Call for Proposals

Semester S12B: August 1, 2012 -- January 31, 2013*

*Actually available Open Use time in S12B will be considerably reduced due to HSC commissioning (see Important Notice for S12B below).

Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Subaru Telescope invites observing proposals for Semester S12B. Since there are some restricted conditions on our instruments, applicants are required to refer to the relevant instrument page, and 'How to Submit via webform'. Please also refer to our Open Use Policy and Telescope webpage.

Open Use Schedule for S12B

Deadline of Normal/Intensive Program Submission

March 9, 2012 12:00 (Noon) in Japan Standard Time (i.e., March 9, 3:00 am in UT)

Deadline of Service Program Submission

April 6, 2012 12:00 (Noon) in Japan Standard Time (i.e., April 6, 3:00 am in UT)

Time Allocation Committee

end of April

Notification of selection results

by early June

Important Notice for S12B

Telescope Downtime in S12B

Due to the commissioning works of Hyper Suprime Cam (a new very wide-field camera at the prime focus), rather extensive telescope downtime is expected in S12B (probably in the first half; not necessarily continuously but with some intervals). As any detailed schedule has not been fixed yet, applicants may plan their observing proposals as usual.

Availability of S-Cam, FOCAS, and Cassegrain Auto Guider

The repair work of the instruments damaged by the telescope cooling system incident is currently under way. We expect we can restart open use observations of the following instruments in S12B under a shared risk mode: Suprime-Cam (from 2012 July), FOCAS (from 2012 October), and Cassegrain Auto Guider [for COMICS, MOIRCS, and Kyoto3DII] (from 2012 September).

Change of Proposal Submission System

All (Normal/Intensive/Service) proposals must be submitted via the webform introduced since S12A. Submission of proposal files by mailing (which had been adopted until S11B) is not accepted any more. Please visit How to Submit via webform? page. From this semester, applicants are newly requested to specify email addresses of all co-investigators.

Status of FMOS

FMOS (Fiber Multi-Object Spectrograph) is available for open use but its operation will be conducted in a shared-risk mode. In S12B, the Low Resolution mode (LR) and High Resolution mode (HR) will be available on both IRS1 and IRS2. While obervers may change the observation mode (e.g. from LR to HR) during a night, they should keep in mind that overhead time (ca. 1 hour) and risk of technical trouble are involved in the process of mode change. Please refer to FMOS web page for more details.
[NOTE] In view of the fact that FMOS has been developed under a close partnership and elaborate collaboration between Japan and United Kingdom, proposals from internationally joint teams comprising Japan and UK astronomers are particularly welcomed.

GTO of AO188

The AO188 development team is going to carry out Guaranteed Time Observations (GTO; allowed to each instrument team at the commissioning phase). Please refer to the GTO targets.

Time Exchange Programs with Gemini and Keck

According to the inter-observatory time-exchange agreement, we accept proposals of observations with Gemini (North & South) and Keck telescopes, which will be screened by Subaru TAC within the framework of Subaru Call for Proposals. 4-8 nights (Gemini) and maximum 6 nights (maximum 4 Keck II nights and maximum 2 KeckI nights) are available in S12B for this purpose. Those who have direct access to Gemini or Keck time must refrain from submitting proposals to this program.
Please refer to Subaru/Gemini Time Exchange page and Subaru/Keck Time Exchange page for more details.

Other Notice for Applicants

Time Allocation Basically One-night Unit

Telescope time allocation is basically made in units of one night, though half night allocation may be exceptionally possible, if a suitable program can be found for the other half night.

Clarify the Set of S-Cam Filters

Suprime-Cam users must explicitly describe the filters they intend to use in Entry 11 'Instrument Requirements' (in the application form), where the desired set as well as the minimum acceptable set should be clearly specified. Those who wish to bring their own filters should read the User filter acceptance policy on the Suprime-Cam web pages carefully and submit the required documents (the certificate of actual size measurement and inspection report/data of optical characteristics) to Fumiaki Nakata by April 20, 2012.

Clarify the Number of MOIRCS/MOS Masks

MOIRCS/MOS users must explicitly describe the required number of masks in Entry 11 'Instrument Requirements' (in the application form), where the desired number as well as the minimum acceptable number should be clearly specified.

New Image Slicer in HDS

HDS observations intending to use the image slicer, which is available since S11B under a shared-risk mode, should in principle be carried out at the summit (i.e., remote observations would not be accepted for this case.)

Duplicated Submission Unallowable

An identical proposal of the same science/targets using the same instrument/telescope should not be submitted twice at the same time through different TAC processes. For example, if a proposal using Keck/Gemini was once submitted to Subaru time-exchange program, it should not be applied to the ordinary proposal selection on Keck/Gemini side at the same semester. (And vice versa.)

Indication of Moon-affected unacceptable dates

When one particular source or several sources whose coordinates are concentrated to a particular range are planned to observe in bright or grey nights, observations may be severely affected by the Moon in some particular nights. In such cases, those inconvenient or unacceptable dates should be explicitly indicated in Entry 10 (Schedule Requirements) of the application form.

Remote Observation

Remote observations, conducted from the Hilo Base Facility, may be allowed for IRCS, HDS, Suprime-Cam, and MOIRCS (only imaging mode). Those who wish to perform the observations remotely should check the box in Entry 10 (Scheduling Requirements), though the request may not necessarily be granted, depending on the instrument status and/or scheduling limitations.