NExScI Home
Planetquest
Keck
Exoplanet Exploration
Caltech     IPAC           JPL           NASA

General Information for NASA Allocated Observing Time on the Keck Telescopes

FAQ Page

Application Procedures (page limits, proposal content, etc)

Highlights for 2016A:

1) NASA is soliciting large Key Strategic Mission Support proposals in 2016A.

2) There is an updated NASA Strategic Science Plan that should be used for the strategic relevance section of your proposal.

3) Check the WMKO instrument page for telescope observing limits and the current list of available instruments.
  • a) In order to support installation and testing of the new Keck II laser, the Keck II LGS AO system will be unavailable for science through mid-April, 2016A. The Keck II NGS AO system will be available for science throughout semester 2016A. The Keck II LGS AO system will be available for shared-risk science from mid-April 2016 onward.
  • b) OSIRIS will be unavailable for science through early March 2016 for detector upgrades.
  • c) NIRSPEC (NIRSPAO) will be unavailable for four weeks in March 2016 in order to conduct a routine servicing mission to remove ice from the dewar window.

4) Letters for both large Key Strategic Mission Support and general mission support proposals must be requested from NASA HQ by September 3, two weeks before submission deadline.

Key Dates:

September 3:
  • Key Strategic Mission Support intent emails to NExScI
  • Key Strategic Mission Support letter inquiries to NASA HQ
  • General Mission Support letter inquiries to NASA HQ

September 17:
  • All proposals and supporting letters due to NExScI

Table of Contents

I. Guidelines for Allocation of NASA Keck Telescope Time

II. Proposals in Support of NASA Space Missions

III. Multi-Semester Proposals and Applying for Partial Nights

IV. Publication Acknowledgement

V. Target of Opportunity Proposals

VI. Application Procedures

VII. Data Proprietary Periods

VIII. Remote Observing


Proposal Type
Number of Semesters
Number of Nights per Semester
Supported Letter Required? (Deadline to request from HQ)
Maximum # of Pages for Scientific Justification
General Observing
1
No Set Limit
NO
2
General Observing Multi-Semester
≤ 4
No Set Limit
NO
2
General Mission Support
≤ 4
No Set Limit
YES (9/3/2015)
2
Key Strategic Mission Support
2-4
5-15
YES (9/3/2015)
5

I. Guidelines for Allocation of NASA Keck Telescope Time

NASA announces a call for proposals to use its share of observing time at the W. M. Keck Observatory. This call for semester 2016A (February 1, 2016 to July 31, 2016) will allocate 44.5 nights of observing, with planned allocations of 25.5 nights on Keck 1 and 19.0 nights on Keck 2, distributed evenly across dark, grey, and bright time. Typical over subscription rates range from 3:1 to 5:1.

Proposals are due on Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 4pm PDT and should be submitted via the online submission page.

Ia. Strategic Use of NASA Keck Time

NASA intends the use of its time allocation on the Keck telescopes to be highly strategic in support of on-going missions and/or high priority, long-term science goals.

The scientific areas in which proposals are solicited are:

  1. Investigations in support of Exoplanet Exploration (ExE) science goals and missions
  2. Investigations in support of Cosmic Origins (COR) science goals and missions
  3. Investigations in support of Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) science goals and missions
  4. Investigations of our own Solar System (SS) science goals and missions

In addition, for 2016A, multi-semester large Key Strategic Mission Support, as well as the continuing general direct mission support proposals in any of these scientific areas, are also encouraged (see Sections I.b.i and II respectively for requirements).

NASA's long term research goals for all four of the above scientific areas are described in the 2014 NASA Science Plan.

The primary goal of missions within the Exoplanet Exploration (ExE) Program is to discover and characterize planetary systems and Earth-like planets around nearby stars. Cosmic Origins (COR) Science comprises projects that enable the study of how stars and galaxies came into being, how they evolve, and ultimately how they end their lives. Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) projects explore the most extreme physical conditions of the universe, from black holes to dark energy. PCOS topics include cosmology, high-energy astrophysics and fundamental physics. Solar System (SS) programs involve studies of objects in our own solar system. Proposals may be reassigned to a different science area if deemed appropriate.

