JWST Cycle 1 General Observer Proposal Deadline
William Blair Johns Hopkins Univ.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope project invites General Observer proposals for the first cycle of operations. Proposals are due 6 April 2018, 8:00 pm ET. Those interested in participating in this proposal cycle should review the Cycle 1 Call for Proposals, including the relevant science policies and the proposal checklist.
Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), JWST has adopted a “single-stream” approach for most proposals, similar to the process used at other space observatories (such as Spitzer and Chandra). This means that all information about the proposed science and observations are provided up front at the time of submission. Since the tools for supporting the proposal process require some effort to learn, proposers are encouraged to start early!
The JWST Exposure Time Calculator (ETC) is a powerful and flexible new tool that should be used to verify the feasibility of your JWST proposed observations as well as to determine the exposure specifications needed for your proposal. You will also use the Astronomer’s Proposal Tool (APT) to submit your observing requirements using a set of templates for specific instrument modes. APT will look familiar to HST proposers, but the details of the JWST portion of the tool are quite different.
In addition to these primary proposal tools, there are several other specialized tools you may want to investigate (e.g., target visibility tools, infrared background tool, etc.), depending on your science case.
The following resources are available to help you with your proposal preparation:
- JWST User Documentation (JDox)
- Video tutorial help with ETC and APT
JDox is an extensive online resource designed to provide the astronomical community with accurate, user-friendly, and up-to-date documentation related to the JWST observatory, instruments, and observation planning tools. JDox is searchable with Google or by using the search tool within JDox itself.
If you have a specific question while crafting your JWST proposal, please reach out to the JWST Help Desk.