The 2022ACall for Proposals covers proposals for observing programs at all ground-based facilities on which the NSF NOIRLab manages open-access observing time. Information about the newly launched NOIRLab proposal process can be found at:
Instructions for preparing and submitting an NSF NOIRLAB standard proposal can be found at:
An NSF NOIRLab proposal MUST be prepared and submitted via the web-based submission process, using the format as provided by a LaTeX or Word template.
3. News and Updates for Semester 2022A
The following updatess to instrumentation and or observing time at all facilities available through the NSF NOIRLab are noted here to alert investigators preparing proposals.
3.1 NN-EXPLORE in 2022A: Time Available on the WIYN 3.5m, the CTIO/SMARTS 1.5m with CHIRON, and MINERVA-Australis.
WIYN 3.5m
The NNEXPLORE program continues on the WIYN 3.5m, with 30 nights available for exoplanet programs. See more details on WIYN in Section 3.5.
CTIO/SMARTS 1.5m+CHIRON
NNEXPLORE offers observing time on the CTIO/SMARTS 1.5m with the precision radial-velocity spectrometer CHIRON, with 300 hours (equivalent to 30 nights of service observing) of observing time in 2022A. See more details on the 1.5m/CHIRON in Section 3.6.
MINERVA-Australis
As part of the NNEXPLORE program, NASA is continuing in a partnership with the MINERVA-Australis consortium that began in 2020B. That agreement continues in Semester 2022A, with 300 hours of observing time open to NNEXPLORE proposals. MINERVA-Australis is a dedicated exoplanet observatory operated by the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) in Queensland, Australia. The facility is located at USQ's Mt. Kent Observatory, and saw first light in quarter two 2018; commissioning of the facility was completed in mid-2019. MINERVA-Australis currently consists of 5 (0.7m) PlaneWave CDK700 telescopes; these telescopes have two ports, allowing each to be used for either spectroscopic or photometric observations. A summary of the facility and its capabilities can be found in the commissioning paper by Addison et al. 2019
The photometric channel is capable of milli-magnitude precision and currently, the light from four telescopes can be combined onto one R=75,000 echelle spectrograph for radial velocity precisions of 1 -10 m/s depending on the target brightness and how many telescopes are combined.
3.2 Gemini North and South
The Gemini Observatory has released a Call for Proposals for 2022A at:
The Gemini Call contains all of the information necessary to submit a Gemini proposal. We suggest strongly that you also read the Gemini CfP if you are requesting Gemini or Subaru-exchange time to be aware of the latest news.
Proposers requesting Gemini time must use the Gemini Phase-I Tool (PIT):
The Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT) will automatically add the time for the baseline partner calibrations to the total time requested for each target in the proposal.
Gemini-Subaru Exchange
Gemini and Subaru are continuing their time-exchange program. A minimum of 5 nights will be available to the Gemini community, providing that there is sufficient demand from both sides of the exchange. Please see the Gemini Call for Proposals for more Subaru-specific information. Proposers requesting Subaru time must use the Gemini Phase-I Tool (PIT).
3.3 Keck I and Keck II
Through the NSF's Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP), NOIRLab observing time on Keck I and Keck II will be available through semester 2025A. In 2022A, 2 nights on Keck I and 3 nights on Keck II are available.
Note that all proposers for Keck time must submit a Proposal Cover Sheet Form to Keck. The cover sheet can be found at
https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/PILogin/login.php . You must have a Keck Observer account to submit this form to Keck; if you do not have an Observer account, you can create one on the above link. If you have forgotten your login name and password, help is available at the login page. From your Keck homepage you can view your upcoming telescope runs, view your previous semesters' coversheets, create or modify coversheets for the upcoming semester, view and modify your contact information and profile. Additional information on proposing for Keck time can be found at
https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/observing/apply.html
Instrument availability, along with all relevant information, can be found at:
Special Notes and Consideration for 2022A:
LRISp: The polarimeter for LRIS will return to service in March 2022.
Keck 1 AO: Keck 1 AO (Osiris) may require periods of downtime in 2022A to help facilitate KAPA hardware installation. Observing programs may need to be shifted in their acceptable observing periods to provide time for this work.
Keck 2 AO: (Nirc2-NGS/LGS/PY, NIRSPAO) will be unavailable from mid-February to mid-March.
