This will be the last SALT status update for 2013. Good luck for your
2014-1 proposals (deadline 31 Jan 2014 at 16:00 UT)! Best wished for
a very happy, and productive, 2014!
Patel et al. included a SALT spectrum in their study of supernovae
discovered as part of the HST CLASH program. Along with spectra from
other telescopes, the SALT spectra helped identified the redshift of
the faint host galaxy for one of the supernovae at
z=1.14.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1312.0943v1.pdf
Tofflemire et al. used SALT spectra combined with X-ray observations
to help determine the nature of T Pix from spectra taken almost 2
years after the outburst.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1311.2893v1.pdf
Gvaramadze et al. used SALT RSS spectra to study arc-like nebula
around the late M-type star IRC-10414. SALT spectroscopic follow-up
showed that the nebula is the result of shock excitation. This is the
third case of a bow-shock-producing RSG (red super giants) and the
first one with a bow shock visible at optical wavelengths.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1310.2245v2.pdf
Kilkenny et al. used BVIT observations to search for p-mode
oscillations in white dwarf starts. Although they were able to
recover known g-mode oscillations, no evidence for p-mode observations
were observed down to 1 mmag.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/doi/10.1093/mnras/stt2029
SALT's long-awaited High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS) arrived in
South Africa at the end of August. The shipping container and
multitude of air-freight crates were delivered to Sutherland at the
start of September and the instrument team busied themselves for the
next three weeks with the extensive re-assembly process. First light
was achieved on 28 September 2013 and the commissioning team has since
been taking data on a regular basis. All of the instrument's modes
have now been commissioned successfully and spectra have already been
obtained for 13 of the 19 HRS Science Verification (SV) programmes.
Commissioning data are still being analysed and we eagerly await
whatever feedback SV PI's have to offer. SV observations will resume
in mid-January and are due to continue through March. Work on the HRS
Quick-Look software and data pipeline is ongoing and the new
astronomer-level GUI for running HRS is due to be delivered in
February. See the SALT Astro blog for numerous HRS posts throughout
September and a couple scattered through October to December.
======================
SALT VODAS
======================
The SALT virtual observatory data archive service is now available!
VODAS allows the user to search the SALT data archive for all publicly
available SALT data. This includes data from all commissioning
proposals included HRS, all calibration data taken for SALT, and data
from any proposal past its proprietary period. VODAs was created in a
joint collaboration between SAAO and IUCAA. Users can access VODAS
here: http://vodas.salt.ac.za/
======================
SALT in the News
======================
Here are some recent highlights of SALT appearing in the news:
======================================
Updates for the 2014-1 Proposal Cycle
======================================
The two most significant updates for the 2014-1 proposal cycle is the
availability of long term proposal status and the availability of
director discretionary time. However, there have also been a number
of smaller changes that users may find helpful. For the full details,
please see the call for proposals, but here is a list of most relevant
changes since the last semester:
* For the new information on HRS see Section 8.
* The BVIT iris has been closed slightly, again, reducing the field of
view. This change was made to lower overall background counts and
allow higher flux for fainter targets. See Section 9 for details.
* The finder chart tool is being updated to allow plotting of
non-sidereal targets. We expect that it will be fully operational
during the upcoming semester.
* Subtraction of a master bias frame for faint/slow mode on RSS is now
suggested. As such, bias frames for faint/slow mode are now part of
the default calibration and the pipeline will start applying them
during 2014-1.
We would like to inform you that we are now accepting SALT Phase 1
proposals for the period 01 May 2014 - 31 October 2014 (2014 Semester 1)
The Phase 1 proposal deadline will be 31 January 2014 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.
For this next semester, there are two types of new proposals:
* Longterm status: Allocations spanning multiple semesters can now be
requested when proposing for time.
* Director's Discretionary Time: DDT proposals will be accepted at any time
throughout the semester (and are also available for 2013-2).
For more details, please see the Call for Proposals (link below).
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
2013.09.30
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Phase II proposals are due 15 October and no late proposals are
accepted. If you have a ToO proposal with unknown targets, you still
must submit your phase II with dummy targets.
