We would like to inform you that we are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals
for the period 01 May 2016 - 31 October 2016 (2016 Semester 1).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 29 January 2016, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS, HRS, and BVIT.
All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals link below.
In particular note changes from the currently running Semester in the RSS Fabry-Perot mode availability,
and new availability of selected RSS spectropolarimetry modes.
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT).
Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website.
All questions regarding this proposal call should be addressed to: salthelp(at)salt.ac.za
Sincerely,
SALT Astronomy Operations
2015.10.15
SALT Status Updates for October 2015 - Phase II
Congratulations to everyone who has received time for the 2015-2 semester.
** As a reminder, the Phase II deadline is 23 October 2015 **
Tips for Creating your Phase II proposal
========================================
Tips for creating your phase II proposal:
When creating your phase II proposal for next semester, there is no need for you
to retype all the maximum lunar phases you chose in your phase I proposal.
You can instead use version 4.7 of the PIPT to copy the phase values, as described
at the bottom of
You don't have to use this version for submitting your proposal. However, if you
are planning to use pools in your proposal, you'll at least have to update
to version 4.6 of the PIPT.
If you are a Mac user and have upgraded to El Capitan already, you might notice
that the PIPT GUI is rather wonky. This seems to be an issue with Java 6,
and upgrading to Java 8 should solve the problem.
Fabry-Perot Status
==================
As already communicated to FP users directly, the coatings of the Medium Resolution
MR etalon have unfortunately degraded resulting in significant loss of spectral
resolution. We have removed it from the telescope and are in the process
of determining both costs and timescales for repairs - but we do not expect it will
be returned to the telescope for several months.
On the positive side, LR is working well, and the HR etalon has been inserted
and we are working to commission the dual etalon HR mode in November. If this effects
your program, please contact salthelp@salt.ac.za for more information.
New P4 Policy
=============
There is a new policy on P4 Blocks allowing any accepted program to enter P4 targets
to the queue, above their time allocation. These are to be used as filler targets
in case we have nothing else available at a given time. If you are unsure what
it means, first read the bits about P4 time in the Intro and Section 11.4 of the
http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/proposal_calls/current/ProposalCall.html
and discuss with your Liaison Astronomer. Note that using optional targets in pools
is more useful in general.
Block Probability
=================
Before the 2015-2 Semester starts, there will be a new 'Block Probability' number
on the Web Manager attached to each active Phase II block. The intention
is to indicate roughly the chances of a block getting done. The number takes
into account Moon phase and Seeing constraints, the 'Observability' i.e. how tight
the requested track is within its visibility window, and Competition from all other
Blocks in that same window taking into account their Priorities. Note that in case
of multiple visits the number refers to the binomial probability of finishing *all*
the requested visits taking into account the available tracks over the semester.
The system is live, so you can see the effects when e.g. changing seeing
and lunar phase constraints. It also means that the numbers before at least
the great majority of Phase II blocks are active do not mean much since
the competition calculation will be unrealistic.
Disclaimer: This is our first stab at providing this functionality and
it may still contain bugs. Please let us know if you think your nubmers
are showing anomalous behaviour.
2015.10.15
SALT Status Updates for October 2015 - News
Recent Scientific Papers
========================
The 2015 calendar year will top the number of 31 refereed SALT publications from 2014.
While waiting for the final tally, here is a list of SALT papers that have appeared
since our last update in July:
* Brosch et al. study an "empty ring galaxy" using RSS/Fabry-Perot observations finding
a past merger of disc galaxies and current star formation in a regularly spinning gas
ring.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.451.4114B
* Gvaramadze et al. combine Spitzer Space Telescope and RSS data to characterize
the blue Galactic supergiant MN18 and its bipolar circumstellar nebula.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.454..219G
* Hajduk et al. combine X-Shooter spectra with RSS data to conclude that [JD2002]11
is the ninth symbiotic star known in total, and only the 2nd known dusty symbiotic
star in the Small Magellanic Cloud.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AcA....65..139H
* Katkov, Kniazev & Sil'chenko show, using RSS spectra of isolated lenticular
galaxies, that there is a large range in their formation epochs and that their gas
is likely externally accreted by minor mergers.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AJ....150...24K
* Macfarlane et al. present the overview and first results of the large OmegaWhite
survey at ESO/VST for short-period variable stars, including follow-up spectroscopy
with SALT/RSS.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.454..507M
* Menzies, Whitelock & Feast study AGB variables in the Local Group galaxy
IC 1613 and their RSS spectra demonstrates on-going "hot bottom burning"
in an Oxygen-rich Mira variable.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.452..910M
Record number of Blocks Observed
================================
We don't know what the final number will be yet, but this semester has seen a record
number of blocks observed! Eric Depagne and Thea Koen passed the old record
of 798 blocks on 3 October. See how they celebrated the accomplishment
of passing 800 observed blocks!
