A moderate slot of observing time for University intership at IAC telescopes is available. The main objective of this time is to allow Astronomy/Astrophysics students a direct contact with telescopes. These apply to access the IAC80 and the TCS telescopes.
- Proposals can be sent through the dedicated form;
- The PI must be affiliated to a recognised academic/research institution and will be responsible for the student activities;
- Observing time will be organized in two semesters:
- Semester A: from January 1 to June 30, for proposals sent before October 31 each year
- Semester B: from July 1 to December 31, for proposals sent before April 30 each year
- Proposal will be evaluated by a dedicated committee (IAC-CAT-EDU) which includes:
- the Head of the Research Division (or a person designated by him/her)
- the Head of the Postgraduate Training Division (or a person designated by him/her)
- the Head of Telescope Operations (or a person designated by him/her)
- a designated member/s for the telescopic operations group
The different installations have different characteristics summarized below.
IAC80
Since semester 2013A, the IAC80 is not offered any more through the night CAT. This telescope is available for collaborations lead by IAC research groups and for practical astronomy by universities of any nationality. Also, the telescope will be available for IAC instrumental tests. The available instrumentation can be found in the corresponding webpage. The IAC80 offers different observing modes.
Instrumentation: The offered instruments are CAMELOT2 and Caronte.
Observing in Visitor Mode
- For safety reasons, we strongly encourage to sleep in the Residence after finishing your observations.
- The visiting astronomer should take care of his own reservations for accommodation and meals. A car to drive up to the Observatory can be booked if the visiting astronomer is an IAC staff member. External astronomers should arrange their own transportation.
- When arriving to the Observatory, visiting observers should go first to the Residencia. Look for your name and room number on the reservations screen. The staff of the Residencia will deliver both the room and a telescope key for working group.
- Once finished the observing run is mandatory to fill out the end-of-run form.
Remote Observations
- Since the end of 2015, The IAC80 telescope can be run remotely by the observer.
- Observations can be performed remotely from any external computer with internet access.
- Access to the telescope computer is granted by the Telescopic Operations Group. Observers are requested to contact the team at least a week before the first night of observations. We recommend to make a connection test during the day to verify the access to the computers at the observatory.
- Observers are responsible to obtain the formal authorization mandatory to stay overnight at the IAC.
For any information and detailed connection instructions, contact the staff at ttnn_a@iac.es
TCS
Instrumentation: The offered instrument is the multi-band imager MUSCAT2.
General recommendations for the OT observers
- Contact one month before your observing run with the Telescopic Operations Group (ttnn_a@iac.es) to confirm the necessary filters and any possible inquiries. By default, the filters will be installed as indicated in the proposal. However, it is possible to ask for additional filters (special filters) or different ones to those proposed provided they are requested well in advance.
- A night assistant will be at the telescopes all night long, but keep in mind that only one night assistant is in charge of all night time telescopes during the night.
- The Instrumental Maintenance service is reduced; and therefore there is not warranty of immediate repair of the failures.