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Call for Proposals
Closed
This Material Provided for Reference Only
1.0 Telescopes
- Keck I and Keck II, with possible trades for SUBARU time.
- Palomar Hale/200-inch.
2.0 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 and
throughout the subsequent academic quarter (e.g. fall quarter for fall-submitted observing
proposals for the A semester).
- 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.
3.0 Proposal Format
- Each proposal should cover a single, coherent, well-defined scientific topic.
- Proposals consist of three components: Cover sheet, Discussion, Observing list (if available in advance, e.g. not TOO/transient).
All proposals shall include these components.
- A report of your observing history and bibliography (see below) is a required adjunct to your submitted proposal set.
- If you submit two or more Keck proposals, the one representing your highest-priority shall be designated
as Principal; all others are Secondary. Similarly, if you submit two or more proposals for the Palomar telescopes,
your highest priority project shall be designated as Principal; all others are Secondary.
- All CIT-COO telescope time proposals shall follow the 2019B proposal template
available in either MS Word
of LaTeX form (see also the supporting
latexdefs.tex
package).
- NEW AND IMPORTANT: P200 Large Project proposals may no longer be combined with Keck proposals,
but must instead be separate, distinct proposal submissions. Please see the updated
Palomar Large Project
Proposals policy. To distinguish P200 Large Project proposals please use the for-purpose
P200 Large Project cover sheet
(see the left navigation menu).
- NEW AND IMPORTANT: On advice from the 2019A Time Allocation Committee, TOO proposers with previous TOO allocations
must now include a report on allocated and activated TOO triggers over the previous two semesters in new
TOO observing proposals. Please see the new subsection in 2019B
MS Word
and LaTeX proposal template forms.
3.1 Cover Sheets
-
Keck: Log into your Keck account at the
Keck Observer Login Page.
Fill in the required information. For guidance regarding the selection of acceptable runs, see the
appendix below.
-
Palomar: Log into the appropriate Palomar cover sheet
(see links at left) and fill in the required information.
3.2 Discussion & Figures
Using either the MS Word
or LaTeX proposal template,
provide a concise (see page limits, below) description of the project, explaining
the scientific goals and methodology, and justifying the observing time and equipment
requested in the present semester. Include citations to publications referenced in the
discussion. New project proposals shall present an estimate of the total observing time
required to complete the project; continuing project proposals shall summarize the status
of previously obtained data and an updated estimate of the observing time needed to complete
the project. The proposal template is structured to facilitate proposals responsive to these
requirements; please fill out the template following (and replacing) the embedded instructions.
Page limits
[Definition: 1 page = One side of a sheet 8½ x 11 inches, with suitable margins.
Type size = 11-point.]
Description | Discussion & Figures |
General Proposals (both Primary and Secondary) | 6 pages plus observing list |
Palomar - Large Project | 8 pages plus observing list |
3.3 Observing List
Provide a list of targets to be observed, including names, coordinates (in
sexagesimal format),
and apparent magnitudes. Observing lists do not count in the proposal page limit.
3.4 Submitting the Proposal
When finished, combine your cover sheet, discussion and observing list into a single pdf document
(see note below)
and attach it to an e-mail to
brucato-[at]-astro.caltech.edu
not later than
.
If you do not receive confirmation of your proposal submission within 48 hours, contact brucato-[at]-astro.caltech.edu immediately.
4.0 Observing History and Bibliography
The Director and the Time Allocation Committee place a high premium on the effective use
of telescope time and the timely publication of results derived from the observations.
Accordingly, all proposers are required to submit an Observing History and Bibliography
report as a separate document, distinct from any proposals. Your report shall consist of:
Observing History: List the observing time allocated to you for all projects in the last four semesters
[2017B to 2019A inclusive] and summarize the status of each. Provide:
- Semester.
- Telescope and proposal number.
- Instrument(s) used.
- Number of nights allocated and the number of nights usable.
This report is important for all proposers, but particularly so for applicants who are requesting continuations of
projects previously awarded time by the CIT TAC.
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 four
semesters [2017B to 2019A inclusive], even if you were not the principal investigator of the observing proposal(s).
Attach the report (as a pdf document) to an e-mail to brucato-[at]-astro.caltech.edu
(not later than
).
5.0 General Notes
- Date-Specific Observing is restricted to projects requiring observations at particular times
(e.g., occultations, transits, critical phase coverage in a binary, etc.). Proposers requesting date-specific
observations must check the Date-Specific box on the proposal cover sheet, and justify the date specificity (i.e. see
the proposal template section 2.5). For Palomar, down-load
the DS Supplement, fill in the required information
and include it in your proposal as an addendum to the cover sheet.
5.1 Special Notes - Keck
- Only a single proposal is needed for a project involving both Keck I and Keck II.
-
By November 2018 Keck SSC/CARA Board/WMKO Director action there are new policies in place for
Time-Domain Astronomy (TDA). Please find these updated policies at the
WMKO Cadence & TOO Policy webpage.
- Partial nights (¾, ½, ¼) may be requested at Keck.
Observers should be mindful that it may not always be possible to schedule partial night allocations.
- Following 5.1.2 above there are now five observing modes at Keck relevant for CIT proposers:
- "Classical" observing.
- CIT Internal ToO - Target of Opportunity interrupts of Caltech observer (see
CIT TOO page).
- Partnership ToO - Target of Opportunity interrupts when the interrupted observer is from Caltech, University
of California, University of Hawaii or NASA. See
Partnership ToO Policy
- Cadenced observing. See
Cadence Policy
- Snapshot observing (as a special, single-instance case of Cadence observing).