SALT Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SATelescope
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SALT_Astro/status/650423292818550786
Laser Frequency Comb at SALT
============================
We have been fortunate to be approached by researchers from the University Heriot-Watt
in Edinburgh, the Department of Photonics and Quantum Science, asking SALT to provide
an on-sky test for their prototype laser frequency comb. These instruments provide
an incredibly precise method to calibrate spectroscopy using tens of thousands
of lines with well known wavelengths. Currently, only HARPS at ESO is equipped
with such an instrument, and with such a calibrator it regularly delivers precision
down to a few cm/s.
The frequency comb is expected to be installed on the telescope for a three month
period and provide HRS with a high stability calibration source. It will be installed,
commissioned and tested as soon as it arrives in January 2016, and will be available
for HRS science during the second quarter of 2016. For more information, and if you
have ideas of how to make use of the capability on HRS in this limited time period,
please contact us at salthelp@salt.ac.za.
SALT polarimetry update
=======================
The RSS polarimetry beamsplitter was returned to its US manufacturer in 2013 after
problems were discovered with leaking coupling fluid. An alternative coupling "gel"
was used in the repair and the beamsplitter was successfully re-installed into RSS
in June 2015. The recommissioning of the mechanical and electrical mechanisms
and control software associated with the polarimetry mode has been ongoing over
the past few months. As of October 2015, closed dome re-commissioning tests
are almost complete. On-sky commissioning and calibrations are scheduled to begin
in October/November 2015. We hope some of the polarimetry modes will be ready
to be advertised for the SALT 2016-1 Semester Call, but at this point
we are not certain yet. We will keep users informed. For more information
about RSS polarimetry, please send any queries to salthelp@salt.ac.za.
RSS Guider
===========
A new RSS guider project is progressing well with proof-of-concept hardware
for the motion stage and stand-alone control system on its way and concept designs
of all the major components under way. This new two-probe design will be able
to deliver rotation guidance (which especially MOS mode users will appreciate)
and automatic focus feedback (which the observers will greatly appreciate),
while delivering significantly improved performance with much fainter stars,
reaching the same V~20 mag in 15 sec sensitivity as the current FIF guider.
It is expected to be ready for integration with the telescope towards the end of 2016.
Tracker Upgrade
===============
Last week, the telescope was taken offline for the installation of the new
Y-drive motors. The installation went smoothly and the telescope was back online
and in operation after only two nights of down time. The final stage of the upgrade
is expected to be carried out in April 2016 and will result in a much better performing
and capable tracker for the telescope. Congratulations to the TechOps team
for successfully carrying out this major milestone!
2015.07.21
SALT Status Updates for July 2015
Darragh O'Donoghue's sudden passing on 25 June 2015 has left a huge hole in
of our lives. Darragh was directly responsible for much of the success of
SALT and was leading the long term plan for the telescope as well as in the
midst of developing new instrumentation for use by the community. More
importantly, he was a mentor and friend to many of us. A memorial will be
held for Darragh at SAAO on 24 July. For those who cannot attend, written
tributes may be email to Lisa Crause at crause [at] saao.ac.za or posted
online at
http://www.saao.ac.za/tributes-to-darragh/.
Call for Proposals
--------------
We wish to remind all of the Phase-1 deadline for
submissions is July 31st, 6pm SAST.
Science Papers
------------
Since the last SALT update in early March, there have been many SALT
papers published. The full list is available at
http://astronomers.salt.ac.za/data/publications/ As always, please let
us know of any that we have missed.
