Konkurs wniosków na stypendia i wizyty SALT. Termin do 31 grudnia 2024 r.
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear All,
I hope this message finds you well.
As part of building on the successful SALT-Stobie Scholarship we are
organising research travel visits for South African students and
post-doctoral fellows to spend time at SALT partner institutes.
We request potential hosts at SALT partners submit a short description
of possible projects and research areas via this Google form:
https://forms.gle/mGnejYAHxuyZZYzP9
(please let me know if you don't
have a Google account or if there are issues with the form).
The list of possible projects will be sent out to South African students
and postdocs after the deadline (31 December 2024), candidates will then
contact potential hosts and submit applications for funding (the number
of calls each year will depend on the availability of funding. The first
deadline will likely be around the end of January).
Please advertise this call to potential hosts at your institutions
(details are provided on the form). There is no requirement for
committed funding or contribution from hosts (the final question on the
application form is simply to help us understand what might be
available).
Your contributions play a crucial role in inspiring and equipping the
next generation of scientists, and we sincerely appreciate your support
in this initiative. Should you have any questions or require further
details, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Fundacja SALT Foundation Pty. Ltd. (SALT), która zarządza teleskopem
SALT, poszukuje nowego, aktywnego członka Finance and Audit Committee
(FAC). FAC jest organem wewnątrz Fundacji, podlegającym Zarządowi,
którego celem jest doradzanie Zarządowi SALT w kwestiach finansowych i
administracyjnych, oraz przedstawianie Zarządowi rekomendacji do
zatwierdzenia lub podjęcia ostatecznej decyzji (więcej informacji w
załączonym dokumencie Terms of Reference). Zarząd SALT chętnie widziałby
w tej roli kogoś z Polski, tzn. osobę zatrudnioną w jednej z instytucji
należących do polskiego konsorcjum SALTa. Przypominam, że Polskie
konsorcjum ma ok 10% udział w fundacji SALT, co umożliwia nam nie tylko
dostęp do tego teleskopu, ale także możliwość aplikowania o czas na
mniejszych teleskopach, znajdujących się na terenie SAAO.
Osoba zainteresowana powinna mieć wcześniejsze doświadczenie w
zarządzaniu budżetem, nie musi mieć jednak wykształcenia ekonomicznego.
Nie musi być też zawodowym astronomem. Niestety, działalność ta nie
wiąże się z gratyfikacją finansową.
Jeśli ktoś z Państwa byłby skłonny podjąć się tej roli, lub wskazać
odpowiednią osobę, bardzo proszę o wysłanie maila do mnie i prof.
Gordona Bromage (gebromage (at) uclan.ac.uk). Szczegółowych odpowiedzi
odnośnie pracy FAC również może udzielić prof. Bromage.
Z poważaniem
Krzysztof Hełminiak
2024-09-06
SALT - wyniki naukowe
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Szanowne Koleżanki, szanowni Koledzy,
W nawiązaniu do wczorajszej dyskusji dotyczącej wyników naukowych z SALT
i SAAO, proszę, w miarę możliwości, o następujące informacje:
Publikacje recenzowane w których wykorzystane były dane z innych
teleskopów znajdujących się w SAAO (1.9m Radcliffe, 1.0m Elizabeth,
IRTF, Lesedi, etc.), o ile PI obserwacji był z Waszego instytutu, a
wniosek obserwacyjny był wysłany do afrykańskiego TACu (np. obserwacje z
LCO uzyskane przez OPTICON się nie liczą).
Prace dyplomowe (licencjackie, magisterskie, doktorskie), w których
wykorzystane były dane z teleskopu SALT, zebrane w ramach polskiego
czasu, w szczególności po roku 2021.
Prace dyplomowe, wykorzystujące dane z innych teleskopów SAAO (polski
PI, afrykański TAC).
Publikacje nierecenzowane (konferencyjne, telegramy, research notes)
wykorzystujące dane z SALT (polski czas) lub SAAO (polski PI, afrykański
TAC).