=================
HRS First Light
=================
The team from Durham and SALT Tech Ops have been busy in Sutherland
re-assembling HRS and integrating the telescope with the rest of the
instrument. The instrument saw first light on Saturday, 28 Sept and
Lisa Crause shares all the details on the SALT Astronomy Blog:
http://saltastro.blogspot.com/2013/09/hrs-first-light.html
It's great to see a plethora of new SALT papers come out over the last
two months with papers from South Africa, UK Salt Consortium, Poland,
and Dartmouth:
B. Miszalski use SALT observations to study a barium star in the
planetary nebula Hen 2-39. Classical barium stars are binary systems
which consist of a late-type giant enriched in carbon and slow neutron
capture (s-process) elements and an evolved white dwarf (WD) that is
invisible at optical wavelengths. For more details, see:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013arXiv1309.5239M
SALT observation of 1SWASP J234401.81-212229.1 by M. Lohr et al. have
only deepened the mystery about this variable star with a period of
18461.6 seconds. The SALT observations did not support an
interpretation of an eclipsing binary, but the possibilities of a
multiple star system is the most likely explanation for the
variability. For more details:
http://uk.arxiv.org/abs/1309.1666
Hryniewicz et al. submitted their first paper on high redshift QSO's
looking at the variability in the Mg II and Fe II components of the
spectra. They find both components vary in time but the shape does
not change significantly. For more details, please see:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013arXiv1308.3980H
C. Koen et al. used SALT long slit spectrum to classify UNSW-V-760, a
known variable star, with a spectral type of K3 IV-Vk. The star shows
an excess of Lithium as well very rapid rotation, but the excitation
mechanism for the pulsations remains to be found.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/doi/10.1093/mnras/stt1478
L. Catala et al. reported on the first year of site monitoring data at
Sutherland. In the first year, the overall median seeing value is
found to be 1.32" at ground level. Using a DIMM, MASS, and SLODAR
instrumentation, they were able to construct the overall atmospheric
profile for the site. For more details, please see:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013arXiv1308.5456C
====================
SALT AGN in the News
====================
A recent news article highlighted the work of Ryan Hickox and Kevin
Hainline from Dartmouth to study AGN using SALT:
http://now.dartmouth.edu/...
And here's the link to the full paper on how they used SALT to measure
the sizes of narrow line regions around obscured AGN:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.5852
===========
PySALT 0.45
===========
We are happy to announce the release of PySALT v0.45. This version
includes several improvements to the saltspec and saltred packages The
specidentify now includes better line identification and automation.
All the major tasks in the saltred package now work with variance and
bad pixel frames and will properly propagate the errors through the
reductions. Finally, the source code is now hosted on github.
====================
New PIPT and Manual
====================
Before starting your phase 2 proposal for the 2013-2 semester, please
ensure that you've downloaded version 3.0.3 of the PIPT. Otherwise you
will get the somewhat cryptical eror "Cannot convert element".
The SALT web site now also has a PIPT help page, which can be accessed
at
http://salt4scientist.salt.ac.za/pipt/pipt-help/.
Most notably this
help page contains a link to the new PIPT manual, which is currently
being written. Content for this manual will be published as it becomes
available. If you are missing something in the manual and need it for
completing your proposal, please don't hesitate to send an email to
salthelp@saao.ac.za.
===============
Fringing report
===============
Petri Vaisanen has produced a new report on fringing in RSS data. He
finds a good correction can be done using calibration screen flat
fields taken together with the dataset, but for the best fringe (and
sky) removal multiple frames with offsets along the slit, dithering,
is required. The latter would be necessary for diffuse and faint
sources while flats only are needed for bright objects. The full
report is on the Science Wiki.
https://sciencewiki.salt.ac.za/.../SALT_RSS_fringing.pdf
2013.07.31
With the deadline for SALT proposals approaching (1 August 2013 at
18:00 SAST (16:00 UT)), here are some important updates.
=================================
Wrong RSS Simulator in PIPT 3.0.0
=================================
Please avoid using the "View" button for instrument simulations in
version 3.0.0 of the PIPT - it launches an RSS Simulator with a known
bug that gives erroneous results for the PG1300 grating. The bug is
fixed in version 3.0.1 of the PIPT, which you may download from
No stand-alone version of the RSS Simulator is affected by this bug,
but you are nonetheless encouraged to download and use the latest RSS
Simulator version (4.0.0). It is available from
============================================
Titles in the previous proposal information
============================================
If you are submitting a proposal for which you aren't the PI, you may
face the problem that you need to submit previous proposal
information, but you cannot add the titles. The solution is to use the
latest version of the PIPT (3.0.1), which is available at
If you are the PI for the proposal, you can just use the "Get info
from server" button.