Proposers should base their science case in terms of strategic relevance toward achieving one or more of NASA's goals for the Exoplanet Exploration, Cosmic Origins, Physics of the Cosmos, or Solar System programs, as described in the 2014 NASA Science Plan. This could be done effectively by incorporating or referring to text in the Science Plan, as well as by describing how the proposed work addresses a specific question or questions in the plan. If applicable, the proposer is also encouraged to explain how the proposed investigation is in NASA's interests above and beyond citing objectives of the Science Plan. In particular, a description of how the proposed Keck observations will enhance the scientific return from NASA space missions will be considered a strength in assessing the strategic relevance of the investigation. During the review process, a numerical grade will be assigned for strategic relevance and given significant weight.

General Observing programs requiring many nights of Keck time over multiple semesters (up to 4 semesters) may be submitted in response to this call, but must explicitly and strongly justify their strategic connection to the stated goals.

Within these broad guidelines, the allocation of time will be based on scientific merit, strategic importance, availability of resources, and the uniqueness of Keck's capabilities for the particular investigation. All proposals for use of NASA Keck time will be evaluated by several panels of scientists comprising the NASA Keck Telescope Allocation Committee (NASA-Keck TAC). The TAC process will be administered by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI). In recognition of the science communities that the NASA Keck time is expected to serve, TAC members are selected to assure balanced expertise in the areas of exoplanets, objects in our own solar system, and in support of NASA's Cosmic Origins and Physics of the Cosmos goals. NASA's solicitation of proposals and their evaluation by the NASA-Keck TAC will be phased so as to provide the evaluation and ranking of proposals needed to meet the telescope scheduling requirements set by the Director of the Keck Observatory.

Ib. Specifics for 2016A

Ib.i. Key Strategic Mission Support Projects

In 2016A, NASA is soliciting proposals for large Key Strategic Mission Support programs. These proposals must directly support NASA mission science goals, and not just be larger versions of general science programs.

Ib.i.a Eligibility and Requirements for Key Strategic Mission Support Proposals

Proposed projects may support past, present, and/or future missions, similar to past NASA-Keck Key science and general mission support programs. Illustrative examples of relevant programs include, but are not limited to: Kepler and K2 follow-up of confirmed or candidate exoplanets; Voyager post-flyby observations; contemporaneous observations in 2015-2016 of in support of New Horizons; preparatory observations of Jupiter in support of JUNO; preparatory science for JWST; and multi-target surveys in support of the upcoming Euclid, or WFIRST;

The Key Strategic Mission Support programs will be allocated a maximum of 15 nights of combined Keck 1 and Keck 2 time per semester from 2016A through and including 2017B.

Similar to the continuing general mission support proposals, these Key Strategic Mission Support proposals will require letters of support demonstrating that the proposals support specific mission goals. Therefore, all proposals submitted under the Key Strategic Mission Support category must include the following:

Since the strong support of your letter writers is critical to deciding whether or not your proposal meets Key Strategic Mission Support criteria, proposers should contact the relevant flight project lead as well as Dr. Hasan at NASA HQ well before the proposal submission deadline. Letters of support must either be included in the proposal package or sent directly to the NASA Keck Operations Scientist, Dr. Dawn Gelino (KeckCFP@ipac.caltech.edu) by the above due date. Omission of any of these items by the above due date for Key Strategic Mission Support proposals will result in the proposal being deemed non-compliant and will eliminate the proposal from all consideration.

Ib.i.b Required Criteria for Key Strategic Mission Support Proposals

  1. Clear and well-defined sample of objects in support of a compelling scientific program aligned with NASA's strategic and mission-specific goals.
  2. The number of semesters and nights requested per semester should be clearly stated and justified. This request should also specify if the observing requests are time or date-constrained within each semester.
  3. Proposers should discuss the efficiency of their program in terms of filling their proposed telescope time.
  4. Proposers should describe how their targets have previously been vetted or will be vetted using other facilities to ensure that Keck observations are used efficiently and effectively.
  5. Proposers should state the expected limiting precision of their observations, the details of the target sample (object characteristics, relevant ancillary data, sample size, etc.), their observing strategy and observing cadence, and demonstrate their capability to reduce the data in a timely manner at the required level of precision.
  6. Demonstrated track record of appropriate and timely data reduction.
  7. A plan for timely release of processed data in a form suitable for use by the broader community as a contributed dataset through the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA).
  8. Strong record of relevant publications and/or data releases.
  9. Required letters of support as detailed above.