Wszelakie wystąpienia (konferencje, seminaria, wykłady popularne)
związane z tym co powyżej.
Oczywiście można też podsyłać informacje o publikacjach recenzowanych z
danymi SALT, ale te jest w miarę łatwo zidentyfikować w ADS po numerze
grantu.
Listą publikacji na polskiej stronie SALT zajmuje się Wojtek Pych
(cc-ed).
Co do terminu, to okazuje się, że pośpiechu nie ma. Powyższe informacje
będą potrzebne częściowo na spotkanie Boardu, a później do raportu
rocznego. Sprawdziłem umowę z Ministerstwem i finansowanie mamy
zapewnione do końca 2025, zatem teraz nie musimy się spinać i pisać
nowego wniosku. Myślę więc, że nie będzie potrzeby spotkania się w
listopadzie. Natomiast na pewno przypomnę się jeszcze odnośnie listy
publikacji.
pozdrawiam
Krzysztof Hełminiak
2024-09-03
[SALT eNews] Udostępnione dane spektroskopowe z RSS
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT Community,
We are pleased to announce that the RSS science data products for normal and frame transfer longslit spectroscopy exposures are now available! As of observation date 1 August 2024, these science data products have been included in the daily data distribution. Additionally, all normal and frame transfer longslit spectroscopy exposures dating back to semester 2015-1 (observation date 1 May 2015) have been reduced and are accessible to PIs.
The available products include:
2D wavelength calibrated and rectified reference (arc) exposures.
At minimum, 2D bad pixel replaced, cosmic ray cleaned, CCD gaps filled, wavelength calibrated, and rectified object exposures.
If the object exposures have accompanying flat field exposures (or if an archival set exists with the same instrument configuration), the object exposures will also be auto gain corrected* and flat-fielded.
*The electronics of the RSS CCDs may cause slight variations to the routinely obtained gain levels used for gain correction in the primary reduction. An auto-gain correction is applied to ameliorate any significant changes in gain levels.
---
Dr. Danièl N. Groenewald
Acting Head of SALT Astronomy Operations
South African Astronomical Observatory
1 Observatory Road, Observatory, 7925, Cape Town, South Africa
P.O. Box 9, Observatory, 7935, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: +27 21 200 6934
[SALT eNews] Grupa Użytkowników Zasobów Astronomicznych SALT (SUGAR)
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT Users,
As you may be aware, the SALT Users Group for Astronomical Resources (SUGAR) was established recently to provide an independent point of contact for users to raise requests, concerns, suggestions, or to provide feedback to the SALT Team. Areas that fall within our remit include: data quality, scientific performance, software bugs, SALT provided documentation or support issues. Requests for new software, or new features of existing software, can also be sent to SUGAR.
SUGAR is also responsible for soliciting input from users on scientific directions of upcoming instrumentation and telescope capabilities, when the time comes.
Users can contact SUGAR via the dedicated email address
sugar@salt.ac.za
or via the permanent Google form here:
https://forms.gle/79WbduuHzWhmr5pbA
The Google form is anonymous unless you provide your details.
We look forward to working with the SALT User community to help to improve the end user experience of SALT.
[SALT eNews] Termin składania wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2024-2
przedłużony do 2 sierpnia 2024 roku.
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT Community,
It has come to our attention that the 2024-2 proposal announcement email sent out in June did not reach some of our community members.
Due to this, we have decided to extend the proposal deadline to next Friday, August 2, 2024, at 18:00 SAST (16:00 UTC) .
Kind regards,
Danièl
---
Dr. Danièl N. Groenewald
Acting Head of SALT Astronomy Operations
South African Astronomical Observatory
1 Observatory Road, Observatory, 7925, Cape Town, South Africa
P.O. Box 9, Observatory, 7935, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: +27 21 200 6934
2024-07-24
[SALT eNews] Przypomnienie o terminie składania wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2024-2,
który upływa 26 lipca 2024 roku.
