This Call is CLOSED
Proposals Due by 5:00 pm PDT Wednesday 28 September 2011
Telescopes
- Keck I & Keck II, with possible trades for SUBARU time.
- Palomar 200-inch.
- Palomar 60-inch (service observing only).
- Palomar Oschin Telescope (service observing only).
Eligibility
Caltech Faculty, Senior Research Associates, Senior Research Fellows,
Post-Doctoral Scholars, Senior Research Staff (approved by the COO Director) and Graduate Students may
apply for COO-administered observing time at Keck and Palomar, subject to the following:
- Applicants must be in residence at Caltech at the time proposals are submitted.
- Caltech Faculty and Senior Research Associates may submit no more than three Keck proposals
and/or any number of Palomar proposals.
- Caltech Senior Research Fellows, Post-Doctoral Scholars and Senior Research Staff may submit any number
of Palomar proposals but are limited to one Keck proposal per semester.
- Caltech Graduate Students may apply for Palomar time only.
Proposal Format
- Each proposal should cover a single, coherent, well-defined scientific topic.
- If two or more Keck proposals are submitted, the one representing your highest-priority should be designated
as Priority 1 or Principal; all others are Priority 2 or Secondary. Similarly, if
two or more proposals are submitted for the Palomar telescopes, your highest priority project should be designated
as Pricipal and all others as Secondary. Only one proposal for Keck time and only one proposal for
200-inch time may be designated as Principal.
- Proposals consist of four parts: Cover Sheet, Discussion, Figures, Observing List.
- Cover Sheets -
- Keck - Follow the procedures at
Applying for Keck Telescope Time. Keck uses an on-line system with password protection to
allow observers to retrieve and modify their cover sheets. If you are a returning observer, use the
same account information as in previous semesters. If you are a new observer, request an account by
following the instructions on the log-in page.
- Palomar - Use the appropriate cover sheet
- Discussion - Provide a short (see page limits, below) description of the project, explaining
the scientific goals and methodology, and justifying the time and equipment requested. Also include citations
to publicaions referred to in the discussion. For new projects, provide an estimate of the total time
required to complete the work; for continuing projects, give the status of previously obtained data and an
estimate of the time needed to finish. For projects in support of an approved thesis, include an estimate
of the total observing time required, the time already allocated and the status of the data already in hand. Explain any constraints
that may affect scheduling.
- Figures - Collect all images, graphs, tables, etc. into a single section. N.B. Copies of the
proposals sent to the TAC members will be printed in black-and-white format but the committee members will
be able to access color versions in an on-line directory.
- Observing List - Provide a list of targets to be observed, including names, coordinates and
magnitudes.
- Page Limits - 1 page = One side of a sheet 8½ x 11 inches, with suitable margins.
Type size = 11- or 12-point.
| Description | Discussion | Figures |
Observing List |
| Principal Proposal | 3 pages | 4 pages |
As needed |
| Secondary Proposals | 2 pages | 4 pages |
As needed |
| Palomar - Large Project | 8 pages |
4 pages | As needed |
- When finished, combine your cover sheet with the Discussion, Figures and Observing List into a single pdf document
(see note below). Check that the file is smaller that 1M and attach it to an e-mail
to brucato@astro.caltech.edu not later than 5:00 pm PDT
Wednesday 28 September 2011. The subject line of the message should be in the following form:
[your last name]-[Telescope]-[A sequence number to distinquish it from others others submitted for
the same telescope]. Examples: Jones-Keck-1 or Jones-P200-2
- Special Notes:
- For projects requiring date-specific scheduling, include in the Figures section of the
proposal a table of the events to be observed. Include the name of the object, its coordinates, and the date
and time (Pacific Standard Time for Palomar, Hawaii Time for Keck) of the event. [Remember: Telescope time
to observe an event occurring - for example - at 02h PST on 6 August has to be scheduled for the night of 5
August.]
- For projects involving both Keck and Palomar, submit the Keck and Palomar cover sheets
separately. The discussion, figures and observing list need only be attached to the Keck
cover sheet.
- Requests for half nights will be accommodated within the constraints set by the scheduling. When
requesting half nights, specify in the proposal discussion whether first-half or second-half time
is required.
- For Keck instrument availability in 2012A (including those availble by trade with SUBARU), go to
Keck Instrument Availability.
- Only a single proposal (cover sheet, discussion, figures and observing list) is needed for a project involving
both Keck I and Keck II.
- LGS observing at Keck is critically dependent on conditions and your are advised to have a
contingency plan should LGS be unavailable. See
Policy on Backup Instruments
During LGS-AO Runs.
- Time trades with GEMINI will not be available in 2012A.
- OSIRIS will be available (NGS or LGS) at Keck I on shared-risk basis beginning in June 2012.