* Czerny et al. discuss the origin of the Broad Line Region and AGN
models, and specifically compare the expected line profiles with quasar
Mg II line profiles from SALT data.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AdSpR..55.1806C
* Kirk et al. present SALT multi-object spectroscopic observations of
galaxy clusters detected by ACT, and find a type II QSO in a brightest
cluster galaxy. The paper is useful reading to anyone planning RSS/MOS
observations.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.449.4010K
* Kollatschny et al. study strong magnetic fields near the central black
hole in the quasar PG0043+039 using simultaneous multi-wavelength
observations with SALT, HET, HST and XMM-Newton.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015A%26A...577L...1K
* Samsom et al. find, using RSS spectroscopy, the low-luminosity,
early-type galaxy NGC 59 to be very metal poor constraining the way
massive galaxies are built up from such building blocks.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.450.1338S
* Spark & O'Donoghue study the shape of the emitting region on white
dwarf surfaces using multiple high time resolution observations of an
eclipsing cataclysmic variable OY Car with Salticam.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.449..175S
* White et al. study radio-quiet quasars in the VIDEO survey and suggest
radio emission is AGN-powered rather than star-formation activity; RSS
was used for obtaining redshifts of the targets.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.448.2665W
The SALT Science Conference was a success, featuring many on-going
SALT projects and general excitement of recent results. The conference
itself was featured well in the South African media, especially the
keynote presentation given by the Minister of Science and Technology
Naledi Pandor. See the conference web-site
http://ssc2015.salt.ac.za/
for science talks given at the conference and the SAAO web-site for a PR
summary
http://www.saao.ac.za/press-release/the-salt-science-conference-2015/
Check out our new popular level SALT news pages at
http://www.salt.ac.za/news/
The pages are are updated approximately
once a month and are maintained by one of the SALT Operators, Thea Koen. If
you have are willing to write a short piece for the benefit of all,
please contact her at thea_at_salt.ac.za.
2015.07.03
SALT Call for Proposals 2015-2
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to inform you that we are now accepting SALT Phase 1
proposals for the period 01 Nov. 2015 - 30 April 2016 (2015 Semester 2)
The Phase 1 proposal deadline will be 31 July 2015 at 18:00
SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
Please note that this proposal call is for SALTICAM, BVIT, HRS, and RSS,
but with some modes, such as Fabry-Perot HR
still on a "best efforts" basis (i.e. no guarantees regarding
performance or completion), or not available at all. In particular,
we will not accept polarimetric proposals, although it may be
possible that we'll reactivate previous polarimetric commissioning
proposals later in the semester should this mode becomes available.
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal
Tool (PIPT). Instructions, software, and other information about
proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website.
All questions regarding this proposal call should be address to:
salthelp(at)salt.ac.za
Sincerely,
Astronomy Operations
2015.05.26
SALT Data Help
Dear SALT user -
This letter is directed to any PI or co-I who has in the past received
data from SALT. We are interested in getting SALT data published, and
hence are offering help where possible and where it would be
useful. We are also gathering feedback to improve efficiency.
1) If you have published your data, thank you very much. On the other
hand, There are a myriad of reasons why observations don't get
published. Maybe the data were clearly of inferior quality or not
enough for the science purpose. And some project types
(e.g. monitoring, student theses) often just take a long time. But if
you are in a possession of a reasonably complete data-set and have not
yet published it, we would like to know if there is anything we could
help you with. This could be in the area of data reductions,
calibrations, or perhaps some trivial amount of data or information
missing for the set to be useful.
- Please send an email to salthelp with any details you wish to give
us. Add the word "help" and a program ID in the subject line for us
to keep the requests organized.
- We cannot guarantee results. But we do promise to at least assess
the situation with you to see if there is something to be done, and
possibly assign one of the SALT Astronomers to work with you.
2) In an effort to make future SALT Astro Ops more effective we would
be interested in your frank feedback. What part of the process worked
in your opinion, what did not? Were the data acceptable, useful, or
not?
- Please send an email to salthelp with the word "feedback" in the
subject line and a program id if appropriate.
3) Finally, we wish to advertise the fact that SALT data quality is
improving.
- There was a significant increase in RSS throughput recently.
- Stray-light affecting faintest RSS observations have also
significantly been reduced.
- The active alignment system for stable PSF (the SAMS) is not on-line
yet. However, the central 7 segments already have sensors and are
gathering performance data.