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT Community,
This is a reminder that the deadline for SALT proposals for the 2024-2 semester is this Friday , July 26 , 2024, at 18:00 SAST (16:00 UTC).
Please find the full announcement with relevant links below.
Additionally, we kindly ask PIs with accepted 2024-1 SALT proposals, to consider submitting more targets that are suitable for observation under poor weather conditions (thick clouds, high seeing constraints) and/or bright conditions.
The queue for these conditions is currently sparse. We remind PIs that P4 time for approved programs is free and unlimited, making it ideally suited for observing bright targets under poor weather conditions.
Kind regards,
Danièl
---
Dr. Danièl N. Groenewald
Acting Head of SALT Astronomy Operations
South African Astronomical Observatory
1 Observatory Road, Observatory, 7925, Cape Town, South Africa
P.O. Box 9, Observatory, 7935, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: +27 21 200 6934
2024-06-19
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2024-2
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 November 2024 - 30 April 2025 (2024 Semester 2).
The Phase 1 proposal
deadline is Friday, 26 July 2024, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS, HRS and NIRWALS. The new slitmask IFU for RSS will also be available. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals linked below, including changes from previous semesters.
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT) - please update to the latest version available on the website. Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website
(http://astronomers.salt.ac.za/).
Note also that the web manager will still ask for some user statistics, which the SAAO is required to capture for reporting purposes.
in both low as well as high resolution. As it was last year, we are not
able to send out hard copies, but feel free to pick up a copy either at the
library at the SAAO in Cape Town (they will delivered from the printers in
about 10-14 days), or at SALT exhibition booths of international conferences.
[SALT eNews] Ogłoszenie: inauguracyjne warsztaty pt. "Synergies in Non-Thermal Astrophysics in Southern Africa"
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear colleagues,
The inaugural workshop on `Synergies in Non-Thermal Astrophysics in Southern Africa’ will be held from 29/7/24 to 2/8/24 at the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen, Germany. It aims to bring together researchers from collaborations working on current and future multi-wavelength facilities located in southern Africa, such as H.E.S.S., MeerKAT, AMT, and SALT, to discuss multi-wavelength synergies. The workshop is open to all interested researchers.
Contributed sessions will be held dedicated to both extragalactic and galactic astronomy, as well as transient astrophysical phenomena and stellar intensity interferometry. There will also be a number of breakout sessions to foster new research collaborations.
Hybrid attendance will be possible. For in-person attendees there is a workshop fee of 140 EUR; this covers daily lunches and coffee breaks, as well as a drinks reception and workshop dinner. There is no fee for virtual participation. Registration is open at
https://indico.ecap.work/event/80/,
and is capped at 70 in-person participants.
To support attendance by early career researchers from African Nations, we have obtained a significant amount of travel funding (to cover transport, accommodation, meals and workshop fee) courtesy of Friedrich-Alexander-University’s Emerging Talents Initiative. Researchers who wish to apply for this funding should submit an abstract, and a CV with a half-page statement of interest (including a rough budget request) by email to
samuel.spencer@fau.de
Important Dates:
Deadline to apply for travel funding: 19/4/24
Final abstract deadline: 17/5/24
Final registration deadline: 5/7/24
Best wishes,
Sam Spencer, on behalf of the organisers
2024-02-01
[SALT eNews] PRZEDŁUŻENIE TERMINU: Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2024-1
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear all,
As many of you know, we have been experiencing technical difficulties with the network at both the SAAO and SALT recently, which are having a negative impact on the proposal preparation and submission process. We have received several new proposals and progress reports, but we are aware that many of you are struggling.
As a result, we have decided to extend the proposal deadline by one week, to Friday 9 February 2024 at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UCT).
Please share the news widely within the SALT community.
For the time being, we request that you also please also cc your liaison SA or myself whenever you send an email to salthelp.
I include below the original call as a reminder, with the updated call deadline to prevent confusion.
Apologies for the disruptions.
