Since semester 2013A, the IAC80 and the Carlos Sánchez Telescope (TCS) are not offered any more though the night CAT. The observing proposals for the IAC80, TCS telescopes will go directly to the Head of Telescope Operations (JOT) through the official forms (for regular proposals or service time), not accepting proposals submitted by other means. The OGS telescope is also offered through regular time only. The three telescopes are available for collaborations lead by IAC research groups and for practical astronomy by universities of any nationality. The presence of an IAC astronomer with previous experience operating the proposed instrumentation is highly recommended. Also, the telescopes will be available for IAC instrumental tests.
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. If a recepcionist is not in duty, 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 and TCS telescopes can be run remotely by the observer. This can be done from the remote control room at the IAC headquarters, in La Laguna, or from any external computer with internet access. Nevertheless, in the latter case the support from the support astronomer will be limited. For any information and detailed connection instructions, contact the staff at ttn_a dot iac.es.
Observing in Service Mode
Short filler programs are ideal to be scheduled at the IAC80 and TCS telescopes in service mode. The Service Time proposals will be evaluated by the JOT, and the observations are carried out by the IAC’s Support Astronomers Group (GAS) or by the Telescope Operator (TOT) and the presence of the user astronomer at the telescope is not required.
OT Service Time proposals has to be submitted through the appropriate online form. The evaluation process may take up to three weeks, after this period the approved proposals will be added to the queue list. The execution of the observations will driven by both scientific and technical reasons, such as the available instrumental setup, the visibility of the targets, or possible temporal restrictions and weather conditions. The proposals will be on the queue for a period of 12 months.
General recommendations for the observers:
- Contact one month before your observing run with the support astronomers team (ttnn_a at iac dot 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. Major repairs will be approved, if appropriate, by the JOT and the Research Area Committee. The instrument changes will be significantly reduced.
- Publications derived from service night data should include proper acknowledgement of the origin of the data, as well as a special mention to any of the tasks carried out by support astronomers or night assistants. We will also appreciate the notification of any publication through an e-mail to aoscoz _at_ iac.es