NRAO
 

Rapid Response Science

The NRAO has established three categories of proposals for Rapid Response Science, described below, which went into effect for all proposals submitted at the October 1, 2003 deadline or later. These categories do not apply to one-time, Unique Astronomical Events such as galactic supernovae; see the link above for the NRAO observing policy for such events.

At present, Rapid Response Science is limited to a maximum of 5% of the total observing time on the VLA and VLBA, and 2% of the total observing time on the GBT. Potential proposers should note that proposals for coordinated observations with telescopes from other observatories should be submitted for refereeing at normal NRAO proposal deadlines (or via the joint Chandra and Spitzer programs), and not via the Rapid Response process.

All proposals for Rapid Response Science must be submitted using the standard NRAO procedures:

  • As of June 2, 2008, proposals for the VLBA may use the web-based NRAO Proposal Submission tool, accessible from NRAO Interactive Services, or may make use of the standard cover sheets and an accompanying scientific justification, with the resultant postscript file e-mailed to the address given in the table below (e.g., exploresoc@nrao.edu).
  • Proposals for the VLA must make use of the web-based NRAO Proposal Submission Tool, accessible from NRAO Interactive Services.
  • Proposals for the GBT must make use of the web-based NRAO Proposal Submission Tool, accessible from NRAO Interactive Services.
Proposals submitted by any other means (e.g., phone calls, e-mails that do not follow the procedures outlined above, faxes, word-of-mouth) will be rejected. The usual length limits apply to the scientific justifications. All approved proposals for Rapid Response Science will be listed separately for the VLA, VLBA, and the GBT.

The following table summarizes the salient details for each proposal type. For VLBA proposals using the LaTeX forms to be handled properly, it is essential that the proposer check the correct box on the cover sheet, and also very useful to mention the type of Rapid Response Science in the scientific justification. For the VLA and GBT proposals and VLBA proposals using the Tool to be handled properly, it is essential that the proposer use the Tool to select the correct proposal type. Descriptions of the proposal types follow the table.

TITLE DEADLINE VLBA VLA GBT EVALUATION PROPRIETARY PERIOD
1. Known Transient Phenomena 1 Feb, Jun, Oct propsoc@nrao.edu or the NRAO Tool NRAO tool NRAO tool Referees 12 months
2. Exploratory Time Any Time exploresoc@nrao.edu or the NRAO Tool NRAO tool NRAO tool Proposal Selection Committee subset 6 months
3. Target of Opportunity Any Time toosoc@nrao.edu or the NRAO Tool NRAO tool NRAO tool Proposal Selection Committee subset <6 months
1. Known Transient Phenomena. These proposals will request time to observe phenomena that are predictable in general, but not in specific detail. For example, a proposal to observe the next flaring X-ray binary that meets certain criteria would be included in this category. Specific triggering criteria will be required. These proposals will be evaluated as part of the normal refereeing and scheduling process, and will be subject to the normal NRAO proposal deadlines. The proprietary period for observations of Known Transient Phenomena will be 12 months. To trigger an observation approved as a Known Transient Phenomenon, the proposer should send an e-mail to toosoc@nrao.edu.

2. Exploratory Time. These proposals are for small amounts of time, typically a few hours or less, in response to a recent discovery, possibly to facilitate future submission of a larger proposal. Examples include B configuration VLA proposals that follow up on A configuration discoveries made after the B configuration deadline, a newly identified SiO maser source that is a hot enough topic to warrant a VLBI image within a couple months, or VLA observations to find the position of a distant extragalactic water-maser just found by the GBT, so that VLBA observations may be proposed. In general, there will not be a need for immediate scheduling with these proposals, but they may need to be observed in the current VLA configuration rather than waiting 16 months, or should be observed with the VLBA without waiting for an entire proposal cycle and possible dynamic scheduling. Proposals for Exploratory Time will be evaluated by a subset of the VLA/VLBA Proposal Selection Committee, and may or may not be sent to external referees. The possibility that a proposer forgets about or misses a proposal deadline, or just discovered that he/she was granted time for a particular source on some other telescope, will not constitute sufficient justification for granting of observing time by this process. Thus, these proposals must include a clear description of why the proposal could not have been submitted for refereeing at a previous deadline, and why it should not wait for the appropriate upcoming deadline (e.g., the next deadline for the relevant VLA configuration). Notification of the disposition of Exploratory Time proposals normally will be within two weeks of reception of the proposal; some of these proposals may be put in a queue such that they may or may not be observed. The proprietary period for Exploratory Time will be six months.

3. Target of Opportunity. These proposals are for true targets of opportunity--unexpected or unpredicted phenomena such as supernovae in nearby galaxies, or extreme X-ray or radio flares in various types of objects. These proposals will be evaluated rapidly, with scheduling done as quickly as possible and as warranted by the nature of the transient phenomenon. Notification of the disposition of Target of Opportunity proposals will always be within two weeks, and may be much faster, depending on the requirements of the proposed observation. The proprietary period for Targets of Opportunity will be decided on a case-by-case basis, and will in no instances be longer than six months.

Modified on Friday, 16-May-2008 16:12:16 MDT by Mark Claussen