Caltech Optical Observatories

Call for Proposals - 2012B

This Call is CLOSED

Proposals Due by 5:00 pm PDT Monday 26 March 2012

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

• 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 Principal and all others as Secondary. Only one proposal for Keck time and only one proposal for 200-inch time may be designated as Principal.

  Proposal Principal/Secondary designations are made on the Keck and Palomar coversheets -- please make your priority intent clear for time allocation processing, and please note that different Principal/Secondary page limits apply (see below).

• 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
  • 200-in Telescope
  • 60-in Telescope
  • Oschin (P48) Telescope
  • Palomar ToO


• 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 publications referenced 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 a secure 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

• 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 Time for Palomar, Hawaii Time for Keck) of the event. [Remember: Telescope time to observe an event occurring - for example - at 02h PDT 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 2012B (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 2012B.
• Up to six nights of Keck time (all partners) may be traded with SUBARU in 2012B. Instruments: Suprime-Cam; FOCUS (after mid-semester); HDS; MOIRCS; IRCW (with NGS/LGSAO188 elements); FMOS; COMICS.
• OSIRIS will be available (NGS or LGS) at Keck I on shared-risk basis in 2012B.
• MOSFIRE will be available on shared-risk basis, with some restrictions, in 2012B.
• Associated with all 2012B MOSFIRE allocations, WMKO is requiring backup programs should MOSFIRE be unavailable during the scheduled period. CIT will operate backup observing queues with LRIS and HIRES. J. Cohen will be cognizant for these backup queues; further details will be available after primary 2012B allocations are announced.
• The Keck Interferometer is no longer available.
• 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 at the 200-inch: Based on the recommendation of the P3K Operations Planning Review Board, the PALM-3000 (P3K) Adaptive Optics facility will remain available on a shared-risk basis in 2012B. We expect P3K to transition to full operational status for semester 2013A.
• 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 Monday 26 March 2012) 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 Notes

• 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. Further, in addition to the facility visible camera the Robo-AO high-resolution imaging system will be offered on a shared-risk & semi-private basis (interested proposers must contact the Robo-AO PI Christoph Baranec). Both the P60 facility camera and Robo-AO operate only in service observing mode.
• 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.

Instrumentation

Keck Instruments

200-inch Telescope Instruments

Notes:

1. P3K will be available in 2012B for science observing on a shared-risk basis. See comment in Special Notes above.
2. WIRC, DBSP and TripleSpec may be operated remotely from Cahill on a shared-risk basis (Caltech observers only). For additional information, see Cahill Remote Observing Facilities
3. 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 2012B COO Proposal Solicitation v09 Mar 2012
09 March 2012 - RJB/AFB