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Semester 2013A Call For Proposals

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Gemini Observatory invites its community to propose scientific investigations for the 2013A semester, 1 February 2013 - 31 July 2013. The submission deadline varies with partner and ranges from THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 TO TUESDAY OCTOBER 2 2012. Multi-partner joint proposals should be submitted by the deadline of the partner country to which the Principal Investigator is affiliated. Proposals for exchange time on Gemini from the Japanese community should be submitted by the Gemini Staff proposal deadline.

The Call is open to all partners and host institutions : Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the US, Chile and the University of Hawaii. US time is open to all astronomers including those at non-US institutions, although in that case the proposal must explain why U.S. national facilities are needed. The distribution of time across the partners is shown in the time distribution Table.

Hardcopy of the primary Call pages is available as a pdf document. An overview of the Gemini proposal submission process is available.


Highlights for 2013A


General
The deadline for Phase I submission varies with partner and ranges from THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27 TO TUESDAY OCTOBER 2 2012. Poor weather and Director's Discretionary Time proposals are accepted at any time via the Phase I Tool. For successful proposals, both queue and classical, the Phase II submission deadline is January 16 2013. More information is available in the 2013A schedule.
Target accessibility limits for 2013A are, for Gemini North 4 < RA < 1 and -37 < dec < +90, and for Gemini South 5 < RA < 2 and -90 < dec < +28. There are additional constraints if a program requires unrestricted access (e.g. MOS pre-imaging, long observations or observations with strict constraints), or the laser AO system at Gemini North or South. GSAOI+GeMS is restricted to RA 6.5h to 19h and declinations -70 to +10.
A new Phase I Tool (PIT) has been released for 2013A; see the PIT page for installation information and the help pages for the PIT for assistance. Latex and Word templates are available to create a pdf attachment which includes the science and technical cases, and these should be used.
The UK has withdrawn from the Gemini partnership, effective January 2013. The partner time distribution has been revised.
Gemini North
It is expected that 88% of the semester will be available for science. This amounts to 160 nights distributed across the partnership. These nights include a 7% Director's Discretionary Time allocation, 1 night for instrument performance monitoring, and 4 nights for GRACES commissioning using community targets. A separate Call will be made for GRACES targets. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below.
GNIRS is available in all modes except those requiring the short red camera. This will exclude science at wavelengths 2.9 to 5.5 µm with the 0.15 arcsecond/pixel scale. Some of this science can be done using the long red camera with the smaller pixel scale (or higher resolution for spectroscopy). GNIRS will be removed at the end of the semester for a lens replacement; although the exact date will be driven by demand, applicants with targets at RA 22h to 1h are advised to have backup targets available at earlier RA.
Michelle is not offered in 2013A and is not expected to be offered as a facility instrument in the future.
The "Super seeing" LGS + PWFS1 capability is available in 2013A with NIRI, NIFS and GNIRS, for up to 100 hours of time. PWFS1 provides tip/tilt/focus correction, improving the delivered image quality from effectively IQ70 to IQ20. Prospective users should refer to the LGS + PWFS1 page for more information.
Gemini South
It is expected that 81% of the semester will be available for science. This amounts to 146 nights distributed across the partnership. These nights include 12 nights of System Verification for FLAMINGOS-2, a 7% Director's Discretionary Time allocation, and 1 night for instrument performance monitoring. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below.
The commissioning of FLAMINGOS-2 will take highest priority and is likely to impact queue and classical run scheduling. A separate Call will be made for FLAMINGOS-2 System Verification proposals after successful re-commissioning.
GSAOI with GeMS is expected to be available for early science from February to April 2013, limiting RAs to 6.5h - 19h, and declination to -70 to +10 degrees. Availability is dependent on successful System Verification (SV) during 2012B. An SV call for 2012B has been issued. 60 hours are available via the 2012B SV call, for targets with an RA range of 1 to 12 hours. The SV data have a 2 month proprietary period. 80 to 100 hours are available via this 2013A call, for targets with a later range in RA. The 2013A data will have the normal 18 month proprietary period. The 2013A early science is shared risk as instrument availability and data quality cannot be guaranteed, and reduced observing efficiency is expected. 2013A GSAOI band 1 early science programs will not be eligible for rollover status.
GMOS-South may be removed at the end of the semester for replacement of the CCDs; although the exact date will be driven by demand, applicants with targets at RA 0h to 2h are advised to have backup targets available.
NICI has no restrictions on RA, however availability will be impacted by the commissioning of FLAMINGOS-2, which will have priority. Note that 2013A is likely to be the last A semester, and probably the last semester, that NICI will be offered.
T-ReCS is not offered in 2013A and is not expected to be offered as a facility instrument in the future.
Keck and Subaru Exchange
No Gemini-Keck exchange time is offered in Semester 2013A.
4 to 10 classical nights are available on Subaru in Semester 2013A . PIs in the Gemini community who intend to use the Subaru telescope are encouraged to apply through the time-exchange program and not through the open use Subaru Call. Similarly, Subaru request that Japanese PIs with direct access to Gemini not request time on Gemini via the Subaru exchange program. Time must be requested in integer nights, and runs will be evenly distributed across dark, gray and bright nights. Proposals should be submitted via the normal Gemini process [more information] Instrument availability is as follows:
  • COMICS (mid-infrared camera and spectrograph) available throughout 13A, including use with the repaired auto-guider in shared-risk mode.
  • FMOS (near-infrared fiber-fed multi-object spectrograph) available in both high- and low-resolution mode with IRS1 and IRS2. Changes have been made in the wavelength coverage for the high-resolution mode.
  • FOCAS (optical camera and spectrograph) available throughout 13A, including use with the repaired auto-guider in shared-risk mode.
  • HDS (optical high dispersion spectrograph) is available. A new image slicer is available in shared-risk mode.
  • IRCS (infrared camera and spectrograph, with Natural and Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics capability) is available from February to May 2013 only.
  • MOIRCS (near-infrared imager and multi-object spectrograph) available throughout 13A, including use with the repaired auto-guider in shared-risk mode.
  • Suprime-Cam (wide field optical imager) is available.