Sincerely,
Encarni on behalf of SALT Astronomy Operations
-----
Dear colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 May 2024 - 31 October 2024 (2024 Semester 1).
The NEW Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 9 February 2024, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS, HRS and NIRWALS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals linked below, including changes from previous semesters.
Regarding NIRWALS (SALT’s new IFU-Fed NIR spectrograph), the commissioning and science verification phases are essentially complete, and guaranteed time observations for the instrument team are starting. For Semester 2024-1, 30 hours of telescope time have been set aside for NIRWALS science proposals on a shared risk basis.
PIs intending to use NIRWALS during semester 2024-1 are requested to indicate in their proposal:
a) that they have the capability and willingness to reduce/analyse NIRWALS data using software tools that may require manual tweaking in the event that the full science pipeline has not been completed,
b) discuss how their proposal would help get NIRWALS into routine science operations (for example, by writing brief reports on data quality, providing feedback and suggestions for improving the PIPT and/or the science data pipeline, or describing new methodology for specific science cases).
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT). You may continue to use v5.5 unless you intend to use the new grating, in which case please update to the latest version available on the website. Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website. Note also that the web manager will ask for some user statistics, which the SAAO is now required to capture for reporting purposes.
[SALT eNews] PRZYPOMNIENIE: Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2024-1
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear all,
It seems the announcement didn’t reach everyone in December, not sure why. In case you missed it, here it is again.
REMINDER: SALT Proposal deadline is next week Friday, 2 February 2024, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC). Please see the full announcement with relevant links below:
-----
Dear colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 May 2024 - 31 October 2024 (2024 Semester 1).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 2 February 2024, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS, HRS and NIRWALS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals linked below, including changes from previous semesters.
Regarding NIRWALS (SALT’s new IFU-Fed NIR spectrograph), the commissioning and science verification phases are essentially complete, and guaranteed time observations for the instrument team are starting. For Semester 2024-1, 30 hours of telescope time have been set aside for NIRWALS science proposals on a shared risk basis.
PIs intending to use NIRWALS during semester 2024-1 are requested to indicate in their proposal:
a) that they have the capability and willingness to reduce/analyse NIRWALS data using software tools that may require manual tweaking in the event that the full science pipeline has not been completed,
b) discuss how their proposal would help get NIRWALS into routine science operations (for example, by writing brief reports on data quality, providing feedback and suggestions for improving the PIPT and/or the science data pipeline, or describing new methodology for specific science cases).
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT). You may continue to use v5.5 unless you intend to use the new grating, in which case please update to the latest version available on the website. Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website. Note also that the web manager will ask for some user statistics, which the SAAO is now required to capture for reporting purposes.
It includes some reports on problems fixed with Salticam and RSS. There are also good news regarding NIRWALS, which is ready for some shared-risked observations.
Enjoy the read, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas,
Anja
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2024-1
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 May 2024 - 31 October 2024 (2024 Semester 1).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 2 February 2024, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS, HRS and NIRWALS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals linked below, including changes from previous semesters.
Regarding NIRWALS (SALT’s new IFU-Fed NIR spectrograph), the commissioning and science verification phases are essentially complete, and guaranteed time observations for the instrument team are starting. For Semester 2024-1, 30 hours of telescope time have been set aside for NIRWALS science proposals on a shared risk basis.
PIs intending to use NIRWALS during semester 2024-1 are requested to indicate in their proposal:
a) that they have the capability and willingness to reduce/analyse NIRWALS data using software tools that may require manual tweaking in the event that the full science pipeline has not been completed,
b) discuss how their proposal would help get NIRWALS into routine science operations (for example, by writing brief reports on data quality, providing feedback and suggestions for improving the PIPT and/or the science data pipeline, or describing new methodology for specific science cases).
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT). You may continue to use v5.5 unless you intend to use the new grating, in which case please update to the latest version available on the website. Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website. Note also that the web manager will ask for some user statistics, which the SAAO is now required to capture for reporting purposes.
