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In 2013, the STAC approved a remote eavesdropping observing mode. This document lists the main features of the mode as implemented since tests carried out in 2012B. PI Procedures are detailed at the end of this page.
All Band 1 and 2 PIs are invited to eavesdropping if they wish, via the PI email announcing that they have been granted time. If a PI chooses to eavesdrop, they enter their range of dates for multiple contact numbers in a google spreadsheet. Observers at the summit check this spreadsheet to see if a PI has an available contact for the current night.
On a given night, should the program come to the top of the queue and be identified in the plan as an eavesdropping program for the night, the PI or designated contact receives a phone call stating that observations are about to begin. They open Skype on a browser, connect to the summit and to a FITS storage server, and take part in the observation, including watching and commenting on acquisitions, inspecting data frames and commenting on whether to continue or terminate an observation. Note that the QCs will not always schedule a program for eavesdropping on a given night, even though it has that "status". For example, they may be guided by the weather forecast and we will also attempt to avoid scheduling sessions back to back to give the observer a breather. So data may be taken on an eavesdropping program without a call being made (this is also consistent with observers having discretion over calling, and with the first point in "IS", above).
To avoid confidentiality issues and debates between PIs In the course of any given night, only one program will be invited to eavesdrop at a time. To ensure quick decision making and as easy as possible a technical interface, only one eavesdropping channel will be open on a given programme at a time.
Brief records are kept (in the night log) of the key points of the dialogue between the observer and the PI.
PIs will be invited to participate in eavesdropping in the initial PI email announcing they have been allocated observing time. The deadline for signing up for eavesdropping is the Phase II submission deadline. If you wish to take part, you will be asked to send the contact details for up to three eavesdroppers:
Note that you can designate up to three sets of details; these may be used to give three different contact numbers for yourself, to be used at different times in the semester, three different co-Is to cover different ranges of nights,or some combination of these. We use these to set up our dial-up calls that will be used to make initial contact on any given night. The three contacts are labelled "a", "b" and "c" respectively; please refer to them as such in your emailed response.
You will receive a link to a google spreadsheet in the initial email. This is where you tell us who is available and when. The data entry sheet looks like the following:
All you need to do is locate the "Availability" tab (bottom of the browser window) for the telescope you wish to eavesdrop at, and enter "a", "b" or "c" into each date on which your contacts are available (only one contact per night). Please be sure to consider the target observability and enter contacts, if possible, at the earliest possible date - your program may well be observed as soon as the targets become available.
Gemini Observatory Participants
The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the other telescope on Cerro Pachón in central Chile (Gemini South); together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space.
The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in six participant countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), the Chilean Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID), the Brazilian Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, and the Korea Astronomy and Space Institute (KASI). The observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.
Last Modified: November 9, 2015, brambold