Semester 2012B Call For Proposals
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Gemini Observatory invites its community to propose scientific investigations for the 2012B semester,
1 August 2012 - 31 January 2013. The Call is open to all partners. The distribution of time across the partners is shown in
the time distribution Table.
The submission deadline is THURSDAY/FRIDAY MARCH 29/30 2012 (the exact deadline varies with partner).
Multi-partner joint
proposals should be submitted by the deadline of the partner country to which the Principal Investigator is affiliated.
The purpose of this page is to highlight the most relevant information for the Call. Significant additional information is contained on supporting pages; users should follow the links for more information. If hardcopy is preferred, the primary pages are available as a single pdf document.
Highlights for 2012B
General |
Relevant milestones for 2012B can be found in the 2012B schedule. The deadline for Phase I submission is
March 29 - 30 2012 (depending on
partner) (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 16 2012.
Both queue and classical Phase IIs must be submitted by this deadline. |
Target accessibility limits will be imposed, so as not to bias the queue at the start or end of the semester. The target accessibility limits for 2012B are, for Gemini North 17 < RA < 13.5 and -37 < dec < +90, and for Gemini South 16 < RA < 12 and -90 < dec < +28. There are additional constraints if a program requires unrestricted access (e.g. MOS observations requiring pre-imaging, long observations or observations with strict constraints). LGS programs and GNIRS programs at Gemini North also have additional constraints. |
An entirely new and improved Phase I Tool (PIT) has been released for 2012B; see the PIT page for downloads and the help pages for the new PIT for further information. With the new PIT, a single proposal may now request time from either or both of Gemini North and Gemini South. Hence a single proposal, with the same science goal, can request any combination of the instruments available at either telescope. |
Gemini North |
It is expected that 86.5% of the semester will be available for science. This amounts to 159 nights distributed across the partnership. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below.
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GMOS-N has been outfitted with e2V deep depletion detectors. These CCDs have improved sensitivity in the blue and the red compared to the original detectors, and extend the sensitivity to 0.98 µm (where the QE is 20%). The fringing with these detectors is also much improved. Z and Y imaging filters are available for GMOS-N in 2012B. |
All GNIRS applicants should take account of the Notes on the revised GNIRS ITC page when determining how much time their programs require. Additional MKO-system Y, J and K filters will be available in 2012B for imaging using the GNIRS acquisition "keyhole", although infrared imaging proposals should continue to request NIRI where possible. |
A new "Super seeing" LGS + PWFS1 capability is available in shared-risk mode in 2012B with NIRI, NIFS and GNIRS, for up to 100 hours of time (within the LGS limit of 200 hours). Observing conditions are constrained to CC=50% IQ=70%, and the target elevation must be ≥ 40 degrees. PWFS1 provides tip/tilt/focus correction, improving the delivered image quality from effectively IQ70 to IQ20. The PWFS1 patrol field is 3.5' - 6.5' from base, and guide stars are limited to R < 14. There are unresolved flexure issues, and targets must be bright enough to acquire directly. This limits targets to approximately brighter than 20th magnitude for GNIRS and NIFS spectroscopy, and 22nd magnitude for NIRI imaging. 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 149 nights, which do not include NICI campaign science, as the campaign is expected to be completed in 2012A.
These nights do include 20 nights of System Verification for
FLAMINGOS-2 and GSAOI.
The final distribution of nights across the partnership is shown on the
time distribution page. A list of instruments and capabilities is given below. |
At Gemini South in Semester 2012B, the commissioning of FLAMINGOS-2 and GSAOI will take highest priority. The commissioning may impact queue and classical run scheduling. A separate Call will be made for system verification proposals for FLAMINGOS-2 and GSAOI. |
Only GMOS-South and NICI are offered in this Call, due to the demand on instrument ports, and the ongoing instrument commissioning. Given the available instrument suite, bright-time programs with relaxed observing condition constraints (e.g., SB Any, CC 70, IQ 85) are encouraged. |
The schedule for the repair of the FLAMINGOS-2 lens is too uncertain to offer FLAMINGOS-2 in this Call. We expect the instrument to be back on the telescope mid-Semester-2012B. Commissioning and System Verification will be carried out in the second half of 2012B. |
T-ReCS is not available for new proposals in this call. The instrument will continue to occupy the up-looking port in August and September 2012 until the return of GSAOI, which requires the use of the same port. T-ReCS will be available for Directors Discretionary proposals during August and September 2012. During this time T-ReCS will be used to carry out existing programmes which were badly affected by technical issues in 2011B. |
The NICI campaign will be completed in Semester 2012A, therefore PIs may now apply to make observations of the previously-restricted Campaign targets. However, TACs will avoid granting time to observations which approximate the observing mode and depth achieved by the Campaign, unless the science case specifically justifies why these new observations are necessary. All Campaign observations taken before May 2011 will become publicly available via the GSA on 24-November 2012. |
Keck and Subaru Exchange |
No Gemini-Keck exchange time is offered for Semester 2012B.
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4 to 8 classical
nights are available on
Subaru in Semester 2012B .
Repair work due to the
cooling system incident
is ongoing, impacting some instruments.
Availability is as follows:
Subaru is expected to have
extensive downtime in the 12B semester for Hyper Suprime Cam commissioning,
but the dates are yet to be determined.
Therefore proposers must be as flexible as possible with their scheduling requirements. Explicit windows are
not set for 2012B. Runs will be scheduled around the shutdown, such that the number of dark, gray and bright
nights is one-third of the total number of nights allocated. The minimum request is 1 night - partial nights cannot be supported.
Proposals should be submitted via the normal Gemini process.
[more
information] |
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
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Gemini South: Facilities
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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.