======================
Last minute questions
======================
If you have any last minute questions please don't hesitate to send an
email to salthelp@salt.ac.za.
In case your question is specific to
your proposal, it is a good idea to export the proposal as a zip file
(there is a menu item for that in the File menu of the PIPT) and to
attach the zip file to your email.
2013.07.23
Status teleskopu SALT w lipcu 2013
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Lots and lots of updates in this SALT Status Update for July! Quick
reminder that 2013-2 proposals are due on 1 August and HRS science
verification proposals are due on 15 August. Please see
http://salt4scientist.salt.ac.za/ for more details.
Strum et al. included SALT observations of their study of the
interesting X-ray binary SXP 1062. The neutron star in this source
has a large spin rate and spin down rate, and this makes it an
interesting candidate to study accretion physics. Comparing the
properties of the SALT spectrum to previous observations indicated an
increasing size or density to the disc around the star. For more
details, please see:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.6022
=======================
SALT Astronomer Vacancy
=======================
A new SALT astronomer position is currently being advertised following
Tim Pickering's resignation to take up a position at STScI. The
deadline for applications is 31 August and for more details, please
see:
http://www.saao.ac.za/salt-astronomer/
=======================
SALT Talks
=======================
There have been a wide range of talks given about SALT recently. Here
are links to some of them:
Lisa Crause's updates on the HRS and Collimator upgrade (lots of
pictures): http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/talks/SALT_Spectrographs.pdf
Steve Crawford's talk to the ThunderKATs group (with audio recording
of the talk):
http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/talks/salt_thundercat_20130711.mov
If you have given a talk recently about SALT or your SALT observations
and you would like us to host a copy, please let us know about it at
salthelp@salt.ac.za.
=======================
SALT HRS Update
=======================
At the end of this week the HRS is being shipped to SALT following its
dismantling after the last finishing touches and testing. Although the
throughput measurements in the lab were not as straightforward to do
as anticipated, the results seem to indicate values fairly close to
the predictions. One task completed just before disassembly was the
gluing of small thin anti-reflection coated glass disks to the fibre
inputs, to improve throughput and focal ratio degradation and mitigate
against dust. With the High Resolution Spectrograph's imminent
migration from Durham to Sutherland, there has been a wide range of
activities in preparation for it. Please see Lisa Crause's blog posts
to get all of the updates including first light for the fibre feed!
As a reminder, the call for HRS science verification proposals closes
on 15 Aug (see
http://salt4scientist.salt.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/SALTHRS-SV-Call.pdf).
Due to a combination of factors, the factory acceptance testing of the
first batch of edge sensors has had to be postponed from mid-July to
late September. The encouraging news is that the behaviour of all the
sensors tested to date, in terms of temperature and humidity
insensitivity, is within specification. The first subarray tests (the
7 central segments) are now due to begin in the latter part of the
year.
============================
Abstracts for SALT Proposals
============================
Interested in what science other partners are doing? SALT abstracts
are now available via the WebManager for all members of the SALT
consortium. Click on the 'Abstract' tab in the WM menu to access the
abstracts for the last three semesters.
============================
Data Downloads
============================
Principle contacts for a proposal can now request to download data of
past observations as well as observations of spectrophotometric
standard stars from the WebManager. From the 'Summary of executed
observations' table on the proposal page, check the box for 'Request
data' or 'Request spectrophotometric standards', click on submit, and
the data should be staged for you to download within 24 hours. The
principle contact will receive an email with the link to the data as
soon as it is ready for you to access.
To improve the performance of the RSS, the zeropoint for the
articulation angle will be reset for the 2013-2 Semester. This should
result in an increase in the throughput for observations done in
littrow, however, this will result in the predicted wavelength of the
observations shifting. This change will only come into effect on 1
November for the 2013-2 semester, but please use the most recent
version of the RSS simulator (v4.0) for the most up to date
simulations.
===============================
Analysis of Velocity Stability
===============================
=============================
Director's Discretionary Time
=============================
At the last board meeting, the Board decided to allocate 5 hours of
discretionary time to the SALT Science Operations Manager (David
Buckley) starting in 2013-2. Details of how this will be managed
still need to be finalized by the SSC, but if you are interested in
applying for this time at some point, please contact
salthelp@salt.ac.za.
