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2011B Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility

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This page provides best estimates, at the time of the Call for Proposals, of instrument availability and target (RA, dec) restrictions for 2011B.

Instrument Changes

As there are more instruments than the number of available ports on each telescope, instrument swaps will be required. Therefore not all instruments will be available for the entire semester. When possible instrument swaps will be scheduled to minimize impact on the queue and instrument swaps will be driven by demand. Hence the final schedule will not be made until after the semester programs are known. It may be the case that certain targets or entire programs will not be feasible once the final schedule is determined, at ITAC or thereafter. If an instrument is requested for less than 6% of the Bands 1+2 time, the Observatory reserves the right to limit the RA range available to programs, or to not schedule the instrument. During classical runs, no instrument changes on the Instrument Support Structure are permitted.



 

Gemini North Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility


All instruments are restricted for sky visibility as described in the Table and Figure below. Observations requiring the Laser Guide Star (LGS) system are further restricted by the limitation that the LGS must be used at or above 40 degrees elevation. How this translates into RA and dec restrictions is indicated in the Table. GMOS-N will not be available until October 10 2011 due to the installation and commissioning of the Hamamatsu CCDs. Hence targets for GMOS-N should be limited to 20.5 < RA < 13.5. Classical nights with GMOS-N will most likely not be scheduled before November 1 2011, to give some flexibility in the event of a schedule slip. Any updates to the GMOS-N commissioning will be considered at the ITAC meeting. At Gemini North, Michelle, NIFS and NIRI will share the up-looking port. Michelle will most likely only be available for two short periods at the start and end of the semester, depending on demand. It is expected that NIFS and NIRI will each be on for about half of the semester. Scheduling will be driven by demand, with a maximum of three instrument swaps.

 


Accessible Restricted** Inaccessible
Declination,
non-LGS
-30d to +73d -37d to -30d,
+73d to +79d
< -37d and > +79d
Declination,
LGS
-22d to +65d -27d to -22d,
+65d to +68d
< -27d and > +68d
Right Ascension,
non-LGS
19h to 11h 17h to 19h,
11h to 13.5h
13.5h to 17h
Right Ascension,
LGS
20h to 10h 18h to 20h,
10h to 12.5h
12.5h to 18h
GMOS-N Right Ascension
22.5h to 11h 20.5h to 22.5,
11h to 13.5h
13.5h to 22.5h
**GMOS MOS programs requiring pre-imaging should not have targets in this region. Programs with targets in this region should not require a large amount of time, or have strict timing or observing constraints.

 

GN Target Accessibility

Figure 1: Schematic representation of target accessibility at Gemini North during semester 2011B. Green regions offer unrestricted access, red regions are inaccessible. Hatched areas indicate the more restricted LGS regions. The yellow region is possible, but restricted. See text, and values in the Table above.


 

Gemini South Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility


All instruments are restricted for sky visibility as described in the Table and Figure below. At Gemini South, T-ReCS and NICI will share the up-looking port. Due to NICI's good weather requirement, NICI will most likely be mounted from October 2011 to January 2012, and T-ReCS from August to September. Hence targets for NICI should be limited to 21 < RA < 12, and targets for T-ReCS to 16 < RA < 5.

 


Accessible Restricted** Inaccessible
Declination -87d to +22d -89d to -87d,
+22d to +28d
< -89d and > +28d
Right Ascension 19h to 9h 16h to 19h,
9h to 12h
12h to 16h
NICI Right Ascension 23h to 9h 21h to 23h,
9h to 12h
12h to 21h
T-ReCS Right Ascension 18h to 3.5h 16h to 18h,
3.5h to 5h
5h to 16h
**GMOS MOS programs requiring pre-imaging should not have targets in this region. Programs with targets in this region should not require a large amount of time, or have strict timing or observing constraints.

 

 

GS Target Accessibility

Figure 2: Schematic representation of target accessibility at Gemini South during semester 2011B. Green regions offer unrestricted access, red regions are inaccessible. The yellow region is possible, but restricted. See text, and values in the Table above.

 




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