As usual, there are lots of news in this issue: all the nitty gritty details on
how the tracker was fixed, some updates on the LFC and timDimm, and we also show
you some nice pictures from the SALT conference in June.
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2023-2
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 November 2023 - 30 April 2024 (2023 Semester 2).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 28 July 2019, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS and HRS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals link below, including changes from previous semesters.
NIRWALS proposals are not being requested in this call. The commissioning and integration of NIRWALS into SALT is progressing well, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated; the instrument+telescope is not yet ready for a regular science call. SALT and the NIRWALS team would like to work closely with interested PIs to start NIR science during semester 2023-2 as soon as the instrument is ready, likely in early 2024. Please get in touch with the commissioning team via salthelp@salt.ac.za if you are interested in getting involved during the early science period. We will contact PIs who have submitted NIR proposals in previous calls. In addition to engineering time, up to 30 hours of DDT will be made available for early NIRWALS science.
Proposals requesting brighter Moon or poorer seeing conditions are particularly encouraged, as we have noticed a significant drop in such proposals over the last few semesters which is leading to a very uneven observing queue (i.e. observing gaps and tight competition in the best conditions).
Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website.
in both low as well as high resolution. As it was last year, we are not
able to send out hard copies, but feel free to pick up a copy either at the
library at the SAAO in Cape Town or at SALT exhibition booths of
international conferences.
SALT Science Conference - ostateczny termin składania streszczeń i wniosków o wsparcie finansowe 31 stycznia
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear colleagues,
A reminder that registration for the SALT conference - Science
Highlights from SALT - to be held in Poland from 1-3 June 2023 is open
and that the deadline for abstract submission and to apply for financial
support is tomorrow, 31 January. The registration deadline is 28
February.
Kind regards,
Joanna
---
We are pleased to invite the SALT community to join us for a conference
"Science Highlights from SALT", to be held in Warsaw, Poland, from 1-3
June 2023. The conference aims to present the main achievements enabled
by SALT and look forward to the most, also potentially, promising fields
for SALT Science.
We hope that this meeting will provide an opportunity for the present
and future SALT users to discuss scientific highlights, upcoming
projects as well and strategic plans for future, and to promote close
working relationships between scientists from different partner
institutions and with different professional experience. The conference
is organized by Polish SALT Telescope Foundation and Nicolaus Copernicus
Astronomical Center of Polish Academy of Sciences.
To find more details and to register please go to the conference website
at https://salt2023.pl/.
We encourage you to register as soon as possible, since the attendance
at the workshop will be limited to 80 participants. If you wish to make
an oral presentation you must submit your title and abstract by 31
January, 2023 and we shall inform speakers soon after 15 February. If
you apply for financial support (which is limited) the deadline is also
31 January, 2023.
We look forward to you participation!
On behalf of the SOC and LOC,
Joanna Mikołajewska & Marek Sarna
[SALT eNews] Przedłużenie terminu składania wniosków obserwacyjnych do 3 lutego
+ Aktualizacja NIRWALS
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT Community,
We are extending the SALT phase 1 proposal deadline for Semester 2023-1 by a week, to avoid the clash with the JWST deadline. Therefore, the new deadline is Friday 3 February 2023 at 16:00 UT.
We would also like to take the opportunity to give you a brief NIRWALS update:
As many of you already know, South Africa is subject to scheduled rolling power-cuts and these have been getting progressively worse (longer and more frequent) over the past few months. Since the NIRWALS instrument is extremely vulnerable to steep temperature gradients, the danger posed by the worsening power situation has led to delays in cooling the instrument to its operating temperature. This, in turn, has knock-on effects on the commissioning schedule. The instrument enclosure is being cooled this week and the hope is that we will soon be able to continue with the commissioning process that was planned for last November. Early on-sky data in October 2022 indicate NIRWALS performance is good, however, there are still unresolved technical risks concerning the fiber instrument feed that will not be understood until Feb/Mar of 2023 and other telescope+instrument systems that have not yet been tested. Consequently, shared-risk observations with the instrument in the 2023-1 semester may be delayed, but we will keep would-be users posted as the situation evolves.