Ib.i.c Details of Key Strategic Mission Support Proposals

Proposal packets must be written in 12-point font with 1-inch margins and are limited to:

All proposals requesting time must fill out a Keck Observatory Cover Sheet for 2016A. Successful Key Project teams will have to fill out the cover sheet for each subsequent semester to enable scheduling of their observations.

Funding up to $75k/semester/project for the Key Strategic Mission Support proposals will be determined each semester based on the number of awarded nights and available funding.

All raw data will go public through the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA) after the standard 18-month proprietary period (see section VII below). Requests for a shorter proprietary period may be considered favorably by the TAC in their deliberations. Requests for longer proprietary periods will not be accepted for these Key Strategic Mission Support Project data.

Ib.ii Planetary Science Observations

Proposers are especially encouraged to consider compelling planetary science investigations that focus on the changing nature of solar system objects over time. Many of these objects are possible future mission targets as outlined in the most recent planetary decadal survey. Proposers should identify how the observations contribute to the body of scientific knowledge needed to help refine objectives for future missions and aid in the understanding of the origin or evolution of the targeted body. Observations should be of lasting importance to the broad planetary community.

To facilitate high strategic value monitoring campaigns of planetary science objects, we will allow an exception to the general rule of scheduling whole nights and entertain requests for minimum observation durations of 1/4 night for HIRESr, NIRSPEC, MOSFIRE, NIRC2, for monitoring of any planetary science object for any proposal type. Due to scheduling constraints only half nights are possible for OSIRIS-NGS.

Ic. Procedure

The opportunity to propose as Principal Investigators (PIs) for the NASA time on the Keck Telescopes is open to all U.S.-based astronomers ("U.S.-based astronomers" have their principal affiliation at a U.S. institution).

Proposals from PIs, or any Co-Is, who have access to the Keck telescopes through other means (the University of California, Caltech, Yale, Keck Observatory, Swinburne, and the University of Hawaii) should indicate specifically how they are using any other Keck telescope time they have been awarded within the last two years for the proposed project and why their research requires time beyond the allocations available through their institutions. The TAC may use access to non-NASA Keck time as one of the factors in determining the final grades and rankings of the proposals. For example, the ability to achieve the science objectives with and without NASA time could be either a positive or a negative factor. If the NASA time provides only a small fraction (<<50%) of the observing time needed to complete a project, the TAC might conclude that NASA time is not crucial to the completion of scientific goals and the proposal may receive a lower ranking in comparison to a proposal which completes its goals within the NASA allocation. However, if the PI can leverage access to NASA and non-NASA time to address science goals aligned with NASA's strategic goals that could not be addressed with NASA time alone, the proposal could receive a higher ranking. In the case of two proposals ranked equally on scientific and technical merit, the TAC might use access to additional Keck time (as described above) as one of the factors in determining the final ranking. Other factors that the TAC may use are listed below in the specific points that proposals must address.

Proposals received by the application deadline will be reviewed and ranked by the NASA Keck TAC. The TAC will then submit their recommendations to the selecting official, the NExScI Executive Director, for final selection. NExScI will then coordinate these final selections with the Keck Observatory for scheduling.

The scientific case for observing time should establish three things:

  1. Outline the scientific problem(s) or question(s) toward whose solution the observations are requested, and place these questions in the larger scientific context.
  2. Show how the measurements requested will be used to illuminate these questions or problems.
  3. Demonstrate how the proposed science fits into NASA's strategic goals for its Keck time as listed above. (Please note that a numerical grade will be assigned for strategic relevance.)

The technical case should demonstrate that the proposed measurements are technically feasible, given the performance of the proposed instrument(s), in the time requested and that the proposal team has the requisite expertise to make the observations and reduce the data in a timely manner. Large Key Strategic Mission Support as well as smaller mission support proposals must include additional supporting materials as stated above and in the next section. The number of target objects required should be justified. All applications must include complete lists of the objects to be observed, their magnitudes and their approximate equatorial coordinates (sufficient to determine scheduling within the semester). Applications without such lists will be rejected.

All non-Key Strategic Science Mission Support applications must include complete lists of the objects to be observed, their magnitudes and their approximate equatorial coordinates (sufficient to determine scheduling within the semester). Applications without such lists will be rejected.

