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Semester 2009B Call For Proposals

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Gemini Observatory invites its community to propose scientific investigations for the 2009B semester, 1 August 2009 - 31 January 2010. The Call is open to all partners.

The submission deadline is TUESDAY MARCH 31ST 2009 for all partners. Applications should be submitted via your national Gemini proposal process. Submission times and other details vary by partner; please consult your National Gemini Office pages for more information. Joint proposals must adhere to the deadline (and other requirements) applicable to the partner country of the institution to which the Principal Investigator is affiliated.

The purpose of this page is to highlight the most relevant information for the 2009B call. Significant additional information is contained on supporting pages; users are encouraged to follow the links for more detailed information. If hardcopy is preferred, the primary pages are available as a single pdf document.


Highlights for 2009B


General
Relevant milestones for 2009B can be found in the 2009B schedule. The deadline for Phase I submission is March 31st 2009 (Poor weather and Director's Discretionary Time proposals are accepted at any time via the Phase I Tool), and for successful proposals the Phase II submission deadline is July 13th 2009.
Starting in 2009B, the Phase II submission deadline for classical programs will be the same as for queue programs. That is, successful classical programs must submit their Phase II by July 13th 2009.
Target accessibility limits will be imposed, so as not to bias the queue at the start or end of the semester. For unrestricted access, targets for Gemini North which do not use the Laser Guide Star system should be limited to 19 < RA < 11, and -30 < dec < +73, and for Gemini South targets should be limited to 19 < RA < 9, and -87 < dec < +22. Other regions are available, but only for short observations, or those with very relaxed observing constraints. The Laser Guide System has more restricted constraints. T-ReCS and NICI have further restrictions on availablity and Right Ascension in 2009B.
New narrow-band imaging filters are available for GMOS: O III and S II for GMOS-N and He II for both GMOS-N and GMOS-S. NICI at Gemini South is available in 2009B. It is expected that a later call will be made for Science Verification proposals for GNIRS at Gemini North and Flamingos-2 at Gemini South.
The instrument web pages have been revised with updated acquisition times in the Overheads sections.
The Phase I Tool (PIT) is updated for 2009B; See the PIT page for downloads and important information.

Gemini North
It is expected that 85% of the semester will be available for science, or 156 nights. This includes 15 nights that will be used for GNIRS Science Verification and possibly other Observatory strategic programs. These nights are distributed across the partnership according to partner shares and adjustments for partner imbalances. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below.
The Laser Guide System (LGS) is available with NIRI and NIFS. LGS observations must specify "Laser guide star" in the Adaptive Optics resources section in the PIT, and must request Cloud Cover = 50% and Image Quality = 70%. Faint tip tilt stars will also require darker skies: 17.5 < R < 18 needs SB=80%, 18 < R < 18.5 needs SB=50%. Because of the limited availability and the need for good weather, only LGS programs ranked in bands 1 and 2 will be recommended by the ITAC. Up to 200 hours will be available in 2009B for LGS queue observations (LGS mode is expected to be available 7-14 nights per month).
Gemini South
It is expected that 80% of the semester will be available for science, or 147 nights including 18 nights for the NICI Campaign and 6 nights for Flamingos-2 Science Verification. These nights are distributed across the partnership according to partner shares and adjustments for partner imbalances. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below. Due to the need to balance the queue, and the traditionally high demand for GMOS-S dark time programs, bright time programs on Gemini South are particularly encouraged.
NICI, the AO-fed Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager, will be available to the community in 2009B for on-axis coronagraphic imaging excluding the L and M bands; additional modes are available on a shared-risk basis. NICI observations must request Cloud Cover = 50% and Image Quality = 70%, to achieve a stable AOWFS signal. Community observations of the NICI Campaign targets with NICI are not permitted.
Exchange
Up to 5 bright/gray nights of classical time are available with the HIRES optical spectrograph on Keck. The requested nights must be within the following windows with a maximum of 2 nights in any one window: 28 August -11 September, 26 October - 8 November, 24 December - 6 January. Requests must be full nights with a minimum of 1 night. Proposals should be submitted via the normal process. All proposers for Keck time must also complete the Keck cover page. Email this page to your NTAC chair. [more information]
4 to 6 classical nights are available on Subaru with Suprime-Cam (wide field optical imager) and MOIRCS (near-infrared imager and multi-object spectrograph). The requested nights must be within the following windows with a maximum of 2 nights in any one window: September 14 - 21 (dark); November 6 - 12 or 22 - 29 (grey); and November 30 - December 5 or December 23 - January 4 (bright). Requests must be full nights with a minimum of 1 night. Proposals should be submitted via the normal process. [more information]

Additional Information

Details of the capabilities available at each 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 - 0.36-1.10 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.
    • NIRI - 1-5 micron imager and low-resolution spectrograph: imaging and spectroscopy fed with the direct or AO-corrected beam. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately K=23 for imaging and K=18 for spectroscopy. NIRI may be unavailable in August and November.
    • 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 NIRI (except M band imaging and L & M band spectroscopy) and NIFS.
      • Natural Guide Star AO: Traditional adaptive optics guiding on a nearby star.
      • See Laser Guide Star AO for important performance information and restrictions.
    • Michelle - 7-26 micron spectrograph and imager: imaging and R=100-3000 and echelle spectroscopy; imaging polarimetry is also available. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately N=11 for imaging and N=6-9 for spectroscopy.
  • See the target accessibility page for important information regarding instrument availability and a plot of accessible RA and Declination. For Semester 2009B targets must be limited to 17 < RA < 13:30, and -37 < dec < +79, the LGS system has a stricter elevation constraint of >40 degrees.

  • Gemini South: Facilities

    • All instruments are offered in queue and classical mode.
    • Facility instruments:
      • GMOS South - 0.36-1.10 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. GMOS South has slightly better sensitivity in the UV and blue than GMOS North.
      • NICI - 1-5 micron dual-channel coronagraphic imager: In 2009B NICI is offered for community use for on-axis coronagraphic imaging excluding the L and M bands; other modes (non-coronagraphic and off-axis AO guiding) are available on a shared risk basis. The Campaign Targets are not available for community NICI observations. NICI targets should be limited to 22:00 < RA hrs < 12:00. as it will only be available between October/November and January, and the constraints must be at least as good as Cloud Cover = 50% and Image Quality = 70%.
      • T-ReCS - 8-26 micron imager and spectrograph: imaging and moderate resolution (R=100 and R=1000) spectroscopy. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately N=11 for imaging and N=8 for spectroscopy. T-ReCS targets should be limited to 16:00 < RA hrs < 6:00. as it will only be available between August and October.
    • Visitor instruments:
      • Phoenix - 1-5 micron high spectral resolution (R~50000 - 75000) spectrometer. 5σ one hour point source sensitivities are approximately K=12.5. Phoenix availability may be limited in the second half of the semester due to commissioning of other instruments.
    • See the target accessibility page for important information regarding instrument availability and a plot of accessible RA and Declination. For Semester 2009B targets must be limited to 16 < RA < 12, and -89 < dec < +28.

    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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