Cheers,
Encarni on behalf of SALT Astronomy Operations and the NIRWALS PI
[SALT eNews] Ankieta Fabry-Pérot i przypomnienie o terminie składania wniosków obserwacyjnych
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear all,
Happy New Year! :)
We have received no responses to the anonymous FP survey we set up at the end of the year, but I think most of us were done with 2022 by then, so we have decided to keep it open for another week. Please let us know whether you are interested in this niche mode so we can make an informed decision as to whether to continue with the repairs.
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2023-1
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 May - 31 October 2023 (2023 Semester 1).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 27 January 2023, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC ).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS, HRS and NIRWALS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals link below, including changes from previous semesters.
Please note that NIRWALS commissioning has not yet been completed, so it is again being offered on a shared risk basis.
Proposals requesting brighter Moon or poorer seeing conditions are particularly encouraged, as we have noticed a significant drop for this group the last two semesters which is leading to a very uneven observing queue (i.e. observing gaps and tight competition in the best conditions).
Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website.
This issue is bulging with news: not only updates on the instruments, but also
reports on conferences, meetings and announcements, including the plan to
establish a User's group.
[SALT eNews] Konferencja Naukowa SALT 1-3 czerwca 2023
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) community to join us for a conference “Science Highlights from SALT”, to be held in Warsaw, Poland, from 1-3 June 2023. The conference aims to present the main achievements enabled by SALT and look forward to the most, also potentially, promising fields for SALT Science.
We hope that this meeting will provide an opportunity for the present and future SALT users to discuss scientific highlights, upcoming projects as well and strategic plans for future, and to promote close working relationships between scientists from different partner institutions and with different professional experience.
The conference is organized by Polish SALT Telescope Foundation and Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of Polish Academy of Sciences.
To find more details and to register please go to the conference website at
https://salt2023.pl/.
We encourage you to register as soon as possible, since the attendance at the workshop will be limited to 80 participants. If you wish to make an oral presentation you must submit your title and abstract by 31 January, 2023 and we shall inform speakers soon after 15 February. If you apply for financial support (which is limited) the deadline is also 31 January, 2023.
Please distribute this announcement to your colleagues.
We are looking forward to your participation.
On behalf of the SOC and LOC,
Joanna Mikołajewska & Marek Sarna
This issue's highlight (by far) is the achievement of the long awaited
NIR first light! Everyone is excited, and you all get the chance to try
it out soon. Also, the RSS updates are progressing nicely, and you hear
about some results of the questionnaire that made the rounds a while ago.
[SALT eNews] Oprogramowanie do składania wniosków obserwacyjnych
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
Updated versions of the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT) and RSS simulator that include the NIR and PG0700 grating are now available through the SALT website:
https://astronomers.salt.ac.za/software/
For more information on the current call for proposals, please see the email below and the Call for Proposals documentation on the SALT website
(https://astronomers.salt.ac.za/proposals/).
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2022-2
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 November 2022 - 30 April 2023 (2022 Semester 2).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 29 July 2022, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC ).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS, HRS and NIR. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals link below, including changes from previous semesters.
There are three major changes to highlight in this call:
1 - The NIR Integral Field Spectrograph is being offered for the first time, on a shared risk basis. The instrument is being installed at the telescope and it is expected to be commissioned during August/September. A document has been prepared by the NIR PI (link below) with the expected performance of the instrument to enable our users to estimate their time requests and the technical feasibility of their proposals for this phase 1 call. Please note that the phase 2 for this instrument will have its own separate deadline, which will be communicated to everyone once the instrument performance characteristics are known and the tools are ready.
2 - The RSS grating PG0300 will be permanently replaced with the new PG0700 grating.
3 - The SALTICAM imaging overheads have been increased significantly, to match the actual telescope performance.
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT), but please wait a couple of days if you plan to use the PG0700 grating on RSS or the NIR for the updated PIPT to be released.
Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website.
[SALT eNews] Informacja zwrotna od użytkowników SALT
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT Community,
We at SALT would like to improve our service to the SALT Community. In order to do this, we need your help: we need to know where we are dropping the ball and what would be most useful to work on. So we have prepared a simple anonymous questionnaire with NO compulsory answers to learn about any issues you’re having using SALT:
in both low as well as high resolution. Hard copies will become available
at the SAAO in Cape Town (next week), selected national and international
libraries and at SALT exhibition booths. If you want me to send you
directly a hard copy, please email me with your full postal address.
This time we report, among others, that the NIR instrument is on its way
(yay!), while the new RSS collimator triplet has already arrived. Also, the
HRS has undergone some much needed maintenance.
We wish you all a Happy Easter and hope that everyone stays safe and healthy!
This time we report on the success of the shutdown in October, give an update on the NIR
instrument and the slitmask IFU, and show some the of testing the new PG0700 grating.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope everyone stays safe and healthy!
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2022-1
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 May 2022 - 31 October 2022 (2022 Semester 1).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 28 January 2021, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS and HRS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals linked below, including changes from previous semesters. Note that a new grating for RSS, PG0700, will be commissioned over the next few months, and is available on a shared risk basis in the next semester.
Please submit your proposal via the SALT Principal Investigator Proposal Tool (PIPT). You may continue to use v5.5 unless you intend to use the new grating, in which case please update to the latest version available on the website. Instructions, software, and other information about proposing for SALT can be found on the SALT website. Note also that the web manager will ask for some user statistics, which the SAAO is now required to capture for reporting purposes.
As mentioned in our Call for Proposals and, more recently, in our August SALT Newsletter, SALT is having a short shutdown in October. The main purpose of the shutdown, together with a description of the various tasks, was discussed in an article in the newsletter
(https://www.salt.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/salt_newsletter_202109.pdf). As an update, we can now confirm that the RSS optics replacement will not
happen during this shutdown.
We have now finalised the dates as follows:
10th October - last observing night.
11th October - shutdown begins.
~18th October - on sky re-commissioning and beginning of observations with HRS and SALTICAM ONLY.
~26th October - RSS on-sky re-commissioning.
~29th October - normal operations.
Please note that these dates may shift slightly, depending on how things go.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us (salthelp@salt.ac.za)
if you have any questions.
Regards,
Encarni
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Dr. Encarni Romero Colmenero
Head of SALT Astronomy Operations erc@salt.ac.za
2021-08-30
[SALT eNews] Biuletyn SALT Wrzesień 2021
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT community,
Please find attached our September issue of the SALT Newsletter. Among others, we report on progress with the RSS Big 5, the NIR instrument and the decision to obtain a laser frequency comb for the HRS. Our new FP postdoc reports on refurbishment plan for the LR and MR Fabry–Pérot etalons. And we look for volunteers to beta-test the new Web Manager.
We wish you all well during this challenging time of COVID-19. Hope everyone stays safe and healthy!
Before the meeting, we would like to invite you to think expansively about this concept that is being explored, by which SALT could be augmented and used to provide spectroscopic observations of thousands of additional targets per year, even while executing its normal observing queue...
The idea is to employ multiple “mini-trackers” (MTs) to take advantage of SALT's spherical primary mirror's enormous (35 degree diameter) uncorrected field of view. These deployable devices, each with patrol fields of 100 square degrees, would be able to range around the focal sphere to access additional targets while conventional SALT observations are made with the main tracker. A suite of up to four MTs would therefore effectively serve as a set of individual four-to-six-metre mini-SALTs, each equipped with a low-resolution spectrograph that would likely be fibre-fed. These "telescopes" would be additionally constrained in terms of their track times and the fields they can access due to their dependence on the main tracker, but the simpler spherical aberration corrector optics would increase their throughput.
