The UK has a 55% share in observing time on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, a 15m diameter telescope on the premier site of the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The JCMT is dedicated primarily to observations at sub-millimetre wavelengths. Because observing conditions in this wavelength band are critically dependent on the weather, all observations are flexibly scheduled to make the best use of prevailing conditions.

Regular proposals, allowing observing time requests of any length, are evaluated and scheduled only on a 6-monthly cycle, and are subject to critical review through the Panel for the Allocation of Telescope Time (PATT) process established for the JCMT partners. Such submissions require significant preparation and there can be as much as a year between the preparation of a successful PATT proposal and the actual observations.

For short programs seeking more immediate return the service observing program offers a simplified plain-text application form that may be submitted at any time (**) and, usually, a much faster turn-around time between proposal and observations. It is intended for short, time-critical programs, and the application process specifically provides for extra assistance for those astronomers who are not experienced sub-mm observers but who require small amounts of data. For those contemplating using the JCMT for the first time this can be a good way to get one's "feet wet"!

(**) - Service proposals submitted between the regular PATT deadline and the subsequent TAG meeting will be evaluated only at the meeting.

Policies

URGENCY: A service proposal should have an element of urgency. Otherwise, it may be more appropriate to submit the application as a short PATT proposal. A service application should generally fall into one or more of the following categories:

1. targets-of-opportunity
2. requests for small amounts of data needed to finish a project or a thesis.
3. observations that are intended to serve as a pilot project or a feasibility study for a future proposal.

AVOIDING CONFLICTS: In fairness to the observing community, the JCMT Board has stated that service time cannot be used for observations already approved in PATT time for another observer. Nor may service time be used for observations that merely supplement or extend PATT time already awarded to the applicant. These restrictions apply regardless of whether the PATT time is in the current or following semester. Questions on the application of the policies can be addressed to the service program coordinator (see below).

TIME LIMIT: Requests are limited to a maximum of 8 hours including all estimated observing overheads. There is no formal limit to the number of proposals that may be submitted.

EVALUATION: The UK TAG will evaluate each proposal to verify that it meets the above criteria and to assess its technical feasibility. The TAG may contact the PI at this point to resolve any remaining technical questions. Finally, the scientific content of the proposal will be evaluated by two TAG members who will assign the proposal a grade. To be accepted, the proposal must be assigned a grade high enough that the observations are likely to be completed by the end of the following semester.

ACCEPTANCE: If the proposal meets all the above criteria, the PI will be notified that it has been accepted. Once observing scripts are prepared (see below) the program will be placed in the observing queue.

LIFETIME: A successful program will remain in the observing queue until completed, withdrawn by the PI, or until the end of the second semester after the semester in which it was accepted. For example, a proposal accepted during semester 07A will be dropped at the end of 08A if not completed before that time.

Submitting a proposal

1. Download the blank proposal form. Note that this is a simple text file. Please do not convert it to HTML, RTF or any other more complicated format.
2. Fill in the form. Please provide complete contact information for yourself. For the science case it's better to be succinct, focussing on the issues pertinent to your proposed observations, why they are necessary, and what you hope to learn from them.
3. Try to be complete and accurate regarding the technical information you provide. Details of the telescope, receivers, and spectrometer(s) are available at the JCMT home page.
4. Completed Proposals should be sent by e-mail to the UK service observing program coordinator.
5. Send as an attachment a single file containing your figures. This should be printable on one sheet of A4 or USLetter paper.

What happens next

While JCMT staff and the UKTAG will try to respond immediately to let you know your proposal has been received, you should allow at least 2 weeks for your proposal to be assessed and graded before observations can begin.

When and if your proposal is approved, you will receive notification by e-mail giving its approximate ranking, contact information for your support scientist and a password to the project in the Observatory Management Project (OMP) database at the JAC.

Observations using the JCMT are queue-scheduled. The parameters of all observations are organized into "Minimum Schedulable Blocks" (MSBs) that are stored in the OMP database. Preparation of the MSBs is done using the JCMT Observing Tool (JCMT-OT), which you should fetch from the JAC (at the previous link) and install on your home machine.

You are encouraged to prepare your own MSBs, or at least to check them carefully after they have been entered into the OMP database. Assistance can be requested from your support scientist.

When observations for your program are carried out, you (the PI) will be notified through the usual OMP mechanism, which also provides access to the raw data and all associated calibration and quality information. Because the observations are queue-scheduled, they may be spread over several observing sessions.

In addition to the raw data available through the OMP, you may request that basic data reduction be completed and the reduced data delivered in a standard format. For example, heterodyne data can be delivered as calibrated spectra or FITS data cubes. Data analysis, of course, remains your prerogative. File format conversions will generally be limited to those provided by Starlink software and related packages available at the JAC.

If you intend to ask for assistance in creating the MSBs it is especially important that your proposed observations be as simple as possible and that you take extreme care to ensure that all the observational parameters are entered correctly in the application. Take particular care in entering coordinates since these will likely be copied using 'cut-and-paste'.

There is no obligation on the part of the applicant(s) to collaborate with the service observing program coordinator or support scientists who provide assistance as part of the program.

The UK service program coordinator
. . . is Iain Coulson (i.coulson @ jach.hawaii.edu).