focus; the plate scale is 0.25 arcsec/pixel and the
field-of-view is 4.2 arcmin.
LIRIS has been successfully commissioned, and is offered in both
imaging and long-slit spectroscopy modes in 2005B. LIRIS in multi-slit
mode is available only in collaboration with the instrument builders;
prospective applicants for LIRIS in this mode should contact Dr Arturo
Manchado (amt@ll.iac.es) in the first instance.
For further information on LIRIS and its performance please refer to
the ING and IAC LIRIS web pages:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/liris/
and
http://www.iac.es/proyect/LIRIS/
5. WYFFOS
---------
The WYFFOS long-camera was commissioned successfully in August 2004.
Due to adverse weather it has not proved possible to fully
characterise its efficiency and throughput of the fibres; the latest
performance figures are listed at:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/instruments/af2/
The long-camera is offered with the 2xEEV mosaic detector for both
AF2 and the visitor instrument INTEGRAL in 2005B.
6. ULTRACAM Expected To Be Offered in 2005B
-------------------------------------------
ULTRACAM is expected to be offered on the WHT in 2005B. Prospective
applicants should contact Dr Vik Dhillon (Vik.Dhillon@sheffield.ac.uk)
in the first instance for further details. Information on the
performance and capabilities of ULTRACAM are available at:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/physics/people/vdhillon/ultracam/
7. Backup Proposals for Adaptive Optics
---------------------------------------
In order to provide backup for periods of unsuitable atmospheric
conditions for NAOMI and OASIS observations, we encourage proposals
for ISIS which can be carried out in any sky conditions (that is,
unspecified seeing and sky brightness).
Such proposals will be reviewed by the national TACs in the usual way,
and we envisage at least one such proposal per TAC will act as backup
to the NAOMI/INGRID and NAOMI/OASIS service-mode periods.
8. Opticon Trans-national Programme
-----------------------------------
Access to the ING telescopes under the auspices of the EC-funded
Research Infrastructure Programme OPTICON is available to eligible
astronomers from EU Member States and Associated States, and EC
funding is available to cover their travel, accommodation and
subsistence costs. Applications from new users and young researchers,
and astronomers from countries without similar research facilities,
are strongly encouraged.
Proposals can be submitted to any of the ING time allocation
committees by following their submission procedures and deadlines
(Section 11), and will be judged strictly on scientific merit.
Applicants are urged to read the local Opticon web pages for detailed
information on eligibility and other aspects of the programme
http://www.otri.iac.es/opticon/
9. Time-share Agreement with TNG for NL and UK Observers
--------------------------------------------------------
The time-share agreement with the TNG has proved to be very
successful in previous semesters, and continues in semester
2005B. In this scheme, NL- and UK-based observers may apply
to use three TNG instruments. These are:
+ The high resolution spectrograph, SARG
+ The near IR camera-spectrometer, NICS, in non-AO spectroscopy
mode only
+ The multi-object low-resolution optical spectrograph, DOLORES
A minimum of five nights is available in total on the TNG in
semester 2005B to the NL and UK communities, and in return the
Italian community obtains access to the WHT for the same number
of nights.
For further details on the TNG observing guidelines and for
instrumentation details, refer to:
http://www.tng.iac.es/
Please note that NL and UK applicants to the timeshare should
apply using their standard PATT form and should send these to
their own national TAGs, and NOT directly to TNG. (CAT observers
should apply for TNG time in the usual way). Successful applicants
who meet the Opticon criteria of eligibility will be entitled to
apply to the Opticon Trans-national Access Programme for their
travel, accommodation and subsistence costs.
NL- and UK-based astronomers may not apply to use the WHT via the
timeshare agreement, but instead should submit their WHT applications
directly to their own national TAC.
10. Telescope Support: INT Support Model
----------------------------------------
Applicants are reminded that due to the impact of cost savings at
ING, and operation of the INT as a single-instrument telescope,
Telescope Operator (TO) support is no longer provided on the INT.
TO support continues to be provided for each night of all WHT runs,
and astronomical support is provided on the first night of each
run on the WHT and, by student support astronomers, on the INT.
Filter and/or grating changes within a run will be accommodated
provided that they have been explicitly requested in the telescope
proposal. However, due to limited human resources, additional
changes to the instrumental configuration may not be accommodated.
11. New Visitor Instruments on the WHT
--------------------------------------
PIs considering a proposal to the WHT around a new visitor
instrument (i.e. new to ING) should email the Director well in
advance of the proposal deadlines stating their intent, and should
also submit a Technical Appraisal form. Further information on the
protocol to be followed for submitting proposals centred around
new visitor instruments, and a link to the Technical Appraisal form,
is available at:
http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/NewVisitorInstruments.html
12. Proposal Submission Details
-------------------------------
Details of how to submit a proposal, including deadlines, are given
on the web pages of the Dutch, Spanish and UK time allocation panels:
Dutch: http://www.astron.nl/wsrt/PC/
Spanish: http://www.iac.es/gabinete/inves/tiempo1.htm
UK: http://www.ing.iac.es/Astronomy/observing/patt/PATT_Appl.html
Ian Skillen, ING
15th February 2005