Calls for Proposals, Deadlines and Schedules

Call for Proposals

This is the Call for Proposals for the Shane 3m telescope at Lick Observatory. 

Lick Observatory’s scientific impact manifests itself in several ways: Lick and the Shane 3m telescope can undertake observing programs that require substantially more observing time than is available at 8-10m telescopes. Lick provides a testbed for new and improved technologies, both in instrumentation and in observing techniques. Moreover, graduate students and postdocs can write their own observing proposals and lead their own programs, gaining valuable experience in scientific planning and leadership. 

Proposals for large and/or long-term programs on the Shane 3-m telescope are encouraged. Guidelines for the structure of such proposals can be found at:

https://www.ucobservatories.org/observatory/lick-observatory/shane-telescope/large-multi-semester-approved-programs/

or

https://www.ucobservatories.org/observatory/lick-observatory/shane-telescope/large-or-synoptic-approved-programs-lsap/

Ambitious long-term programs help Lick Observatory increase its scientific impact. Programs such as these are becoming ever more important as a way to keep Lick scientifically fruitful in the current era of 8-10 meter telescopes, by taking advantage of Lick’s greater access to telescope time. 

Proposals for use of the 3-m Shane reflector will be submitted online in a process very similar to that used for UC Keck proposals. 

Submitting an application is a two-step process: on-line creation of a proposal cover sheet and uploading a pdf-format file with the Scientific Justification and other support materials. 

Step 1: Create a proposal cover sheet and be assigned a Proposal ID#. Go to the web page below, enter the information required for the form, submit the form and note the assigned proposal ID#, which is required in Step 2. 

https://spg.ucolick.org/cgi-bin/time_apps/3m/

Step 2: Prepare a file with the following sections: 

1. Scientific Justification (2-page limit), 

2. References and Figures (2-page limit),

3. Targets and Exposures, 

4. Supplementary Observations Required from other Observatories, 

5. Technical Remarks, 

6. Path to Science from Observations, 

7. Status of Previously Approved 3-m Programs, including a complete list of publications that have resulted from your previous observing time at Lick over the past 5 years. 

Create a pdf-format of this document and upload it at the submission web page:

https://spg.ucolick.org/cgi-bin/ShaneTAC/login.cgi

Proposals to use the Shane telescope for education will also be accepted. In these proposals, please fill out the normal cover sheet. In lieu of the full pdf proposal, with the components listed above, an education proposal should include information about the course or program:

• • Program or Course Title 
  • Brief course or program description (1-2 paragraphs)
  • Primary goals of the observing time and typical program (1-2 paragraphs or point-form)
  • Number of students and educational level
  • List of the trained observers who will be leading the observing

Graduate Student Applications: Graduate students are eligible to apply for 3-m observing time. A letter must accompany each proposal from the faculty sponsor stating the student is qualified to carry out the project. Please email the letter to gcoolidge@ucolick.org, and be sure the subject line says “Graduate Student Shane Proposal.” 

Graduate student observing projects requiring a large number of nights or nights spread over several semesters must be thesis-related; the first proposal must be accompanied by a letter of support from the student’s thesis adviser. 

Remote observing is supported for the Shane Telescope. With the exception of UC Merced and UC San Francisco, all UC campuses maintain at least one remote observing room. General information and caveats for those considering remote observing may be found here: http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/techdocs/remoteObs/shane/intro 

For details about reserving one of these rooms on your campus for your Lick observations, please contact your local astronomy (or physics) department or the support astronomers at Lick (email to sa@ucolick.org). 

Lick observers (astronomers, postdocs, students) are not permitted to observe remotely until they have completed an on-site checkout at Lick Observatory plus a separate remote-observing checkout. These are described further in the Lick remote observing policy page: http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/techdocs/remoteObs/shane/intro 

Please contact the Lick support astronomers (sa@ucolick.org) to arrange the necessary checkouts. 

