TO:  ALL MCDONALD AND HET OBSERVERS
FROM:  Anita Cochran
SUBJECT:  Call for McDonald Observing Proposals

DATE: 9 September 2015

This trimester will cover the December 1 2015 to March 31 2016 period
for McDonald Proposals.  There is no call for HET proposals.

NOTE that the deadlines (see below) are FIRM and we will close the
web site shortly after the deadline.

WEB SITE OPENS ON 16 September 2015.

SPECIAL NOTES:

IGRINS MINI-QUEUE: Because there is only one setup for IGRINS, many
programs can be mixed together. Therefore, we are again having an
IGRINS mini-queue this trimester.  The mini-queue will be executed
the 2nd half of January. Proposals for the mini-queue only
are due by 11 January 2016. See instructions below.  This mode of
observations will fulfill three different needs: 1) finish projects that
need very little more time; 2) take a trial observation to see if a
project is feasible; 3) obtain a complete program that only needs 1-2
hours total. In order to prioritize finishing projects, type 2 or 3
proposals should generally be for objects in the second half of the night.

Type 1 observations must enable publication of your IGRINS data and
obtaining data under this mode will be considered the FINAL observations
for a project (you cannot apply again unless you get nothing in the
mini-queue).  For any of the types, you may get a MAXIMUM of 2 hours of
time.

The proposal for mini-queue time should include:
    PI name/Institution
    email address
    Type of proposal (1=finish existing program; 2=exploratory program;
                      3=short program)
    Object name and coordinates
    Instructions for observations (e.g. nods, slit PA, S/N, exposure time)
    If type 1 proposal, give trimester designation (e.g. 2015-2) and
            proposal number for program you are completing and include
            ORIGINAL abstract
    For type 2 or 3 proposal, list IGRINS team member collaborator
    For all proposals, give a 1/2 page science justification

For any of the three types of observations, please send the proposal
VIA EMAIL, as a pdf, to anita@astro.as.utexas.edu. The subject
of the email should include "IGRINS mini-queue" and your name.
IGRINS mini-queue proposals are due by 5pm on January 11.

IGRINS (not mini-queue): Regular proposals to use IGRINS on the 2.7m
telescope must be coordinated with Dr. Dan Jaffe.  Dan must have a draft
of IGRINS proposals to this call by September 23 6pm to review project
feasibility.

FLEXIBILITY: Please be as flexible as possible with your dates and moon
constraints.  The more flexible you are, the more likely I will be able
to schedule you for some time! PLEASE DO NOT BURY YOUR CONSTRAINTS IN
THE TEXT - make sure there is something to flag them on the cover page.

FOR REQUESTING PARTIAL NIGHTS: If you are requesting partial nights,
put the actual sum of partial nights in the "nights requested"
box (e.g. for 3 half nights the sum is 1.5 nights - do NOT put 3x0.5)
and put something like "3x0.5 nights' in the "Specify range of dates
box". If you ask for 1/2 nights, the new form will request which half is
needed. Be creative with this e.g. "second half in April, May or first
half in June, July."


McDONALD
Proposals for the McDonald telescopes on Mt. Locke will be due on
Wednesday 30 September at 8am.  All proposals are to be submitted using
the on-line web submission form. This system is located at
hydra.as.utexas.edu/mtlocke/.  It is password controlled.  You can
assign yourself an account the first time you use it.  If you have
forgotten your password, the system can send you a new one.  Note that
there are some upgrades to the form. If you encounter problems send them
to me and Jim Umbarger (jimum@astro.as.utexas.edu)

In the web format, some of the routine items are menu selectable.  The
long text portions (e.g. Scientific Justification) are uploadable in
pdf or ps format.  You may prepare them in any text processor you wish
as long as you can upload pdf or ps.  Margin and font size information
are given on the web site.  You may upload the text sections either as a
single document or as a separate document for each section.  PLEASE PUT
A SECTION HEADING ON EACH SECTION. You may edit your proposal repeatedly
and the last submission will be the one which counts.  For LaTeX users,
there is a (very) simple template available for download from either the
instruction page or the page for text uploads.

Proposals for the 30 inch telescope only require the cover pages (plus a
plan for training submitted where your science justification would be
if this is your first time). Please indicate at the end of the abstract
if you will observe on-site or via the web.

NOTE: The TAC receives the proposals in B&W, though they can access them
on line. Therefore, consider how your proposal will look in B&W and
don't assume that they will go to the effort of looking on line.
However, if you need color for clarity, go ahead and use it.

NOTE: We will not accept ANY submissions via email.

HET
There will be no HET proposals accepted at this time.

LONG-TERM STATUS:
Long-term status can be conferred on projects for periods of 1 year for
Mt. Locke only.  Only UT-led proposals are eligible for long-term
status.  Only a fraction of the telescope time will be allocated for
long-term projects. Simply needing a large allocation is not generally
considered a justification. The TAC is looking for a reason such as the
science requiring multiple epochs.

The Web forms have a place to upload the request for long-term
status and it must be submitted as part of your normal proposal.
Note that this extra page is only for justification of the
need for long-term status.  The request must indicate why your project
needs long-term status, what milestones you expect to achieve by the end
of the 1 year period and details of the numbers of nights you need in
the current and following two trimesters. Only 1 page is allowed.  On
the cover page for number of nights requested put the request for the
CURRENT trimester. There is another place that will appear to indicate
your needs for the full year.


SUMMARY
The McDonald trimester will cover the 1 December 2015 to 31 March 2016
period. You do not need to submit ANY hard copies. NOTE that the
deadlines are FIRM and we will close the web site shortly after the
deadline.

McDonald proposals:
Web submission by 8am Wednesday 30 September 2015.

HET proposals:
No proposals

If you have problems with the web submission system, send email to
jimum@astro.as.utexas.edu AND anita@astro.as.utexas.edu.

Updated Mt. Locke Operations Schedules
ftp://astro.as.utexas.edu/pub/mcdonald/schedules/