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Proposal Information
CALL FOR OBSERVING PROPOSALS FOR THE CALTECH SUBMILLIMETER OBSERVATORY
The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) encourages observing participation by astronomers from both U.S. and non-U.S. institutions. The observatory consists of a 10.4-m diameter telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Receivers are available from 200 to 400 GHz with noise temperatures of about 100 K (DSB), from 400 to 730 GHz at about 200 K, and from 780 – 920 GHz at about 250 K. Wide-band 230 GHz and 345 GHz receivers at the Cassegrain focus (a.k.a. Z-Rex and Barney) are also available. A wide-band AOS back-end with four overlapping sections of 2048 channels each covers the 4 GHz IF bandwidth of Z-Rex and Barney. In addition, two FFTS spectrometers are available. The high-resolution FFTS1, with 8192 channels and a selectable bandwidth of 1 GHz or 500 MHz, is tunable across the 4 – 8 GHz IF band. The new wide-band FFTS2 has 16384 channels across the 4 – 8 GHz IF band.
SHARC II, a 12×32 pixel bolometer camera for 350 and 450 μm is available with a sensitivity of about 1 Jy/beam, in one second for a 2.5' x 0.9' field of view, in good weather. (More information on SHARC II and the heterodyne receivers can be obtained at http://www.submm.caltech.edu/cso/). Atmospheric transmission curves for the CSO, as a function of frequency, are available via a web interface at http://www.submm.caltech.edu/cso/weather/atplot.shtml.
Bolocam, a large-format bolometric camera for observations at 1.1 and 2.1 mm, is open to proposals (but see Bolocam web page at http://puuoo.submm.caltech.edu/bolocam for restrictions). Also, due to budget cuts and L He costs, proposers should contact Simon radford to estimate the helium costs, which will have to be borne by the proposer. At 1.1 mm, the camera has approximately 110 – 120 working pixels with 30” FHWM beamsize and 8' FOV.
Lodging and subsistence are provided free by the CSO, for two observers for each program. CSO 4WD vehicles are also available for our visitors to get to the CSO telescope from Hale Pohaku. However, visitors are required to rent their own vehicles to get to Hale Pohaku from the airport. A limited amount of travel money may also be available.
Proposals for observing time in the semester 1st February-31st July are due on October 31st and those for 1st September-31 January on May 31st. Proposals should include the CSO cover form (please use the latest version available here), a short abstract, and a two page scientific justification. In addition, the following information is now required and should be included with each proposal: (1) List of publications by all proposal Co-Is using CSO data (since 2002). (2) List of all students and postdocs who used the CSO (since 2002). (3) List of students who obtained a PhD using the CSO. The proposals will be reviewed by an external peer group committee and should be sent to rena@submm.caltech.edu.
Last revised 05/02/11 - Darek Lis
