January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
IRSF Rota

This page provides links to the master copy of the observing rota for Sutherland.

The instrument shown in the rota will be the standard configuration. If something other than the normal instrumental configuration is required, then send a text file which describes your requirements to, observer(at)saao.ac.za. This could include the filter set to be used, CCD type, or anything else which differs from the standard configuration. The information you send will be linked to the record of your observing run on the rota.

The observing rota for Sutherland is compiled every quarter. Remember to check this schedule for possible changes which may affect your observing run. If you want to make changes to your observing request, contact observer(at)saao.ac.za.
 

The SAAO facilities are available to professional astronomers from anywhere in the world who wish to observe. If you are interested in using our telescopes and instruments (or wish to bring your own instrument), you should start by reading about the facilities that are presently available. Then you should complete an application form and e-mail it to observer(at)saao.ac.za.

Note to Potential Applicants for 2010 Q3 Time on SAAO 1.0-m

Those who are planning to apply for time on the 1.0-m telescope in the upcoming Q3 opportunity should note that the PLANET/STE3 camera will be installed and in use for the global lensing programme from June 2 to August 17. Hence other instrument combinations will not be available during this interval. Nevertheless, there are opportunities during this interval when lensing candidates are not being observed, and those interested in exploiting these opportunities should contact the SAAO PLANET coordinator (John Menzies (jwm@saao.ac.za)) to discuss details.

For the rest of Q3, and for all other telescopes, observing options remain as normal.

Ramotholo Sefako
Head of Telescope Operations

 

SAAO Telescope Time from QIII, 2005 onwards

1. Night assistants will no longer be available for the 1.9-m telescope
2. It is becoming increasingly difficult to provide the resources for starting off visitors on the smaller telescopes. It might therefore be necessary for visitors unfamiliar with a telescope or instrument to arrive at Sutherland in sufficient time to be able to spend time (e.g. 1-2 days) overlapping with the previous week's observer. Visitors with reasonable experience of the telescope/instrument will be expected to start by themselves. If you have time or are awarded time, please liaise with the SAAO staff member responsible for your run on this issue.
3. It is becoming increasingly difficult - because of technical staff involvement with SALT - to carry out the frequent instrument changes that have been possible in the past. We are consequently now adopting a policy of minimising instrument changes. It is therefore likely that the "majority" instrument requested on a given telescope (in a given quarter) will be favoured and the use of other instruments will be minimised.

   A result of this policy is that some instruments - such as the SAAO CCD or the CCD spectrograph - might be on the telescope for many weeks. This means that at some stage, the dewar vacuums will need to be repumped and this could result in some loss of observing time.

4. Currently technical staff are covering faults and breakdowns at night, and we expect this to continue, but please exercise discretion in calling out staff. However, SALT technical work takes precedence, and there may be delays in responding to problems on the smaller telescopes.
5. With effect from 1 July 2006, observing runs will commence on Wednesdays as opposed to Tuesdays as is presently the case. This will mean travelling to Sutherland on Tuesdays to commence observing on Wednesdays, returning to Cape Town the following Wednesday.
6. There is now significant strain on the accommodation at Sutherland and on the transport to and from Sutherland. Visitors are therefore requested to plan for only one observer for a given run. It is accepted that there are instances where more than one observer is desirable (e.g. training of graduate students). If you feel you have such a case, please discuss this with Dave Kilkenny well before your run, who will present this request to the Director.

   D Kilkenny
   1 June 2006

Deadlines for Observing Applications

• 01 Oct for Jan/Mar observing
• 01 Jan for Apr/Jun observing
• 01 Apr for Jul/Sep observing
• 01 Jul for Oct/Dec observing