Specific points that must be addressed include:

The proposal should be aimed at someone who is not a specialist in the area of astronomy under study. A specific scientific case, rather than a broad general one, is usually more successful. Proposals that span multiple semesters should justify their extended requests as addressed in Section III.

II. General Proposals in Support of NASA Space Missions

In addition to the new Key Strategic Mission Support proposals solicited above, the NASA Keck TAC continues to accept general direct mission support proposals. These proposals must demonstrate state that the proposed observations provide critical and timely support for approved NASA space missions. In this case, "critical" refers to NASA Keck data meeting one or more of the following criteria:

  1. Essential to achieving Level 1 Requirements of the mission, e.g. Kepler follow-up at Keck being essential to validate and characterize planet candidates, validating WISE completeness/reliability right after launch, gathering data during LCROSS lunar impact;
  2. Essential to important mission planning activities including those affecting the health, safety, and risk mitigation of NASA assets, e.g. looking for potentially harmful moons/rings orbiting Pluto that might endanger the New Horizons spacecraft;
  3. Parallel/coordinated observations with NASA assets required for time critical events and/or for independent validation and verification of the space mission data, e.g. to support SOFIA observations of Pluto multiple occultations;
  4. Longer term mission planning, e.g. looking for Kuiper Belt objects that New Horizons might fly to after its encounter with Pluto;
  5. Observations essential to the calibration or data reduction of instruments on NASA missions, e.g. calibration of JWST spectrometers using the spectra of astrophysical objects.

The TAC accepts these Mission Support Proposals and evaluates them on the basis of their scientific merit just as any proposal. However, the NASA Keck selecting official, the NExScI Executive Director, will take the TAC evaluation and programmatic concerns into consideration in making the final time assignments.

All proposals submitted under the general mission support category must include all of the following:

  1. A written endorsement for the current semester from the NASA Headquarters Keck Program Scientist, Dr. Hashima Hasan (hhasan@nasa.gov). These letters must be requested from NASA Headquarters no less than 10 business days before the proposal due date (i.e. by September 3, 2015).
  2. A formal justification for the current semester, in writing, from the flight project, e.g., Project Scientist, Project Manager, or Principal Investigator, including an explanation of the criticality and timeliness of the proposed observations as identified in criteria 1-5 of this section.

Since the strong support of your letter writers is critical to deciding whether or not your proposal meets Mission Support criteria, contact the relevant flight project lead as well as Dr. Hasan at NASA HQ well before the proposal submission deadline.

These items must either be included in the proposal package or sent directly to the NASA Keck Operations Scientist, Dr. Dawn Gelino(KeckCFP@ipac.caltech.edu) by the above due date. Omission of any of these items will eliminate a proposal from consideration in the mission support category. Such proposals will be evaluated along with the general proposal pool without special consideration for programmatic impact.

III. Multi-Semester Proposals and Applying for Partial Nights

Principal investigators may submit proposals that span up to 4 semesters. The intent of allowing PIs this option is to reduce workload on both PIs and the NASA Keck TAC for long-term programs. The NASA Keck TAC will be instructed to consider these proposals in light of all of the criteria that apply for single semester proposals, in addition to the following considerations:

In considering multi-semester proposals, the TAC may recommend accepting the proposal in its entirety, for some subset of the proposed semesters, or reject it outright.

Proposers should bear in mind that proposals requesting less than full nights must be scientifically and technically justified and can ordinarily be accommodated only if they can be combined with another selected NASA program requiring the same instrument and configuration (see section Ib.ii for exceptions for Planetary Science proposals). Observing modes that require substantial observatory support (e.g., Laser Guide Star) are more difficult to schedule as partial night observations.

Due to the extreme difficulty in scheduling smaller than 0.5 night increments, in general any program requesting such increments will be counted as 0.5 nights per calendar night and only scheduled if the program can be combined with another selected NASA program requiring the same instrument and configuration. However, for programs such as solar system monitoring observations that can be combined with other scheduled NASA programs, we endeavor to charge just for the observing increments requested. Runs of more than several contiguous nights are also difficult to arrange and must be scientifically and technically justified.

