Keck Call & Proposal Instructions

Call for Proposals: UC time on the Keck telescopes

Semester 2022A (Feb. 1, 2022 through Jul 31, 2022)

Deadline: Proposals are due on Monday, Sept 20th, 2021 by 5:00pm PDT

1.1 Due Date

Proposals for UC observing time on the Keck Telescopes for Semester 2022A are due by 5:00 pm PDT on Thursday, Sept 16th, 2021.There will be 57.5 nights available on K1 and 54.5 nights available on K2 spread evenly across the semester and lunar phase.There are 7 one-hour Partnership ToO interrupts available.A PI may ask for a larger number of UC-time only ToO interrupts as well.

1.2 Proposal Process

NOTE:There is a new requirement based on the changes to the LMAP proposal changes made by the UCOAC. In normal (non-LMAP) proposals PIs will now have to report if they are any key LMAP members included in the LMAP management plan.

The principal consideration in evaluating proposals will be the scientific merit of the proposed project. Projects that take maximum advantage of the unique capabilities of the Keck Telescopes will be given high weight. A brief description should be given of backup programs that will be carried out if conditions are not suitable for the primary program. Please see https://www.ucobservatories.org/observatory/keck-observatory/keck-proposal-instructions/ which describes the UC online proposal submission process, and https://www.ucobservatories.org/observatory/keck-observatory/keck-proposal-guidelines/ which describes the required sections and their page limits. The Time Allocation Committees take page limits very seriously, so please pay close attention as you draft your proposal.

Keck is continuing the login-password system to allow you to retrieve and modify your coversheets. Returning observers should use the same account information as last semester. New observers may request an account from the page http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/PILogin/login.php

The coversheet form is available through the login page link above. Once you have created a coversheet and you are logged in, please go to the instructions for submitting Keck proposals at: https://spg.ucolick.org/cgi-bin/TAC/login.cgi to create the rest of your proposal as a PDF file to upload to the UC proposal server. Note that the coversheet has been modified again this semester, so please pay close attention when filling it out.

You may use the extra page allocated to the project update if this is a resubmission to respond to the previous TAC comments, even if the previous submission was unsuccessful.It would be useful to mention the previous proposal title (if different), PI (if different) and proposal number.

1.3 Be Kind to your TAC Members

Please read the page limits carefully on the keck-guidelines web page (https://www.ucobservatories.org/observatory/keck-observatory/keck-proposal-guidelines/) and adhere to them. TAC members will be instructed to stop reading any text beyond the stated page limits. Note that the text format is 12 point font; single-spaced; one-inch margins.

Although there is not a formal limit on the number of Keck proposals that one PI can submit, experience has shown that TAC members view one PI submitting numerous proposals as a real burden on the reviewing process; it generally does not increase the odds of a PI getting Keck time. Please use moderation.

1.4 Time Domain Astronomy (TDA)

Observers will continue to have the ability to propose both Target of Opportunity (ToO) and Cadence programs using the Keck Cover Sheet. Keck policies related to Target of Opportunity (ToO) and Cadence proposals can be found at https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/common/Keck_TDA_ToO_policy_SSC_Approved.pdf and https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/common/Keck_TDA_Cadence_policy_SSC_Approved.pdf.

If your project involves both Classical and TDA observing, you MUST put in two separate cover sheets so that the Keck TDA software can clearly distinguish between the two. Instead of submitting the same text twice, please submit the actual proposal text under the Classical cover sheet; the text submitted under the TDA (ToO or Cadence) cover sheet should merely include the proposal title, PI, and proposal number, together with a sentence stating that the main text can be found under the proposal number of the Classical cover sheet. The Cover Sheet form will not let you submit one proposal requesting both Classical and TDA observing time.

