Thai National Telescope
Call for Observing Proposals
Cycle 1: November 2013-April 2014
Due Date: August 18, 2013

WEBsite : http://www.narit.or.th/en/index.php/observing-facilities/thai-national-observatory-tno/resources-for-visitors

Proposals are invited to request time on the 2.4m Thai National Telescope (TNT) for the Cycle 1 season, beginning November 1st 2013 and ending April 30th, 2014. For this first Cycle, with several commissioning activities still pending, eligible proposers will be restricted to researchers affiliated to Thai institutes, and researchers from institutes holding special Agreements with NARIT. The proposers should read carefully the special terms and follow the instructions. The proposal form should be duly filled and submitted by email to

proposals@narit.or.th

Proposals received after August 18, 2013 (midnight Bangkok time) shall not be considered. The Proposals will be reviewed and ranked on the basis of their scientific merit by a Time Allocation Committee (TAC) nominated by the NARIT Director. A technical feasibility review by the NARIT Operations Department will further screen the proposals. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their proposals by October 1st, 2013.

Observers are expected to contact the NARIT staff to prepare their visit at least one month in advance of their run, and to cover their expenses for travel to the TNT Doi Inthanon site and for local accomodation and subsistence. A set of Instructions for Visiting Astronomers are available to facilitate the logistics of the visit. Visitors are required to fill an End of Run report and submit it to the NARIT staff within one week after the end of observations.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Special Terms for Cycle 1

Although the TNT is fully functional, several activities are still in progress, among others: the Telescope Control Software is being extended in functionality and subject to tests; some instruments (e.g., ULTRASPEC and the 4k ARC camera) are ready but not yet tested on sky at the time of writing; some instruments like (e.g., U9000 and eShel) are transitional only and may not be optimized; the system of data headers and archive is in evolution; the site is not yet completely characterized in terms of environmental and sky parameters; last but not least, the TNT staff is still under recruitment and partly under training.

As a result, it is anticipated that some interruptions, changes and delays might affect the allocated observing runs. When possible, observers will be informed ahead of time and attempts will be made to minimaze the negative impact. In some cases however, last minute problems might be unavoidable.

Proposers are kindly asked to acknowledge the situation and to accept that observations in Cycle 1 will be carried out on shared-risk basis only.