The main MT science case centres on transient follow-up for the Rubin Observatory and broader time-domain science. However, we need to be aware of other potential opportunities that may exist and we would particularly like to get a sense of the sorts of targets (total number, sky density, brightness range) that other science areas may provide for the MTs. An ideal project would include a vast pool of targets brighter than 21st magnitude distributed all over the sky, though only a small fraction of the total pool could be expected to be observed. Repeat visits would also be quite unlikely with the MTs, since their patrol fields would be governed by the main tracker observing the normal SALT queue.
Please see the attached PDFs for additional information and feel free to share this message with your networks as you consider the various kinds of science that might be pursued with such a system.
If you have any specific questions before the meeting, please feel free to contact us via salthelp.
We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 13 July!
Kind regards
The SALT Team
2021-06-23
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2021-2
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 November 2021 - 30 April 2022 (2021 Semester 2).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 30 July 2021, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to 16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS and HRS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals link below, including changes from previous semesters.
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
2020-12-21
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2021-1
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 April 2021 - 31 October 2021 (2021 Semester 1).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 29 January 2021, at 18:00 SAST (corresponding to
16:00 UTC).
This proposal call is for SALTICAM, RSS and HRS. All details of the status of specific instrument modes are available in the Call for Proposals link below, including changes from previous semesters.
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.
[SALT eNews] Start Archiwum Danych SALT: 10 lipca 2020 r. 11:00 UT
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT Community,
We are pleased to announce the launch of the SALT Data Archive tomorrow 10th July at 13:00 SAST (11:00 UT): https://ssda.saao.ac.za
The SALT Data Archive currently contains data from 1340 proposals from 2011 onwards, of which 926 are public. Public data will be available to search anonymously and also to download. Proprietary data can also be accessed by PIs and Co-Is of the relevant proposal via the SALT Data Archive, but this will require authentication (using your SALT Web Manager credentials).
PIs whose data will be publicly available should have received an email from SALT on the 12th June containing instructions on how to extend their proprietary period (if needed). Please get in touch with us today if you are concerned and did not receive our email.
The SALT Data Archive is the first part of a larger SALT/SAAO collaboration. It is envisaged that public SAAO data from the other telescopes will become accessible from this portal in the near future - stay tuned!
Cheers,
Encarni (on behalf of SALT Astronomy Operations)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Dr. Encarni Romero Colmenero
SALT Astronomer
sa@salt.ac.za
2020-06-22
[SALT eNews] Konkurs wniosków obserwacyjnych na semestr 2020-2
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear Colleagues,
We are now accepting SALT Phase 1 proposals for the period 1 November 2020 - 30 April 2021 (2020 Semester 2).
The Phase 1 proposal deadline is Friday, 31 July 2020, 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, including changes from previous semesters.
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.
Please find attached our April issue of the SALT Newsletter. We look at how the SALT shutdown went, report on the newly installed SPS and check-in with the progress on the NIR project. Podcasts, puppies and monkeys also make an appearance ;)
We wish you all well during this challenging time of COVID-19. Hope everyone stays safe and healthy!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Dr. Encarni Romero Colmenero
Head of SALT Astronomy Operations
erc@salt.ac.za
2020-02-05
Staż po doktoracie w SAAO
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear all,
Three post-doc positions are currently being offered at the SAAO (the two
links are for the same positions). We would really appreciate it if you
could circulate amongst your institutions and anyone else who may be
interested.
We are in the process of adding these links also to the SALT website. As
always, please also let us know if there are any opportunities at your
institutions that you'd like to see advertised in the SALT website and/or
circulated amongst the community.
Thanks!
Encarni
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Dr. Encarni Romero Colmenero
Head of SALT Astronomy Operations
erc@salt.ac.za
2020-01-27
Biuletyn SALT - styczeń 2020
Oto oryginalna wiadomość:
Dear SALT community,
Please find attached our January issue of the SALT Newsletter. We look back at accomplishments of 2019 (52 published papers!) and forward towards the Feb/March shutdown (to name but a few articles).