For Semester 2022A, two types of ToO requests can be made.TAC- approved ToO projects which are able to interrupt observers at any of the four institutions, to increase the utility of the ToO process. These are called Partnership ToO proposals. There is a limit to the number of Partnership ToO interrupts. The second kind of TAC approved ToO program (Institutional) can only interrupt UC programs. Note that there is not a limit to the number of “Institutional” ToO interrupts of fellow UC observers. But because UC nights are only a fraction of the total available Keck nights, the probability of a successful ToO interrupt using UC time alone is smaller than for Partnership ToOs. Also note that UC Institutional ToO time can be interrupted by a Partnership ToO, so think through your strategy carefully. Both Partnership and Institutional ToO interrupts are counted in full 1 hour increments even if less than 1 hour of time is used.All ToO proposal requests should be made in units of 1 hour interrupts.

In 2022A, partial-night observations can be interrupted. The Keck guidelines state that “Individual TACs may designate a few nights (partial or whole) as exempt from ToO interrupts. This designation must be scientifically motivated, namely that such interruptions would seriously compromise the scientific return of the entire observing time. Proposers should make any such requests to their individual TACs as part of their observing proposal. Use of these exemptions is expected to be rare.” So if you think your project deserves, for scientific reasons, to have one of these rare exemptions from interruptions, please state so in your proposal and give a very strong justification for your request.

1.5 Cadence Observations

Keck’s policies for Cadence observing (https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/common/Keck_TDA_Cadence_policy_SSC_Approved.pdf) are reasonably complicated. These include a new category called “Partnership Snapshot” observatories. If you are contemplating applying for Cadence time, please read the guidelines carefully.

Keck continues to reconcile cross-institutional cadence and ToO allocations. Scheduled cadence time is returned to the institution at a one to one rate, and ToO time is returned at a rate of two hours for every one hour interruption because the ToO PI will not choose to call for a trigger if the weather is unacceptable.

1.6Twilight Cadence Observations

In 2022A, institutions will continue to be able to allocate one twilight observing program per telescope, for a total of up to two programs.  On Keck I, OSIRIS-NGS (imager only) will be available, and on Keck II NIRC2-NGS will be available. The Cadence observing policies now include Twilight Cadence Observing.See the Keck Cadence guidelines for details linked on the Instruments Available webpage:<http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/observing/instavail.html>.

1.7 Large Multi-Year Projects

The Large Multi-Year Project (LMAP) program policy was updated by the UCOAC on 11/18/2020.Please read the new policy for project updates and new proposals.

UC LMAP observing projects with well-defined scientific objectives that require a large number of nights to bring to completion (normally 10 or more nights per semester). The UC LMAP program allows projects extending for more than one semester to be carried out with multi-year approval from the beginning. LMAPs should generally be directed toward obtaining a high quality, coherent, homogeneous data set that will allow scientific questions of major importance to be addressed in a thorough, systematic manner. Please consult https://www.ucobservatories.org/observatory/keck-observatory/keck-telescope-time-for-lmap-proposals/ for current policies regarding LMAPs.

1.8 At-Home (pajama mode) Observing

• At-Home observing will continue to be available to observers
• Keck will support up to two observers for at home observing: one primary and one secondary observer.  Those two individuals may help other team members get set up, but Keck support will be limited for additional observers.
• At home observing requires the installation of software which only runs on linux and macOS operating systems.
• Observers using at home observing should plan to work with Keck staff to install and test the software several days ahead of their run to allow time for troubleshooting.

2.0 Notes on Instruments and Availability

See the following web page for detailed notes on the availability of instruments for 2022A: https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/observing/instavail.html.

SPECIAL NOTES AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR 2022A:

LRISp:  The polarimeter for LRIS will return to service in March of 22A.

Keck 1 AO:  Keck 1 AO (Osiris) may require periods of downtime in 22A to help facilitate KAPA hardware installation.  Observing programs may need to be shifted in their acceptable observing periods to provide time for this work.

