Subaru Service Programs

Only a limited number of instruments and observing modes (HDS, Suprime-Cam, and only imaging with IRCS, COMICS, and MOIRCS) will be available for Semester S08B. Please note that Service Programs performed in S08B will still be carried out as "shared-risk" observations, since this is the trial operation of this mode at Subaru Telescope.

Description

The Service Program provides an opportunity to execute effectively many short programs that do not require a full night of observing time to achieve good scientific results. Each proposed Service Program must be completed within 4 hours in a single night, including all the required "open-dome" calibrations and overheads. Proposals requesting more than 4 hours will be automatically rejected.

The observations of accepted service programs will be carried out by the Support Astronomer (SA) for the appropriate instrument. No visiting observers will be accepted. Service Programs will be scheduled in advance, and executed according to the priorities given by the TAC and the prevailing site conditions. The observing method and technical details must be provided well in the proposal, so that the SA can execute the proposal without need of contacting the PI. The SA will send information to the PI once his/her program has been completed. In other words, SA will not send any announcements to the PI untill his/her program has been completed. All the proposed programs will be off the active service queue at the end of the semester.

Proposal Preparation and Submission for S08B

Please note that proposals should be submitted with different Application Form from the normal Open Use Application Form.

1. Instruments for S08B Service Programs

HDS, Suprime-Cam, and only imaging mode with IRCS, COMICS, and MOIRCS will be available for service programs in Semester S08B. Each program must be completed within 4 hours in a single night including all overheads and open-dome calibrations.

2. Reviewing

The TAC will determine priorities for submitted service proposals, and these priorities will be used by observatory staff to schedule the execution of the programs, in addition to other factors such as target coordinates and requested site conditions. The results of assessment for Subaru Service Program will be sent to applicants after the S08B schedule has been fixed. There is no guarantee that an accepted service program will ever be executed. If there is a strict conflict between targets in a service program and accepted Open Use Normal Programs or Intensive Programs, the service program will not be executed.

3. Proposal Submission

Prospective applicants for the Service Programs must fill in the Service Program Application Form (2 pages plus additional pages for Requirements for Observation). The form includes a Scientific Justification (of not more than 1 page for this case of Service Program) of A4 or letter size paper. These documents should be prepared in English. Please use a text font no smaller than 10 point. Service Program proposals are submitted only by e-mail. The final version of your LaTeX Application Form must be submitted to the Proposal Management System, PROMS, promstex_at_optik.mtk.nao.ac.jp before the deadline. Please send the .tex file, not the .dvi or postscript output. Alternatively, you can submit PDF files as the scientific justification and/or as the finding chart. If you wish to submit any PDF files from any UNIX systems, please send "uuencoded" PDF files. Note that the amount of submitting mail file size should be no larger than 2MB. More detailed instructions, including how to revise or remove your proposals from PROMS, may be found on the PROMS web page. Submission deadline of Service Program is April 11, 12:00 (Noon, JST).

4. How To Complete The Application Form

1. Title of Proposal: Provide a short title for your proposal.
2. Principal Investigator: Provide contact details of the PI (name, institute, mailing address, email address, phone and fax numbers). The observatory will contact the PI with any questions regarding the proposal or observations.
3. Scientific Category: Please check one and only one valid category from the 19 listed.
4. Co-Investigators: Provide the names and institutes of the Co-Investigators.
5. Observing Run: List the instruments (IRCS, COMICS, HDS, Suprime-Cam, or MOIRCS), requested and minimum acceptable number of hours, preferred and acceptable dates (e.g., "early Apr.-May"), lunar phase (Bright, Gray or Dark), and Observing Modes. Dark time is defined as being within 3 nights of the New Moon, and Bright time is within 3 nights of the Full Moon; Gray time is the remaining part of the lunar cycle.
6. List of Targets: List all the proposed targets. J2000 is recommended for the equinox. Use an additional sheet if necessary.
7. Scientific justification: Provide your scientific justification of not more than 1 page of A4 or letter size paper. And a brief abstract(ca. several lines) is required at the beginning. There are two choices for preparing the Scientific Justification: (1) Describe in the LaTeX style on the Service Program Application Form. In this case, do not include any figures in Scientific Justification. (2) Make 1 page PDF file of A4 or letter size, in which you describe the Scientific Justification. In this case, including figures/tables is allowed. Please leave blank on the Scientific Justification of the Application Form.
8. Requirements for Observation: Describe the requirements for observation here as a plain text. Each instrument has a different format for specifying the requested observations. Please see the appropriate Appendix (below) for COMICS, HDS, IRCS, MOIRCS, or Suprime-Cam. In addition to specifying the instrument configuration(s) for your observations, you will also need to indicate the site conditions (seeing, photometric, etc.) required for your observations to achieve the proposed science. You can request the best conditions for your observations if you really need, but in general your program has a higher chance of being executed if you do not request the best conditions.