Want to help improve the quality of the SALT website? Please take a
moment to complete the following questionnaire by August 1 and
provides some insight on how we are doing:
http://salt4scientist.salt.ac.za/salt-website-questionnaire-2013/
2013.07.06
Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na 2 semestr 2013 roku
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to inform you that we are now accepting SALT Phase 1
proposals for the period 01 Nov. 2013 - 30 April 2014 (2013 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.
*******************************************************************
SALT HRS science verification proposals are solicited, with the call
opening on 1 July 2013 and a deadline for applications by 15 August 2013.
A simulation tool for HRS is also available.
HRS science proposals may be submitted for targets viewable in
2013-2. Since there is no on-sky HRS data at the time of this call,
these observations will be undertaken solely on a best-efforts basis.
*******************************************************************
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,
David Buckley.
SALT Astronomy Operations Manager
on behalf of the SALT Astronomy Operations Team
2013.07.01
Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych służących do weryfikacji spektrografu wysokiej rozdzielczości.
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
The announcment will also appear on the SALT "astronomers" page
(http://salt4scientist.salt.ac.za/)
by the time of the call opening on 1
July. At the same time the HRS simulation & PIPT tools will be available for
submission of SV proposals (and 2013-2 proposals).
HRS completed most of its ATP tests as scheduled on 3 & 4 June, but there
are still a number of smaller tasks needed to complete before shipping,
which is now expected to be within a matter of weeks. One such task is
attempting throughput measurements (with calibrated diodes).
which is underway, but its unclear if a particularly meaningful answer will
eventuate before the instrument is disassembled and shipped. So we will most
likely only have these measured reliably once on-sky in August. However, as
stated in the attached document, the simulation tool has incorporated many
actual performance numbers (lab measurement) and includes factors to account
for current uncertainties over the fibre injection efficiency and telescope
delivered image quality.
Apart from the uncharged SV time to begin this semester (late in 2013-1,
extending into 2013-2), we will also be accepting charged HRS proposals for
the 2013-2 semester (i.e. from 1 Nov - 30 Apr), on a *best
efforts* basis, since at the time of the proposal deadline (1 August), we
will not have actual on-sky performance numbers at hand. Since the community
are keen to access HRS at the earliest possibility, this approach should
satisfy this desire, I hope.
Finally, next week we will be issuing the call for Phase 1 proposals for
2013-2 semester, with the deadline of 1 August. The usual pre-call
information document will be updated accordingly, including with HRS
information (from the attached document), ahead of the call.
Kniazev et al. (RSA) reported SALT observations of the third closest
star to the Solar System: the brown dwarf pair known as WISE
J104915.57-531906.1. These observations spectroscopically confirm the
binary nature of the system through measurements of the radial
velocity of both components, which indicate that they are a
gravitationally bound system. For more details, please see:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1303.7171
Brent Miszalski (RSA), Joanna Mikolajewska (Pol), and Andrzej Udalski
(Pol) use SALT spectra of a high density (symbiotic-like) nucleus of
the planetary nebula K2-17 to indicate that a binary system might be
present. This discovery adds to a handful of other similar systems
presented in this paper and elsewhere whose nature is poorly
understood at present. For more details, please see:
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1305.4863v1.pdf
Childress et al. include a SALT spectrum in their 65 spectroscopic
observations of a luminous Type Ia supernova. In this work, done in
collaboration with Saurabh Jha (RU) and Curtis McCully (RU), the
spectra show clear evidence for high velocity features at early
times. The SALT spectrum was obtained 14 days before maximum and is
the second earliest spectra by only a few hours. The observations
were obtained only 5 hours after the target was submitted to the
queue. For more details, please see: http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.2926
===============
HRS First Light
===============
First light in the laboratory for the High Resolution Spectrograph's
red and blue arms was achieved during May. HRS is expected to go
through pre-ship testing at the beginning of June and then be shipped
to South Africa where integration with the telescope is expected to
commence in August. Keep an eye on the SALT blog for more details of
the HRS commissioning!
An example of the first images can be seen here:
http://saltastro.blogspot.com/2013/05/high-resolution-spectrograph-red-arm.html
===============
SALTICAM Update
===============
On May 10, SALTICAM was re-installed on the telescope and has been
functioning as the acquisition camera since then. Preliminary tests
of the throughput and image quality indicate that SALTICAM has similar
performance to when it was previously installed, however further tests
are needed to confirm that it is still performing to specification.