- For projects involving both Keck and standard Palomar requests, submit the Keck and Palomar cover sheets
separately. The discussion and observing list need be attached only to the Keck cover sheet.
NEW AND IMPORTANT: However, please note that P200 Large Project proposals may no longer
be combined with Keck proposals, but must instead be separate, distinct proposal submissions.
Please see the updated
Palomar Large Project
Proposals policy.
- There are several telescope infrastructure and instrument-specific status notes for semester
.
Proposers are encouraged to consult the
Keck Instrument Availability
webpage for status information.
- SUBARU exchange: The SUBARU-KECK exchange will continue as previous semesters with flexibility as
to the number of nights available for exchange. The final number will be determined based on the demand
from each community. Keck will offer LRIS, HIRES, OSIRIS, and MOSFIRE on Keck-I, and DEIMOS, ESI,
NIRSPEC, KCWI, NIRES, and NIRC2 on Keck-II. Subaru will offer FOCAS, HDS, MOIRCS, IRCS, SCExAO,
CHARIS, COMICS, IRD, VAMPIRES, and Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC). Subaru may support half night allocations,
but whole night allocations are preferred. Please see the
Keck Instrument Availability
webpage for pertinent Subaru instrument information in semester .
-
In accordance with the Caltech and Swinburne collaborative agreement for Keck, the COO and SUT Directors have
agreed to set aside, between them, 1-2 nights each semester from their Director’s allocation to support highly
ranked CIT-SUT collaborative proposals. These proposals should seek to develop new and innovative scientific
collaborations esp. those with long term strategic potential to have high scientific impact and/or increase
the research capabilities of each organization. These proposals should seek to meet the following additional
selection criteria:
- High-risk high-reward pilot proposals for new science,
- pilot for strategic collaborative project
- significant ongoing collaboration potential
- evidence of existing significant ongoing collaboration
Applicants may use up to 0.5 additional pages in the proposal template (science narrative section) to
discuss how their proposal meets all or any of these selection criteria. The Directors will request
input from their respective TACs on CIT-SUT collaborative proposal time allocations.
The final decision on these allocations will be made by the COO and SUT Directors jointly. The Directors
reserve the right not to make an allocation if proposals do not reach a high enough bar.
5.2 Special Notes - Palomar
- Observers may request full or half nights for Hale/P200.
Observers should be mindful that it may not always be possible to schedule partial night allocations.
- For projects involving more than one Palomar telescope, submit the appropriate cover sheet for each
separately. The discussion, figures and observing list need be attached to only the cover sheet for the larger telescope.
- For Hale Telescope instruments, see
Palomar Observer Information.
Private and Semi-private
instruments may be requested only with the prior approval of the instrument builder. Please include in the discussion a
confirmation that appropriate arrangements have been made.
- DBSP, LFC, WaSP, WIRC and TripleSpec may be operated by remote observing. For additional information, see
Cahill Remote
Observing Facilities.
- At the 200-inch telescope, you may request instruments to be installed simultaneously at the prime
focus and Cassegrain focus but you must fully justify the request in your proposal. 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.
- Proposals for 200-inch time in support of Large Projects may be submitted. See
Large Project
Proposals for details.
To distinguish P200 Large Project proposals please use the for-purpose
P200 Large Project cover sheet
(see the left navigation menu).
NEW AND IMPORTANT: P200 Large Project proposals may no longer be combined with Keck proposals,
but must instead be separate, distinct proposal submissions.
- We presently anticipate significant P3K downtime (Aug -- Oct 2019) in 2019B for system engineering and upgrades.
- Palomar 60-inch Telescope - Proposal solicitation for P60 2019B observing time is
deferred to a supplementary 2019B call to be announced later.
- Oschin (P48) Telescope - Proposal solicitation for P48 2019B observing time is
deferred to a supplementary 2019B call to be announced later.
Note on Merging PDF Documents
Combine the cover sheet and discussion section (including the figures
and observing list) of each proposal into a single pdf document.
For information on merging pdf documents, see
PDF File Merging
6.0 Instrumentation
6.1 Keck Instruments
Keck Telescope instrument information is available through the
WMKO Keck Instrument Home Page.
Supplementary information on specific instrument status is available at
Keck Instrument Availability
6.2 200-inch Telescope Instruments
Instrumentation for P200 is summarized on the
P200 Observer Page.
If you propose to bring your own equipment to P200 please specify the
appropriate focus code [Prime Focus (OE-PF), Cassegrain (OE-Cass w/o P3K),
Cassegrain + P3K Base (OE-Cass w/ P3K)] on your cover sheet.
7.0 Appendix
7.1 Specifying Preferred Observing Runs
The system of P's and A's to designate preferred and acceptable runs (respectively), intended to take the guess-work out of scheduling,
rests on two conditions: First, observers need to be as generous as possible in designating acceptable runs, since overly-constrictive
selections make scheduling difficult and, in extreme cases, may even preclude the assignment of observing time to the project. A good
approach would be to tag any observing run as Acceptable if the data can be obtained during that period. Second, the scheduler will
not assign observing time in a run that has not been tagged by the observer with a P or an A. Should circumstances obtain that such
assignment might be needed, the scheduler will discuss the situation with the observer before any exception to the rule is applied.
Putting all the P's and A's on a single line means you want the time scheduled in a single block, if possible. If you want the time
distributed into two or more blocks, use a separate line for each block.
COO Proposal Call 2019B / v 2019B-rc2 Last updated: 04 March 2019 JXZ/RJB/AFB
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