Keck 2 AO: Keck 2 AO (Nirc2-NGS/LGS/PY, Nirspao) will be unavailable from mid-February until mid-March.

NIRSPEC:  NIRSPEC will be unavailable in February for routine servicing to remove ice from the dewar window and will return to service in early March.

NIRSPAO/NIRSPEC: Nirspec and Nirspao nights may be scheduled in campaign mode to limit the number of reconfigs into AO during the semester.

KCWI:  KCWI will be unavailable beginning in early June for the installation of the red channel, KCRM.  The polarimetry mode of KCWI will be available in shared risk mode during the timeframe KCWI is available.

KPIC: KPIC will be unavailable in 22A as it undergoes a phase 2 upgrade.

NIRC2:

• The vortex coronagraph in LGS mode is not available.
• The vortex coronagraph with the PyWFS is only available through collaboration with the PyWFS and vortex development teams.

Please, see the NIRC2 manual (https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/nirc2/ObserversManual.html#Section5.2.2) for information about vortex operations.

DEIMOS: The top-left CCD on the detector mosaic is ~4 times noisier than the rest of the CCDs. Please see https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/inst/deimos/detector_issues.html for guidelines on how to design your MOS masks with this issue in mind.

KOA (Keck Observatory Archive): Data from all instruments will be archived in the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA). The default proprietary period for all data is 18 months. If observers desire a different proprietary period they may request this through the Keck coversheet. Please see the KOA homepage: http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/koa/public/koa.php for information on the archive, as well as http://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/koa/public/KOA_data_policy.pdf for information on the KOA proprietary period policy.

2.1SUBARU Exchange: 

The SUBARU-KECK exchange will continue as previous semesters with flexibility as to the number of nights available for exchange. The number of exchanged nights will be determined based on the demand from each community.  Keck will offer LRIS, HIRES, OSIRIS, and MOSFIRE on Keck-I, and DEIMOS, ESI, NIRSPEC/NIRSPAO, KCWI, NIRES, and NIRC2 on Keck-II.   Subaru will offer facility instruments Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), HDS, IRCS (with NGSAO only, see below), and FOCAS, as well as visiting instruments IRD,  CHARIS + SCExAO, VAMPIRES, REACH, Fast PDI, MEC, NsIR, and SWIMS.  Note that PIs must contact the instrument PI for visiting instruments in advance.  Subaru may support half night allocations, but whole night allocations are preferred.   For HSC programs, Subaru may support “queue” observing mode if specified in the proposal, which may allow more flexible allocation such as e.g. very short 0.25 night request. Please check the HSC queue mode website https://www.naoj.org/Observing/queue/index.html for more details.

Notes regarding Subaru facility and instrument availability in 22A:

• Due to the Primary Mirror recoating work and some maintenance work, there is a scheduled downtime from July to September 2022, while the detailed downtime schedule has not yet been fixed.
• Due to maintenance work of the Top Unit Exchanger, HSC will be unavailable from February through early April, 2022.
• Due to the continuing LGS upgrade work, only NGS mode is available for AO188 programs in S22A.
• In addition to the facility instruments (FOCAS, HDS, HSC, IRCS+AO188), the following PU-type instruments/module are offered for open use in S22A. Please remind PIs proposing to use PI-type instruments/devices to include the instrument PI(s) as Co-I(s) of the proposal.
• CHARIS with SCExAO+AO188 (including spectro-polarimetric mode)
• Fast PDI (in a shared-risk mode)
• IRD (in a shared-risk mode)
• MEC (in a shared-risk mode) ** Decision on MEC open use availability for 22A will be made in October.  MEC proposals will be accepted but it is possible they will not be able to be scheduled.
• REACH (combination of SCExAO+IRD for single-mode fiber spectroscopy)
• SWIMS (in a shared-risk mode)
• VAMPIRES with SCExAO+AO188
• NsIR Wave Plate Unit (a visiting device for IRCS/SCExAO polarimetry)