*********************************************************************** BOLETIM ELETRONICO SAB N. 193 - 30/04/2003 *********************************************************************** SECAO: INFORMES * * Responsável: Vera Ap.F. Martin vmartin@uefs.br) *********************************************************************** 1. PROPOSTAS PARA O T-ReCS (CERRO PACHON) *********************************************************************** 1. PROPOSTAS PARA O T-ReCS (CERRO PACHON) (comunicacao do socio Max Faundez-Abans) Dear Colleagues, With the arrival of T-ReCS on Cerro Pachon, it is time to think about system verification (SV) projects for the final stages of commissioning. We are contacting you because you are either Gemini staff, a member of the T-ReCS instrument team, or a member of a National Gemini Office. We strongly encourage all of you to contact colleagues and communities and to submit ideas. Collaboration is highly encouraged since we have a limited number of observing nights and cannot do a large number of projects. System verification is designed to test the full Gemini observing system for a given instrument and all the modes of the instrument. Therefore, we need a variety of projects for the T-ReCS modes and Cerro Pachon weather conditions. In particular, we need some projects that do not require 50%-tile image quality and photometric skies. Programs for worse than average conditions will be greatly appreciated and are more likely to be executed. Targets south of -30 degrees declination are easier to observe because they are out of the prevailing northwest wind. Furthermore, observations are limited to a 15 arcsecond maximum chop throw, so chopping angles for crowded fields and sources lying in extended regions must be carefully considered. There will be up to 6 nights available for T-ReCS SV. We anticipate that SV observations will begin early in semester 2003B (~September 2003) and may continue for some modes until later in the 2003B semester. Targets will be needed throughout this timeframe. The following 3 modes will be available for testing: IMAGING (up to 2 NIGHTS) -------------------------------------------------------- The careful reader will notice that there are extra filters available for SV that were not available at the time for the call for proposals for the 2003B semester. The final filter list is: Filters Central Range -------- -------- ------------ K 2.19 um 1.98-2.34 um L 3.85 3.56-4.14 M 4.68 4.39-4.97 Si-1 7.7 7.39-8.08 PAH-8.6 8.6 8.39-8.82 (also ArIII ref) Si-2 8.7 8.35-9.13 ArIII 8.99 8.93-9.06 (also PAH-8.6 ref) Si-3 9.7 9.22-10.15 Si-4 10.4 9.87-10.89 SIV 10.5 10.44-10.66 N 10.8 8.00-13.68 PAH-11.3 11.30 11.00-11.60 Si-5 11.7 11.09-12.22 Si-6 12.3 11.74-12.92 NeII 12.81 12.71-12.91 NeII-ref 13.10 13.00-13.20 Qshort 17.7 17.2-18.1 Qa 18.3 17.6-19.1 Qbroad 20.8 17.60-25.38 Qb 24.6 23.59-25.52 Windows: KBr, ZnSe, KRS-5 Targets of interest: -Extended sources -Point sources Issues to consider: - The ability to image with the broad band N filter without saturating the detector remains to be proven. - The QE of the detector in the K, L, and M bands is very low, and these filters are intended for engineering use. LOW RESOLUTION LONG-SLIT SPECTROSCOPY (up to 2 NIGHTS) --------------------------------------------------------- Gratings: Lo-Res 10um (Rmax=113) and Lo-Res 20um (Rmax=78) Slits (width): S1 (0.214"), S2 (0.260"), S3 (0.306"), S4 (0.352"), S5 (0.653"), S6 (0.704"), S7 (1.304") Issues to consider: - Spectroscopic modes may not be exercised until later in the 2003B observing semester. Please keep this in mind when choosing targets. HIGH RESOLUTION LONG-SLIT SPECTROSCOPY (up to 2 NIGHTS) ---------------------------------------------------------- Gratings: Hi-Res 10um (Rmax=1161) Slits (width): Same as above Issues to consider: - Spectroscopic modes may not be exercised until later in the 2003B observing semester. Please keep this in mind when choosing targets. ----------------------------------------------------------- Some information on the modes and instrument specifications can be found at: http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/miri/MiriIndex.html The SV process uses the normal proposal tools. Therefore you must submit your program (by e-mail, see below), including brief scientific and technical justifications, observing constraints, target lists, and instrument configurations using the 2003B Phase I Tool, see http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/P1help/p1Index.html Note that the 2003B PIT does not include the T-ReCS spectroscopic resources (listed above). Please make sure that these are clearly identified in the technical justification. Scientific justifications should be brief (maximum 500 words) and clearly state which modes are being tested. Technical justifications should be complete enough that feasibility can be assessed easily. There is a Integration Time Calculator available at the following website: http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/instruments/instrumentIndex.html Please be aware that this calculator is only a guide for approximate integration times as the actual sensitivity of the instrument is yet to be measured. THE DEADLINE FOR THE SV PHASE I XML FILES IS WEDNESDAY, May 21, 2003. The XML files must be emailed directly to Jim De Buizer at jdebuizer@gemini.edu. Early submissions will be appreciated. We will inform PIs of the results of the selection process in mid-August 2003. At that time we will solicit Phase II files for the selected projects. The Phase I XML files will be used as skeletons for detailed Phase II preparations using the latest Observing Tool, see http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/OThelp/otIndex.html Submitting a SV program or even having a SV program selected as high priority does not guarantee that data will be taken. Selection for SV will also be based on the abilities of the proposers to reduce the data and return feedback within a reasonable time. The proprietary period for SV data is two months. PIs and their collaborators will need to provide reduced data for public release. Sincerely, Jim De Buizer and Tom Hayward T-ReCS Instrument Team Gemini Observatory Casilla 603 La Serena, Chile ***********************************************************************