IV. Publication Acknowledgement

All publications based on data acquired with the Keck telescopes and/or the Keck Observatory Archive should include the following acknowledgement(s):

WMKO Acknowledgement

"This work was supported by a NASA Keck PI Data Award, administered by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. Data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory from telescope time allocated to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the agency's scientific partnership with the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

The authors wish to recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that the summit of Mauna Kea has always had within the indigenous Hawaiian community. We are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from this mountain."

KOA Acknowledgement

"This research has made use of the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA), which is operated by the W. M. Keck Observatory and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI), under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration." Please also acknowledge the PI(s) of datasets that have been obtained through KOA.

The Keck Observatory Archive (KOA) is a collaboration between the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) and the W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO). NExScI is sponsored by NASA's Origins Theme and Exoplanet Exploration Program, and operated by the California Institute of Technology in coordination with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)."

Please send a citation for any paper using either acknowledgement to the NASA Keck Operations Scientist, Dr. Dawn Gelino (KeckCFP@ipac.caltech.edu).

V. Target of Opportunity Proposals

The NASA TAC does consider target-of-opportunity (ToO) proposals. However, proposers should bear in mind that ToO observations are difficult to schedule and usually require rescinding or reducing the allocation of an already-scheduled NASA observer. ToO proposals for events likely to happen during a single semester (e.g. gamma-ray bursts, supernovae) must be submitted during the regular submission cycle so that the proposed observations may be considered by the TAC and potential scheduling opportunities can be discussed.

Only proposals that fit the case of a ToO observation of a truly extraordinary opportunity that could not have been anticipated prior to the regular proposal deadline may be submitted outside of the regular submission cycle by e-mail or FAX to:

Dr. Dawn Gelino
Fax: 626/397-7181
KeckCFP@ipac.caltech.edu

In general, NASA ToO proposals are only scheduled during NASA nights and so the chances of a ToO being accepted and scheduled are higher for instruments with high NASA usage. In the last few years, HIRES, NIRSPEC, MOSFIRE, and NIRC2 are commonly scheduled on NASA nights for at least 10 nights a semester and all other instruments for much less. Observing modes that require substantial observatory support (e.g., LGS) are more difficult to schedule as ToO observations.

Note that all ToO proposals must meet the strategic relevance guidelines described above.

VI. Application Procedures

Application Procedures

To submit your proposal, please follow the guidelines outlined on the Application Procedures page, and submit your proposal via the online submission page. Proposals are due on Thursday, September 17, 2015 by 4 pm PDT.

Proposal Support

Subject to the availability of funds, NASA will financially support principal investigators (PIs) of programs assigned time through this call for proposals. PIs will receive limited research and travel support contingent upon NASA Headquarters funding. Funding awards will be determined through formulaic means. NExScI will manage the Keck PI Data Awards and will contract with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to administer the disbursement of most of the funds. Depending on the size of the award and the nature of the PI's home institution, the funding instrument used by JPL will in most cases be a Research Support Agreement (RSA). An RSA is a simple Fixed Price, Advance Paid, subcontract provided through JPL that is used for basic research funding where scientific reports and technical data are the only deliverables. RSAs can be awarded to educational and non-profit institutions. JPL is unable to issue grants. Proposers should not include any budget information in the proposal.

The only reporting necessary for RSAs is a final "end of contract" report outlining the work done and listing publications from the research. This report is required and is not optional. Using this template for your final report will ensure that all relevant information is included. Failure to submit a final report in a timely manner may be grounds for rejection of observing proposals in subsequent years.

VII. Data Proprietary Periods

Data taken with ALL instruments on the Keck telescopes are included in the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA) with a default proprietary period of 18 months. Requests for extensions of this default proprietary period MUST be included in the proposal and on the WMKO cover sheet, and be scientifically justified. All extensions must be approved by the NASA selecting official, NExScI Director, Dr. Charles Beichman.

VIII. Remote Observing

NASA Keck observers have direct access to two Remote Observing Facilities (ROFs) for their Keck observations. These ROFs are located at Caltech (Pasadena, CA) and at Yale University (New Haven, CT). Other ROFs are available and NASA users with access to these facilities can use these; use of the Caltech or Yale ROF is not required. NASA Keck observers who do want to make use of the Caltech or Yale ROF are required to follow this procedure which should be started no later than 5 weeks before the scheduled nights.

Web Curator and NExScI Cognizant Official: Dr. Dawn Gelino

Privacy Policy | Site Version: 0.99