NRT Observing time request: information page
Period: SEMESTER 2021B: July 1st to December 31st, 2021
deadline:
May 11th, 2021.
Please, copy the .tex and .sty files to prepare your observing time
request proposal:
The perl procedure requestTable6.perl may
be used to fill the standard NRT request table (rename it with the .pl extension if necessary). This procedure reads an ASCII
list of sources and produces latex tables also for the source list..
Telescope characteristics
Submission of proposals
(.tex and .pdf) is expected by email, sent to
P. Colom, chairman of the CdP.
Pierre.Colom at obspm.fr
Observing time is allocated on the basis of two semesters per year, A
and B, upon a proposal selection process.
The Nançay radio telescope (NRT) programme committee
("Comité des Programmes", hereafter CdP) meets twice a year.
Normal proposals will be examined for semesters A and B, while a call
for KP is issued once a year, in October.
Rating & time allocation :
Proposals are rated considering scientific
value in view of the information provided, technical feasibility, possible character of urgency, and the report from previous observations
if any. Scientific context or
background must be included. Of course, publications obtained
with the NRT data are considered as mandatory for pursuing long-term
projects. A priority grade P is given, according to the scale below.
The grade and the CdP's comments are a synthesis of the contributions
from all the referees. As some applications are not homogeneous, each
may be affected several grades referring to different parts. The actual
time allocation is fixed according to both the priority rating and the
right ascension distribution, because of the severe limits in telescope
tracking ; indeed, top priority programmes may suffer from significant
cuts when applying for a similar R.A. range, whereas at under
subscribed R.A., lower priority programmes are likely to be scheduled.
The rating is made in accordance with the following scale :
0= top priority ; full time allocation, except for options being
skipped for technical reasons, and in case of concurrence with equally
rated proposals.
1= good programme ; most time allocated, may suffer from some reduction
for scheduling reasons if required.
2= reasonable programme ; time allocated, but will be partly reduced.
3= possible, although of mean interest or moderately suitable for
observations in Nançay ; will only be scheduled in the r.a.
range that is not oversubscribed.
4= poor programme : insufficient justification, or observations
unlikely to fulfil the scientific aims, or badly designed for the NRT.
Rejected, no time allocated.
Key Programmes : This status
is given to programmes that prove great scientific interest as well as
clear reliability of the observing protocol and technical choices, and
which requires important telescope resources (> 1000 hours), or to long term
monitoring projects.
Among the criteria used are how the proposal fit in the international
context, the scientific interest, the technical justification and the
publication plan, if any.
Also the strength and the quality of the team (papers published in the field)
will be appreciated.
Users have to ask this status in the proposal form. The status holds
for 2 years, starting with the semester following the CdP meeting.
Follow-up full applications are not needed anymore during this period,
but a summary of the science goals is needed for each semester application.
Users must provide after one year, by
the date of the Call for proposal deadline, 1) a progress report; 2) a brief log of the observations
(done/still to do) and of major problems if any; and 3)
the source list.
. Also users must give
the standard “observing time
” table every semester, so that their time can
actually be inserted into the schedule. The key programme status and a
top priority rating are not always linked: this means in the case the quality of the project would
lower somewhat (e.g. lack of information), the rate and time allocation would
be lowered accordingly.
After these 2 years, the status is NOT maintained by default. A
new complete proposal, explicitly detailed and justified, is due.
Cancelled observations : A
significant amount of time is reserved for maintenance and for Target Of Opportunity observations.
Moreover, along the semester the telescope scheduling is flexible as it
is set monthly. Nevertheless, it may happen exceptionally that current
observations need to be cancelled, in order to observe T.O.O. events or
to perform urgent technical work. If this has to happen, P.I.s are
advised, and cancelled observations may be re-allocated as soon as
possible during the current semester, or during the next one if no
other option exists. On the other hand, observing time lost because of
weather or of "minor" bugs is not renewed systematically.
The Nançay Radio
Telescope is operated by the Observatoire de Paris with co-funding from the
CNRS-INSU and from the Région Centre.
12 April 2021
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