- There is a high priority project to implement a new RSS guider to
address rotational guiding issues affecting especially MOS observations.
- We are aware that many users are waiting for a HRS reduction
pipeline. When ready, we will announce the availability and help PIs
to get extracted spectra from both past and on-going HRS data sets.
- We have studied the completion fractions of blocks and programs over
the previous semesters and have tips and suggestions on how to
maximize your chances of finishing programs. We will include these in
the next Call for Proposal in late June.
We do hope that you continue to use SALT for your science and hope that
with upcoming improvements we can deliver the kind of quality data
originally expected.
-Petri Vaisanen
and the whole SALT Astronomy Operations team.
2015.03.13
SALT Status Updates for March 2015
Janusz Kaluzny
--------------
We are saddened by the untimely passing of Janusz Kaluzny on 6 March
2015. Janusz, of the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center in
Poland, was involved in SALT from its very first days, and throughout
the project devoted his time and wisdom to ensuring that SALT would
live up to the high expectations of it. His contributions, both
scientific and technical, will be missed.
SALT Operations
---------------
After running the Astronomy Operations for 10 years, David Buckley has
taken a sabbatical and will return to SAAO and SALT related projects
as SALT Scientist at the end of this year.
Chris Coetzee has been named the SALT Operations Manager and any
issues or feedback regarding management of the operations and process
as a whole should be addressed to him at chris_at_salt.ac.za. Petri
Vaisanen has taken over as the Head of SALT Astronomy Operations since
mid-January. Any questions relating to SALT science and programs
should be addressed to him at petri_at_saao.ac.za or
saltastrohead_at_saao.ac.za. Normal operations and on-going programs
continue to be handled by the assigned individual Liaison SAs as
previously.
SALT Papers since November
--------------------------
In 2014, 33 papers were published that included SALT data. Already,
2015 is off to a great start and here are some of the refereed papers
that have been published this year (and please do let us know of SALT
papers we may have omitted):
* Manick, Miszalski, and McBride publish first results of a radial
velocity survey of post-common-envelope Wolf-Rayet central stars of
planetary nebulae.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.448.1789M
SALT Science Conference 2015
----------------------------
Registration for 'Science with SALT' conference to be held at the
Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study (STIAS) from 1-5 June is now
open. Please visit the conference website for more information:
http://ssc2015.salt.ac.za/
SALT in the News
----------------
Recently SAAO issued two SALT related Press Releases. One about the
closest known stellar fly-by of a late type star / brown dwarf binary
intruder through the Oort Cloud 70.000 years ago and the other about
finding a rare Luminous Blue Variable star.
Long-time scale studies of High Redshift Quasars
------------------------------------------------
Justyna Modzelewska from CAMK along with her collaborators have been
using SALT to monitor the variability of high redshift quasars with
the goal of eventually using these objects to help study Dark Energy.
They have published some of their early results and you can read all
the details in the blog post here:
http://saltastro.blogspot.com/2014/10/salt-long-slit-spectroscopy-of-cts.html
SALT DDT followup of MASTER transients
---------------------------------
As part of a SALT Directors Discretionary Time program, snapshot RSS
spectroscopic observations were undertaken of three MASTER SAAO
transients in order to optically identify them. They were subsequently
identified (and the results published in Astronomers Telegrams) to be
a Dwarf Nova declining from outburst (Atel #7165), a flaring FSRQ
blazer, at a redshift of 0.90 (Atel #7167), and an eclipsing Polar
with a 2.1 h orbital period (Atel #7169). The latter was determined
from follow-up photometry on the SAAO 1.9-m and 1.0-m telescopes using
the high speed SHOC cameras. This was conducted during a campaign of
CV photometry undertaken by UCT graduate students Hannes Breytenbach
and Mokhine Motsoaledi, together with John Thorstensen and students
from Dartmouth College, who have been visiting SAAO and UCT for the
summer.
Phase-1 proposals for 2015-1
----------------------------
We received 76 proposals for the upcoming Semester 2015-1 starting May
1. The process is now with the various Time Allocation committees.
For all proposals, the time available was oversubscribed by a factor
of 1.3. The successful PIs will be informed by the Ast Ops by 1 April
and phase-2 material will be expected to be submitted by 17 April.