Other useful links: 

Shane 3-m Telescope Manual: 

http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/techdocs/telescopes/Shane/intro/ 

Guidelines for preparing 3-m proposals: 

https://www.ucobservatories.org/observatory/lick-observatory/shane-telescope/observer-information/

Remote Observing Policies and Procedures: 

http://mtham.ucolick.org/techdocs/remoteObs/homeobserving/intro/

Instruments available are: 

Kast Spectrograph – Dual channel optical spectrometer: 

http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/techdocs/instruments/kast/ 

Hamilton Spectrograph – High-resolution optical echelle spectrometer: We encourage people to apply for both the Hamilton and the APF time unless their science cases requires one or the other (which should then be justified).   This will give the greatest flexibility to scheduling the telescopes (depending upon demand) and may allow risk reduction through fewer instrument changes on the Shane.

http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/techdocs/instruments/hamspec/ 

Adaptive Optics – Natural and Laser guide star adaptive optics systems. The AO system for the Shane 3m (known as ShaneAO and ShARCS) is available for the general user community. Note: Proposals which use the Natural Guide Star mode are particularly encouraged due to the fact that the reliability and power available in the current dye laser is low. While refurbishment is underway for the Laser we have not completed that effort, thus, operations with Laser guide star will be done on a best effort basis.  Staff limitations at Mount Hamilton may limit the number of Laser Guide Star nights that can be scheduled, including limiting Laser work to 7 hours per night due to staffing issues.

Links to information about Shane AO and ShARCS are the following: 

http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/techdocs/instruments/ShaneAO/intro/ 

http://mthamilton.ucolick.org/techdocs/instruments/sharcs/intro/ 

http://lao.ucolick.org/ShaneAO/

To: Observers on the Automated Planet Finder (APF) 2.4 m telescope
From: Bruce Macintosh, UCO Director
Date: Mar 8th, 2023

APF Observing Requests — Semester 2023B
(Aug 1st, 2023  through Jan 31st, 2024)

Deadline: Apr 20th, 2023 at 5:00 pm PDT

The APF is by default a queue scheduled telescope. Because of this policy:

• Requested nights should be “clear” nights with no correction for weather, only science observation time and overheads will be charged to a program.
• The TAC will be allocating time based on the expected 900 hours of clear time for UC proposals.
• Queue priorities will be set based on TAC grades.
• We welcome all proposals for high resolution, R~50,000 to 100,000, spectroscopy of compact sources.  
• We encourage people to apply for both the Hamilton and the APF time unless their science case requires one or the other (which should then be justified).   This will give the greatest flexibility to scheduling the telescopes (depending upon demand.)
• We encourage proposals to request additional time for your program on the cover sheet, in case other programs cannot be executed or the APF is undersubscribed.

Proposal Information

1. The first page must include an abstract – see Proposal Submission Requirements
2. Select Cadence for queue observing on the cover sheet – see Proposal Submittal Instructions
3. Pure classical nights must be justified – see Proposal Submittal Instructions
4. Please assume 10 hours per night for calculating total requested time
5. Large, or Synoptic Approved Programs (LSAPs.) are now an option. These include the traditional Long Term programs, so a program requiring data over multiple semesters – see Large or Synoptic Approved Programs (LSAP)
6. Large, multi-semester programs (LMAPS) are programs that require multiple semesters and need >25% of the available time – see APF LMAPS
7. Proposal ranking will determine queue ranking – see Understanding the APF Queue and Time Critical Observations, ToOs, and Proposal Ranking
8. Time critical observations will be given higher queue ranking but must be justified – see Time Critical Observations, ToOs, and Proposal Ranking

Information about the APF telescope can be found at:
http://apf.ucolick.org

For the 2023B semester, 900 hours will be available in the APF queue for UC proposals.

The time will be scheduled in two different modes at the request of the observers.
The observer can (1) ask for their targets to be inserted into the queue operated by the University of California Observatories (Cadence), or (2) ask for specific nights and conduct observations as they wish (Classical). Classical requests need to be justified.

All time requests should be in hours. The cover sheet should list the request in nights, assuming 10 hours per night, with fractional nights as appropriate. The TAC will allocate grades to the proposals and those grades (A, B, C) will determine the relative priority on any given night, with guaranteed or purchased time being granted A time.

The queue will be run on all nights, except for the whole or half nights allocated to specific classical programs. The queue software is capable of handling multiple programs per night. The target list and the data files for a given observer will be private to the PI unless otherwise requested. A given program can be executed on any given night the queue is running, with the balance of observing time monitored over the course of the semester to match the allocated amount. Simple cadence requirements, ranging from multiple times a night, to once a month can be met and the total observations can easily be supported.

Regarding data reduction pipelines, there are currently two options for data reduction pipelines but both are optimized for precision radial velocity work of cool stars using the Iodine cell as a reference. If you would like to use either of these, please contact Brad Holden (holden@ucolick.org) before submitting your proposal.