NIRSPEC: NIRSPEC will be unavailable in February for routine servicing to remove ice from the dewar window and will return to service in early March.
NIRSPAO/NIRSPEC: NIRSPEC and NIRSPAO nights may be scheduled in campaign mode to limit the number of reconfigurations into AO during the semester.
KCWI: KCWI will be unavailable beginning in early June for the installation of the red channel, KCRM. The polarimetry mode of KCWI will be available in shared-risk mode during the timeframe when KCWI is available.
KPIC: KPIC will be unavailable in 2022A as it undergoes a phase-2 upgrade.
NIRC2:
- The vortex coronagraph in LGS mode is not available.
- The vortex coronagraph in K band is only available through collaboration with the vortex development team.
- The vortex coronagraph with the PyWFS is only available through collaboration with the PyWFS and vortex development teams.
Please, see the NIRC2 manual (https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/nirc2/ObserversManual.html#Section5.2.2) for information about vortex operations.
DEIMOS: The top-left CCD on the detector mosaic is ~4 times noisier than the rest of the CCDs. Please see https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/deimos/detector_issues.html for guidelines on how to design your MOS masks with this issue in mind.
At-Home (pajama mode) Observing:
- At-Home observing will continue to be available to observers
- Keck will support up to two observers for at home observing: one primary and one secondary observer. Those two individuals may help other team members get set up, but Keck support will be limited for additional observers.
- At home observing requires the installation of software which only runs on linux and macOS operating systems.
- Observers using at home observing should plan to work with Keck staff to install and test the software several days ahead of their run to allow time for troubleshooting.
3.4 Zwicky Transient Facility and ANTARES event brokering
The NSF MSIP-funded Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) is currently issuing public transient alerts. ZTF-II is now doing a two-night cadence all-sky survey as its public survey. More information can be found at:
For 2022A, the NSF NOIRLab encourages submission of proposals for “target-of-opportunity” (ToO) follow-up observing triggered by ZTF alerts. Proposals should plan to use the current ToO policies and mechanisms for the facilities allocated through the NSF NOIRLab TAC. More information about current ToO policies and procedures at available open-access facilities can be found here:
Gemini Target of Opportunity observing:
CTIO Target of Opportunity observing:
SOAR Target of Opportunity observing
Las Cumbres Observatory scheduling (including ToO)
The NSF NOIRLab is currently filtering ZTF alerts through the ANTARES event broker system (
https://antares.noirlab.edu). For 2022A, ANTARES capabilities include positional and/or catalog-based filters with associated delta-magnitude thresholds, as well as more complex filters. Proposers interested in employing these ANTARES capabilities within their programs during 2022A are encouraged to contact Dr. Tom Matheson (tom.matheson@noirlab.edu.edu) in advance of the proposal deadline. Support for ANTARES science verification programs will be subject to availability of resources; depending on demand during this initial call, it is possible that only a subset of programs will be chosen for use with ANTARES.
3.5 KPNO
Mayall 4-m
The Mayall 4-m telescope is currently in the midst of survey observing with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). No time will be available through the NSF NOIRLab TAC.
WIYN 3.5m
Approximately 30 nights devoted to NNEXPLORE programs will be available for NSF NOIRLab observing time in 2022A. More details on the NNEXPLORE Program on WIYN can be found at: https://noirlab.edu/science/observing-noirlab/proposals/nn-explore
Information specific to proposing for time using the precision radial-velocity spectrograph NEID can be found at: https://www.wiyn.org/Instruments/wiynneid_call2022a.html
Open-access proposals, other than NNEXPLORE, can be submitted to WIYN, but these would only be scheduled if NNEXPLORE programs could not be scheduled for all of the NOIRLab WIYN time; in particular, proposals using only Hydra or ODI might have the best chance to be fit into time slots that could not fit into the NNEXPLORE schedule.
WIYN 0.9m
No new proposals are solicited in 2022A for the 0.9m with HDI. We are working on re-opening as soon as possible and will issue a call for proposals at that time.
3.6 CTIO
Blanco 4m
Nights available in 2022A for new regular programs is approximately 90.
