HST Call for Proposals and HST Primer for Cycle 24

help@stsci.edu

9.4	Coordinated Observations

9.4.1 Joint HST-Chandra Observations

9.4.2 Joint HST-Spitzer Observations

9.4.3 Joint HST/XMM-Newton Observations

9.4.4 Joint HST-NOAO Observations

9.4.5 Joint HST-NRAO Observations

(This item is required only for GO Proposals)

If you have plans for conducting coordinated observations with other facilities that affect the HST scheduling, please describe them here (examples are coordinated or simultaneous observations with other spacecraft or ground-based observatories). Describe how those observations will affect the scheduling.

If you have plans for supporting observations that do not affect HST scheduling, then do not describe them here. If they improve your science case, then describe them in the ‘Scientific Justification’ section of the proposal (see Section 9.1).

9.4.1 Joint HST-Chandra Observations

Proposers requesting joint HST-Chandra observations (see Section 3.5) must provide a full and comprehensive technical justification for the Chandra portion of their program. This justification must include:

•	the choice of instrument (and grating, if used),

•	the requested exposure time, justification for the exposure time, target count rate(s) and assumptions made in its determination,

•	information on whether the observations are time-critical; indicate whether the observations must be coordinated in a way that affects the scheduling (of either Chandra or HST observations),

•	the exposure mode and chip selection (ACIS) or instrument configuration (HRC),

•	information about nearby bright sources that may lie in the field of view,

•	a demonstration that telemetry limits will not be violated,

•	a description of how pile-up effects will be minimized (ACIS only).

Proposers should note the current restrictions on observing time as a function of pitch angle of the satellite. Refer to Section 3.3.3 of the Chandra Proposers’ Observatory Guide for detailed information. Proposers should check the pitch angles of their targets and be sure that any constraints they request do not render the proposed observation infeasible. The Chandra Proposal Documentation and observation planning software will be updated for their Cycle 18 in late 2015.

Technical documentation about Chandra is available from the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) webpage, which also provides access to the Chandra Help Desk. The primary document is the Proposer’s Observatory Guide, available from the Chandra Proposal Information webpage. Full specification of approved observations will be requested during the Chandra Cycle 18 period when detailed feasibility checks will be made.

Proposers requesting joint HST-Chandra observations must specify whether they were awarded Chandra time in a previous Chandra or HST cycle for similar or related observations

9.4.2 Joint HST-Spitzer Observations

Proposers requesting joint HST-Spitzer observations (see Section 3.6) must provide a full and comprehensive technical justification for the Spitzer portion of their program. All observations must use the IRAC Post-Cryo Mapping observing mode only. This justification must include:

•	the requested observing time, justification for the requested time, target fluxes, required sensitivity and assumptions made in its derivation,

•	an indication on whether the observations must be coordinated in a way that affects scheduling of either HST or Spitzer observations. Highly constrained Spitzer observations are discouraged for joint HST-Spitzer Proposals.

Technical documentation about the Spitzer Space Telescope is available from the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) webpage, which also provides access to the Spitzer Helpdesk (help@spitzer.caltech.edu). The primary document is the Spitzer Observer’s Manual – Warm Mission, available, together with other relevant documents, from the Proposal Kit webpage. The SSC strongly recommends that observers proposing Spitzer observations estimate the required observing time using Spot, the Spitzer proposal planning software, also available from the online Proposal Kit.

Proposers requesting joint HST-Spitzer observations must specify whether they were awarded Spitzer time in a previous cycle for similar or related observations.

9.4.3 Joint HST/XMM-Newton Observations

Proposers requesting joint HST/XMM-Newton observations (see Section 3.7) must provide a full and comprehensive technical justification for the XMM-Newton portion of their program, including

•	the choice of prime instrument,

•	the requested exposure time, justification for the exposure time, target count rates, and assumptions made in their determination,

•	information on whether the observations are time-critical.

Proposers requesting joint HST/XMM-Newton observations must specify whether they were awarded time in a previous XMM-Newton or HST cycle for similar or related observations.

Technical documentation about XMM-Newton is available from the XMM-Newton webpage.

9.4.4 Joint HST-NOAO Observations

Proposers requesting joint HST-NOAO observations (see Section 3.8) must provide a full and comprehensive scientific and technical justification for the NOAO portion of their program, including:

•	the telescope(s) and instrument(s) on which time is requested,

•	the requested observing time per telescope/instrument, a specification of the number of nights for each semester during which time will be required, a breakdown into dark, grey and bright time, and an explanation of how the required exposure time was estimated,

•	information on whether the observations are time-critical, and whether the observations must be coordinated in a way that affects the scheduling (of either the NOAO or the HST observations),

•	a description of any special scheduling or implementation requirements (e.g., optimum and acceptable dates).

Successful proposers will be asked to supply additional details about the observations, i.e., the same details required for NOAO proposals for the particular telescope/instrument. This ‘Phase II - NOAO’ information must be submitted by the September 30, 2016 NOAO deadline for the Spring 2017 semester. Submission instructions will be forthcoming following notification of the results of the HST review.

Technical documentation about the NOAO facilities is available from the NOAO webpage. Questions may be directed to the NOAO Proposal Help Desk by e-mail to noaoprop-help@noao.edu. NOAO will perform feasibility checks on any approved proposals.

Proposers requesting joint HST-NOAO observations must specify whether they were recently (in the last two years) awarded NOAO time for similar or related observations.

9.4.5 Joint HST-NRAO Observations

Proposers requesting joint HST-NRAO observations (see Section 3.9) must provide:

•	the choice of NRAO telescope(s) (VLA, VLBA and/or GBT), and

•	the total estimated NRAO observing time in hours.

NRAO plans to make up to 3% of VLA, VLBA, and GBT observing time available for this opportunity with a maximum of 5% in any array configuration and including an 18-month period close to the HST Cycle 24 such that all VLA configurations are available. A VLA configuration schedule is published at:

https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vla/proposing/configpropdeadlines

Detailed technical information concerning the NRAO telescopes can be found at:

•	http://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vla

•	http://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vlba

•	http://science.nrao.edu/facilities/gbt.

For the VLA, joint proposals may only use capabilities defined as “general observing” in the 2016B Call for Proposals, which will be available in January 2016 at https://science.nrao.edu/observing/call-for-proposals. Technical questions about proposing or observing for NRAO telescopes (whose answers are not found in the above links) should be posted to the NRAO helpdesk.

If approved for NRAO time, successful PIs will be contacted by the NRAO Scheduling Officers (schedsoc@nrao.edu for the VLA/VLBA and gbtime@nrao.edu for the GBT). The successful PIs for GBT projects will be responsible for organizing the project's information in the GBT Dynamic Scheduling Software and for carrying out their GBT observations. For the VLA and VLBA, the PIs will be responsible for submitting scheduling blocks to the telescopes' dynamic queues. Projects requiring simultaneous HST-NRAO observations will be performed on fixed dates. In conjunction with HST, the NRAO Scheduling Officers will inform the PIs of those dates and times, and the PIs will be responsible for submitting scheduling blocks two weeks prior to the observations.