Australia Telescope Time Assignment Committee
The Australia Telescope Time Assignment Committee (TAC) is advisory to the ATNF Director. The TAC members are appointed by the ATNF Steering Committee .
The TAC assesses proposals submitted for observing time with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), the Parkes radio telescope, the Mopra radio telescopes and the Long Baseline Array. Service proposals for the Tidbinbilla 70-m antenna are also assessed. Time is allocated on the basis of scientific merit.
The TAC members meet twice a year to consider telescope applications for two six-month semesters that begin in October and March. The TAC normally has nine voting members, including the Chair. In additional, a group of approximately 10 external readers review the proposals and send input to the TAC. Members and Readers serve for a period of three years. The Head of Science Operations (Phil Edwards), and the TAC Executive Officer (Jill Rathborne) also attend the TAC meetings as non-voting members. The telescope schedules are prepared after the TAC meetings by the Head of Science Operations.
TAC information and queries
After the TAC grades and comments are finalised, an email is sent to all proposers for that semester (that have valid email addresses in OPAL) informing them that the grade and comments can be viewed in OPAL. A second email is sent to all proposers once the telescope schedules are released.
For assistance with scheduling related matters, contact the Head of Science Operations, Philip Edwards (Phil.Edwards [at] csiro.au).
For queries on the TAC grades or comments contact the TAC Chair, Prof. Sarah Maddison (smaddison [at] swin.edu.au).
If you wish to discuss a scientific or scheduling-related issue, after consultation with the TAC Chair and/or Head of Science Operations, please contact the ATNF Director, Lewis Ball (Lewis.Ball [at] csiro.au).
For some time assignment performance indicators, see the ATNF Annual Reports.
Time Assignment Policies and Procedures
- ATNF TAC procedures
- Target of Opportunity (ToO) and Non A-priori Assignable (NAPA) proposals.
- ATNF Large Projects (Projects that require at least 400 hours of telescope time over the lifetime of the project)
- ATNF data access policy and information
- Director's Time
- Replacing Lost Time
Current TAC Members
| Voting Members | |
| James Allison | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Hayley Bignall | CASS affiliate |
| Julia Bryant | Australian Astronomical Observatory |
| Jo Dawson | Macquarie University/CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Alan Duffy | University of Melbourne |
| Sarah Maddison (Chair) | Swinburne University of Technology |
| Ryan Shannon | Curtin University/CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Roberto Soria | Curtin University |
| Ivy Wong | University of Western Australia |
| Ex-Officio Members | |
| Douglas Bock | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Phil Edwards | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Jill Rathborne | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Administration Support | |
| Amanda Gray | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
Last update: 12-nov-2015 pge