14B information from our facilities
Keck
We have 20 nights per year (10 nights per semester) through our agreements with CalTech and Keck. These nights must be balanced between Keck I/II as well as moon phase, and should be distributed equitably across the semester. There are also up to 5 nights per year available for collaborative projects between CalTech and Yale. Such projects have a CalTech PI, and are submitted through the CalTech TAC.
For 14B we have the following suggested allocation:
- KI: 1 dark, 2 grey, 0 bright + 1 night Yale allocation (grey or dark)
- KII: 1 dark, 2 grey, 2 bright + 2 nights Yale allocation (grey or dark)
Note that, according to our official agreements, our Keck time must be balanced in terms of lunation, number of nights and telescope choice throughout the duration of the agreements. Therefore, the imbalance in this semester is intended to balance out our allocations from previous semesters.
Please also note that Keck proposals must be for full nights; proposals for half nights are not permitted.
Yale Keck time is open to faculty and postdocs. Postdocs are particularly encouraged to apply for Keck time.
Further information on available Keck instruments, etc. can be found on the Keck website.
Mayall / SOAR
Through a special agreement with NOAO, we have 5 nights available on the Mayall or SOAR for 14B.
Further information about observing with the Mayall can be found on the KPNO Telescopes-Instrument Capabilities page.
Further information about observing with SOAR can be found on the Observing at SOAR pages.
Palomar
Yale has a 1/8 share of the science time available on the 200-inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory. This equates to ~45 nights per year balanced across moon phases. For 14B there are ~25 nights (TBC) available for Yale proposers. More information about the exact number will be known by the end of March, 2014.
Further information about observing with the 200-inch can be found on the Palomar Observer Information page.
SMARTS
The SMARTS3 Consortium is continuing to operate the small telescopes at CTIO; though the 1.0m is currently closed and the 0.9m is being operated separately by Georgia State University. Yale PIs can propose for the 1.3m and the 1.5m through Yale's TAC.
For 14B there are 238 hours of time available on the 1.3m and the 1.5m for Yale proposers. Please submit SMARTS proposals in hours not nights.
Anyone with funding can purchase time on the 0.9m through GSU ($600/night) or more time on the 1.3m and 1.5m ($200 per hour) through Yale. Please see Victoria Misenti in the Business Office for more information on these options.
INSTRUMENTS:
- 1.5m - CHIRON (high-res Echelle spectrograph); SIMON (IR spectrograph).
- 1.3m - ANDICAM (optical/IR imager)
Further information about SMARTS observing can be found on the SMARTS Resources for Observers page.
WIYN
Yale has officially withdrawn from the WIYN partnership, but there are still ~17 nights available (phases TBD) for Yale proposers in 14B due to special agreements with WIYN (~5 nights) and NOAO (12 nights).
Instrument information
- SparsePak+WHIRC, WHIRC+Visitor Instruments, and Hydra will be block scheduled. The switch between Hydra and the Instrument Adapter System (IAS) that supports the WIYN High-Resolution Infrared Camera (WHIRC), SparsePak, and visitor instruments takes four days to complete. We are currently discussing the optimal cadence for the switch. Therefore, there will be a minimum of two months between changes of Hydra to other instruments on the Hydra port. Check the WIYN status page for updates.
- It is anticipated that pODI will be removed for an upgrade to a larger 48 arcmin x 48 arcmin imager and therefore will be unavailable for science in 2014B. Currently pODI is scheduled to be removed in late March to early April 2014 and returned to the telescope for commissioning efforts in September 2014, but the schedule for the upgrade is uncertain at this point. If there are delays, it is possible that pODI may still be available for 2014B. In any case, the upgraded ODI will not be available for 2014B. Please check the WIYN current status webpage for up-to-date information. Click here for more information about proposing for pODI.
- Two new IFUs (HexPak and GradPak) are available for shared-risk observing. These IFUs have variable-sized fibers in the same bundle. If one wishes to propose for the new IFUs it is strongly recommended that one has a backup program for SparsePak.
Further information about WIYN observing can be found on the WIYN observing information page.