Australian Access to the Magellan Telescopes

Proposals for Australian Magellan time in Semester 2010B have now closed. We will begin accepting proposals for Semester 2011A early in September 2010.

Magellan Instrumentation

Read all about current and upcoming instrumentation for Magellan in David Osip's presentation at the 2009 Astronomical Society of Australia meeting.

An overview and documentation for current Magellan instrumentation can be found at the LCO Magellan page. More information, including new instruments for Magellan, can be found on the Magellan Technical pages. A good way to stay abreast of Magellan issues and developments is to subscribe to the Magellan community e-mail exploder.

Instruments Available in Semester 2010B

UPDATE 10 March 2010: Unfortunately FourStar will NOT be available for community use in 2010B, even in shared risks mode. There is still a good likelihood however that FIRE will be available late in 2010B.

Two new instruments are scheduled to be commissioned at Magellan during Semester 2010B, and may be available for science observations in "shared risks" mode late in the Semester. Applicants interested in using either of these instruments must contact the instrument PI listed to discuss their intentions in advance of applying, and outline a backup observing program in their proposal which makes use of an existing instrument on the Baade telescope, in the event that the new instrument is not available.

FourStar is a wide-field (11' x 11' at 0.16" per pixel) near-infrared imager using four HAWAII-2RG array detectors, equipped initially with J, H, Ks, and a set of methane filters. Contact Eric Persson (persson -@- obs.carnegiescience.edu) for further information.
The Folded port InfraRed Echellette (FIRE) provides R~6000 cross-dispersed spectroscopy covering the entire near-IR, as well as a lower-resolution (R=2500 in J, R=1300 in H, R=900 in K), higher-throughput mode. Contact Rob Simcoe (simcoe -@- space.mit.edu) for further information.

Three other instruments are still undergoing commissioning at Magellan during 2010A, and expected to be offered to the community in 2010B:

Megacam is a CCD mosaic optical camera covering a 25' x 25' field of view at 0.08" per pixel.
The MMT Magellan Infra-Red Spectrograph (MMIRS) is a wide-field near-infrared camera and multi-object spectrograph, with a field of view of 6.9' x 6.9' at 0.2" per pixel, spectral resolutions of 1200 (Y, J, H, K, or H+K) or 3000 (J-band currently; H and K grisms expected to be available in 2010B), and capacity for up to 9 slit masks.

Note that Megacam and MMIRS use the new f/5 secondary mirror on the Clay telescope. There will likely be one long f/5 run on Clay in 2010B. During the f/5 run none of the other Clay instruments (MIKE, MagE, MagIC) will be available. At this time it is expected that Megacam (and possibly MMIRS also) will move to the MMT for the entire 2011 calendar year.

The Planet Finding Spectrograph (PFS) is a high resolution echelle spectrograph optimized for precision radial velocity measurements. PFS is a PI instrument and will only be available via collaborative arrangement with the instrument team. If you are interested in applying for time on PFS in the 2010B semester contact Steve Shectman (shec -@- obs.carnegiescience.edu) before submitting a proposal.

The existing instruments on Magellan are:

The Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera & Spectrograph (IMACS) is a highly-versatile wide field imager, longslit, and multislit spectrograph. It offers a range of modes:
- 15.5' x 15.5' field of view at 0.11"/pixel imaging with the f/4 camera.
- 27.2' x 27.2' field of view at 0.20"/pixel imaging with the f/2 camera.
- Longslit spectroscopy, with a slit-viewing option.
- Multislit spectroscopy, with a Nod-and-Shuffle option.
- Integral Field Spectroscopy with the Durham-built IFU.
- GISMO is an image-slicing reformatter that installs into the slitmask area of IMACS at the focal surface of the Baade telescope. Its purpose is to slice up into 16 sectors a ~4'x4' area at the center of the IMACS f/4 field and reimage them back in the focal plane at the same scale and f-ratio, but covering the entire f/4 field. Its principal purpose is to allow multislit spectroscopy of densely packed fields ( >5 targets/sq arcmin) whose spectra would normally interfere in the central area, but will not once the slices have been separated.
- The Maryland-Magellan Tunable Filter (MMTF) is a narrow-band filter which is tunable in both central wavelength and transmission bandpass, similar to the Taurus Tunable Filter. The MMTF is based on a Fabry-Perot etalon that operates in low orders (close plate settings) to provide a large "monochromatic spot" (region of constant wavelength) across the field of view. Its tunability, sensitivity, narrow bandpass, and wide field make this a unique capability applicable to a wide range of programs. Observers intending to request time with the MMTF should contact Sylvain Veilleux (veilleux -@- astro.umd.edu) before applying.
- The Multi-Object Echelle (MOE) transforms IMACS into a spectrograph with properties similar to ESI on Keck, however with a significant multiplexing capability. MOE on IMACS permits crossed-dispersed echelle spectra to be obtained over the 15' x 15' field of the f/4 camera, accomplished by the use of a grating and cross-dispersing prism mounted on the IMACS grating wheel.
The Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) is a high-throughput double echelle spectrograph. The Michigan/MIKE Fiber System (MMFS) enables up to 128 objects over a ~20' field to be observed simultaneously in a single blue and single red order.
Persson's Auxilliary Nasmyth Infrared Camera (PANIC) contains a Rockwell 1024 x 1024 infrared (HAWAII) detector with 0.125" pixels, corresponding to a 2' x 2' field of view, for broadband (Y, J, H, Ks) and narrowband imaging (H₂ and Br-gamma). PANIC is expected to be replaced by FourStar during the latter half of Semester 2010B.
The Magellan Echellette Spectrograph (MagE) complements MIKE, by pushing further into the blue (3100 - 10000 Å) and having a lower resolution (R~4000 through the 1 arcsec slit), is capable of going significantly fainter.
The Magellan Instant Camera (MagIC) is a direct CCD imager which offers a new 1K E2V frame-transfer CCD with 40" field of view and associated high-speed readout mode, in addition to a 2K SITe CCD with 142" field of view. Potential users of the E2V CCD mode should contact Paul Schechter (schech -@ -achernar.mit.edu) before applying.

Submitting a Proposal

Australian proposals for Magellan time should be prepared using the ATAC Magellan LaTeX proposal form (a variant of the old AAT proposal form), and uploaded before the deadline to the AAO. Copies of the form, and upload instructions, can be found at the AAO's Magellan submission web page. Applicants are warned that in the interest of fairness, any attempt to squeeze more text into the science case by using a font size smaller than 11 pt may lead to the proposal not even being considered by ATAC.

Available Time

Australia will notionally have seven nights total on Magellan to allocate in Semester 2010B. The exact nights, and the split between telescopes and dark/grey/bright time will be decided after ATAC has met, in negotiation with the Magellan Scheduler. Once the time assignment commmittees of all the Magellan partners have met, horse-trading begins as we all try to get the nights that best suit the science of our highest ranked proposals. So please note in your proposal both your ideal conditions/set-up, and fall-back options, so that we can do this trading in an informed way.

Note that this is "classical" observing time - someone will need to go to the telescope to carry out the observations. At least one of the people going to the telescope will need to be an experienced observer, as only moderate support will be provided. You will need to arrive early to familiarise yourself with the telescopes and instruments. As this time is classical, we impose a two-night minimum length on time requests. Shorter proposals will only be considered if you team up with another proposal (possibly with another Magellan partner) to share the observing and meet the minimum length requirement. ATAC welcomes more ambitious Magellan proposals seeking substantial fractions of Australian time, as well as large programs seeking time jointly with other Magellan partners.

Background

In 2006, the Australian Astronomy Board of Management used funds from the Major National Research Facilities scheme (MNRF - the predecessor of NCRIS) to purchase 30 nights of time (7 or 8 nights each semester) at the twin Magellan 6.5m telescopes in Chile in calendar years 2007 and 2008. The Magellan instruments provide complementary capabilities to Gemini instruments; a comprehensive overview of the various instruments, available modes, detectors, wavelength ranges, etc. is available. These nights are available to all Australian astronomers through the Australian Time Assignment Committee (ATAC). As a result of negotiations between Astronomy Australia Ltd (AAL) and the Magellan Council, AAL agreed to extend the current 15 nights per year access arrangement, in concert with the Magellan Fellowship program, through to mid-2011 using ANSOC funds.

