On the application form, the Principal Investigator (PI) is asked to specify the total number of observing hours or nights requested.
Each successful proposal will be allocated a total amount of observing time, which may be assigned one or more priority levels. The PI may submit observing requests at any time and for any available telescope, up to the maximum awarded time. In the event of scheduling conflicts, observations with higher priority will be executed first.
As a result, specifying moon phases is generally unnecessary. However, if the proposed observations must be carried out during a particular time period or under specific lunar conditions, this should be clearly stated in the proposal. Where scientifically justified and depending on the proposal's merit, a portion of the awarded observing time may be assigned a higher priority to accommodate such constraints.
For lunar observing conditions, we follow the definitions presented in a study by Ian Skillen (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes) and adopt the following ranges of Fractional Lunar Illumination (FLI):
|
Dark: |
0.00 |
≤ |
FLI |
< |
0.25 |
|
Grey: |
0.25 |
≤ |
FLI |
< |
0.65 |
|
Bright: |
0.65 |
≤ |
FLI |
≤ |
1.00 |
Of course, “Any” means that any of Dark, Grey, Bright is acceptable. Under “Total”, the PI shall input the sum of all Dark, Grey, Bright times.
