Phase I Checklist

Checklist for GRACES Phase I proposals

• Instrument configuration:
  • Is spectroscopic mode (1-fiber or 2-fibers) specified in the proposal instrument resource list?
  • Is your choice of spectroscopic mode give appropriate spectral resolution? If you choose the 1-fiber mode, is your target bright enough to neglect sky-subtraction? If you choose the 2-fiber mode, is the spectral resolution high enough for your science goal(s)?
• Telescope peripheral wavefront sensors:
  • It is not recommended to use the peripheral wavefront sensors for GRACES in most cases. Have you made sure that an OIWFS guide star is selected?
  • Note that peripheral wavefront sensors can be used for non-siderial targets. 
• Calibrations:
  • Are the baseline calibrations sufficient? If not, what additional calibration data are required for your program?
  • Is absolute spectrophotometric calibration needed? If so, have appropriate spectroscopic standard star observations been included?
  • Is accurate removal of telluric lines needed? If so, have telluric standard stars been included?
  • Has sufficient observing time been requested for additional calibrations?
• Observing time:
  • Did you confirm the exposure time and S/N using the GRACES exposure time calculator?
  • Did you adjust the observing conditions specified to match your requested conditions?
  • Are overheads included in the time requested in your proposal?
  • Have overheads been included for additional calibrations?
  • If many very short exposures are needed, you may need to include larger overheads to account for the lower observing efficiency.
• Observing conditions requested (for queue-scheduled observations):
  • What image quality is acceptable?
  • What level of cloud cover is acceptable? Is photometric weather required?
  • Is dark time required?
  • Note the product of the probabilities of each of the conditions listed above. You might wish to reconsider the minimum requirements of your program, and/or consider submitting your project as a queue-scheduled observation.
• Recheck the observing conditions requested!