News

Call for Proposals for Key Projects to use the LCOGT 1m and 2m telescope networks

Semester dates and deadline

The 2015A semester runs from April 1 to September 30 , 2015. The 2015B semester runs from October 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.

Proposals for Key Projects must be submitted by February 9, 2015.

LCOGT is planning to dedicate up to 3000 additional hours of its 1-meter network time and 600 additional hours of its 2-meter network time in semesters 2015A & B together to key projects. The 1-meter time is limited to 1000 hours in semester 2015A.  Key projects are large, coherent observing programs designed to take maximum advantage of the unique attributes of the LCOGT network to address important astrophysical problems. Our goal is to highlight for the world the best science that can be done with the LCOGT network. It is anticipated that key projects will have a minimum duration of one year and a maximum of three years. This is the second year in which we are issuing a call for key projects. The additional hours that we will allocate for key projects will be divided between existing key projects - which may request a modification of their allocation - and new projects. We expect to approve one or two additional key projects to start this year.

The facilities available through this call include the nine 1m telescopes and two 2m (Faulkes) telescopes in the LCOGT network.  Currently, two of the 1m telescopes (at CTIO) are instrumented with Sinistro imagers, while the other 1m telescopes are instrumented with SBIG imagers.  We are in the process of replacing the SBIGs with Sinistros, but we are currently exploring some electrical issues with the Sinistros and will continue deployment once these are resolved.  The 2m telescopes are instrumented with Merope and Spectral imagers and FLOYDS low-dispersion spectrographs.

Note that instruments other than the standard imagers and FLOYDS spectrographs (listed above) will only be supported on a best-effort basis.

We are not requiring letters of intent this time.  We hope that teams that are developing proposals investigate overlapping science interests at other partner institutions.  Cross-institutional proposing teams will be preferred.

All proposals received will be reviewed by an LCOGT Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC). The purpose of this note is to notify those who are eligible to respond (see below).  Proposals will be evaluated based on criteria explained below. We welcome proposals that have a significant educational component.

Who can apply for telescope time?

We invite all LCOGT science collaboration members to submit proposals to the LCOGT Key Project Program. This includes the LCOGT site partners (ANU, CNTAC, SAAO, IfA, and University of Texas) , including those sites (IAC and NAOC) at which telescopes are planned but not yet built. It also includes the institutions with which we have other types of partnerships – IPAC, University of Colorado , University of California at Santa Barbara, St. Andrews University, and the ARI group at Liverpool John Moores University. Anyone who lists one of these institutions as their affiliation for published research may submit a proposal as PI. We also invite the LCOGT extended scientific family – in addition to current staff, this includes astronomers who were postdocs at LCOGT within the last 5 years, and astronomers who contributed to our advisory and allocation committees within the last 2 years .

Key projects will be large efforts – involving several thousand hours of observation. We expect that project teams will form to carry these out. The level of effort will be significant but the potential return is great. Because LCOGT is contributing large amounts of telescope time to support this program, we require that collaborators on proposing teams coming from other institutions commit significant resources to the effort. Such resources could include access to other facilities, or additional time on the LCOGT network from their own institution, or computing resources, or scientist time.

Definition of Key Projects

Key projects are large projects that will have substantial scientific impact on problems that are widely considered to be of significant astrophysical interest . They require a large number of hours (at least 500), and may require observations over several years (nominally up to 3 years, though scientific arguments for longer periods will be considered). Key projects often provide observational or derived data sets that are of interest to other researchers, in part because they can gather observations of a particular class of object in a coherent and uniform way.

Key projects are carried out by well organized teams with well thought out management of effort and resources. They are likely to require resources in addition to the telescope time, perhaps computing for analysis or theoretical studies , or time on larger telescopes to further follow a subset of the sample.

Key projects have a final goal; they are not just a data gathering exercise. It is expected that the project is designed to accomplish that goal, and that the resources are available or there is a plan for acquiring the needed resources .

Review Process and Criteria

Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of astronomers (the TAC), primarily from institutions that are not part of the LCOGT collaboration. They will be selected not only to ensure that their scientific expertise covers the range over which we expect to receive key project proposals, but also in that they understand the types of observations that the LCOGT facilities can do uniquely well.

The TAC will meet after having a few weeks to read and think about the proposals. They will rank the proposals based on the following criteria:

Scientific merit

The value that the proposed project will have both within the area of specialization and more broadly, within astronomy and science, generally .

Credibility of effort

The probability that the study can be carried out as described. Are the resources available consistent with what will be needed?