- 2012A marks the last semester in which the Keck Interferometer will be available.
- NIRSPEC will be available for observing after 8 March 2012.
- MOSFIRE will not be available in 2012A.
- For projects involving more than one Palomar telescope, submit the appropriate cover sheet for each
separately. The discussion, figures and observing list need only be attached to the
cover sheet for the larger telescope.
- For Hale Telescope instruments, see the table below.
- Adaptive optics observing at the 200-inch, which will use the P3K system, will be on a shared-risk basis
in 2012A.
- Observers using the 200-inch telescope may request instruments to be installed simultaneously at the prime
focus, Cassegrain focus and/or the east-arm focus (East Arm Echelle only).
The use of a secondary instrument must be identified on the cover sheet and
justified in the proposal discussion. On the Cover Sheet, select the principal instrument to be used from the
drop-down lists on the Observing Time Preferences table and specify the secondary instrument in the
space provided under Additional Information. Secondary instruments should be requested only if they
are integral to the program and if there is a very high probability that they will be used
during the observing run.
Observing History & Bibliography
The Director and the Time Allocation Committee place a high premium on the effective use
of telescope time and the prompt publication of results derived from the observations. Accordingly, your report
accounting for your previous observing time and your publications constitutes an important adjunct to your
proposals. Submit this report as a single, two-part document consisting of:
- Observing History: List the observing time allocated to you for all projects in the last four semesters and
summarize the status of each.
- Bibliography - Provide a bibliography of your refereed papers based on Keck (or from observing time awarded
through Keck trades) and/or Palomar data, published or submitted for publication during the last two years.
Attach the report (as a pdf document) to an e-mail to brucato@astro.caltech.edu (not later than 5:00 pm PDT
Wednesday 28 September 2011) with the subject line in the following form: [your last name]-History. (For example:
Jones-History) Submit this report as a completely separate document. Do not include it in your proposal(s).
Special Observing
- Target of Opportunity Observing - See
ToO Policy.
- Large Projects - See
Large Project Proposals.
N.B. Key provisions of this program were revised, beginning with semester 2011B.
- Palomar 60-inch Telescope - Up to 20% of the time at the 60-inch may be allocated to
Caltech observers for general research. Service observing only.
- Oschin Telescope - Up to 20% of the time at the Oschin Telescope (with the MOSAIC camera) may
be allocated to Caltech observers for general research. Service observing only.
200-inch Telescope Instruments
| Focus |
Instrument |
Code |
Notes |
Prime Focus |
| Wide-Field IR Camera |
WIRC |
Specifications |
| Large Format Camera |
LFC |
Specifications |
| COSMIC - Direct Imaging |
COSMIC/D |
Specifications |
| COSMIC - Re-imaging |
COSMIC/R |
Specifications |
| Own Equipment - Prime Focus |
OE-PF |
Describe in Discussion |
Cassegrain |
| Double Spectrograph |
DBSP |
Specifications |
| Double Spectrograph/Polarimeter |
DBSPp |
Specifications |
| PHARO |
PHARO-NGS |
Specifications
Shared-risk observing. See Note 1. |
| SWIFT |
SWIFT-NGS |
Specifications
Shared-risk observing. See Note 1. |
| P1640 |
P1640-NGS |
Private Instrument (Hillenbrand or Oppenheimer) Shared-risk observing. See Notes 1 & 3. |
| TripleSpec |
TripleSpec |
Specifications
See Note 2 |
| Cosmic Web Imager |
CWI |
Specifications
Semi-private Instrument (Martin). See Note 3. |
| f/9 Camera Base |
f/9 Cam |
Specifications |
| Own Equipment - Cassegrain |
OE-Cass |
Describe in Discussion |
| East Arm |
| East Arm Echelle |
EAE |
Specifications |
Notes:
- P3K will be available in 2012A for science observing on a shared-risk basis. A member
of the P3K engineering team will be available during science runs to monitor instrument
performance and, if necessary, interrupt the observing for engineering purposes.
- TripleSpec may be operated remotely from Cahill on a shared-risk basis
(Caltech observers only). For additional information, see
Cahill Remote
Observing Facilities
- Private and Semi-private instruments may be requested only with the prior
approval of the instrument builder.
Note on Merging PDF Documents
To combine the cover sheet and discussion section of a proposal, use the full version of Acrobat
(Acrobat Reader will not work) or the joinpdf program on the AY Unix computers.
Also see www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/mergepdf.html.
Proposal pdf documents are typically 500K to 1M in size. Files larger than 1M are cumbersome
to handle, so, if your proposal is larger than 1M, try reducing the resolution of your images.
Semester 2012A COO Proposal Solicitation
Last updated: 18 Aug 2011 RJB/AFB
