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2023B Call for Proposals

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Standard Semester Program

Gemini Observatory invites its community to propose scientific investigations for the 2023B semester, 1 August 2023 - 31 January 2024.

The table below shows submission deadlines for all Gemini Participants, and the Subaru community under the Gemini/Subaru time exchange. Multi-participant joint proposals should be submitted by the deadline of the participant country to which the Principal Investigator is affiliated. For more on the Gemini proposal submission and time allocation process, please consult the Phase I page.

Participant Submission Deadline
United States March 31, 2023 at 23:59 (Mountain Standard Time)
Canada March 31, 2023 at 16:00 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Brazil April 03, 2023 at 23:59 (Brazilian Time)
Argentina March 31, 2023 at 17:00 (Argentina Time)
Korea April 03, 2023 at 23:59 (Korea Standard Time)
Chile March 31, 2023 at 23:59 (Civil Chile Time)
Univ. of Hawaii April 03, 2023 at 10:00 (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)
Subaru Community March 31, 2023 at 23:59 (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)
French Community April 01, 2023 at 23:59 (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)

The Call is open to all participants and host institutions: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Korea, the United States, Chile and the University of Hawaii. US time is open to all astronomers worldwide including those at non-US institutions, although in that case the proposal must explain why U.S. national facilities are needed. 

Time Available in 2023B

A summary of the time distribution at each telescope is shown in the Table below. More information is available at the time distribution page. At Gemini North, 162 nights are expected to be available for science. At Gemini South, 141 nights are expected to be available for science.

Participant/Type  North hours  South hours Notes Participant/Type  North hours  South hours Notes
US 664 497 US open skies policy allows PIs from any country to apply. Director's Discretionary 81 66 Open to any astronomer.
Canada 206 151 Includes GRACES compensatory time. Fast Turnaround 143 116* Open to PIs from US, CA, AR, BR, KR, UH (North only). Not open to CL.*
Argentina 24 20 Large and Long** 138 175 Open to PIs from US and CA.
Brazil 75 61 France 9 9 GRACES compensatory time.
Korea 85 69 Guaranteed Time 38 114 For the MAROON-X, IGRINS and (provisionally) GHOST instrument teams. 
Univ. of Hawaii (host) 157 Includes GRACES compensatory time. Engineering 220 430 Includes re-coating of the Gemini South primary mirror.
Chile (host) 120
* At Gemini South, the Fast Turnaround (FT) time in the second half of the semester is expected to be used for a special call for GHOST proposals only. Chilean FT time is reserved for this special call.
** US time reserved for LLP includes other US long-term programs.

New and Notable in 2023B

The following capabilities and announcements are notable for the 2023B semester. Please see the relevant instrument pages and subsections of the call for proposals for details.

General:

  • All Gemini proposals requesting time from the US, CA, BR, or AR must be anonymized. Proposals which do not meet the guidelines will be penalised. This applies to proposals requesting time only from these partners, as well as joint proposals requesting time from multiple participants which include any of these partners. This requirement applies whether it is the PI or a co-I that has the relevant partner affiliation.

  • All proposals to use Gemini in 2023B must use the 2023B Phase 1 template. The template has been designed to enable the anonymous review process, and to make proposals requirements, such as page and figure limits, uniform across the partners.

  • Classical mode observing is offered in semester 2023B for facility instruments only. Priority Visitor mode is offered at both Gemini North and Gemini South; however if circumstances preclude having people on site, then awarded Priority Visitor time will revert to queue. PIs requesting Classical observing must state in their technical justification how the observations could be done in queue mode (with remote eavesdropping for data quality assessment and decision making). The "Bring One, Get One" Student Observer Support Program remains unavailable for semester 23B.