Instruments available: In 2022A, CTIO will be offering the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) and the Cerro Tololo Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph (COSMOS):
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/instruments/Dark-Energy-Camera
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/instruments/COSMOS
Night time operations at the Blanco telescope resumed in October 2020, however visiting observers are not currently permitted nor are expected to be in the near future. All proposers should therefore plan to observe remotely during the whole of 2022A. See the Information on equipment and software requirements and how to carry out remote observations at Blanco at:
http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/Remote-Observing-Blanco
Note that we are waiving the requirement that all observers must have had previous observing experience at the telescope in order to carry out remote observations. However, we strongly encourage the involvement of experienced observers within your team in the planning and execution of your observations.
SOAR
It is expected that approximately 49 nights of NOIRLab time will be available on SOAR for 2022A.
The SOAR website is located at:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/soar-telescope/about
Instruments: All instruments that were available in the previous two semesters, including TripleSpec 4.1, are currently available. See the Facilities Table in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 below for a list with links.
AEON
Queue scheduling: For semester 2022A, SOAR will continue to offer queue time through the AEON network (http://www.ctio.noao.edu/soar/content/soar-aeon-home-page). Because we have a stable operation, we can now confidently support proposals that require the flexibility the AEON queue offers, in particular programs requiring small amounts of time spread over the semester, or where targets are not entirely predictable. AEON remains the recommended choice for programs with a large number of targets distributed over the sky, as well as those where monthly or bi-weekly cadences are required. We cannot commit to support higher cadences (e.g., weekly) unless demand increases sufficiently; exceptions may be possible where the higher cadence is only required for a portion of the semester. Note that we can and do support observations of solar system objects using non-sidereal tracking.
At present, we can only commit to supporting the Goodman spectrograph in 2022A, however we now support both red and blue cameras and can add configurations where demand warrants. Time is allocated based on TAC priority and the AEON queue is currently filled at 100%, so the expected fraction of clear time is the same as for classical observing. Investigators receiving time through all SOAR partners are eligible to participate; time continues to be allocated by the individual partners.
Please consult the AEON pages for further details and for contact information if you have questions the website doesn't answer.
Targets of Opportunity: SOAR support target of opportunity programs; for specifics of the policy see
SMARTS (1.5m with CHIRON and 0.9m with CFCCD)
Time on the small telescopes at CTIO will be available to NSF NOIRLab users in 2022A. The telescopes are operated by the SMARTS Consortium with up to 15% of time available to the NSF NOIRLab community. The
The 1.5m + CHIRON (fiber-fed cross-dispersed echelle):
300 hours are available for the NNEXPLORE program, and assuming thefacility remains open for all of 2022A, 180 hours will be available for scheduling by the NOIRLab TAC for non-NNEXPLORE programs. For more information on the 1.5m, please contact Dr. Todd Henry at thenry@astro.gsu.edu. Note that non-sidereal tracking is not supported with CHIRON spectroscopy at the 1.5m; the only option for
non-sidereal targets is imaging via user time on the 0.9m.
The 0.9m + CFCCD:
The 0.9m can currently only be operated in user mode, so will not be available in 2022A as long as visitor access to the site is restricted because of the pandemic. It is very hard to predict if and when this
may change because it depends on the evolution of the pandemic, public health regulations, and international travel restrictions. We encourage applications for time on the understanding that it may not be possible to execute all, or any, of the successful proposals. In the event that the site is open, up to 14 nights could be available for allocation by the NSF NOIRLab TAC.
For more information on the 0.9m, please contact Dr. Todd Henry at thenry@astro.gsu.edu.
3.7 Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO)
As in recent semesters, NOIR Lab time is available on both the 1m and 2m telescopes comprising the LCO global array. In Semester 2022A, 1250 hours of time are available on the 1m telescopes and 200 hours on the 2m telescopes. More information on LCO facilities can be found at:
3.8 CHARA (Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy)
As in recent semesters, 35 nights of observing time on CHARA are available through NOIRLab. More information on CHARA can be found at:
3.9 NOIRLab and NASA Space Observatories Time
The NSF's NOIRLab collaborates with NASA Space Observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra, and Fermi, to provide investigators with complementary ground-based observations in support of their programs. Investigators can obtain time on facilities available through NOIRLab through successful proposals for Fermi, HST, and Chandra programs. This collaboration allows proposers to avoid the double jeopardy inherent in having to pass through two separate TAC processes, and provides access to facilities essential to obtaining complementary ground-based O/IR data without regard to institutional affiliation. The time awarded through this process will not be extended or augmented to account for losses due to bad weather.