Further results will be reported on the SALT wiki as they become
available and the SALT Astronomy blog.
==============================
Upgrade to the RSS Collimator
==============================
Work is currently underway to replace the RSS collimator, which has
been the source of the lower than expected throughput on RSS. Ockert
Strydom, SALT Mechanical Engineer, and his team are currently in the
processes of procuring an upgrade for the RSS collimator. The new
collimator would include a new design that does not include the old
problematic coupling fluid. The current schedule sees the old
collimator being replaced in January 2014 and that should result in a
significant increase in the throughput of the system.
============
PySALT v0.42
============
We are pleased to announce the release of PySALT v0.42. The latest
version of the software includes a number of improvements to the basic
reduction package, a wide range of bug fixes, improved installation of
the Fabry-Perot package, and the introduction MOS reductions to the
SALTSPEC package. Please see the RELEASE NOTES for the full update of
the package. The new package can be download from the PySALT user
page: http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/
2013.04.17
Status teleskopu SALT w kwietniu 2013
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
======================
Tips for Investigators
======================
The following guidelines should be followed by investigators to
maximize their chance of proposal completeness:
1. To maximize the probability of being observed, in any priority, PIs
should make block lengths the average time of tracks and not the
maximum time of tracks, if at all possible. (See TTT syndrome for more
details).
2. PIs should relax their observing constraints as much as
possible. *This is especially true for lower priority blocks.*
3. If the science allows it, submitting a large set optional of
targets in a wide range of RAs will significantly improve the chances
of getting observations. This is best and easiest done by making
maximum use of Pools, and already defining the targets in
Phase-1. One can also add new targets (only allowed for same science
and after approval from TAC and Ast Ops) if their target has gone out
of season.
4. Setups for P4 proposals should be limited to one configuration.
More informaiton can be found on the Phase II tips and tricks page:
http://salt4scientist.salt.ac.za/tips-and-tricks/
===========================
Watch out for TTT-Syndrome!
===========================
TTT (Too Tight Tracks) syndrome affects a large percentage of
observing blocks currently in the queue. The symptoms are blocks that
require observations which are too close to their maximum track
times. Generally this is due to an overzealous PI's effort at
maximizing scientific return from TAC time allocations by minimizing
time spent on overheads (especially expensive acquisitions). However,
if a block has TTT syndrome, it means we can only observe it if we
happen to be ready to point to a new target within a very short
(minutes) window of the start of its visibility window - if we are
not, it will have to wait until the next window. Add to this
limitation some Moon constraints, and TTT-blocks can quickly go out of
season without having been observed/completed. TTT-syndrome is a very
serious problem that can lead to severe constraints to the flow of
data to the PI and, ultimately, research project death. The good
news, however, is that there are preventative measures that can be
taken to ensure healthy observing blocks. Firstly, Dr. PIPT will give
a warning if a block requires more than 90% of its maximum track time.
Secondly, the problem needs to be understood. We strongly suggest PIs
load a few representative blocks into the visibility calculator
(version 3.8 or later) and select the first tab, entitled 'track
length' (see http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/SALT/tracks.jpeg). This tab displays
the maximum track time at for a target any given time during the
selected night. It is important to note that there are many different
track shapes, depending on the Dec of the object, and they are not
necessarily symmetric. With these plots in mind, PIs can then easily
optimize their block observing time so as to maximize scientific
output while minimizing the chances of TTT.
===============
SALTICAM Update
===============
Regrettably, during the lab testing in mid-Feb, the SALTICAM optics
were subjected to condensation, potentially compromising SALTICAM's
ability to do science due to potential degradation of the
anti-reflection coatings (still to be quantified). SALTICAM will be
returned to the telescope as soon as possible, probably by late
April/early May, to conduct tests, including throughput. Should it
prove that indeed the instrument is so compromised that it cannot
undertake the approved science programs, then we will offer RSS as a
surrogate imager in its plane, until such time as the SALTICAM optics
are repaired or replaced. This will mean that the existing SALTICAM
science functions can be carried out with RSS in imaging mode. To
allow for this we are modifying 6 spare RSS filter holders to allow
them to take the different size and shape SALTICAM filters. While RSS
was never designed to support broadband imaging (due to lateral colour
effects), we believe that in the most part there will be no
significant degradation in delivered image quality, particularly for
the Stroemgren filters due to the better matching of thickness (7.5
mm) to the narrow band RSS filters (8 mm). We therefore allow for the
option for approved SALTICAM programs to be carried out with RSS. Of
course the efficiency of such programs will be less than for SALTICAM
due in part to the different instrument design (which has more optical
elements), but mainly due to the current RSS low throughput issues.