RSS throughput
--------------
We are very happy to announce a significant improvement of the RSS
optics throughput after the RSS optics fix in September/October. The
efficiency increase is approximately a factor of 1.4 and even better
in the blue. More details are available here:
http://saltastro.blogspot.com/2015/03/news-on-rss-throughput.html
RSS Fabry-Perot mode
--------------------
After the re-installation of RSS in November we have unfortunately
struggled to get the FP mode stable and calibrated. New cabling was
required which arrived only in January. Calibrating all the required
wavelength regions has been slow due to various technical issues, but
we are making progress are are confident that both LR and MR are back
on-sky during this month. The good news is that LR mode is on-line
after a long period off-line in 2013-2014.
We do sincerely apologize for significant loss of valuable time for
accepted FP programs during 2014-2.
2015.03.11
Dear Colleagues,
This is to inform you that registration for the forthcoming "Science
with SALT 2015" conference at the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced
Study (STIAS) from 1-5 June is now open.
Here you will find more details and the conference registration page.
The deadline for registration and submitting an abstract for a talk or
poster is 1 April.
We encourage students to attend this meeting and depending on the
level of funding we receive, we will waiver or subsidize the R2000
registration fee (which covers all breaks and lunches) and possibly
also contribute to accommodation expenses.
We look forward to seeing you in June!
Kind regards,
David Buckley
Eric Wilcots
SOC co-chairs
2014.12.18
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to inform you that we are now accepting SALT Phase 1
proposals for the period 01 May 2015 - 31 October 2015 (2015 Semester 1)
The Phase 1 proposal deadline will be 2 February 2015 at 18:00
SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
Please note that this proposal call is for SALTICAM, BVIT, HRS, and RSS,
but with some modes, such as Fabry-Perot HR,
still on a "best efforts" basis (i.e. no guarantees regarding
performance or completion), or not available at all. In particular,
we will not accept polarimetric proposals, although it may be
possible that we'll reactivate previous polarimetric commissioning
proposals later in the semester should this mode becomes available.
We have updated the comprehensive information document for all
proposers with the current performance status of the telescope and
instruments. In addition, the PIPT has also been revised. Additional
information and links to relevant webpages or documents are also included
to assist proposers in writing their Phase 1 applications.
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal
Tool (PIPT). Instructions, software, and other information about
proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website.
All questions regarding this proposal call should be address to:
salthelp(at)salt.ac.za
Sincerely,
David Buckley.
SALT Astronomy Operations Manager
on behalf of the SALT Astronomy Operations Team
2014.09.19
RSS to be not available for the remainder of the semester
Dear Colleagues,
With RSS currently off the telescope, we have several gaps in the
queue. At this time, we do not expect RSS to be available for the
remainder of the semester. As such, we would like to offer consortium
members the opportunity to fill these gaps through one of three
processes:
(1) PIs of *existing* 2014-1 proposals with unused time may use their
remaining time on HRS, SALTICAM or BVIT. The telescope time will be
charged as with any normal proposal. This may involve target,
instrument and even science case changes, but it is time that would
otherwise be lost. PIs should re-submit their proposals with the new
configurations or targets. If no time is remaining on your proposal,
you can make a request to your TAC chair for additional allocation of
time.
(2) Any consortium member may submit a new "P4-Commissioning"
proposal, which would be automatically granted the observing time
requested as P4 time (gap fillers). This proposal can be for HRS,
SALTICAM, or BVIT. We strongly suggest selecting targets with large
visibilities to allow for easy acquisition of the targets and/or
targets with Right Ascensions between 16-7h and Declinations that are
either equatorial or near the Large or Small Magellanic clouds. No
time will be charged to the individual partners for these proposals.
To submit a new "P4-Commissioning" proposal, simply select
"Commissioning" when creating a new proposal in the PIPT - this will
be already phase 2. Once created, please go to Proposal -> change
semester and select 2014-1.
(3) PI's of 2014-2 proposals for HRS, SALTICAM, or BVIT are strongly
encouraged to submit their Phase 2's early. As soon as the Phase 2 is
submitted, it will be reviewed, activated by a SALT Astronomer, and
then added to the observing queue. The telescope time will be charged
as with any normal proposal.
Please note that, due to current repairs and work on the telescope and
instruments, we may not be fully operational at various times. Please
keep an eye on the SALT website and astronomy blog for more details or
feel free to email us at salthelp@salt.ac.za for more information.