  • Both Gemini North and Gemini South expect to have engineering shutdown periods during the 2023B semester: Gemini North: Oct 30 - Nov 03, 2023; Gemini South: Sep 25 - Oct 24, 2023. These dates are provisional, and may be subject to change in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

Facility Instruments:

  • GMOS North is now available with a B480 grating.
  • GMOS South is expected to be available with a replaced detector from June 2023 onwards, but prospective PIs should check the instrument web pages for updates on availability.
  • At Gemini North, Altair NGS and LGS+P1 (super-seeing) modes are fully functional. However, there is currently a technical issue with LGS mode, a resolution for which is being worked on, and this could impact the availability of GN LGS in the 2023B semester. Prospective LGS PIs should check the instrument web page for updates.

Visiting Instruments:

  • 'Alopeke and Zorro, the fast low-noise dual-channel and dual-plate-scale imagers with speckle and wide-field modes, will be available for science as resident visiting instruments at Gemini North and Gemini South, respectively, in 2023B.
  • IGRINS, a high-resolution (R~45000), single-setting, near IR (1.45 - 2.5 microns) echelle spectrometer, will be available for science as a visiting instrument at Gemini South in 2023B. See the IGRINS at Gemini page for information on how to determine exposure times.
  • MAROON-X, a high-resolution (R~80,000), optical (500 - 900nm) radial velocity (RV) spectrometer, will be available for science  as a visiting instrument at Gemini North in 2023B. The instrument is open to the community for high precision RV studies as well as general purpose high resolution spectroscopy. The instrument has demonstrated sub-m/s on-sky precision for RV measurements of M dwarfs, although the instrument performance is continually being assessed and improved. Please use the Maroon-X Exposure Time Calculator to evaluate the instrument performance.

Summary of 2023B Gemini Capabilities

Gemini North

Targets are generally limited to 17 < RA hours < 13.5 and -37 < DEC degrees < +90. The telescope is expected to not be available between October 30 and November 3, 2023, for maintenance of the Acquisition and Guider unit. There are additional constraints as described in the target accessibility and instrument restrictions page.

Facility instruments offered in 2023B are:

  • Altair AO system: NGS and LGS+P1 (super-seeing) modes are fully functional. However, there is currently a technical issue with LGS mode, a resolution for which is being worked on, and this could impact the availability of GN LGS in the 2023B semester. Prospective PIs should check the instrument web page for updates.

  • GMOS North (0.36-1.03 micron imager and spectrometer): available throughout the semester. The new B480 grating is available. The R600 grating is not available.

  • GNIRS (1-5 micron spectrometer): available with or without AO capability. As before, the short red camera is NOT available. YJHK imaging is available via the acquisition keyhole. The two new GNIRS IFUs are currently undergoing commissioning in 2023, and so 2023B proposals requiring IFU use should request NIFS (below).

  • NIFS (0.95-2.40 micron integral field unit spectrometer): available with or without AO capability. This instrument shares a port with NIRI and MAROON-X, hence it will only be available during specific blocks. NIFS is expected to be scheduled for two or three approximately one-month-long blocks during the semester. It is anticipated that commissioning of the GNIRS IFUs will be completed in 2023, in which case 2023B is expected to be the last semester for which NIFS will be offered.

  • Not offered in 23B for new programs: NIRI. For proposals involving YJHK imaging, please see GNIRS (above) instead.

Visiting instruments offered in 2023B are:

  • 'Alopeke: a dual-channel fast-readout visual-wavelength camera giving simultaneous diffraction-limited images in two filters over a 2.8 arcsec field of view; as well as a wide-field mode which provides simultaneous two-color imaging in standard SDSS filters over a 60" field of view. The scheduling and length of the Alopeke visiting block(s) will be subject to community demand.  Targets of Opportunity (Rapid or Standard) are accepted for Alopeke, but will only be executed during the instrument blocks.
  • MAROON-X: a high-resolution (R~80,000), optical (500 - 900nm) radial velocity (RV) spectrometer,  is open to the community for high precision RV studies as well as general purpose high-resolution spectroscopy.  Please use the Maroon-X Exposure Time Calculator to evaluate the instrument performance. This instrument shares a port with NIFS and NIRI, hence it will only be available during specific blocks. MAROON-X is expected to be scheduled for two or three approximately one-month-long blocks during the semester.
  • Not offered in 23B for new programs: GRACES, TEXES, POLISH-2.