Additional Information

Details of the capabilities available at each Gemini telescope are given below. Please see the page of supporting information for additional general information.


Gemini North: Facilities

  • All instruments are offered in queue and classical mode, except for Laser Guide Star AO which is queue mode only.
  • Facility instruments:
    • GMOS North - 0.36-0.98 micron imager and spectrograph: imaging and long-slit, multi-object and integral field spectroscopy. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately R=26 for imaging and R=21-23 for spectroscopy.
    • GNIRS - 1-5 micron spectrograph: fed with the direct or AO-corrected beam. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately K=18.5 to K=14.5 depending on the resolution used. Imaging with GNIRS is also possible, although the field of view and filter selection is limited, and the optics do not give diffraction-limited image quality. The short red camera is not available in 13A. This excludes science at wavelengths 2.9 to 5.5 µm with the 0.15 arcsecond/pixel scale.
    • NIRI - 1-5 micron imager: imaging fed with the direct or AO-corrected beam. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately K=23 for imaging. NIRI is no longer offered for spectroscopy.
    • NIFS - 0.95-2.40 micron integral field unit spectrograph: IFU spectroscopy fed with the direct or AO-corrected beam. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately K=18.7.
    • Altair - facility AO system: for use with GNIRS, NIFS and NIRI (except at M-band).
  • See the target accessibility page for important information regarding instrument availability and a plot of accessible RA and Dec.

  • Gemini South: Facilities

    • All instruments are offered in queue and classical mode, except for GeMS AO which is queue mode only.
    • Facility instruments:
      • GMOS South - 0.36-0.93 micron imager and spectrograph: imaging and long-slit, multi-object and integral field spectroscopy. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately R=26 for imaging and R=21-23 for spectroscopy.
      • GSAOI near-infrared adaptive optics imager for use with the GeMS system : available for early science in 2013A. Prospective users should refer to the instrument web pages for updates as commissioning is ongoing.
      • NICI - 1-4 micron dual-channel coronagraphic imager: Constraints must be at least as good as CC 70 and IQ 70. CC 70 programs need to have brighter guide stars and less demanding sensitivity requirements.
      • GeMS - facility AO system: for use with GSAOI. Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics compensates for the atmospheric turbulence in a 3-D fashion, using multiple guide stars and deformable mirrors. Diffraction-limited near-IR images can be obtained over a wider field than regular AO.
      • FLAMINGOS-2 - near-Infrared wide field imager and multi-object spectrometer: expected to be available for System Verification only in 2013A.
  • See the target accessibility page for important information regarding instrument availability and a plot of accessible RA and Dec.

  • Questions and Answers

    All questions concerning proposals, or any other subject, should be made using the Gemini HelpDesk. This web-based system will send the request to your National Gemini Office staff in the first instance who will then escalate it to Gemini staff if necessary.

    Comments and suggestions on the format and content of this page and supporting pages are welcome, and should be sent to Sandy Leggett.




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