Onofrio and Wegner use RSS spectroscopy of white dwarfs to set
the first upper bound of astrophysical origin on the coupling
between the Higgs field and the Kreschmann curvature invariant.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ApJ...791..125O
Gvaramadze et al. used SALT RSS observations for spectral studies
of first discovery of a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star in the Large
Magellanic Cloud via detection of a circular shell with the
Spitzer Space Telescope
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.442..929G
==============================
SALT HRS Telegram on V1369 Cen
==============================
Simultaneous observations with SALT HRS and HST STIS spectroscopy
were carried out as part of a campaign to observe the classical
nova V1369 Cen. Preliminary results were presented in the
following Astronomer's Telegram:
http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=6413
================
New SALT Website
================
We are pleased to announce that the SALT web site has been given
an overhaul and that it is now officially available for everyone
to see. Some highlights include a new design, addition of
interactive elements including recent observations, and an
updated site for astronomers. Please check out the new websites
here:
The new website was set up through the hard work of Briehan
Lombaard, Paul Kotze, and Christian Hettlage at SAAO/SALT along
with contributions from many others. The graphic design work was
done by Joni-Leigh Doran. Besides web design, she also does fine
art and illustrations. You can check out her work on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/DesignerJoni
===============
RSS Maintenance
===============
RSS will be taken down Tuesday, Sept 9 for a major optical
cleaning procedure with the goal to significantly improve the
performances of the instrument. With the instrument off the
telescope, throughput measurements of the major optical
assemblies will be performed as well. The total downtime is
currently expected to be between 4 and 6 weeks.
A command line script for extracting a single order to allow
estimates of the quality of data has been running at the
telescope and we have made it available to the general community
to help with assessing the quality of their observations. It can
be downloaded from here:
http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/versions/quickhrs_beta.tar.gz
Please see the README for more details on usage. The only
requirements are some additional python libraries that can be
installed via pip or other standard installation packages.
A prototype of a science reduction pipeline will be available
soon. The code will be uploaded to the following repository soon
if you would like a preview or to help contribute:
https://github.com/saltastro/pyhrs
================
BVIT back on Sky
================
Following upgrades of the BVIT computer by the Berkeley group led
by Barry Welsh and ably supported by SALT Tech Ops and Marissa
Kotze, the instrument is back on sky. Some on-sky tests confirmed
to was all working nominally. Several observing programs
utilizing it are planned over the coming months and possibly into
semester 2014-2.
=======
RSS NIR
=======
There has been good progress on the RSS near IR arm development,
particularly with the detector optimization work. The science
grade Hawaii 2RG array is expected to be installed in the
cryostat in the coming months following tests and control
parameter tweaking on the bare MUX device, currently
installed. The pre-dewar cooling design work is near completion
and RFPs are about to be released. The instrument is on track for
delivery later in 2015, in time for installation following the
tracker upgrade completion at the end of 2015.
====
SAMS
====
After a significant delay in the first phase of the edge sensor
project, necessitated by the need for more thorough testing than
originally anticipated, plus some design minor modifications, the
first set of sensors are about to be installed on the central 7
segments (the so-called sub array). This will be followed by a
commissioning period on the telescope, expected to be completed
in a couple of months, depending on how co-operative the weather
is during that time. Apart from several nights of engineering
time required during this period, the SAMS commissioning is
expected to have little impact on normal nighttime science
activities. The vast majority of the remaining 480 sensors (plus
spares) will be delivered over the next year or so.
============================
SALT Science Conference 2015
============================
A heads-up for the next SALT Science meeting: this will be held
in the week of 1-5 June 2015 at the STIAS conference venue in
Stellenbosch, some 40 km from Cape Town. This will follow the
SALT Board meeting held the previous week in Cape Town. More
details on this will be released over the coming months.
2014.07.02
SALT Call for Proposals for 2014-2
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to inform you that we are now accepting SALT Phase 1
proposals for the period 01 Nov. 2014 - 30 April 2015 (2014 Semester 2)
The Phase 1 proposal deadline will be 01 August 2013 at 18:00
SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
Please note that this proposal call is for SALTICAM, BVIT, HRS, and RSS,
but with some modes, such as Fabry-Perot HR and HRS,
still on a "best efforts" basis (i.e. no guarantees regarding
performance or completion), or not available at all. In particular,
we will not accept polarimetric proposals, although it may be
possible that we'll reactivate previous polarimetric commissioning
proposals later in the semester should this mode becomes available.
