The main proposal deadline for AAT time in Semester 12B (August 2012 - January 2013) is:
(Australian Eastern Summer Time, i.e. UTC + 11 hrs).
Important notes for 12B applicants
-
NEW: CTIO/DECam time-swap arrangement:
The AAO and NOAO/CTIO are pleased to announce that we are initiating
a time-swap arrangement, to allow our respective communities to
maximise the scientific facilities and opportunities to which we
have access. In Semester 12B there will be 5 nights available to the
Australian community to apply for time on the 4m Blanco telescope
using the DECam imager. Depending on demand, more time is anticipated
to be available in future semesters.
For Semester 12B, DECam is being offered in a shared-risk mode, and will only be available after Science Verification has been completed. The expectation is that observations able to be performed after about mid-October 2012 should be able to be accommodated. For this initial time-exchange, these observations will be carried out in service-mode.
Those who wish to apply for this time should do so using the regular AAT proposal form, selecting CTIO/DECam in the "instrument" section. Links to the DECam webpages for further information about the telescope and camera capabilities are given below, and will also be available from the proposal form:
http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/dark-energy-camera-decam
The standard proposal page limits and recommendations regarding technical justifications should be followed. The proposals will be assessed by ATAC, and graded proposals provided to CTIO for scheduling. - Large Programs: A call for Large Programs will NOT be made in Semester 12B or 13A. Since ~50% of time available to ATAC is pre-allocated to existing Large and Long-Term Programs, and since we expect significant down-time in 13A while commissioning HERMES, we anticipate the next call for Large Programs will be no earlier than Semester 13B.
How to Apply for AAT Time - the Basic Steps
- All ATAC applicants should check the latest Instrument Availability and other recent policy announcements. If you require further clarification on any issue, then please contact the AAT Technical Secretary, Gayandhi de Silva (aatts -@- aao.gov.au).
- Special rules apply for proposals seeking time as an override on another program's time, as well as those seeking long term status. Proposals requiring at most 6 hours of observing time should be submitted to the AAO's Service Observing program.
Prepare your main proposal offline, including an abstract, target list, and scientific justification. The science case should be, in PDF format, no more than three pages including all references and figures, use 11pt font (or larger), and at least 10mm margins. Colour figures are accepted. There is a 2 Mb file-size limit on all three-page science case PDF uploads. Other document formats will not be accepted.
The limit for pre-approved Long-Term programs is five pages and 3 Mb file-size. Please contact the ATAC Secretary, Helen Woods (hmw -@- aao.gov.au) well in advance of submitting this kind of proposal.
The limit for pre-approved Large Observing Programs is ten pages and also 3 Mb file-size. Please contact the AAO Director (director -@- aao.gov.au) well in advance of submitting this kind of proposal.
Care should be taken to ensure that your science case includes the following elements:- Full Technical Details, outlining how you derived your time estimates, observing constraints, and any special requests should be included in the scientific case (preferably under a separate section heading).
- If your proposal seeks time on two instruments, outline carefully the relative requirements of the different instrument set-ups, including the split in observing time between the instruments.
- If the observations are essential to the completion of a student's PhD thesis, then a full explanation must be given in the science case. No special consideration is given to proposals involving PhD students, except when attempting to schedule proposals near the cut-off, when some priority may be given.
A list of the principal targets (field centres for AAOmega+2dF programs) should be prepared as a separate PDF document. The target list should contain target name, RA (h m s), Dec (d m s), target brightness, and priority (A LaTeX template for a table of targets can be found here). There is a 2 Mb file-size and 2-page limit for this target list PDF file. Other document formats will not be accepted.
- When your proposal details are ready, submit your application to ATAC (by 5PM September 15, 2011) through the AAT online proposal form. Note that it is possible to Save a partially-completed form and return to it later. However, we strongly recommend that you keep your own record of the information entered into the form.
Observing semesters and closing dates:
| Semester | Observing Dates | Proposal Deadline | AATAC meeting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12A | 1 Feb 2012 - 31 Jul 2012 | 15 Sep 2011 | Nov 2011 |
| 12B | 1 Aug 2012 - 31 Jan 2013 | 15 March 2012 | May 2012 |
Contacting the ATAC Secretariat:
| The Secretary, ATAC Anglo-Australian Observatory PO Box 296 Epping NSW 1710 Australia |
|
| Phone: +61 (0)2 9372 4812 | Fax: +61 (0)2 9372 4880 |
| Email enquiries: Helen Woods (hmw -@- aao.gov.au) |
Gayandhi de Silva, AAT Technical Secretary, aatts -@- aao.gov.au