PATT issue Call for Proposals for 2010B

The LT TAC is now accepting proposals for PATT time for observations in Semester 2010B (1st August 2010 to 31st January 2011). Download full details of the 2010B Call for Proposals here (136KB PDF). An abridged version of the Call, containing just the salient points, is given below.

STFC

Agreement has been reached between STFC and LJMU that funding for the LT will continue as normal until the mid-point review of the LT grant in 2012. This means that allocation of time can proceed as normal for semesters until that date.

Deadline & Time Available

• Deadline for submission of Phase 1 proposals is 31st March 2010.
• The total available time for PATT users in 2010B, excluding pre-allocated time, is around 318 hours. This is a considerable increase on previous B-semester availability due to significant increases in operational efficiency.
• Time will be approximately uniformly distributed between Rank A and B time, and between the observing conditions categories

Instrument Availability

Instruments available for 2010B are:

• RATCam optical CCD camera
• RINGO2 optical polarimeter. This is the new JMU ARI internally funded fast-track instrument, offering significant improvements on RINGO
• SupIRCam infrared camera. Note: the reliability of SupIRCam cannot be guaranteed; this instrument is offered on a "shared-risk" basis only.
• RISE fast-readout optical camera
• FRODOspec multi-purpose integral-field input spectrograph

New Routine Standards Regime

Beginning in semester 2010A the telescope routinely observes standard stars with RATC only. These standards will be taken in B,V,r,i and z (i.e. g,U and H alpha standards will NOT be taken). NO standards will be taken for remaining instruments (RISE, SuperIRCam, RINGO, FRODOSpec). Observers who wish to obtain standards, apart from those which are routinely observed, will need to include observations of these standards in their own programmes.

Telescope performance

The current rms pointing of the LT is 6 arcsec. The current tracking performance provides seeing-limited images (FWHM < 0.8 arcsec) for exposures up to 1 minute without the auto-guider (open loop) and up to 30 minutes with the auto-guider (closed loop). Individual exposures with the auto-guider are limited to 30 minutes.

Observing conditions

We welcome applications for all available observing modes, conditions and RA ranges, particularly those that take advantage of the robotic nature of the LT. The PATT time available is spread equally between all observing conditions. Average time tends to be the most over-subscribed. There is much less competition for observations that can be done in good and/or spectroscopic conditions.

Download full details of the 2010B Call for Proposals here (136KB PDF)