Gemini - Canadian-specific information for Phase I - 2013B

When?

A call for proposals for Semester 2013B has been issued by the Gemini Observatory. The Call for Proposals can be viewed at: CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The deadline for the receipt of Canadian proposals is:

MARCH 28, 2013, 4 P.M. (Pacific Daylight Time)

Note that not all Gemini partners have the same deadline and those involved in joint proposals need to submit their proposals by the PI's country's deadline.

Because of the UK withdrawal from the Gemini Partnership effective January 2013, Canada has access in 2013B to more time this semester: 241 hours on Gemini North and 209 hours on Gemini South.

What?

All instruments are offered in queue and classical mode, except for Laser Guide Star AO (Altair or GeMS) and Flamingos-2 which are queue mode only for the moment. The instruments available on Gemini-North are GMOS-N, GNIRS, NIRI (imaging only), NIFS, and Altair; and on Gemini-South are GMOS-S, Flamingos-2 (on a shared-risk basis in imaging and longlsit mode only), GSAOI and GeMs. In addition, two visitor instruments will be offered at Gemini-North: DSSI Speckle camera and TEXES. Please consult the target accessibility page for important information concerning the RA restrictions for each instrument.

To see more details about each of the instruments available for 2013B, please see the Gemini Call for Proposals.

What's new in 2013B

  • As noted above, two new visitor instruments will be available on Gemini-North: DSSI Speckle camera, a dual-channel visual-wavelength camera giving simultaneous diffraction-limited images in two filters over a 2.8-5.6 arcsec field of view, to be available in July and August, limiting RAs to 15.5h to 3h; TEXES, a high resolution R∼4000 to 100000 mid-infrared (5 to 25 microns) spectrometer, available in October, limiting RAs to 20h to 7.5h.
  • Flamingos-2 will be offered on a shared-risk basis through the semester in imaging and longslit mode in queue mode only. Targets with RA 23h to 6h are particularly encouraged to cover the period when GMOS-S may not be available. At the time of the Call the instrument is not yet delivering the expected image quality (for the moment the PSF has a FWHM of 0.48 arcsec on-axis and 0.55 arcsec off-axis; for spectroscopy a smaller degradation of the spectral resolution is expected. Please check the Flamingos-2 Status and availability page to track the commissioning progress before submitting the proposal.
  • GSAOI and GeMs will be available with targets restricted to RA 19h to 11h and Dec -75d to +15d. Please check the guide stars limiting magnitudes. PIs must check the availability of Guide Star constellations using the Observing Tool (OT) before submitting a proposal. Observations in IQ85 are possible and are encouraged for semester 2013B, for programs that can use delivered images with FWHM of 0.2 arcsecs as opposed to $lt;0.1 arcsecs delivered in IQ70 and IQ20 conditions.
  • Gemini Director's Discretionary Time for 2013B will be allocated to use GSAOI to obtain non-proprietary data on two galaxy clusters part of the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields program. PIs who require deeper or different observations of these fields are welcome to submit such proposals.
  • GMOS-S will likely not be available in October and November 2013, for an upgrade of the CCDs and other maintenance. The amount of time at RA 23h to 6h will therefore be limited, and PIs should state in the technical case of their proposal if alternate targets are available. Please assume the current EEV detectors performance for planning purposes.
  • Targets are limited at Gemini-North to 17 < RA < 13.5 and -37 < dec < +90; and at Gemini-South to 16 < RA < 12 and -90 < dec < +28. Please consult the target accessibility page for specific RA restrictions for some instruments
  • WARNING: An entirely new and improved Phase I Tool (PIT) was released for 2013A, and an updated version has been released for 2013B. In particular the science justification and technical justification are now to be entered in a latex file (or doc file if using the Windows version of PIT). See the PIT page to download the new PIT. Please download the latex/doc/sty template files to write the proposal For Canadian proposals, please use the default GemPhase1.tex, GemPhase1_13B.sty and GemPhase1.doc template files. Please allow extra time to familiarize yourself with the new PIT, and consult the help pages for the new PIT, which includes video tutorials too. Also, please note that, with the new PIT, a single proposal may now request time from either or both of Gemini-North and Gemini-South (it is no longer necessary to submit two separate proposals).
  • WARNING: when submitting your proposal, you should see in the PIT ‘Submit’ tab the status updated to “Successfully submitted”, and receive a reference number for the proposal,such as ‘ca-2013B-003’. If you do not see this reference number then the proposal might not have been received, and you are advised to please check with us at Gemini@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.
  • There will be a minimum of 5 classical nights available on Subaru. All the instruments are available: COMICS, FMOS, FOCAS, HDS, IRCS, MOIRCS and SUprime-Cam. Please view the full call for proposals for details. Please make integer nights proposals only.

Other Things to Note for 2013B

  • All proposals for Rapid Target of Opportunity (RToO) follow-up must submit a separate proposal for Standard Target of Opportunity follow-up (SToO) in conditions better than SB/CC/IQ=Any, if such follow-up is planned.
  • Poor weather and Director's Discretionary Time proposals can now be submitted at any time via PIT directly to Gemini (bypassing CTAC).
  • Since 2011B, fewer queue proposals are being scheduled in Band 3. The queue time will be filled to 80% of the advertised time, with the boundaries for Band 1 at roughly 30%, Band 2 60% and Band 3 80% of the available queue time. A new Cloud Cover constraint of CC80 has been defined, corresponding to 1 magnitude of extinction, or 40% transmission.
  • The minimum request for classical observing programs has been lowered from 3 nights to a 1 night minimum. The minimum time block that can be requested in queue-mode is no longer limited to 1 hour minimum

How?

Canadian astronomers must use the Gemini Observatory Phase I Tool (PIT) to prepare and submit their proposals. The new version of PIT for Semester 2013B must be downloaded from the PIT installation site. In particular, please note that the science and technical justifications are now to be entered in a latex file (or doc if using the Windows version of PIT). Please download the latex/doc/sty template files to write the proposal, For Canadian proposals, please use the default GemPhase1.tex, GemPhase1_13B.sty and GemPhase1.doc template files. Please allow extra time to familiarize yourself with the new PIT, and consult the help pages for the new PIT. Also, please note that, with the new PIT, a single proposal may now request time from either or both of Gemini-North and Gemini-South (it is no longer necessary to submit two separate proposals).

Users will submit their finalized proposals from PIT; the proposals are sent electronically to NRC. The CGO will be in charge of the technical assessment of the proposals, which will then be reviewed and ranked by CanTAC.

All data will be subject to the normal Gemini proprietary period of 18 months.

Proposal Parameters

Please follow the instructions in the latex/doc files:

  • scientific justification: one page (excluding references, see below).
  • technical justification: one page
  • up to two extra pages for references, a maximum of three figures, and figure captions