In addition to normal and long term proposals, investigators can also
submit Partnership Proposals for Key Science. Partnership Proposals for
Key Science are proposals for high impact science that will benefit
from a concentrated effort from the larger consortium. These
proposals can be for up to 10% (~80 hours) of the time available per
semester and up to four semesters. For more details about Partnership
Proposals for Key Science, please see the Call for Proposals.
We have updated the comprehensive information document for all
proposers with the current performance status of the telescope and
instruments. In addition, the PIPT and Simulation Tools have also been
revised. Additional information and links to relevant webpages or documents
are also included to assist proposers in writing their Phase 1 applications.
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal
Tool (PIPT). Instructions, software, and other information about
proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website.
All questions regarding this proposal call should be address to:
salthelp(at)salt.ac.za
Sincerely,
Astronomy Operations
2014.07.02
SALT Status Updates for July 2014
============================================================
Cephieds on the far side of the Milky Way: SALT Nature Paper
============================================================
=====================================
Partnership Proposals for Key Science
=====================================
Partnership Proposals for Key Science will be offered starting in the
2014-1 semester. In the first semester, up to 10% of the time (80
hours per semester) will be available for key programmes. Full
details will be given in the call for proposals, but these proposal
should be for programs that will benefit from a concentrated
effort from the large consortium for important science. Please
see the Call for Proposals for more details!
==================
Maintenance on RSS
==================
While measuring the throughput of the RSS in April, visual inspection
of the collimator optics indicated a degradation in the lens fluid and
seals around some of the optical groups, and a fluid leakage, which
was subsequently fixed. RSS will be removed from the telescope for
further inspection and a thorough analysis of the state of the optical
train. While down, quantitative measurements of the throughput of all
the RSS optics will be performed and replacement of lens fluid maybe
also be attempted. The instrument will be taken down from the
telescope in late-july for an estimated period of 4 weeks. During
this time, the instrument will remain in Sutherland and science
programs will continue with HRS and SALTICAM.
=========================
SALT Board Meeting at UNC
=========================
The SALT board meeting was held at the University of North Carolina at
the beginning of June. Lisa Crause presented some of the
commissioning results from HRS, updates were given about different
upgrades currently underway at SALT, highlights of various education
and public outreach programs were given, and a number of new science
results were presented by the partners. For these and more
presentations, please see:
http://saltastro.blogspot.ca/2014/06/salt-board-and-science-day-at-unc.html
====================
BVITS Current Status
====================
The Berkeley Visible Image Tube, a SALT visitor instrument, has been
out of action since April, apparently with a computer
malfunction. This will be attended to by UC Berkeley over the coming
few months, so it is expected to be available for 2014-2 programs. One
successful observation conducted in Jan detected the 53 millisec
optical pulsations of the LMC pulsar, PSR B0540-69 (see
http://saltastro.blogspot.com/2014/03/optical-pulses-detected-by-bvit-of.html )
====
SAMS
====
Good progress has been made with the new mirror edge sensors program,
SAMS, with successful completion of the first phase of the acceptance
tests for Phase 1 completed in March in France. All the hardware for the
Phase 1 system, namely 24 sensor pairs for controlling a 7-segment
subarray of mirrors, have been received and are undergoing final tests
in Cape Town before installation on SALT begins, expected to start in
late-June/early-July.
In Loubser 2014
(http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.1822)
SALT long-slit
spectroscopy is used to fit complex star formation histories to a
small sample of central cluster galaxies. Most of the galaxies contain
a small component of young stars, and the high signal-to-noise data
makes it possible to quantify the contribution of these young
stars. Contrary to popular belief, a 'blue' brightest cluster galaxy
is not necessarily associated with a cooling-flow cluster.