5. Calibration Data

Calibration data taken for one service program may be shared with other service programs in order to improve the overall observing efficiency during the nights scheduled for service observations.

6. Notes on publishing data obtained from a service program

We ask all service program investigators to follow the Subaru Telescope acknowledgment policy. Though the SAs who perform the service observations are not expected to be involved as co-authors in any publications which may arise, they are welcome to be inquired about possible collaborations.

APPENDIX: Requirements for Observations

This appendix lists the appropriate formats for specifying your requested observations. Each instrument has a different format. Please read carefully the information relevant to the instrument for which you wish to apply.

A-1. COMICS

Please submit a plain ASCII text file. Please ensure you leave enough time for overheads and read the information on detector and chopping position angles. The following information must be provided for each target:

Target name.
Target coordinates. Please include the equinox (e.g., J2000) and the source of the coordinates (e.g., IRAS).
Target brightness at the wavelength of interest (Jy are preferred). Please also include the source (e.g., IRAS).
Requested filter.
Integration time. Please indicate also the desired S/N.
Standard star. You may choose a specific star or leave this blank, in which case the SA will choose a star for you.
Chop throw. Currently, chop throws of up to 60'' are possible. If left blank, the SA will choose an appropriate chop throw.
Chopping `off' position. If your target is in a crowded field, or is extended in a particular direction, you may provide a specific location for the `off' position of the chop beam. If left blank, the SA will make an educated guess.
Detector position angle. For extended objects, you may specify the position angle of the detector since the COMICS detector is not square.
Priority. If you have many targets and/or filters, please specify the priority in which you want them executed.
Required site conditions. Please specify the image quality, etc., required to achieve your science goals.
Please indicate any other special requests on your proposal. The observatory staff will try their best to accommodate them.
Please use this Java applet to create an observation file for *each* combination of objects/standards and filters. For example, if you are observing one (1) object and one (1) standard with two (2) filters, then you will need to produce four (4 = 1*2 + 1*2) observation files.

Here is an example to help you prepare your observation file.

N.B.: It is important to submit both a list of answers to the above questions for each object and the Java-produced observation files. Please refer to the example given above.

All the information should be written in (pasted into) the observation requirements section (no page limit) in the application form.

If you think finding-charts will be beneficial, for example, in identifying your target in a crowded field or how it should be placed on the detector array, please supply them as PDF attachments when you submit the proposal via e-mail (see the instruction on electronic submission above).

Here is an example finding-chart.

A-2. HDS

Please submit a plain ASCII text file. The following information should be provided for each object.

Target Name (including standard stars, if necessary)
Target coordinate, including the equinox (e.g. J2000).
Target magnitude in an optical band.
Requirement for ADC (Yes/No).
Image Rotator Mode (Blue/Red/None).
If you use Image Rotator, please indicate slit PA in degrees.
Wavelength Setup (StdUa/StdUb/StdBc ...etc.) If you want to use non-standard setup, describe center wavelength.
Note that you should use only one wavelength setting for each proposal in order to save overheads (10-15minutes).
Wavelength Resolution (slit width).
CCD binning (spatial x dispersion).
Integration time and the desired S/N ratio with remarkable wavelength. (Please use HDS Exposure Time Calculator.)
Requested seeing size (if you want to resolve spatially). Use <0".5, <0".7, <1".0, >1".0 .
Are photometric conditions necessary? (Yes/No)

Then add the following information:

Priority, if you have more than one target.
Please indicate any other special requests on your proposal, if any. (Requirement for I2-Cell etc.)

A. Finding Charts ( about 10 x 10 arcmin; as PDF attachment files)

If your targets meet at least one of these conditions,
  - V (or B, R, I...) magnitude, m(V) > 10
  - extended objects (nebula, galaxy etc.)
  - double star or target in crowded region
you should attach finding charts for each targets.
About 1x1 arcmin FOV is necessary for the finding charts.

Please describe the following points about your finding charts.
  A-1. Object Name
  A-2. Do you attach a PDF file of finding charts of this target? (Yes/No)
  A-3. Page Number of finding charts in your PDF file.
  A-4. Size of the chart
  A-5. Orientation of the chart
  A-6. Other comments (if any)

Here is an example to help you prepare your observation file.

A-3. IRCS

Please submit a plain ASCII text file. The following information should be provided for each object, including calibration standards.

