Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
This webpage is kept for archival purposes only and is no longer updated or maintained.

NOAO Observing Plan in Fermi GI Program Scientific Justification

By agreement with NOAO, proposers interested in making use of observing facilities available through NOAO as part of their Fermi science program may submit a single observing research proposal. The award of NOAO time will be made to highly ranked Fermi proposals and will be subject to approval by the NOAO Director. Note that proposals that require Target-of-Opportunity observations or survey proposals (under the NOAO Survey Program) should propose for observing time through the NOAO proposal process, for funding through the Fermi GI program, and will be considered for Fermi GI program funding after successfully being awarded telescope time (see the description of the Cooperative Proposal Opportunity).

The available telescope time is:

  • CTIO Blanco 4-m telescope (5%; approximately 15-18 nights a year; no queue mode)
  • SOAR 4.2-m telescope (1.5%; this is 5% of the 30% share of time NOAO has on this telescope; no queue mode)
  • KPNO Mayall 4-m telescope (5%; approximately 15-18 nights a year; no queue mode)
  • WIYN 3.5-m telescope (2.0%; this is 5% of the 40% share of time NOAO has on this telescope; no queue mode)
  • KPNO 2.1-m telescope (5%, with perhaps up to 15% depending on the collective proposal pressure for this telescope; approximately 15-50 nights a year; no queue mode)
  • WIYN 0.9-m telescope (up to 5%, approximately 15-18 nights a year; via NOAO time on this telescope; note that this will generally not include the use of the MOSAIC-1 imager with this telescope, as very little time is available for NOAO users on the WIYN 0.9m using this instrument and requests for MOSAIC-1 on WIYN 0.9m via the Fermi GI program will be scheduled on a best effort basis; some queue modes)
  • Gemini-North and Gemini South (5% of NOAO time, which is approximately 40 to 45% of the nights, exact number depending on engineering of the commissioning schedule; note that recommended programs will have to submit the NOAO proposal form to aid the NOAO TAC assign Fermi-recommended observations to priority bands in the Gemini queue program)
  • HET (up to 5% of available NOAO time on this telescope; the amount varies but is generally only a few nights a year; queue mode)
  • SMARTS (5% of NOAO time, or 60 hours/year, and <1 hour on any one night, on each of the four telescopes. See http://www.ctio.noao.edu/telescopes/smarts.html; some queue modes)

The primary criterion for the award of NOAO time is that NOAO data are required to meet the scientific objectives of the proposal.

Proposers wishing to make use of this opportunity must provide the following additional NOAO-related information as part of their Fermi science justification:

  • Indicate the choice of NOAO telescope(s) and instrument(s) (dates of availability for the various telescopes and instruments can be found on the web at: http://www.noao.edu/gateway/nasa/ or through the regular NOAO Proposal pages linked off the NOAO home page, http://www.noao.edu/
  • Enter the total estimated observing time (hours) for each telescope/instrument combination; note that many telescopes award time in half-night or night increments
  • Specify the number of hours for each semester during which time will be required and include any observing constraints (dates, moon phase, synchronous or synoptic observations, etc. For synchronous or coordinated observations confirmed details of the observations whose scheduling must be matched should be included at the time of submission of the program.)
  • Include a full and comprehensive scientific and technical justification for the requested NOAO observing time; and
  • Provide a plan for the public release of the NOAO data, if this is part of the proposed program.

Demonstration of the technical feasibility of the proposed NOAO observations is the responsibility of the proposer. Detailed technical information concerning NOAO facilities may be found at http://www.noao.edu/.

Fermi will transmit to NOAO the selected proposals within one month of completion of the peer review. Successful PIs will be contacted by NOAO once scheduling details are known. Some programs might end up not included in the NOAO schedule due to practical constraints (e.g., limited availability of needed instruments). If holding a program for scheduling in a following semester is possible this will be considered, but not guaranteed. Successful PIs (i.e., their programs have been scheduled) will be responsible for submitting observing preparation forms as detailed by NOAO.

If the Fermi GI program approves observing time on either of the Gemini telescopes, the PIs will be requested to submit the full NOAO proposal form in advance of the meeting of the Gemini TAC. This form will be used by the TAC to assign the Fermi-recommended observations and other approved Gemini programs to priority bands 1, 2 or 3, used for scheduling these telescopes and managing the Gemini Observing Queue.