2020B NASA Keck Time Solicitation
The call for proposals for NASA Keck time in observing semester 2020B (August 1, 2020 - January 31, 2021) is now open for professional research using the NASA allocation for telescope observing time at the W.M. Keck Observatory.
Update: Due to the coronavirus situation, we are extending the 2020B proposal deadline to Monday, March 23 at 4 pm Pacific.
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NASA intends the use of the Keck telescopes to be highly strategic in support of on-going missions and/or high priority, long-term science goals. The NASA Keck call is open to a wide range of disciplines spanning from exoplanets and solar system topics to galactic and extragalactic topics. Click
here
for more details on this proposal call.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Thursday, March 5:
deadline to request letters from NASA HQ for General Mission Support proposals.
Monday, March 23:
All proposals and supporting letters due to NExScI by 4 pm PDT
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Click
here
for information on page limits, proposal content, electronic submission, etc.
- The opportunity to propose as Principal Investigators for the NASA time on the Keck Telescopes is open to all U.S.-based astronomers (i.e. those who have their principal affiliation at a U.S. institution).
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Online Proposal Submission Site
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Questions? email:
KeckCFP@ipac.caltech.edu
Highlights for 2020B
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We now have a
NASA Keck proposal template
in both
Word
and
Latex
formats. Use of the template is optional but will help you submit a compliant proposal.
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Letters of Support:
Letters of support
for general mission support proposals must be requested from NASA HQ by Thursday, March 5, two weeks before the submission deadline.
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Time Domain Astronomy and Target of Opportunity programs:
Observers can propose for both
Time Domain Astronomy (cadence)
and
Target of Opportunity (ToO) programs.
Programs scheduled in increments of 1/2 nights or smaller are now by default considered interruptible
by a ToO, which can last up to 1 hour. Note that ToOs can be requested as "NASA-only" or as "partner interrupts". See
Section IV
for important details on the number of ToO interrupts allowed each semester.
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Twilight Observing:
WMKO permits twilight observing with the NIRC2 and OSIRIS instruments with a limit of one twilight program per instrument per partner per semester. The NASA Keck TAC has an ongoing NIRC2 twilight program, but is accepting proposals for OSIRIS twilight observing programs for 2020B. Read the guidelines
here.
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HIRES PRV Configuration:
HIRES data collected in the prescribed HIRES PRV configuration are compatible with the
public radial velocity pipeline processing environment
available at NExScI. Observers wishing to use the HIRES PRV configuration should read
Section Ib.iv
and full documentation
here.
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Special notes and considerations for the Keck instruments for 2020B
are available on the
WMKO instrument page
and include (but are not limited to):
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Keck II:
There will be a four-night shutdown on Keck II from September 28 - October 1 for secondary mirror recoating and maintenance.
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LRIS Readout Problems:
The LRISr (red side) detectors are experiencing a readout problem on one of the two chips in the mosaic. Refer to the
LRIS instrument page
for complete details and mitigation.
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The WMKO coversheet
has been updated to include a 'date specific' category with all date fields on the coversheet form now requiring
HST dates.
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Keck II Infrared Pyramid WFS (NIRC2-PY):
A new infrared pyramid wavefront sensor (PyWFS) will be available for August-October of 2020B. There is a separate coversheet selection (NIRC2-PY) for this mode.
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SUBARU exchange:
Please refer to the
WMKO instrument page
for complete details.
Useful Links and Information
The NASA Keck Time Solicitation Information web site is a source of information for professional researchers who wish to submit proposals for the NASA allocation of observing time at the W. M. Keck Observatory. For general public information, please visit the
Keck Home Page.
Web Curator and NExScI Cognizant Official:
Dawn Gelino
(last updated March 16th, 2020 12:04:52)
