May 2015 Call for Proposals

Gemini North is accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) pilot program. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program.

1. Important dates
   • Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), May 31
   • Reviews must be complete by 23:59 HST, June 15;
   • Results will be announced by June 21;
   • Observations must be ready by July 01 and will remain valid until the end of September;
   • Observations will be executed on scheduled Fast Turnaround nights as shown here. Note that August and September FT dates have not yet been scheduled; we expect that there will be three nights in each of August and September for FT.


2. Eligibility
   • PIs from all partners taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
   • PIs from partner countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Currently no partners have reached their limit but Canada has approximately 6 hrs remaining. See the rules and Q&A for more information.


3. Acceptable RA ranges
   • Targets from RA~13 hrs – 6 hrs can be accepted during this cycle. Note that RAs of 13-15 will only be accessible for a few hours during the first month (July), and the block of FT nights in July is SB Any (bright time) for the first half of the nights. RAs of 4-6 will only be accessible for a few hours during the final month (September).
   • Approximate coordinates of targets in the current FT queue are given here.
   • This page gives some information about the number of observations already in the FT queue at a range of RAs.


4. Available instruments and observing modes
   • Gemini North (only) is participating in the FT trial
   • GNIRS, NIFS, and Altair (natural guide star mode) are expected to be available for all June-July FT nights in this period. It is probable that GNIRS will be available in August.
   • NIRI is expected to be available for the July FT nights
   • The availability of GMOS in July and August depends on whether the CCD swap goes ahead as planned. At this point there is a good possibility that GMOS will be available in July and possibly August although the 15B schedule has not been finalized (as of May 28).
   • A very limited amount of LGS time is potentially available (one FT night in June falls in a laser guide star run; August and September nights are not yet scheduled).
   • Short observations can generally be accommodated on non-FT nights (see rule 10 ). However, the visiting instrument DSSI is not offered for FT proposals.
   • See the 2015A telescope schedule for details about instrument availability.
   • MOS observations are not available through the Fast Turnaround program. As discussed in the rules and Q&A, please contact the Fast Turnaround team in advance of the deadline if you would like to propose for an unusual instrument configuration or observing mode.


5. Time available
   • Assuming typical weather loss, we expect to have about 20 useable hours to allocate to FT programs during this cycle. Very roughly, this implies:
     • i. 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
     • ii. 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
     • iii. 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
     • iv. 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
   • PIs may propose for up to roughly the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions (see the rules).
   • While very good conditions can be requested, please note that FT observations will be executed in a “mini-queue” on dedicated nights with no compensation for weather losses.


6. PIT information
   • Proposals must be submitted using the version of the Phase I Tool specified on this web page (in the "Time Requests" tab, select Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini as the proposal class).
   • In the Time Requests tab, select "Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini" as the proposal class and specify the reviewer (and mentor, if appropriate).
   • Please use the GemPhase1.tex/doc template to prepare the pdf required by the PIT, following the page limits specified in that file.
   • Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given cycle (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible.


7. Changes to rules/policies since last CfP
   • None.