Gemini South

Targets are generally limited to 16 < RA hours < 12 and -90° < dec < +28°. Due to the shutdown (September 25 - October 24), the time available at RAs between 20 hours and 6 hours will be reduced by 20% to 30% and so investigators with targets in this range are advised to have alternative targets available. There are additional constraints as described in the target accessibility and instrument restrictions page.

Facility instruments offered in 2023B are:

  • GSAOI (0.9-2.4 micron adaptive optics imager) with the GeMS Adaptive Optics system: due to guide star limitations, investigators 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.

  • Not offered for new proposals at this time: GHOST. A limited Special Call for Proposals exclusively for GHOST is currently planned for late 2023.

Visiting instruments offered in 2023B (subject to demand) are:

  • Zorro: a dual-channel fast-readout visual-wavelength camera giving simultaneous diffraction-limited images in two filters over a 2.8 arcsec field of view; as well as a wide-field mode which provides simultaneous two-color imaging in standard SDSS filters over a 60" field of view. The scheduling and length of the Zorro visiting block(s) will be subject to community demand.  Targets of Opportunity (Rapid or Standard) are accepted for Zorro, but will only be executed during the instrument blocks.

  • IGRINS, a high-resolution (R~45000), single-setting, near IR (1.45 - 2.5 microns) echelle spectrometer, will be available throughout the semester except for two weeks before and during the 7-night GeMS/GSAOI runs. See the IGRINS at Gemini page for important information about writing IGRINS proposals.

Important Dates for 2023B

The deadline for Phase I submission varies with participant (see the submission deadline Table at the top of this CfP). For successful proposals, both queue and classical, the Phase II submission deadline is 19th July 2023. Check the 2023B schedule for key dates and events in the proposal process.

Phase I Submission Guidelines for 2023B

Proposals for time on Gemini, and for time on Subaru via the Gemini-Subaru time exchange program, must use the Gemini Phase I Tool (PIT). Latex and Word templates are available to create pdf attachments which include the science and technical cases, and investigator information. The template has been revised to enable the anonymous review process, and to make proposals requirements uniform across the partners. Two attachments are required for the proposal so that team information can be separated from the science case.

All Gemini proposals requesting time from the US, CA, BR, or AR must be anonymized. Proposals which do not meet the guidelines will be penalised. This applies to proposals requesting time only from these partners, as well as joint proposals requesting time from multiple participants which include any of these partners. This requirement applies whether it is the PI or a co-I that has the relevant partner affiliation.

Additional options in the Time Requests module in the PIT are available for semester 2023B:

  • The Gemini 2023B Phase 1 Tool includes options to specify that the proposal is for the Aeon multi-telescope-facility system. 
  • Also in the 2023B Time Requests module, there is an option to identify proposals which have synergies with James Webb Space Telescope science. The goal for providing this proposal category is to encourage development of science programs that benefit from a combination of Gemini and JWST observations.  More information is available here.

Time for baseline partner calibrations is automatically added to the total time requested for each target in the PIT. Investigators should continue to include the time associated to overheads (acquisition time, readout time, etc) in the total time estimated for each target in the PIT. The ITC output now gives overhead estimates. Alopeke and Zorro PIs should include program time for PSF standards if they need them. See the IGRINS at Gemini page for information on how to determine exposure times for that instrument.  PIs with targets that can be observed from either Gemini North or South (e.g. equatorial targets to be observed with one of the GMOS instruments) can request time with both instruments, in that case the time with each instrument should be halved, and the Observatory will update the observation times when targets are scheduled.

Targets of opportunity proposals must include all instrument configurations which the team may want to use, at Phase 1. This enables automatic creation of templates, and avoids errors at Phase 2.

Subaru Exchange Time 

The exchange of time between the Gemini and Subaru communities will continue in 2023B; around 5 nights are expected to be available on Subaru for the Gemini community via the exchange program. A summary of the Subaru capabilities in 2023B is given below, PIs should also consult the Subaru Call for Proposals.

