An introduction to ukirtserv

The UKIRT Service Observing Programme (UKIRTSERV) is provided to the astronomical community as a means of completing short (less than 3 hours) observing programmes which would not, or could not, obtain time through the usual telescope time allocation process. There are typically 0.5-1.0 nights per month scheduled specifically for Service programmes (note that the Panel for Allocation of Telescope Time [PATT] has awarded long-term status to the UKIRT Service programme).

The programme is administered by UKIRT staff, who also carry out the observations. Although programmes can be submitted at any time, deadlines are set for each service night so that new proposals can be reviewed by the UKIRT Associate Director and up to four external referees. Approved programmes are ranked and MSBs are then prepared and submitted to the service queue, in time for the next service night.

Chris Davis is the current project scientist for the UKIRT Service Programme. Questions or concerns should be sent to him at ukirtserv@jach.hawaii.edu.

Typical uses of the program are:

• short, self-contained observing programmes
• pilot/feasibility studies
• targets of opportunity
• completion of PATT programmes (where a short additional time is needed)
• occasional monitoring of objects (e.g. a few times per semester)

Applicants are not expected to include UKIRT staff (the observers) as co-authors when publishing results, but the source of the data, the UKIRT Service Programme, should be acknowledged (e.g. "some of the data reported here were obtained as part of the UKIRT Service Programme"). Observers are welcome to enquire about collaborations, especially if they have no experience with IR data reduction. Please also let us know how Service data are used, so that we may monitor the effectiveness of service observing vis-a-vis normal PATT time.

Applying for Service observations

Applications to UKIRTSERV are accepted via the online NorthStar system only. Because of the high demand for Service time, they must be carefully written, with accurate coordinates and precise observing procedures. In addition, they must require not more than three hours of actual time (including time on targets, overheads, calibrations and standard stars, if needed).

Deadlines for service proposals are given on the UKIRT Service Observing homepage. Proposals typically take two weeks to referee; MSBs are then prepared by UKIRT staff and inserted into the Service queue. For particularly urgent requests, please see the link to "Target of Opportunity" on the sidebar.

Service Refereeing

Proposals are assessed for technical feasibility by a UKIRT support scientist, and assessed for scientific merit by a group of referees appointed by the project scientist, one of whom is a UKIRT staff member, and one of whom is on the UKIRT PATT panel. At present the assessors are:

• Andy Adamson (UKIRT Associate Director)
• Sarah Casewell (Leicester)
• Alastair Edge (Durham)
• Tom Geballe (Gemini)
• Joana Oliveira (Keele)

Service data are (usually) acquired by UKIRT staff. An attempt is made to observe the highest graded proposals first, although lower graded projects may be observed if conditions are more suitable, targets in other proposals have set, or if observing efficiency would be seriously affected (e.g. by not using the same instrument and/or calibrations).

Although rare, applications may be rejected outright: this occurs mostly for technical reasons. Proposals may also be referred back for modification, or reduced in scope either for scientific reasons or if they exceed the maximum time allotment. For borderline cases with relatively low grades, the UKIRT Associate Director will make a final decision on the queue admission, based on the referee comments, current loading of the queue, etc.

A successful application remains in the Service Queue until (i) its observations are completed, (ii) the programme is withdrawn by the applicant, or (iii) the deadline specified in the application has passed. If your observations don't get done within a reasonable time please feel free to confirm that they are still active - there is no need to re-apply, just e-mail ukirtserv@jach.hawaii.edu.

When preparing a proposal, please think carefully about withdrawal dates; too soon and your programme may be deleted from the target list before the observations are attempted; too long and the target may be observed after it is of little value, wasting telescope time. Please tell us immediately if you lose interest in an object, or gain the data by other means.

Applications referred to UKIRTSERV by PATT

At times PATT may instruct applicants for "normal" observing time to apply for Service time instead. Such applicants must (re)apply to the Service programme (note that the Service Northstar portal and the PATT Northstar system are completely independent) and their proposals will be assessed by the Service TAG. Occasionally PATT will refer one of its applications to the Service Programme with an "A" grade. It is then the responsibility of the principal investigator to contact the Service project scientist and for both of them to agree on a set of observations which fit into the three hour maximum allotment.

Data distribution

Note that all UKIRT Service programmes have an OMP homepage (just like all other UKIRT programmes); the homepage lists the date(s) when data were obtained, and includes excerpts from the nightlog and a summary of the weather conditions (seeing, transparency, etc.). Access the project homepage here. The project ID is u/serv/NNNN, where NNNN is a four-digit number (e.g. u/serv/1825). If you do not know the password, please request one from the OMP homepage. For further information please contact ukirtserv@jach.hawaii.edu.

A summary of observations acquired on each Service night (without any detailed information) is published on the Service Observing homepage. The OMP also automatically emails the PI of a service programme the morning after any night when data were taken for that project.

Cassegrain

Raw data should be accessed via the project OMP homepage (see above). In exceptional circumstances, where the user is unfamiliar with UKIRT and the orac-dr pipeline used to process all UKIRT data, pipeline-reduced observations may be made available (on a best-efforts basis) via anonymous FTP.

WFCAM

All WFCAM data are obtained - fully reduced - from the WFCAM Science Archive (WSA). PIs MUST register their programmes to gain access: for further details, visit the non-Survey web pages at the WSA, or see the JAC WFCAM cookbook. .

Backup programs

Finally, please note that we are always interested in receiving projects that are possible under less than ideal conditions and which can be placed in a back-up queue. Suitable projects might be non-photometric imaging or photometry in poor seeing conditions. For further information please contact ukirtserv@jach.hawaii.edu.