August 2017 Call for Proposals

Gemini North and South are accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) 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. FT-specific proposal templates must now be used for all FT proposals; see the "PIT information" section below. The revised 2017B PIT must be used

1. 1. Important dates
      • Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), August 31.
      • Reviews must be complete by 23:59 HST, September 14;
      • Results will be announced by September 21;
      • The deadline for preparing observations (Phase II) is September 31. Accepted programs meeting this deadline will be active from 1 October 2017 until 31 December 2017;
      • FT observations will be merged with the queue and observed on queue nights.

1. 1. Eligibility
      • PIs from all participant countries taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
      • We further welcome Japanese community PI proposals.
      • PIs from participant countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Note that some participant countries only have very small amounts of FT time available each semester. See Rule #4 and Q&A for more information.

1. 1. Acceptable RA ranges
      • Gemini North: Targets from about RA =17.5 hrs to 12 hr (i.e. >17.5 or < 12) are acceptable during this cycle. Note, however, that RAs near 17.5 will only be accessible for a few hours during the first half of the first month (September) and only at northern declinations (Dec > 0) . Likewise, RAs near 12 will only be accessible for a few hours during the second half of the final month (November) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.
      • Gemini South: Targets from about RA = 17.5 hrs to 12 hrs (i.e. >17.5 or <12) are acceptable during this cycle . Note, however, that RAs near 17.5 will only be accessible for a few hours during the first half of the first month (October) and only at favorable declinations (Dec < 0) . Likewise, RAs near 12 will only be accessible for a few hours during the second half of the final month (December) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.

1. 1. Available instruments and observing modes
       
      • • Gemini North
        • Please see the the telescope schedule for detailed instrument availabilities.
        • New detectors have been commissioned in GMOS-N. Please check the GMOS North pages for updates.
        • LGS will NOT be offered . NIFS will not be offered this time.
        • Gemini South
        • See the telescope schedule for detailed instrument availabilities.
        • GMOS-S and Flamingos-2 are expected to be available during this FT block.
        • Gemini South is shut down for 10 nights in October. 
        • A limited amount of GPI time is available intermittently through the 3-month FT block. Contact the FT team for details.
        • GeMS+GSAOI and PHOENIX are not available for FT.
       
      • Both telescopes
      • FT observations may not be executed during classical observing, priority visitor (PV) and Korean blocks, depending on the prevailing conditions.
      • For GMOS proposals, please indicate in the Technical section if your program could be carried out with either GMOS (North or South).
      • The R600 grating in each GMOS instrument is NOT offered for FT (or regular queue) observations.
      • MOS observations are now available for FT, subject to some caveats/restrictions
      • 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.

1. 1. Time available
      • 20 hrs per month at each telescope is available for FT observations. (Note for this cycle, Gemini-north time will be reduced by half). Very roughly, this implies:
        • 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
        • 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
        • 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
        • 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions
      • PIs may propose for up the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions, subject to partner's time availability - see rule #4 . For example, a proposal requesting CC50 IQ20 SB50 WVany conditions can request no more than 4 hrs of observing time.

1. 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). Note that this is where the reviewer is defined; changes cannot be made after the proposal has been submitted.
   • Dedicated LaTeX/Word templates must be used to prepare FT proposals: tex | sty | doc.
   • 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.
   • The FT proposal template (which differs somewhat from the queue template) is now compulsory for all FT proposals.