In addition, the Gemini community can propose shorter programs for Subaru's Service mode. PIs must indicate on the proposal whether regular or service time is requested. Service programs must be short programs of less than 4 hours duration including calibration and overheads, using one of IRCS, HDS, FOCAS or MOIRCS (imaging). Around 1 night is expected to be available in this mode for the Gemini community. Prospective investigators must carefully review the Service Program web page. In particular, some additional, detailed technical informationn must be provided at the time of Phase-1 submission. Service proposals are reviewed by the National TACs together with the regular proposals.

Relevant information:

  • Duplicate Subaru proposals submitted via other routes: If eligible PIs submit a proposal for Gemini Subaru exchange time and also submit the same proposal to a different TAC in parallel (e.g. Japanese researchers via the Subaru call, other researchers via the open use time offered in the Subaru call, Gemini community PIs via the Gemini time-exchange program or Keck community PIs via the Keck time-exchange program), the proposers should explicitly note the double submission in the proposal.
  • Proposal submission: Proposals for time on Subaru via the Gemini time-exchange program are submitted via the normal Gemini Phase I process.
  • Instrument switches during the night: Switching between IRD, REACH, CHARIS, VAMPIRES, Fast PDI, and MEC during a single or half-night observation is possible. Please check the Subaru Call for Proposals for the time required for switching instruments.
  • Subaru telescope downtime: There will be 1-2 weeks of downtime (most likely in November and January) to replace the telescope chillers.
  • Subaru instrument downtime:
    • The laser guide star (LGS) system for AO188 will be operated with TBAD (Transponder Based Aircraft Detector) with a shared-risk policy.
    • TUE2 repair work: TUE2 (Top-Unit-Exchange 2) repair work is planned from October 11, 2023 to January 5, 2024. During this period, 1) only an IR secondary mirror will be available. 2) HSC and FOCAS will NOT be available. 3) HDS observation is limited to V < 17 mag and WL > 3500 A.
    • The windscreen of the Subaru telescope is out of operation in 2023B, and thus tracking of target may not be possible in high winds. It is recommended that PIs have targets across a range of RAs so that different azimuth angles are available.

Facility instruments offered in 2023B:

  • Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC - very wide field optical to far-red imager) is available. New filters are available, however applicants must obtain prior approval for their use. Important notice for HSC filters: all applicants must explicitly describe the filters they intend to use, in their proposal. The desired set as well as the minimum acceptable set should be clearly specified.
    • There will be at most two or three HSC observing runs in August, September, and January.
    • No HSC run is planned at least between October and December due to engineering work (Top Unit Exchanger overhaul).

  • IRCS (infrared camera and spectrometer) is available with Natural Guide Star Adaptive Optics capability. In addition, the IRCS LGS+AO mode is available as a shared-risk mode. The IRCS/SCExAO polarimetry mode is also available as shared-risk mode.

Visiting instruments offered in 2023B, are listed below. 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.
  • Fast PDI (in shared-risk mode): 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 Doppler (in shared-risk mode): infrared high-dispersion, high resolution (up to 70,000) fiber-fed spectrometer.  IRD SSP is started in 2019A – any IRD proposal must clarify how its scientific aim is different from SSP. The new laser guide star (LGS) system can be used with IRD in shared-risk mode.
  • MEC (in shared-risk mode): the MKID Exoplanet Camera is a near-IR (800-1400nm) photon-counting low-resolution (R~5) integral field spectrograph optimized for high contrast imaging with SCExAO+AO188.
  • REACH (IRD+SCExAO+AO188) is available. REACH ("Rigorous Exoplanetary Atmosphere Characterization with High dispersion coronography) connects the high-contrast instrument (SCExAO) to the high-resolution IR spectrograph (IRD) at the Subaru Telescope.
  • VAMPIRES : The Visible Aperture Masking Polarimetric Imager for Resolved Exoplanetary Structures (VAMPIRES) is a visible light instrument on the SCExAO system. VAMPIRES cameras will be upgraded for improved sensitivity, speed and dynamic range. A new multi-band imaging mode will be available.
  • NsIR Wave Plate Unit: a visiting device for IRCS/SCExAO polarimetry mode. This is only available via a shared-risk mode. Prospective users must contact the NsIR PI before proposal submission.