Experimental design

Are the proposed observations and other work consistent with the LCOGT network and other capabilities? Have they been thought out in sufficient detail and depth?

Suitability for LCOGT's unique capabilities

Does the proposed study take advantage of the unique aspects of the LCOGT network? Will this project demonstrate a result that could not be obtained without LCOGT?

Resources brought by other collaborators

Whille we want to encourage collaboration within the group of institutions that have worked together to make the LCOGT network a reality, we also want the burden of carrying out large projects like these to be shared fairly. We expect that any institution that participates in a key project will demonstrate a commitment to such a significant effort. We imagine a wide range of different types of resources may be relevant, and we leave it to proposers to be creative.

In addition to their ranking, the TAC will make a recommendation to the LCOGT Director, who will allocate the LCOGT time, based on the TAC recommendation as well as programmatic considerations.

Announcement of successful new key projects  will be made by March 9, 2015.

INFORMATION/TOOLS FOR WRITING PROPOSALS

See the Guidelines for Writing Proposals page.

Information about the capabilities of the instruments can be found on our instrumentation page.  

Exposure Times

In order to calculate exposure times with our imagers, use the exposure time calculator.  For FLOYDS, see the table on the FLOYDS description page.

Visibility Tool

We have also provided a visibility tool to show how observable a given RA and Dec. are on the LCOGT network in 2 different ways: seasonal visibility, and daily visibility.

Observation Overheads

Time charged includes all the overhead associated with slewing the telescope, acquiring the target, preparing the instrument, and reading out the detector, in addition to the actual exposure time.  Proposers should estimate the total amount of time needed for their program (queue-scheduled and target-of-opportunity separately).  To assist in this, use the overhead information in the table on the Guidelines for Writing Proposals page.  For each new object use the Slew & Settle time and the Acquisition & Setup time appropriate for the telescope and instrument you are using.  Add the readout time for each separate exposure.

PROPOSAL PRIORITY

Our goal in this semester of full science operations for the integrated LCOGT network is to execute all observation requests.  TAC priority will be used to guide choices, all other things being equal.  Targets-of-opportunity (see below) will have a higher priority than other observations, so we ask proposers to justify their need for that mode.

How do I apply?

We have a new web-page-based proposal form.  Please note that the regular (non key project) call for proposals is active also, and make sure that you specify that you are submitting a key project proposal.  

To submit the proposal, you will need to register at our proposal portal, and then follow the Create or Edit Proposals link.

Types of observation

We are supporting two types of observations: queue-scheduled and target of opportunity (ToO).  Queue-scheduled observations are sequences of one or more "blocks", defined by a single window (for one) or a cadence (for more than one).  A block is a set of integrations, intended to be executed contiguously.  A block may be several identical exposures or it may involve filter changes, exposure time changes, or slight changes in position (dithers).  A ToO observation is one intended to take place as quickly as possible (within 15 minutes of its availability).  Execution of a ToO generally requires the termination of an ongoing queue-scheduled block.

We ask proposers to justify the need for ToO observations and to separate their time request into hours needed for each type.  These will be charged separately.

Note that our definition of a Target of Opportunity (above) is different from the usual one.

Requesting Observations

Both queue-scheduled and target-of-opportunity observations may be requested either through the web interface or through an API. The web interface allows you to manually describe the observation parameters and constraints, including target position, maximum acceptable airmass, and exposure time.  It also allows you to define a sequence of exposures with a specific cadence and jitter.  The web page provides feedback about whether the request is schedulable.  The API allows the user to input all the information allowed by the form plus some additional parameters.  It can also be triggered by an external event.   

Data Access

Pipeline reduced data may be searched and downloaded through the LCOGT data archive at IPAC.  Data are typically available in the archive by six hours following the end of the night at each telescope.  In cases where quicker access to the data is scientifically justified, arrangements can be made to download "quick-reduced" data directly from LCOGT.

Science data has a default proprietary period of 12 months from the time of a given observation.  Data that has reached the end of its proprietary period is accessible from the LCOGT data archive at IPAC.

Time charging policy

Time is charged for all exposures attempted, regardless of the quality or delivery of the data.  Time charged includes the time to slew to your target, the time to get the instrument ready to begin your exposure, the open-shutter time, and the time to readout the detector. 

• ToO observations will be charged once triggered, regardless of the quality or delivery of the data. 

The web-based observation request page will provide feedback on the number of hours of the approved allocation that have been used.