This page and the links in the left menu provide the general information necessary to complete the Phase 2 preparation for Service Mode programmes at the VLT/VLTI, VISTA and VST.

This information has been updated for Period 95. Period 94 users (including the authors of Director's Discretionary Time proposals approved during Period 94) should continue to follow the Period 94 procedures.

Phase 2 deadline:

Thursday, 5 February 2015 at 12:00 CET

Please note that late submission penalties apply: if the Phase 2 material is submitted after the deadline without prior agreement with ESO, the run shall have its Priority Group reduced automatically by one rank class (A to B, B to C, C to canceled).

News and Recent Changes

In P95 a new release of Phase 2 Proposal Preparation tool has been released:  P2PP (3.4.1). This is a bugfix release and, in addition to Java 1.7, P2PP 3.4.1 will also run with the latest Java 1.8. If you are preparing observations for Paranal instruments you may keep using version 3.4.0 if you have it installed on your computer already, or upgrade to the new one. Other, earlier versions of P2PP cannot be used anymore.

There will be a delayed Phase 2 deadline for VISIR due to ongoing commissioning of the instrument in January 2015. We plan to release the new instrument package and instructions for the Phase 2 preparation in the first week of February and the deadline for Phase 2 submission will be on Monday, March 2, 2015 at 12:00 CET.

Please follow this link to get the news on recent changes concerning general phase 2 matters, observatory news, as well as instrument specific news (if you have chosen an instrument with the Instrument Menu on the right).

Introduction

The easiest way to prepare the phase 2 material of your observations is to choose the instrument of your interest in the Instrument Menu on the right and then follow the topics given in the list on the left or to choose the Phase 2 Instrument Overview Table. You should finish your preparation with the Phase 2 Submission.

More general information about Philosophy and Scheduling of Service Mode Observing, General Service Mode Policies, and Special Procedures is also available (see menu on the left).

A quick checklist

• Before you start...: Please check the following points:
  • You know your ESO User Portal username and password. They are the same ones you use for other things like checking the Webletters, etc. Please consult the User Portal FAQ for more information.
  • You have installed the latest versions of the observation preparation tools:
    
    • P2PP version 3.4.1 (P2PP3) for VISTA, VST, VLT and VLTI instruments
    • P2PP 2.13.1 for La Silla instruments
    • any relevant instrument-specific preparation tools (FIMS, NAOS PS, FPOSS, VMMPS, KARMA, Guidecam for VIMOS, PILMOS).
  • You may need to submit some Phase 2 Waiver Requests. Those need to be approved by ESO before the phase 2 deadline, and thus need to be submitted at least one week before the deadline.
• The phase 2 package consists of:
  • A set of Observation Blocks (OBs), constructed and submitted to the ESO database using the latest version of the P2PP3 tool (P2PP version 2 for La Silla instruments). Note that the OBs include both finding charts and, when applicable (i.e. for moving targets), ephemeris files.
  • A README file providing an overview of your programme details, also prepared and submitted from within P2PP.
• Once the submission is complete:
  • Do not forget to click the p2pp-submit button in P2PP! This step has to be repeated for every observing run for which you are submitting Phase 2 material. Please be reminded that your phase 2 package submission, re-submission, or modification will not be processed until you have notified to ESO the completion of your submission using the p2pp-submit button.

Where to seek help

All investigators assigned Service Mode time should contact the ESO User Support Department in all matters regarding phase 2 preparation. Please include the programme ID in the subject line!

The USD list of Frequently Asked Questions provides answers to some of the most common inquiries related to the preparation of Service Mode Observations.