Call for Proposals

Guidelines for Keck, MMT, and Magellan Proposals for Northwestern Observers Semester 2025A

Important Dates

Deadline for proposals: October 4, 2024 at 5:00 PM CT

Start of semester: February 1, 2025
End of semester: July 31, 2025

PIs of recommended proposals will be notified on or before October 30, 2024.

Total number of nights available on Keck: 7 (Keck I:  1D, 1G, 1L, Keck II: 1D, 2G, 1L)
Total number of nights available on MMT: 7.5
Total number of nights available on Magellan: 1.5*
* Note that Magellan allocations will roughly be split in lunation over a given year so it will be challenging to – for instance – obtain a full 1.5n of dark time in a single semester. Please consider this when submitting your proposals.

Eligibility

  • CIERA Astronomy faculty, postdocs, and graduate students (current 3rd years and above) are eligible to apply for time.
  • PIs must be affiliated with CIERA at the time when the observations for the proposal are carried out.

Considerations for Proposers

  • It is the responsibility of the proposers to familiarize themselves with the facility capabilities and observing policies (see last bullet of this section, as well as the Observing Links at bottom of page).
  • For classically-scheduled time that requires travel, the observations must be carried out by a CIERA PI or Co-I.
  • For queue-scheduled time that does not require travel, the observations must be coordinated and submitted by a CIERA PI or Co-I.
  • The proposers are responsible for all expenses related to observing runs. CIERA will not provide funds to support these expenses.
  • First-time Keck observers for a particular instrument are required to observe from the headquarters facility in Waimea, Hawaii. Experienced observers for a particular instrument are allowed to observe from selected remote observing sites around the country, upon availability. More information on the Keck remote and mainland observing policies. (Note some of these policies have been waived in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. See webpage for latest).
  • Graduate Student PIs: Please make sure to speak with your Northwestern advisor prior to submitting a proposal. Your advisor will be contacted by the TAC chair to ensure approval and that the proposed observations are primarily for your first-author led thesis projects.
  • The remote observing room (ROR) is available in CIERA for all observers. Please contact ROR Coordinator Charles Kilpatrick (CIERA) for use of the room. ROR guidelines are available on the Instructions for PIs page.

Proposal Format and Templates, Check-list, Submission

For 2025A, submissions must include a cover page (observatory dependent) AND a CIERA observing proposal for MMT, Magellan and Keck.

KECK COVER PAGES
*Compiles with standard AASTEX

Keck proposers must create an observatory login and fill out a cover sheet.

  • Please fill out the first two pages of information (title, PI and co-I list, abstract, observing run descriptions, and target list).
  • The CIERA observing proposal is standard for MMT and Keck. Proposals must include a scientific justification and experiment design (see the template for further instructions). Page limits must be followed. [This portion has not changed since last semester.]
  • Additional guidelines for MMT and Magellan proposal submission: To remain compliant with the Steward Observatory submission process, it is essential that you use the up-to-date cover page template. DO NOT copy proposals from past years. Please review all instructions carefully and make sure to communicate with the TAC in advance of the deadline if you have any questions. Latex files which use the wrong template, or which are incomplete, are subject to rejection. In addition:
    • do not use commas in any cover page entry field in soprop.tex;
    • no line breaks in the proposal title (make sure the closing parenthesis is on the same line);
    • use approved telescope names (as listed in soprop.tex);
    • use only one PI-Name and only one (matching) PI-email address;
    • be sure to note if you need rapid TOO access; name your files using your first initial and last name (e.g., wfong.tex and wfong.pdf). If you submit multiple different proposals use numbers to differentiate (e.g., wfong1.tex, wfong2.tex). Keep names to less than 30 characters and do not use special characters or spaces in the filenames.

Proposal Check-list

  • Cover sheet
    • MMT and Magellan proposals: Prepare PDF with appropriate Latex template. Submit both PDF (MMT or Magellan cover page + CIERA observing proposal) and Tex file. Please name files appropriately and use the appropriate Latex and class file (see above).
    • Keck proposals: Create log-in and fill out.
      1. Once on your Observatory Login homepage, under Proposal Cover Sheets, select “Submit a New Cover Sheet”
      2. Fill out the Cover Sheet and hit “Submit”.
      3. Return to Observatory Login homepage. Your cover sheet should now appear as an item below Proposal Cover Sheets.
      4. Click “Display this cover sheet”. Save as a PDF file.
      5. Submit final PDF (Keck cover sheet + CIERA observing proposal).

Proposal Submission

Every proposal must be submitted as a single PDF file to the proposal submission page. In addition, for MMT and Magellan proposals, it is required that you also submit the .tex version of your proposal to this page.

Observing Links

Keck: https://keckobservatory.org/about/observing/
Keck 2025A instrument availability and considerations: https://www2.keck.hawaii.edu/observing/instavail.html

MMT: https://www.mmto.org/applying-for-time/
MMT 2025A instrument considerations:
For the MMT, ToO can only take place with queue-scheduled instruments.

Magellan: https://astro.arizona.edu/magellan-telescopes
Note that LLAMAS is not available to NU observers for Semester 25A.

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