(1 January 2012 to 31 July 2012: MMT, Magellan)
(1 February 2012 to 31 July 2012: CFHT, P200)
Proposal Deadline: 21 September 2011 at 17:00 China Standard Time
Dear Colleague,
The Telescope Access Program (TAP) is a program to give astronomers based in China direct access to competitive instrumentation on intermediate- and large-aperture optical/infrared telescopes. The 2012A semester marks the second semester where TAP time will be available to the community, and the first semester where the full
amount of time and facilities will be available. We estimate that the following amount of time will be available for new programs on four facilities:
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (3.6m): 45 hours [February-July, 2012]
Palomar Hale Telescope (5.1m, P200): 10 nights [February-July, 2012]
MMT Telescope (6.5m): 4 nights [January-July, 2012]
Magellan (6.5m): 1-2 nights [January-July, 2012]
Note that due the trimester scheduling of the MMT and Magellan, the time period for these telescopes is slightly different and includes January, 2012.
TAP is now accepting observing proposals up until the deadline. The links below provide more information and TAP, the available facilities, proposal information (criteria, templates, examples), and TAP policies.
The TAP website main page: http://info.bao.ac.cn/tap/
Available Instrumentation: http://info.bao.ac.cn/tap/?q=node/17
Proposal Information: http://info.bao.ac.cn/tap/?q=node/3
TAP Policies: http://info.bao.ac.cn/tap/?q=node/14
Proposals for CFHT time should be uploaded directly to the CFHT Northstar Proposal Tool: http://jcdbs1.cfht.hawaii.edu:8180/ . The Northstar tool will be open for proposals starting August 29.
Proposals for the P200, MMT, or Magellan should use the LaTeX proposal template available for download via the above links. The proposal package contains a blank template, a .cls file, and an example proposal. Note that:
- Proposals for the P200 should also include a Palomar Observatory Cover Sheet, which will be available after August 31st, at:
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/observatories/coo/solicit/2012A/Cover2012A.html
- MMT proposals that use PI instruments should attach an approval email from the instrument PI.
- All student investigators should have their advisor email TAP to state their approval and support for the student's involvement.
- New in 2012A: Some observing programs can be accomplished on more than one facility. Given that MMT and Magellan time are likely to be highly oversubscribed, in 2012A we give the proposers the option of specifying "alternate runs" that could accomplish their science if the first option is not available. For example, a proposal for
the Blue spectrograph on MMT might also be accomplished with more observing time with P200/DoubleSpec if the proposal rank is not high enough for MMT time. Giving the TAC this option will allow more flexibility in allocating time to the best science.
- The PALM-3000 natural guide star adaptive optics facility on the P200 wll be available in "shared-risk" mode for use with the PHARO IR camera. There will be approximately 1 night available to TAP for approved programs.
The completed proposal PDF file should be emailed directly to telescope.access.program@gmail.com before the deadline. *Please read the full instructions on the TAP website for submission instructions.*
In February, 2011, the 1st TAP Workshop was help at PKU/KIAA where presentations were given describing the facilities. You can download those presentations, which may be useful for proposal preparation, at:
http://vega.bac.pku.edu.cn/~peng/tapworkshop/program.html
We invite all astronomers in China to form teams, develop observing programs, and submit proposals. We encourage programs of all sizes, both small and large, provided they are justified by the science. If after reading the web site you have further questions, please email your inquiry to telescope.access.program@gmail.com.