Other Proposal Opportunities in 2023B

Other proposal opportunities are available at Gemini Observatory in 2023B. These include:

  • The Large And Long Program (LLP) 2023 Call provides an annual opportunity to submit proposals which require either significantly more time than a partner typically approves for a single program, or extends over two to six semesters, or both. Up to 20% of the available time from participating parters (US and Canada) is available for LLPs. LLP proposals are currently being accepted from PIs based at an institution of one of the participating partner countries and who have submitted a letter of intent by the appropriate deadline. The 2023B LLPs proposal submission deadline is March 31, 2023, at 23:59 (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time). Further information on LLPs and the LLP proposal process can be found on the Large And Long Programs page. Information on previously accepted LLPs and their science programs is available here.

  • The Fast Turnaround (FT) Program provides monthly opportunities to submit proposals, with successful programs scheduled for observation starting one month after each proposal deadline. Up to 10% of the time at Gemini North and Gemini South is available for the FT programs. PIs must be members of the Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Korea, University of Hawaii or United States astronomy communities. Chile has withdrawn from the FT program and therefore Chilean PIs do not have access to FT time.  At Gemini South, it is currently planned to use the FT time in  the second half of the 23B semester for a dedicated GHOST-only Special Call. Chile will contribute time for this special call. More information will be provided on the FT web pages nearer that time.

  • Poor Weather Proposals are solicited for programs that can use poor, but usable, conditions and are executed when nothing in the regular queue is observable. Proposals can be submitted via the normal TAC process (this call) or at any time. PIs must be based in Gemini participating countries or the host institutions.
  • The Gemini community is eligible to propose HyperSuprimeCam (HSC) filler programs on Subaru. Filler programs are executed in poor observing conditions (typically seeing >1.5 arcseconds, and/or poor transparency), and up to 50 hours can be requested by a filler proposal, although the first 4 hours have priority. Execution is not guaranteed: observations are made only when there is no other program in the HSC queue.  Proposals must be sent through the Subaru submission system (NOT Gemini), and are considered only by the Subaru TAC. Note that only a short text summary of the program is required, not a full detailed Science Justification.

Data Rights, Proprietary Periods and Data Distribution

All data taken with the Gemini telescopes are the property of the Gemini Observatory. Principal investigators of Gemini regular programs (Queue/Classical/Poor Weather) have exclusive access to the data for their program for a period of 12 months. Data acquired as part of a Director's Discretionary (DD) program have a standard proprietary period of 6 months, however in exceptional circumstances the Observatory may remove DD proprietary periods. See the page Data Rights and Proprietary Periods for more information.

All data, including raw and available processed data, obtained with the Gemini telescope are distributed exclusively through the Gemini Observatory Archive. More information about the data distribution is given here.

Supporting Information for the Call for Proposals

Relevant general information related to the applications for time on Gemini Telescopes is presented in the supporting information page. Consult there for the following:

  • Time Allocation Process (National and International Time Allocation Committees)
  • Submitting for time on both telescopes
  • Band 1 Persistence
  • Electronic PIT Submission
  • Joint Proposals
  • Under-utilized Instruments
  • Targets of Opportunity
  • GMOS Mask definitions
  • Poor Weather Programs
  • Exchange Time
  • Target information (guide stars, non-sidereal objects, time-specific observations)
  • Duplicate Observations

Prospective users should also refer to the target and instrument accessibility page, and the instrument pages for detailed and up to date information on instrumentation.

Questions and Answers

All questions concerning proposals, or any other subject, should be made using the Gemini HelpDesk. The system will send the request to your National Gemini Office staff in the first instance who will 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 Mark Rawlings.