Cycle 9 Call for Proposals (CfP: 2021 - 2022)

***Due to a technical issue in which proposals for the TNO-1m could not be submitted, we decided to extend the deadline by 24 hours. The new deadline for the TNO-1m proposals will be at 11:59 am on September 1, 2021.***

Deadline: August 31st, 2021 (11:59 am - noon Bangkok Time)

Proposals are invited to request time on the 2.4m Thai National Telescope (TNT) and the 1m telescope at the Thai National  Observatory (TNO). 

- Cycle 9: November 16, 2021 - May 31, 2022, for the 2.4m TNT (public) and the TNO-1m (Thai affiliated PIs with NARIT co-Is)

The proposal must be submitted in ENGLISH ONLY.

Eligible proposers

The call for the 2.4m TNT is open to all Thai and International affiliated astronomers. The TNO-1m telescope is currently open only for Thai affiliated astronomers and requires NARIT co-I(s). The requirement of NARIT co-I is given due to the limited technical support during observation (please see TNO-1m page for more details). In addition, the LRS will be available for NARIT PI only in this cycle.

TNT proposals with at least ONE Thai-affiliated CoI (or PI) are strongly encouraged. Non-Thai affiliated PI/Co-I proposals can be submitted in the usual way. However, if a Thai-affiliated and a non-Thai-affiliated proposal are ranked equally, preference will be given to the Thai-affiliated proposal.

Furthermore, in deciding on proposal rankings, the Time Allocation Committee will take into account the publication record and impact of the proposers with previous NARIT telescope time allocations. 

The Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of professional astronomers and ranked on the basis of their scientific score by a Time Allocation Committee (TAC) nominated by the NARIT Director. The technical feasibility of the proposals will be reviewed by the NARIT Operations Department. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their proposals on  October 22, 2021.

What's new in this Cycle?

- Low-Resolution Spectrograph

A Low-Resolution Spectrograph (LRS) will be offered for scientific uses on a “shared-risk” basis. The instrument is being under development and will be offered to NARIT PI only. For more information regarding the instrumentation, please refer to “TNT Instrument”.

The LRS will be available from January - April 2022. To apply for the time, a proposal must be submitted through the normal channel (deadline: August 31st). In the “Instrumentation” section of the proposal, please select “Visitor Instrument” and specify “Low-Resolution Spectrograph”. We note that, since the instrument is being offered on a shared-risk basis, the proposal cannot be combined with those applied for the other instruments.

We note that the PI may apply for the time during November - December 2021. We will carry out the on-sky testing with the LRS from November - December 2021. But, the observing nights will be shared with the testing nights, and the targets cannot be time-critical. Also, there may be changes in the instrumental setup during the testing months.

For the proposals that receive observing time with the LRS, the LRS development team will contact the PIs. The A user manual will be provided to the observers by the end of December. The LRS development team will also provide technical and instrumentation support to the observers. The observations can be done remotely. However, there will be no staff to carry out the observations for users. Finally, the observers are required to submit the end-of-run report to the LRS development team.

For more information, please contact chutipong@narit.or.th.

- A commercial spectrograph (eShel) is available for TNO-1m. Please contact OPD if you are interested in using this instrument. In addition, in the “Instrumentation” section of your proposal, please select “Visitor Instrument” and specify “eShel”.

- There has been a change in the rules for the use of the TNO-1m telescope. It is now offered for Thai affiliated PIs, however, it is necessary to have one or more NARIT co-Is in the proposal. Please go to the TNO-1m section to see the available instruments for this telescope.

- ULTRASPEC: There have been reports of CCD reading problems. If you encounter this problem, please notify the night assistants.

For observation/details of ULTRASPEC at TNT, contact: Puji Irawati (puji.irawati@narit.or.th)

- ARC 4K: For observation/details of this instrument, contact: Thawicharat Sarotsakulchai (tavijarus@narit.or.th)

- MRES: For observation/details of MRES, contact: David Mkrtichian (davidmkrt@gmail.com)

- Multiple instruments

Applicants of TNO Cycle 9 can now request multiple instruments in their proposal, except for LRS. The desired instrument(s) can be selected in the instrument section of the online submission form.

Note that the applicants have to provide detailed information on the needs of using multiple instruments for their proposals.

Important Notes

- The TAC will be putting a strong emphasis on the past publication record of PIs and projects previously allocated time on the TNT during the past cycles. The proposer of an application under these conditions must take good care in filling out sections C) and G) in the "Description of the proposed project" of the online form.

-The Low-Resolution Spectrograph is being offered on a shared-risk basis. The PI must be NARIT-affiliated. The observers are required to submit the end-of-run report to the LRS development team.

- There will be no OPD staff to assist the observation with the TNO-1m.

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

- You are required to read the instructions very carefully before making the applications. You must ensure that the applications are filled out truthfully and as accurately as possible. PIs are responsible for the content in the proposal, any misuse of NARIT facilities, data, or false information may result in being disqualified from the application process or any scheduled time slot.

- Starting from Cycle 6, Target of Opportunity (ToO) application can be made outside of normal active CfP periods and can be submitted at any time. A normal application can only be submitted during an active CfP.

- Titles and Abstracts of all the proposals we received during this and later cycles will be published on the NARIT website.

- Metadata of the data taken during this and later cycles, except the ULTRASPEC GTOs, will be made available on NARIT public scientific data archive. However, the actual data themselves will be kept proprietary for a period of ONE year after the end of the cycle in which the data were taken. After this, the data may be queryable by the public or any user of the NARIT scientific data archive. If for any reason, e.g. nature of the scientific campaign, etc., PI may request an extension of the proprietary period which the TAC will consider on a case by case basis.

Acknowledgment Rules 

Any publication resulting from observations and data obtained by the TNT or TRTs MUST include the following sentence,

For the TNT and the TNO-1m:

“Based on observations made with [instrument] at the Thai National Observatory under program ID [ID], which is operated by the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Public Organization).”

For the TRTs:

“Based on observations made with the Thai Robotic Telescopes under program ID [ID], which is operated by the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Public Organization).”