We have still to complete definitive image quality tests on RSS using
the SALTICAM filters, to confirm our predictions, which requires
(rare) good seeing. Likewise we will need to determine the optimal
focus positions for each filter, since focus is expected to be more
wavelength dependent. In addition, because the the Sloan and
Johnson-Cousins filters are thinner (5 mm), then the telescope will
need to be re-focused to achieve good focus on the detector. This will
mean that the guidance images will be out of focus, which could
compromise the guiding performance, so requiring short (< few minute)
exposures.
All of the other SALTICAM modes (Frame Transfer and Slotmode imaging)
are also supported on RSS. We expect to make changes to the PIPT
shortly (in a week or so) to allow for the SALTICAM filters to be
selected for use in RSS. In the meantime, for submission of 2013-1
programs, PIs should indicate their desired filters in the notes to
the observers.
2013.03.02
Status teleskopu SALT w marcu 2013
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
======================================================
Discovery of Rare Central Star for a Planetary Nebulae
======================================================
From the SALT RSS spectrum of the planetary nebulae Abell 48, H. Todt
and collaborators discover that the central star is a [WN] type
instead of the more usual [WC] type. This is only the third PN
discovered with this type of central star. The paper is now in press
and more details can be found here:
http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/02/07/mnras.stt056
==========================
SALT catches stellar flare
==========================
High Speed spectroscopic observations for Ben Brown at University of
Wisconsin caught YZ CMi going through a flare back in Jan 2012. They
have turned the spectra into a movie where you can watch how the
spectra changes over the course of an hour:
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~bpbrown/Movies/SALT_megaflare_movie_spectra_v2.mov
Look for the exciting science result to be published soon!
The TACs are currently deliberating on their allocations for 2013-1
semester, but in the end, we saw 110 proposals submitted asking for a
total of 1789.1 hours from an available 968.2 hours for the semester.
This resulted in a total over-subscription rate of 1.85, although the
subscription rate does vary between the individual partners. Further
details of the proposal process will be posted on the saltastro blog.
==============================
Changes to Proposal Management
==============================
As of now, all PIs can unfinalize their proposal in the Web Manager.
So PIs no longer need to request to have their proposal unfinalized
when they want to update their proposals. The proposal will still go
through technical review by their liaison SA, so PI's should monitor
it to make sure the proposal is re-activated and added to the queue.
Commissioning observations commenced for visitor instrument BVIT (the
Berkeley Visible Imaging Tube; http://bvit.ssl.berkeley.edu/) during
the week of 12-20 February 2013. The BVIT PI, Barry Welsh, worked at
the telescope with SALT astronomer Amanda Gulbis and postdoc Marissa
Kotze. The instrument had been dormant since November 2012, when the
refurbished and upgraded hardware were tested and verified. Since
then, nine commissioning proposals were received requesting a total of
33 hours. Projects range from exoplanet transits to cataclysmic
systems to pulsars. The start of commissioning observations was
successful, with good data quality and no significant issues. BVIT is
open for science proposals from semester 2013-1.
==================
SALTICAM Status
==================
Work has continued with the SALTICAM modifications and has progressed
to full environmental testing in the cold room, involving a range of
temperatures. Unfortunately the schedule for completion has slipped
significantly, partly a result of the discovery of small particulate
contamination on the CCDs and cryostat windows. The contamination has
been removed, but SALTICAM is unlikely to return to the telescope
before 24 April 2013. For full details of the current status of
SALTICAM, please see:
https://sciencewiki.salt.ac.za/images_sciencewiki.salt.ac.za/b/b3/SALT-astops-BEC47.pdf
==================
HRS Status
==================
The High Resolution Spectrograph continues to make good progress and
is currently on schedule for pre-ship testing in Mid-April and arrival
at SALT in mid-June. The most recent milestone was first light for
the red arm. Mounting of the echelle grating and final optical
alignment are the last major tasks remaining before the pre-ship
testing. For more details, please see:
https://sciencewiki.salt.ac.za/images_sciencewiki.salt.ac.za/b/b3/SALT-astops-BEC47.pdf
Starting from March 1, PI's will have more options to download their
data and what data sets they receive. Users can still download their
tarball containing both the raw and reduced data or they can just
download the individual raw, reduced, and documentation data sets.
