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The ING Service ProgrammeThe ING Service Programme (on the William Herschel Telescope only) aims at providing astronomers with a rapid and flexible tool to obtain small sets of observations (up to 8 hours). This can be used to try new ideas, or complement a regular observing programme allocated on the ING telescopes.
The statistics provide an overview of the use of the observing time, and this compilation of publications using data obtained on service nights, provide an approach to the scientific productivity of the programme.
The Spanish CAT committee also runs a Spanish Service Time programme on the INT. These nights are referred as 'CAT S' nights on the ING schedules. We can accept proposals from principal investigators working in an institution located in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands or Spain, but we also welcome proposals regardless the nationality of the host institution. Monthly deadline for application submission is midnight on the last day of each month. Proposals are generally withdrawn from the scheme after a one year period. A more detailed description of the ING Service Programme is available, and an overview is given in this poster.
NewsVignetting at low elevation The WHT lower dome shutter is currently (and probably until July 2013) out of action, and observations at elevation <25 deg will be vignetted (plot). AF2 is offered on a shared-risks basis only, in semester 2013A
AF2 was not scheduled for science observations during 2013A, to allow
implementation of a number of upgrades aimed at improving
acquisition accuracy and system throughput.
To test these upgrades, AF2 will be on-sky during several bright
nights in 2013A, and there is a possibility that service observations
can be carried out (shared-risks basis) on some of these.
We therefore welcome service proposals for testing the performance of the
instrument.
Step-by-Step Proposal Submission and Follow-up
First check the available service nights and instruments coming up on the WHT:
Select and submit a suitable instrument application form below. The provided tools in the 'Preparing for Observing' section of ING's astronomy web pages can be useful to plan your observations.
We allow some flexibility in respect to the non-standard instrument setups provided in the forms but they need be scientifically justified. Upon submission your proposal will be sent to the Service Manager for acceptance and scientifically appraised at the start of the following month to the proposal submission. If you mark your proposal as urgent, then it will be accepted and scientifically appraised as soon as possible.
After the scientific assessment of your proposal as submitted through the phase-1 form, you will be contacted by email and asked to complete a phase-2 service-observing request form, which will include the detailed instrument setup and observing information (eg. finding charts).
As soon as you submit the phase-2 form, your proposal will be technically assessed by members of the ING staff (you can expect some interaction with the respective instrument specialist). When this process is over, then your programme becomes active in the observing queue for the service nights coming up.
You will be contacted by email everytime your proposal is attempted, providing details of the observations, the status of your proposal and asking you to retrieve the data by ftp and feedback. If your programme is not completed within a year from the submission date, then it will be automatically withdrawn. You can track the progress being made on your proposal selecting below the semester in which it was submitted: The observing attempts are listed in the night records.
The ING asks users of the Service Programme to give proper acknowledgement to this effect in the papers that they publish. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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