Call for Proposals

• Applicants must be in residence at Caltech at the time proposals are submitted and throughout the subsequent academic quarter (i.e. fall quarter inclusive for A semester/fall-submitted observing proposals).
• 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.

3.1 Proposal Package Outline

• Each proposal should cover a single, coherent, well-defined scientific topic.
• Proposals consist of three components: Cover sheet (section 3.2), Discussion (including Scientific Justification, Technical Justification, and Supplementary Information; section 3.3), Observing List (if available in advance, e.g. not relevant for TOO/transient programs; section 3.4). All proposals shall include these components, and may also include additional components (e.g. Date-Specific Supplement) as appropriate.
• A report of your observing history and bibliography (section 4.0) 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 Primary; all others are Secondary. Similarly, if you submit two or more proposals for the Palomar telescopes, your highest priority Palomar project shall be designated as Primary; all others are Secondary.
• All Caltech-COO telescope time proposals shall follow the proposal template available in either MS Word, Google doc, or LaTeX form (see also the supporting latexdefs.tex package).
• P200 Large Project proposals may not be combined with Keck proposals, but must instead be separate, distinct proposal package submissions. Please see the updated Palomar Large Project Proposals policy.
• TOO proposers with previous TOO allocations must include a report on allocated and activated TOO triggers over the previous two semesters in new TOO observing proposals. Please see (section 2.7 in) the MS Word, Google doc, and LaTeX proposal template forms.

3.2 Cover Sheets

• Keck: Log into your Keck account at the Keck Observer Login Page. Fill in the required information, particularly including the project abstract. For guidance regarding the selection of acceptable runs, see section 3.2.1 below.
• Palomar: Log into the appropriate Palomar cover sheet (see links at left) and fill in the required information, particularly including the project abstract.

3.2.1 Run Table Entries

Both Keck and Palomar cover sheets use a run table and a system of P's and A's to designate project preferred and acceptable runs respectively. Proposers shall fill-in the run table, entering P and A designations for each proposed observing block — one row in the observing table for each separate observing program block in the semester. The telescope scheduler will will typically only assign observing time in a run that has been designated by the proposer as P or A. Proposers are strongly recommended to be as flexible/generous as possible in designating acceptable runs; highly-restrictive acceptable selections make telescope scheduling difficult and, in extreme cases, may even preclude the assignment of observing time to the project.

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.

3.3 Proposal Discussion & Figures

Using one of the MS Word, Google doc, or LaTeX proposal templates, 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. Project abstracts are included on the corresponding cover sheet (section 3.2), so it is viable to omit repeating the abstract in the discussion section. 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.

3.4 Observing List

Provide a list of targets to be observed, including names, coordinates (in sexagesimal format: RA in hh:mm:ss, Dec in dd:mm:ss) and apparent magnitudes. Observing lists are excluded when assessing proposal compliance with page limit restrictions.

3.5 Proposal Package Submission

When finished, combine your cover sheet, discussion and observing list into a single consolidated PDF document (see section 5 below) and attach it to an e-mail to brucato-[at]-astro.caltech.edu not later than . As it eases processing the last-minute proposal rush we welcome and encourage early proposal submissions.

If you do not receive confirmation of your proposal submission within 48 hours, contact brucato-[at]-astro.caltech.edu immediately.

The COO Director places a premium on the demonstrated effective use of telescope time and timely publication of results derived from observations. Accordingly, all proposers are required to submit an observing history and bibliography report as a separate submission/document, distinct from any submitted proposal packages.

Your observing history and bibliography report shall consist of:

1. Semester.
2. Telescope and proposal number.
3. Instrument(s) used.
4. Number of nights allocated and the number of nights usable.

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 [ inclusive], even if you were not the principal investigator of the observing proposal(s).

Submit (a PDF rendering of) the observing history/bibliography report in separate e-mail (i.e. not integrated with a proposal) to brucato-[at]-astro.caltech.edu by the proposal due date ( ).

Date-Specific Observing

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 proposal template section 2.5). For Palomar, load the Date-Specific Cover Sheet Supplement, fill in the required information and include it in your proposal as an addendum to the appropriate cover sheet/proposal package.