2013.01.22
Wnioski obserwacyjne na nowy instrument BVIT
Rozpocząłęło się przyjmowanie wniosków obserwacyjnych na okres próbny
dla instrumentu Berkeley Visible Image Tube camera (BVIT). Obserwacje
mają być przeprowadzone do końca drugiego semestru 2012
(do 30 kwietnia 2013 r.). Na ten cel zostało przeznaczone około
30 godzin obserwacji. Programy mają sprawdzić możliwości instrumentu
dla różnych, krótkich programów obserwacyjnych. Programy te nie będą obciążać
konta udziałowców SALT.
BVIT jest instrumentem zbudowanym w Space Science Laboratory
of the University of California-Berkeley. Jest to camera zliczająca fotony
w polu widzenia o rozmiarze około 1.9 minuty łuku. Charakteryzuje się
wysoką rozdzielczością czasową rzędu milisekund, a nawet mikrosekund.
Można wykonywać fotometrię w filtrach B, V, R oraz H-alfa, dla obiektów
o jasnościach od 12 do 20 magnitudo.
Wnioski należy składać w terminie do 10 lutego za pomocą PIPT
w części przeznaczonej dla 2 fazy aplikacji.
Oto oryginalna wiadomość na ten temat:
Dear Colleague,
We invite submissions of Berkeley Visible Image Tube camera (BVIT) science
commissioning programs to be carried out during the remainder of 2012 Semester
2 (i.e. up to 30 April 2013). A small allocation of time (~30h) is set aside
for this and the purpose is to exercise the instrument and to test its
performance on a variety of short programs. These programs will not be
charged.
BVIT is a visitor instrument built at the Space Science Laboratory of the
University of California-Berkeley. It is a photon-counting camera with a ~1.9
arcmin field of view, capable of very high time resolution (millisec or
microsec) photometry with a B, V, R or H-alpha filter. It can be used for
objects with magnitudes ranging from V~12-20.
Please note that BVIT does not provide high precision absolute photometry, but
by observing nearby standard stars a flux intensity relative precision of ~ 5%
can typically be obtained. Every detected photon is assigned a time of arrival
and a (x,y) position on the detector, which allows an observer a high degree
of post-acquisition data analysis flexibility.
Users should also be aware that the instrument does not have an autoguider,
although guidance checks can be done as needed by interrupting observations
for ~1 min. Typically we can observe without guidance corrections for up to
~50 min, depending on the object position.
Applications can be completed using the usual Phase 2 PIPT proposal form,
selecting the "commissioning" button. The scientific justification needs not
to be too detailed or lengthy and should simply summarize the particular
regime or aspect of the instrument that will be tested, and the type of target
to be observed and its parameters. The observing conditions and observation
details can be entered with the PIPT, as usual.
Proposals should ideally be submitted by 10 Feb and will be selected by the
BVIT instrument team, in conjunction with SALT Astronomy Operations, with
priority to those programs expanding the parameter space of the instrument.
Regards,
David Buckley
2013.01.14
Uchwała Polskiej Rady Użytkowników Teleskpu SALT
z dnia 22.10.2012
Mając na względzie efektywne wykorzystanie danych uzyskiwanych w ramach polskiego czasu
obserwacyjnego na teleskopie SALT Rada postanawia:
Obserwacje uzyskane w ramach normalnych jedno-semestralnych programów
stają się dostępne dla polskiej społeczności astronomicznej po upływie 12 miesiecy od zakończenia
danego semestru.
W przypadku programów wymagających obserwacji przez szereg semestrów kierownik projektu
może wystapić do Rady Użytkowników o nadanie programowi statusu długoterminowego. Taki status
może być nadawany programom wymagającym dłuższego moniotorowania z góry określonej grupy
obiektów lub realizacji programu typu przeglądowego. Chęć obserwowania przez szereg semestrów
obiektów podobnego typu nie musi oznaczać, że dany program zostanie uznany za długoterminowy.
W przypadku programów długoterminowych dane będą udostępniane polskiej społeczności po 18
miesiącach od zakończenia ostatniego semestru obserwacji.
Wszystkie obserwacje będą umieszczane w otwartej publicznej bazie danych po upływie 3 lat od
zakończenia ostatniego semestru obserwacji w ramach danego programu.