Brent Miszalski (RSA) and collaborators used SALT to obtain RSS
spectroscopy of a newly discovered close binary central star of a
planetary nebula Hen 2-11. The SALT spectrum confirmed the eclipsing
binary is the hot central star of the planetary nebula and provided
some standard measurements of other nebular quantities. The central
star is a hot pre-white dwarf with a main sequence companion in a
0.609 day orbit. Binaries like these are thought to strongly influence
the shape of their planetary nebulae. For more details, please see the
paper by D. Jones et al. 2014, A&A, 562, A89;
http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.1358
Brent Miszalski (RSA) and Joanna Mikolajewska (POL) have used SALT RSS
to discover 12 new symbiotic stars in the Southern Galactic
Plane. Symbiotic stars are interacting binaries that are strong
candidates for type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) progenitors, however the
Galactic population is not well characterised. Their ongoing SALT
program observed several Halpha emission line candidates selected from
the AAO/UKST SuperCOSMOS Halpha Survey and 2MASS. It aims to build an
improved census of Galactic symbiotic stars, of which less than 300
are currently known. A particularly exciting result is that one of the
new discoveries exhibits [Fe X] 6375 A emission, making it a supersoft
X-ray source candidate. Supersoft sources are intimately linked to SN
Ia progenitors since they are steadily burning hydrogen on the white
dwarf. An appendix also lists several other new Halpha emission line
objects such as B[e]/Be stars, a Wolf-Rayet star and planetary
nebulae. Several more discoveries are anticipated as the survey
progresses. For more details, please see the paper by B. Miszalski &
J. Mikolajewska 2014, MNRAS, in press;
http://arxiv.org/abs/1311.0797
In January the first successful SALT BVIT observations of rapid
optical pulsations from a pulsar were reported by Sarah Buchner
(HartRAO) and her collaborators. BVIT was used in order to measure
the 50.7 millisecond spin period of PSR B0540-69. For more details
see:
http://saltastro.blogspot.com/2014/03/optical-pulses-detected-by-bvit-of.html
====================
HRS Calibration Data
====================
Lisa Crause has provided the existing HRS calibration data at:
http://hrscal.salt.ac.za/.
The full set of biases, calsys arcs, calsys
flats, and sky flats (as well as a few darks) from November through to
March are now available at that webiste. The page does require the
user to login using their Web Manager User Name and password.
=================================
New SALT Astronomer: Eric Depagne
=================================
Eric Depagne has started as the new SALT Astronomer. He arrived in
Cape Town in late February, coming from Germany. Before Germany, he
spent 3.5 years in California as a postdoc, and the 4 years before
that working as a support astronomer at ESO in Chile. He is a high
resolution spectroscopist whose science revolves around metal poor
stars, nucleosynthesis, and galactic chemical evolution. He also a
keen interest in instrumentation. He was the project engineer at the
Leibniz-Institut for Astrophysics in Potsdam, for a multi-object
spectrograph that will be installed on VISTA in 2019. He has built the
first prototype of a Medium Resolution Spectrograph for LCOGT. The
final version of which will be installed in Sutherland.
==========================
Updates to the PIPT and WM
==========================
The latest version of the PIPT (3.2) is required for accessing and
submitting phase 2 proposals for the 2014-1 semester.
If you are following the SALT blog on
http://saltastro.blogspot.com,
you may have noticed that recently brief science summaries were added
to the list of observed proposals. As of the 2014-1 semester, PIs are
required to supply these summaries, and the latest PIPT offers a text
field for this.
It might be worth noting that even if your proposal has been awarded
time for more than one semester, the PIPT will only display the times
for the current semester. You may find the time allocation for other
semesters in the Web Manager, though.
Version 3.3 of the PIPT, to be released very soon, will asume shorter
overheads for arcs and flats. While this might make updating
attractive, you can still create and submit your proposals with
version 3.2.
The Web Manager time allocation page for TAC members has been
overhauled and made for user-friendly. Suggestions for further
improvement are very welcome, of course.
================
New SALT website
================
The design for the new SALT homepage has been finalised, and Briehan
Lombaard, the SAAO's new web developer, is working on the site. Apart
from a complete overhaul of the look-and-feel, you may expect new
features like a live feed of what observations are being taken at the
telescope.
============
PySALT v0.47
============
The next version of PySALT has now been released. In addition to a
number of bug fixes, this version includes updates to the specred
package for improved wavelength identification and spectroscopic
reductions, improvements to the masktool, and the first version of
basic ccd reduction tools for HRS. The HRS tools are still in
development though. The package is available
here:http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/