February 2020 Call for Proposals

Gemini North and South are accepting proposals for the Fast Turnaround (FT) program. Here, we give information specific to this proposal cycle. Please see the other FT pages - particularly the rules - for general information about the program.FT-specific proposal templates must now be used for all FT proposals; see the "PIT information" section below. The revised 2020A PIT must be used.

Important dates

• Proposal deadline: 23:59, Hawaiian Standard Time (HST), February 29.
• Please ensure the latest version of the 20A PIT is used for submission.
• Reviews must be completed by 23:59 HST, Mar 14.If you have submitted a proposal, but by the 2nd of the month have not received an email from FT regarding reviewing proposals, contact FT as soon as possible.
• Results will be announced by Mar 21.
• The deadline for preparing observations (Phase II) is Mar 31. Accepted programs meeting this deadline will be active from 1 April 2020 until 30 June 2020.
• FT observations will be merged with the queue and observed on queue nights.

Eligibility

• PIs from all participant countries taking part in the FT program may apply for this cycle.
• We further welcome Japanese community PI proposals.
• PIs from participant countries whose FT time for the semester has been used up should not apply for the remainder of the semester. Note that some participant countries only have very small amounts of FT time available each semester. See Rule #4 and Q&A for more information.

Acceptable RA ranges

• Gemini North: Targets from about RA = 6.0 hr to 1.0 hr are acceptable during this cycle. Note, however, that RAs near 6.0h will only be accessible for a couple hours during the first half of the first month (Apr) and only at northern declinations (Dec> 0) . Likewise, RAs near 1.0h will only be accessible for a few hours during the final month (Jun) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.
• Gemini South: Targets from about RA = 6.5 hr to 1.5 hrs are acceptable during this cycle . Note, however, that RAs near 6.5h will only be accessible for a few hours during the first half of the first month (Apr) and only at favorable declinations (Dec < 0) . Likewise, RAs near 1.5h will only be accessible for a few hours during the second half of the final month (Jun) and again only in the above declination range. Note Rule #9; an FT program may not fully backload its three-month active period; at least one of its targets must be observable during its first active month.

Available instruments and observing modes

Gemini North

• Please check the GN 2020A telescope schedule.
• GMOS, GNIRS, NIFS, and NIRI are offered this cycle. Please check the 20A schedule for specific availability including visiting instruments.
• There will be one GRACES run and one 'Alopeke run during this cycle.
• LGS is generally offered this cycle. However, we are currently having some issues with Altair, and it is possible that AO (NGS and LGS) may not be available for this cycle or be available for only part of the cycle. Please contact us to check availability (Fast.Turnaround at gemini.edu).

Gemini South

• Please check the GS 2020A telescope schedule.
• GMOS-S and Flamingos-2 are available during this FT block. 
• A limited amount of GPI time may be available intermittently through the 3-month FT block. Contact the FT team for details.
• There will be one Zorro run at the end of this cycle.
• GeMS+GSAOI and PHOENIX are currently not available for FT. 

Both telescopes

• FT observations may not be executed during classical observing, priority visitor (PV), depending on the prevailing conditions.
• For visiting instruments not listed above, please contact the FT team to check availability (Fast.Turnaround at gemini.edu).
• For GMOS proposals, please indicate in the Technical section if your program could be carried out with either GMOS (North or South).
• The R600 grating in each GMOS instrument is NOT offered for FT (or regular queue) observations.
• MOS observations are now available for FT, subject to some caveats/restrictions.
• As discussed in the rules and Q&A, please contact the Fast Turnaround team in advance of the deadline if you would like to propose for an unusual instrument configuration or observing mode.

Time available

• 20 hrs per month at each telescope is available for FT observations. Very roughly, this implies:
  • 4 hrs of 20%-ile conditions (IQ=20, for example; see this web page)
  • 10 hrs of 50%-ile conditions
  • 14 hrs of 70%-ile conditions
  • 17 hrs of 85%-ile conditions

PIs may propose for up to the amount of time in their most restrictive observing conditions,subject to partner's time availability - see rule #4. For example, a proposal requesting CC50 IQ20 SB50 WVany conditions can request no more than 4 hrs of observing time.

PIT information

• Proposals must be submitted using the version of the Phase I Tool specified on this web page (in the "Time Requests" tab, select Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini as the proposal class).
• In the Time Requests tab, select "Fast Turnaround Observing at Gemini" as the proposal class and specify the reviewer (and mentor, if appropriate). Note that this is where the reviewer is defined; changes cannot be made after the proposal has been submitted.
• Dedicated LaTeX/Word templates must be used to prepare FT proposals:tex | sty|doc.
• Submitting the same proposal more than once during a given month (e.g. after correcting/editing a submitted version) should be avoided if at all possible. Only submit when you are sure your proposal is ready to be reviewed.
• The FT proposal template (which differs somewhat from the queue template) is now compulsory for all FT proposals.