Costs

Note that in general Australian observers should apply to the ANSTO-run Access to Major Research Facilities Program (AMRFP) to get funding for their trips (flights and in-Chile expenses). Note that AMRFP funds may be exhausted before the end of each funding round, so apply early! You will be expected to pay costs before departure from Las Campanas and La Serena. Payment can now be made in cash, or by credit card. See the LCO Visiting Observer Guide.

Indicative costs are:

Room and Board at Las Campanas (full): US$56 per day.
Transport to and from LCO: US$50 return.
Dormitory in La Serena (no board): US$10 per day.
IMACS slit masks: US$200 each.
MMIRS slit masks: up to US$150 each.
Those who want to stay overnight in Santiago stay in a pleasant hotel (US$79 for a single and US$92 for a double, which includes continental breakfast). Transportation from and to the airport costs ~US$60. There is a hotel right at the airport that charges ~US$160 per night.

We recommend observers purchase the local part of the trip in conjunction with the international part. If some delay occurs, LAN should take care of rearranging flights, lodging in Santiago, etc. LCO provides each visitor with a detailed receipt. The Australian Gemini office may be able to help with the cost of slit masks (but not travel costs) if no other sources of funding for these are available.

Previous Magellan Time Allocations

Magellan Telescope schedules

2010B:

Carter et al., "Collaborative Search for Rocky Planets", 2 nights
Keller et al., "Chemistry of the Globular Clusters in the SMC", 3 nights
Singh et al., "Probing Quasars using the Transverse Proximity Effect", 2 nights

2010A:

Parker et al., "Spectroscopy of T dwarfs in CrA", 2 nights
Bayliss et al., "WASP-17b: An Inflated Planet?", 1 night
Da Costa et al., "Origin of Omega Cen and M22", 3 nights
Carter et al., "Collaborative Search for Rocky Planets", 2 nights

2009B:

Li et al., "The Role of Environment in Breaking the Hierarchy of Galaxy Formation", 2 nights
Murphy et al., "Completing the MagE survey for molecular hydrogen in damped Lyman-alpha systems", 1 night
Glazebrook et al., "Where do red nuggets live?", 3 nights
Keller et al., "Wide main-sequence turnoff globular clusters" Hiding a dark heart?", 1 night

2009A:

Ryder et al., "Looking for the Smoking Gun in Type IIb Supernovae", 3 nights
Dobbie et al., "Probing the opacity limited minimum fragmentation mass", 2 nights
Glazebrook et al., "Where do red nuggets live?", 3 nights

2008B:

Norris et al., "Lithium Abundances in extremely metal-poor dwarf stars", 2 nights
Bryant et al., "The environments of massive galaxies at high redshift", 3 nights
Murphy et al., "A fast MagE survey for molecular hydrogen in damped Lyman-alpha systems", 2 nights

2008A:

Glazebrook et al., "The Broken Hierarchy of Galaxy Formation", 2 nights
Sackett et al., "Imaging Lupus-TR-3: One of the smallest Hot Jupiters Known?", 2 nights
Bryant et al., "The environments of massive galaxies at high redshift", 2 nights
Dobbie et al., "Probing the opacity limited minimum fragmentation mass", 2 nights

2007B:

Glazebrook et al., "The Broken Hierarchy of Galaxy Formation", 2 nights
Bryant et al., "The Environments of Massive Galaxies at High Redshift", 2 nights
Norris et al., "A dedicated Southern Search for the First Stars", 2 nights
Yong et al., "Magnesium Isotope Ratios in Halo Stars and Galactic Chemical Evolution", 1 night

2007A:

Bayliss et al., "Radial-velocity follow-up of a transiting planet candidate", 1 night
Glazebrook et al., "The broken hierarchy of galaxy formation", 1 night
Marsden et al., "Differential rotation on ultra-fast rotators", 1 night
Melendez et al., "The fundamental building blocks of life in solar twins and stars with planets", 2 nights
Norris et al., "A dedicated search for the first stars", 3 nights.

Need Help?

For general enquiries concerning Australian access to Magellan, please contact the Australian Gemini Office (ausgo -@- aao.gov.au). For specific questions regarding the Magellan instrumentation, please contact the Australian-funded Magellan Fellows directly, at magfellows -@- lco.cl.

Australian Gemini Office, ausgo -@- aao.gov.au