Gemini Time:
Note, programs that requested observations with the Gemini telescopes, must submit a Gemini proposal, using the Gemini PIT, to NOIRLab, where the NOIRLab TAC will recommend either Band 1 or Band 2 Gemini queue time.
4. General Information about Facilities Available through NOIRLab
4.1 Facilities List
4.2 Telescope and Instrument Lists (with Instrument Proposal Code and Web-link)
Gemini-North
GMOS-N: Gemini Optical Imager, Multi-Object Spectrograph and IFU
The R600 grating will be available to classical programs only.
GNIRS: Gemini Near Infra-Red Spectrograph
Expected to be unavailable during the month of March 2022, due to the installation of new integral field units. Access to RAs of 7 to 10 hours will be significantly reduced and investigators using GNIRS are encouraged to be as flexible as possible with their targets. The short red camera is not available in 2022A. YJHK imaging is available via the acquisition keyhole.
GNIRS + Altair: Gemini Near Infra-Red Spectrograph with AO system (Altair).
NIFS: Near-IR IFU Spectrograph
NIFS + Altair: Near-IR IFU Spectrograph with AO system (Altair).
NIRI: Near-Infrared Imager
NIRI + Altair: Near-IR Imager with AO system (Altair).
'Alopeke: Speckle Camera (visiting instrument)
GRACES: Gemini Remote Access to CFHT ESPaDOnS Spectrograph (visiting instrument)
MAROON-X: Precision Radial-Velocity High-Reolution Spectrograph (visiting instrument)
POLISH-2: The high-precision visiting polarimeter, will be available for science, subject to demand. The instrument is open to the community via collaborative proposals with the PI. If you are interested in obtaining data in the 2022A semester with this instrument, you must contact the PI (Sloane Wiktorowicz - sloane.j.wiktorowicz at aero.org). For more details of the instrument itself, consult the following publication: Wiktorowicz et al. 2015 ApJ 813 and references therein.
Gemini-South
FLAMINGOS-2: Near-Infrared Wide Field Imager and Spectrometer (imaging and longslit modes only)
F2-MOS commissioning is underway and this mode may be offered through the Fast Turnaround program later during the semester. Stay tuned.
GMOS-S: Gemini Optical Imager, Multi-Object Spectrograph and IFU
The R600 grating is not available in 2022A.
GSAOI/GeMS: Gemini Adaptive Optics Imager with Multi-Conjugate AO System
Due to guide star limitations, proposers must check the availability of guide star constellations using the Observing Tool before submitting a proposal.
Observations in IQ85 are possible for programs that can use delivered images with full-width half-maximum of ~0.2 arcseconds as opposed to the ≤ 0.1 arcseconds delivered in IQ70 or IQ20 conditions. Observations under non-photometric conditions with 0.1 mag uniform extinction are also possible under very good IQ conditions. The expectation is to have two or three laser runs of 7 nights each during the semester, the actual schedule will be based on the demand from the community.
Zorro: Speckle Camera (visiting Instrument)
The scheduling and length of Zorro visiting blocks will be subject to community demand.
IGRINS: High-Resolution Near-IR Cross-Dispersed Echelle Spectrometer (visiting instrument)
The scheduling and length of IGRINS visiting blocks will be subject to community demand.
Subaru (Gemini Exchange time)
AO 188 (Subaru 188-element Adaptive Optics system) is available but only in Natural Guide Star mode, LGS-AO is not offered..
FOCAS: Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph; the IFU mode is available.
HDS: High Dispersion Spectrograph (optical).
HSC: Hyper Suprime-Cam Wide-Field Optical Imager: queue is the primary mode. Classical mode is also accepted. The requested time should include overheads and be in multiples of one hour.
IRCS: IR Camera and Spectrograph: all polarimetry mode of IRCS is open as a shared-risk mode.
IRCS+AO188: IRCS + Natural and Laser Guide Star AO: unavailable in August and September, and available from October through January. The polarimetry mode is a shared-risk mode.
MOIRCS: Multi-Object IR Camera and Spectrograph: has been hibernated during SWIMS operation (see note below for SWIMS).
Visiting Instruments on Subaru offered in 2022A (limited to one or two runs). Proposals to use visiting instruments must include the instrument PIs as Co-investigators.
