NOAO Invites Observing Proposals for Semester 2019B

NOAO has issued a call for proposals (CfP) for Semester 2019B — 1 August 2019 to 31 January 2020 — with proposals due by 1 April 2019 at 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time (MST).

The 2019B CfP can be found on the NOAO website.

Proposal forms and information for observing time requests for the 2019B semester are available on the Proposal Information web page.

Time requests for 2019B may be made for Gemini North and South, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (including SOAR and SMARTS), and Kitt Peak National Observatory (including WIYN). This will be the last semester of public access to the Large Binocular Telescope under the current TSIP agreement. Time continues to be available on the automated global telescope network of Las Cumbres Observatory, as well as the CHARA interferometer. Nights are also available on the Subaru and AAT telescopes through time-exchange agreements.

Of particular note is the NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE) program, which continues on the WIYN 3.5-meter and the CTIO/SMARTS 1.5-meter telescope with the CHIRON precision radial-velocity spectrometer, but is now expanding to include five nights on the AAT 3.9-meter with the Veloce precision radial-velocity spectrometer. The new precision radial-velocity spectrograph, NEID, is expected to be available on the WIYN 3.5-meter toward the end of Semester 2019B (no earlier than November), and shared-risk proposals can be submitted for NEID. For more details see the CfP as well as the NN-EXPLORE Proposals web page.

Questions about the proposal form or the proposal process may be directed to [email protected]. Questions specific to an observing run may be sent to the appropriate site, either CTIO ([email protected]) or KPNO ([email protected]). Gemini-related questions may be sent to [email protected] or through the Gemini Helpdesk Request web page.