AOT50 submission info

  1. Queuing mode and filler programs
  2. Both unavailable. Only Visitor and Service modes will be offered in AOT50. Accepted programs have to be scheduled in fixed time slots.

  3. Policy for Long-term and "Large" programs
  4. Long Term programs can be requested in AOT50.
    Large programs can not be requested in AOT50.

  5. Lists of protected targets
  6. Lists of protected targets are available at http://www.tng.iac.es/observing/protected.html

  7. PI and CoIs acting as reviewers (Box 16)
  8. We intend to create a large database of potential reviewers to flank the TAC. To do this, the names and emails of the PI and at least 2 CoIs must be indicated. As an exception, a smaller number is allowed if there are less than three proponents.

  9. Availability and scheduling of instruments
  10. The focal plane instruments NICS, GIANO-B, HARPS-N and DOLORES can be normally used during the same night either in service or in visitor mode. The exchange between instruments within the same Nasmyth focal station (i.e. DOLORES-HARPS-N) usually takes less than 6 minutes, while the change of Nasmyth (e.g. switching from NICS to DOLORES) may take up to about 15 minutes. All the switches can be repeated as many times as necessary.

    The observing mode GIARPS, which uses simultaneously HARPS-N and GIANO-B, will be offered without restrictions.

    The high-temporal resolution photometer SiFAP2 is available as a visitor instrument at the TNG. It is not a common-user instrument, but it will be supported for a maximum of 27 hours. Target visibility has to take this into account. Moreover, before submitting the proposal, the proponent team must contact the SiFAP2 PI Alessandro Papitto for a technical validation. Publications based on SiFAP2 data must include builders as co-authors. For more information about SiFAP2 and the available observing modes (photometry and linear polarimetry) see www.tng.iac.es/instruments/sifap2/.

  11. Overheads
  12. Overheads must be included in the justification of the requested time. Lacking or incomplete computation of the overheads may result in a downgrading of the proposal.

    For DOLORES, these can be estimated as follows:

    NICS overheads: see the appropriate document
    HARPS-N overheads: see the manual
    GIANO-B overheads: see the appropriate document

  13. Monitoring
  14. The TNG monitoring capabilities are very limited, since its schedule is dominated by visitor and visitor-like mode observations. Proposals requesting very frequent, time-constrained visits have scarce chances to be accepted. In some cases, a prior time-sharing agreement with other programs may help, although it does not guarantee acceptance. The feasibility of monitoring proposals will be evaluated case by case.

  15. Multi-object spectroscopy with DOLORES
  16. MOS observations are bound to strict constraints on the number of masks and on the time necessary to design/manufacture them. See the dedicated web page for details.

  17. No common offer for observing time TNG-NOT
  18. The Nordic counterpart decided to not continue in the time-sharing agreement between TNG and NOT. Proposals from Nordic community should be submitted following the TransNational Access provided by the OPTICON-Radionet Pilot project. This is valid for Italian teams requesting the Nordic Optical Telescope, too.

  19. Programs with peculiar observing procedures
  20. Proposals requiring special observing procedures (e.g. more than 4/10 MOS masks per night/program) will be downgraded or not considered unless previously discussed with the TNG staff and authorized by the TNG director.

  21. Targets of opportunity (ToO)
  22. During visitor time, ToO observations will be performed by the visitor observer, with the instrument in use or by TNG staff in remote mode (on a best effort basis). Please read our ToO policy if you are planning to propose for ToO.

  23. Publications based on data collected at the TNG
  24. Please remember that any publication based on TNG data should be suitably acknowledged. A complete reference of, and a link to the paper should be communicated to the TNG