CHARIS: Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph - provides high contrast images of exoplanets, disks, brown dwarfs with SCExAO+AO188. https://scholar.princeton.edu/charis
Fast PDI (in shared-risk mode): availability to be confirmed in April. Polarization differential imaging (PDI) with a high speed (>kHz) near-IR (950 - 1860 nm) low-noise camera (C-RED One), optimized for high contrast imaging of circumstellar disks with SCExAO+AO188.
IRD: Infrared high-dispersion, high resolution (up to 70,000) fiber-fed spectrometer. IRD provides high spectral resolution echelle spectroscopy and radial velocity measurements from 0.97 to 1.75 um simultaneously combined with AO188. IRD is available only in shared-risk. IRD SSP started in 2019A – any IRD proposal must clarify how its scientific aim is different from SSP. http://ird.mtk.nao.ac.jp/IRDpub/index_tmp.html . The observing mode, REACH (SCExAO+IRD), is available: http://secondearths.sakura.ne.jp/reach/
MEC (in shared-risk mode): availability to be confirmed in April. The MKID Exoplanet Camera (MEC) is a near-IR (800 - 1400 nm) photon-counting low-resolution (R~5) integral-field spectrograph optimized for high-contrast imaging with SCExAO+AO188.
SWIMS: Simultaneous-color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph - an imager and multi-object spectrograph in the NIR wavelength region. SWIMS proposals cannot request MOIRCS as a backup instrument. http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/TAO/swims/?Summary_for_Subaru_S21A_CfP
VAMPIRES: The Visible Aperture Masking Polarimetric Imager for Resolved Exoplanetary Strucutres is a visible light instrument on the SCExAO system. https://www.naoj.org/Projects/SCEXAO/scexaoWEB/030openuse.web/040vampires.web/indexm.html
NsIRWave Plate Unit: for IRCS/SCExAO polarimetry mode. https://subarutelescope.org/Observing/Instruments/IRCS/polarimetry/polarimetry.html
Keck I
HIRES
LRIS
MOSFIRE
OSIRIS
Keck II
DEIMOS
ESI
KCWI
NIRES
NIRC2
https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/index.php
CTIO 4m Blanco
DECam: Wide-Field Optical Imager
COSMOS: CTIO Ohio State Multi-Object Spectrograph
SOAR 4m
Goodman: Goodman Spectrograph
SOI: SOAR Optical Imager
TripleSpec4.1 (ex-ARCOIRIS): Cross-dispersed, single-object, longslit, IR imaging spectrograph
Spartan: Spartan IR Imager
SAM: SOAR Adaptive Module
SIFS: SOAR Integral-Unit Spectrograph
WIYN 3.5m
NEID: NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler spectroscopy, precision RV spectrograph
ODI: One Degree Imager (40' x 48' focal plane)
HYDRB: Hydra + Bench Spectrograph + STA1 CCD, Blue camera
HYDRR: Hydra + Bench Spectrograph + STA1 CCD, Red camera
SPSPKB: SparsePak Fiber Array + Bench Spectrograph + STA1 CCD, Blue camera
SPSPKR: SparsePak Fiber Array + Bench Spectrograph + STA1 CCD, Red camera
WHIRC: WIYN High Resolution IR Camera
GRDPK: GradPak IFU
HEXPK: HexPak IFU
NESSI: NASA Exoplanet Star (and) Speckle Imager
CHARA
CLASSIC: IR (H or K) Imaging
CLIMB: IR (H or K) Imaging
MIRC: Low-resolution H-band Spectroscopy
PAVO: Low-resolution Optical Spectroscopy
VEGA: Medium-resolution and High-resolution Optical Spectroscopy
LCO-2m Global Network
Spectral: Optical Imager
FLOYDS: Cross-dispersed Low-resolution Spectrograph
LCO-1m Global Network
Sinistro: Optical Imager
NRES: High-resolution Fiber-fed Echelle Spectrograph
SMARTS 1.5m
CHIRON: High-resolution Fiber-fed Cross-dispersed Echelle Spectrograph for Precision RV
SMARTS 0.9m
CFIM+T2K: Cass Direct + SITe 2K CCD
WIYN 0.9m
HDI: Half-Degree Imager
5. How to Acknowledge Use of NSF's NOIRLab Facilities
There are a variety of credit lines which are appropriate for citing the use of data from one or more of the NOIRLab facilities. Please acknowledge the proper observatories by using the appropriate credit line as described in the following link:
https://noirlab.edu/public/research/scientific-acknowledgments/