Object/field name.
Magnitude/range of magnitudes in a specified NIR band.
Are photometric conditions necessary? (Yes/No)
What is the maximum acceptable seeing size (in arcseconds) in the specified NIR band?
Right ascension of the target field in format HHMMSS.SSS
Declination of the target field in format (+/-)DDMMSS.SS
Equinox of position in format YYYY.Y
Filter(s) for observation. If more than one filter is to be used, separate them with commas. Filter names are: Z,J,H,HKP,KP,K,LP,MP,CH4S(CH4 short), CH4L(CH4 long), FE([FeII] 1.644), H2(1-0), BRG(Br Gamma), KC (K cont), PAH, BRAC(Br Alpha cont), BRA(Br Alpha)
Pixel scale for observation. (21MAS/58MAS)
Single frame exposure time in seconds. One exposure time must be provided for each filter specified in item 9, separated by commas.
Number of coadds at each dithering position. One value must be given for each filter specified in item 9, separated by commas.

Dither pattern. Valid pattern names for imaging are S5, S9, D5 and D9. If you wish to repeat the pattern, write "S5*2", for example.
The dither patterns are:

        (S5)   5       4     |        (S9)   8   7   6    |  
                            DITH                         DITH
                   1         |               9   1   5    |  
                                                            
               2       3                     2   3   4       

            ----------------------------------------------

                                       (D9)       7

        (D5)       4          |               8       6       |  
                            DITH                             DITH
               5   1   3      |            9      1      5    |  
                                                            
                   2                          2       4       
                                                  
                                                  3

Dithering size in arcseconds ("DITH" in the above figures).
Type of target. Use "OBJ" for objects, "STD" for standards.
Name of the target, to be written in the OBJECT field of the image FITS header.

A-4. MOIRCS

(I) General Comment on Service Observation with MOIRCS

MOIRCS service mode is only available for imaging observation in J, H, and Ks filters. Imaging by any narrow-band filters, Y, or STD-K, etc will not be accepted. Also, only standard n-point dither mode (1<n<9) is available (i.e. SKYNOD option is not available). Any other type of observation that does not match the above-mentioned condition should be submitted as a Normal program proposal.

Those who plans to submit the service observation should first make a detailed observing plan considering realistic overheads, and confirm that the plan can be fit in the 4-hr limit of observation (4 hr is the total observing time, not the net integration time!). You can estimate the accurate observing time including overheads using our overhead calculator in EXCEL format (it is available on the web below). The Service Observation Form Generator (below) will also calculate each required observing time. You should also refer to the MOIRCS imaging observation guide ("Guide to Observing with MOIRCS") as well as relevant information on the web. Any mistake or incorrect input values will not be corrected, so utmost care should be taken before submission.

The document "Guide to Observing with MOIRCS" and "The Overhead Calculator"(!! Use NDUMMYREAD=2 case !!) are available.

(II) Submission of the Service Form

Please use the MOIRCS Service Observation Form Generator for your preparation.

The page will generate some lines in the OPE file format from your input values. First, read the description on the website about the detail of input values. Run the web program for each target and each filter. Copy all generated lines to a new text file, and repeat this for each target and each filter/exposure setting one by one (insert space between each set: putting short header is also welcomed). Please submit that text file.

Any observing program that do not fit the format on the web should be submitted as a Normal program (instead of Service program).

You can also put the finding charts for your targets (indicate exact FOV of MOIRCS as well as the direction of North and channel 1/2). We usually check the FOV before the science exposure of your fields, and we may be able to correct the FOV if the correction is easy and trivial by comparing the finding charts. But please note that putting correct values on the submitted service form is the observer's responsibility. If there is no finding charts we just rely on the specified coordinates.

(example)
### HAHA Ks 50secx3coadds x 9dither x 3 set ###
# TARGET_NAME = HAHA  FILTER = Ks
# PHOTOMETRIC = YES
# STANDARD = YES
HAHA=OBJECT=HAHA RA=112233.33 DEC=122133.44 EQUINOX=2000.0 PA=-120
SETUPFIELD $DEF_IMG $HAHA
SETUPOBE $DEF_IMG $DEF_IMKs
CHECKFIELD $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=21 SKYSUB=NO
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=50 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=3 DITHNUM=9 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=5
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=50 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=3 DITHNUM=9 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=5
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=50 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=3 DITHNUM=9 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=5

### HAHA J 150secx1coadds x 9dither x 1 set ###
# TARGET_NAME = HAHA  FILTER = J
# PHOTOMETRIC = YES
# STANDARD = YES
HAHA=OBJECT=HAHA RA=112233.33 DEC=122133.44 EQUINOX=2000.0 PA=-120
SETUPFIELD $DEF_IMG $HAHA
SETUPOBE $DEF_IMG $DEF_IMJ
CHECKFIELD $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=21 SKYSUB=NO
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=120 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=1 DITHNUM=9 
DITHCENTER=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=5

