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Science

APF Observers

Observer Info

Call for Proposals

To: Observers on the Automated Planet Finder (APF) 2.4 m telescope
From: Claire Max, UCO Director
Date: October 10th, 2018

APF Observing Requests — Semester 2019A
(February 1st, 2019 through July 31st, 2019)

Deadline: Friday, November 16th, 2018 at 5:00 pm PST

This is the Call for Proposals for the APF 2.4-m Telescope at Lick Observatory, for Semester 2019A.

Proposals are due by 5:00 pm PST on November 16th, 2018.

Information about the APF telescope can be found at http://apf.ucolick.org

For the 2019A semester, 65% of the time on the APF will be open for UC-wide proposals, up to 118 nights for February 2019 through the end of July 2019.

We encourage programs that need nightly cadence and will require a large fraction of the available time. Programs that need smaller amounts of time, with either short cadence over a few nights or long cadence over the whole semester, are also encouraged. Target of Opportunity programs that use the unique capabilities of APF for up to an hour per night are welcome.

The time will be scheduled in two different modes at the request of the observers.
The observer can (1) ask for their targets to be inserted into the queue operated by the University of California Observatories (Cadence), or (2) ask for specific nights and conduct observations as they wish (Classical). All time requests should be in whole or fractional nights. The fraction of time in the queue will be awarded assuming 118 nights available.

The UCO queue will be run on all nights, except for whole nights allocated to specific programs. The queue software is capable of handling multiple programs per night. The target list and the data files for a given observer will be private to the PI unless otherwise requested. A given program can be executed on any given night the queue is running, with the balance of observing time monitored over the course of the semester to match the allocated amount. Simple cadence requirements can also be met, such nightly or weekly. More specific requirements, such as observing a target during a specific UT window, may not be available at the start of the semester.

Submitting an application is a two-step process: on-line creation of a proposal cover sheet and uploading a PDF file with the Scientific Justification and other supporting materials.

Step 1: Create a proposal coversheet and be assigned a Proposal ID#. Go to the web page below, enter the information required for the form, submit the form and note the assigned proposal ID#, which is required in Step 2.
https://spg.ucolick.org/cgi-bin/time_apps/APF/  

Step 2: Prepare a file with the following sections:

1. Scientific Justification (2-page limit),
2. References and Figures (2-page limit),
3. Targets and Exposures,
4. Supplementary Observations Required from other Observatories,
5. Technical Remarks,
6. Path to Science from Observations,
7. Status of previously approved Lick Observatory programs, including a complete list of publications that have resulted from your previous observing time at Lick over the past 5 years.  

Create a PDF version of this document and upload it at the submission web page:
https://spg.ucolick.org/cgi-bin/APFTAC/login.cgi



Claire Max
Director, University of California Observatories