5.1 Special Notes - Keck

1. Only a single proposal is needed for a project involving both Keck I and Keck II.
2. By November 2018 Keck SSC/CARA Board/WMKO Director action there are governing policies in place for Time-Domain Astronomy (TDA). Please find current Keck policies at the WMKO Cadence & TOO Policy webpage.
3. Partial nights (¾, ½, ¼) may be requested at Keck, however project advocates should be mindful that it is more difficult (and may not always be possible) to schedule partial night allocations.
4. Following 5.1.2 above there are now five observing modes at Keck relevant for Caltech proposers:
1. "Classical" observing.
2. Caltech Internal ToO - Target of Opportunity interrupts of Caltech observer (see Caltech TOO page). This is the default ToO request status unless otherwise specified by the proposer [ToO proposers should refer to the proposal template section 2.6].
3. Partnership ToO - Target of Opportunity interrupts of all Keck partners. See Partnership ToO Policy. Proposers for Keck Partnership ToOs must specify their requested number of Partnership ToOs clearly in their proposal in the proposal template section 2.6. [Please note the maximum number of Partnership ToO interrupts available to Caltech is seven (7) per semester.]
4. Cadenced observing. See Cadence Policy.
5. Date-specific observing.
5. 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. Please note that P200 Large Project proposals may not be combined with Keck proposals, but must instead be separate, distinct proposal package submissions. Please see the updated Hale Telescope Large Project policy.
6. Keck Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations:
1. Applicants for Keck ToO observations shall report on the status of any previous ToO allocations at either Keck or Palomar (see proposal template section 2.8).
2. ToO observation applicants shall unambiguously indicate their interrupt applications to the Caltech-internal and/or Keck Partnership ToO options (see proposal template section 2.6)
3. Conversely regularly-scheduled applicants may request (with justification) ToO "protected" ("uninterruptable") status for some or all proposed observations (see proposal template section 2.7).
7. There are typically Keck telescope infrastructure and instrument-specific status notes for semester . Proposers are strongly encouraged to consult the Keck Instrument Availability webpage for authoritative status information.
8. 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. Please see the Keck Instrument Availability webpage for pertinent Subaru instrument information in semester .

9. The Pilina and Kōkua Initiative: Directors at COO, UCO, and WMKO jointly sponsor the Pilina and Kōkua Initiative to enhance the connections of the Keck consortium with the Hawaiʻi community that hosts WMKO. Through a deeper connection to Hawaiʻi, observers will broaden their perspective; gathering data from Maunakea will take on a more personal, holistic meaning that can help astronomers be better scientists in how one views, approaches, and shares one’s work.

   Caltech project advocates interested in the Pilina and Kōkua Initiative should reference the initiative description and indicate their participation interest in their proposal (section 3.5).

5.2 Special Notes - Palomar

1. Proposers may request full or half nights on Hale/P200. Project advocates should be mindful that it is more difficult (and may not always be possible) to schedule partial night allocations.
2. For Hale Telescope instruments, see Palomar Observer Information. Private and Semi-private instruments may be requested only with prior approval of the instrument builder. Please include in the discussion a confirmation that appropriate arrangements have been made.
3. As of this writing we plan to decommission the Hale Telescope facility Double Spectrograph (DBSP) on or around 15 November 2024, and components of same will be repurposed to support NGPS integration during the 2024B/2025A semester, contingent on NGPS readiness (see next). As such no new applications for DBSP time are being accepted in 2025A.
4. The Next Generation Palomar Spectrograph (NGPS) will enter it's initial two-channel (r and i) commissioning phase late in 2024B. Opportunities for early/commissioning/shared-risk science may emerge over the course of semester 2024B and into semester 2025A. Proposals to use two-channel NGPS in a limited, shared-risk mode in 2025A will be considered.
5. Most P200/Hale Telescope instruments may be used in remote observing mode. For additional information, see P200 Observer Information.
6. At the 200-inch telescope, proposers may request instruments to be installed simultaneously at the prime focus and Cassegrain focus but project advocates must justify the request in the proposal. Secondary instruments should be requested only if they are integral to the project and if there is a high probability that they will be used during requested observing runs.
7. Applicants for Palomar Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations shall report on the status of any previous ToO allocations at either Keck or Palomar. See the proposal template section 2.7.
8. Proposals for 200-inch time in support of Large Projects may be submitted. See Hale/P200 Telescope Large Project Policy for details. Please note that P200 Large Project proposals may not be combined with Keck proposals, but must instead be separate, distinct proposal submissions.
9. Palomar 60-inch Telescope - Proposal solicitation for P60 observing time is deferred to a supplementary call to be announced later.
10. Oschin (P48) Telescope - Proposal solicitation for P48 observing time is deferred to a supplementary call to be announced later.

Merging PDF Package Components

Combine all proposal components (cover sheet, discussion section (including the figures and observing list)) into single PDF document. For information on merging PDF documents, see PDF File Merging.

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

P200 instrumentation 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.