## HAHA H 30secx4coadds x 9dither x 3 set ###
# TARGET_NAME = HAHA  FILTER = H
# PHOTOMETRIC = YES
# STANDARD = YES
HAHA=OBJECT=HAHA RA=112233.33 DEC=122133.44 EQUINOX=2000.0 PA=-120
SETUPFIELD $DEF_IMG $HAHA
SETUPOBE $DEF_IMG $DEF_IMH
CHECKFIELD $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=21 SKYSUB=NO
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=25 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=4 DITHNUM=9 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=5
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=25 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=4 DITHNUM=9 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=5
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=25 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=4 DITHNUM=9 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=5

### HAHA Ks Short-exposure 21sec x 3dither for calibration  ###
# TARGET_NAME = HAHA  FILTER = Ks
# PHOTOMETRIC = YES
# STANDARD = YES
HAHA=OBJECT=HAHA RA=112233.33 DEC=122133.44 EQUINOX=2000.0 PA=-120
SETUPFIELD $DEF_IMG $HAHA
SETUPOBE $DEF_IMG $DEF_IMKs
CHECKFIELD $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=21 SKYSUB=NO
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=21 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=1 DITHNUM=2 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=45

### HIHI Ks Short-exposure 21sec x 3dither for calibration  ###
# TARGET_NAME = HIHI  FILTER = J
# PHOTOMETRIC = YES
# STANDARD = YES
HIHI=OBJECT=HIHI RA=112200.33 DEC=-122100.44 EQUINOX=2000.0 PA=30
SETUPFIELD $DEF_IMG $HIHI
SETUPOBE $DEF_IMG $DEF_IMKs
CHECKFIELD $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=21 SKYSUB=NO
GETOBJECT $DEF_IMG EXPTIME=21 NDUMMYREAD=2 COADDS=1 DITHNUM=2 DITHCENTER
=Yes DITHLENGTH=15 DITHANGLE=45


# Finding Charts list: 
HAHA -> HAHA.pdf
HIHI -> HIHI.pdf

A-5. Suprime-Cam

(I) Please give the following information for each target:

Object/Field name. Please use notation like "SA110(standard)" for photometric standard fields.
Magnitude/range of magnitudes in a specified band.
Are photometric conditions necessary? (Yes/No)
What is the acceptable seeing size (in arcseconds)?
Use <0".5, <0".7, <1".0, >1".0
Right ascension of target in format HHMMSS.SSS
Declination of target in format (+/-)DDMMSS.SS
Equinox of position (2000.0 or 1950.0).
Position angle of field in degrees (default is 90, which has the long axis aligned east-west).
Filter(s) for observation.
For each filter, specify the following exposure parameters:
10-1. Filter name.
10-2. Individual exposure time
10-3. Single/dithering
10-4. Number of dither positions (N)
10-5. Radius of dither pattern in arcsec(R, default is 60)
10-6. Position angle of first dither position in degrees (T, default is 15).
10-7. RA offset in arcseconds (default is 0).
10-8. Dec offset in arcseconds (default is 0).
Note that the pointing position (5,6) corresponds to a gap in the CCD array, so you should add an appropriate offset to prevent the target from falling in the gap.

The dither pattern takes N exposures at positions:
   pos1 ( RA+R*cos(0*360/N+T), Dec+R*sin(0*360/N+T) )
   pos2 (RA+R*cos(1*360/N+T), Dec+R*sin(1*360/N+T) )
   pos3 (RA+R*cos(2*360/N+T), Dec+R*sin(2*360/N+T) )
      :
   posN (RA+R*cos((N-1)*360/N+T), Dec+R*sin((N-1)*360/N+T) )

Then add the following information:

Total time requested.
Preferred observing schedule.
Special requests for observation (if any).

(II) Please give the following information regarding an attachment file:

A. Information for finding charts

Important Notes:

*1 A finding chart should be prepared so that the chart cover exactly the same area as FOV of Suprime-Cam (the top side of the chart is aligned to that of Suprime-Cam's FOV). Otherwise, a rectangular area corresponding to FOV of Suprime-Cam and its orientation (which is the top side of FOV) must be clearly shown in the chart, which should be mentioned in 'A-3 5. Other comments' below as "Suprime-Cam's FOV is shown in the chart".

*2 If you intend to submit more than 2 finding charts, please compile them into one PDF file.

  A-1. Do you attach a PDF file of finding charts to this proposal? (Yes/No)
  A-2. Number of finding charts contained (number of pages of the PDF file).
  A-3. Give information 1 to 5 below for each of the finding chart.
    (1. Page number 2. Object name 3. Size of the chart 4. Orientation of the chart 5. Other comments (if any))

 example: 
       1. SDF  30'x30': north is up  : none
       2. M31  50'x50': orientation is shown in the chart: FOV is shown in the chart

Here is an example to help you prepare your observation file.