NORDIC OPTICAL TELESCOPE CALL FOR PROPOSALS PERIOD 64: OCTOBER 1, 2021 - APRIL 1, 2022 The Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) invites applications for observing time in Period 64; October 1, 2021 - April 1, 2022. The deadline for receipt of the applications is: Monday, May 24, 2021, at UT 12.00 noon Special notice Beyond any regular proposal that is submitted for Period 64, there is a long-term monitoring program being executed with the NOT that will require 30 min of observing time on a nightly basis, and would be programmed on most nights available for applicants to this Call for Proposals. In principle, the normal rules as for Target-of-Opportunity observations also applies to this nightly observations, so such proposals should not be affected. Applicants for regular observing programs (in visitor mode or service mode) who consider that having these observations scheduled in nights allocated to their program is a (potential) problem for their program, should state so in the proposal, indicating the reasons. The applicants are reminded of the following: * As maintained in the new organization, the share of observing time for applicants will be proportional to the contributions from the different Partners. Given the current situation, the option to do observing runs in visitor mode will likely be limited and, for the time being, the starting point will be that the observing runs will be done in service mode. For observations to be done in service mode, a contribution to the operational cost is required. The detailed rules for the allocation of observing time and the related user contributions can be found at http://www.not.iac.es/observing/rules/ObservingTimeAndContributions.pdf * A system of Large Observing Proposals has been introduced, where researchers or research groups can apply for observing time for multi-semester programs. A separate proposal form has been prepared for Large proposals. The form can be downloaded together with the regular proposal form. The proposal submission is the same for both regular and Large proposals. The detailed rules applicable to these Large proposals can be found at http://www.not.iac.es/observing/largeproposals/LargeProposalsRules.pdf * Late applications are not accepted. However, proposals for short programmes (<= 4 hours) using fixed instrument set-ups are welcome at any time (see http://www.not.iac.es/observing/service/). The Fast-Track programme is a service that is provided free of cost to researchers affiliated with a Partner institution. It also incorporates a system to compensate regular observing programs for time lost due to interruptions by observations for ToO or Monitoring programmes. * The Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) and NOT telescopes on La Palma will continue to jointly offer time at both telescopes to both communities in the next semester. See further details at http://www.tng-not.iac.es/. Accordingly, Nordic astronomers can submit normal observing proposals directly to the TNG, and vice versa, but prior coordination between similar proposals from the two communities is encouraged in order to optimise the scientific returns of the available observing time. However, in particular with respect to Target-of-Opportunity programs, the different rules applying to observing time at the TNG and the NOT will be taken in to consideration. In relation to the call for proposals at the TNG, the following: - We strongly encourage the submission of joint `Italo-Nordic' proposals using NOT, TNG, or both telescopes. NB: As for the allocation of observing time, user contributions, and travel support, the national rules applicable to the Principle Investigator of a proposal are followed. Applicants should carefully read the following instructions: 1: Proposals are reviewed without regard to the nationality of the applicant(s). Non-Nordic proposals should be submitted via the OPTICON programme if possible (see below), and the total time allocated to 'foreign' projects will be limited to ~15% of the Nordic time. This limit does not apply to Italian projects submitted under the joint call described above. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their proposal as soon as possible after the evaluation by the NOT Observing Programmes Committee and preparation of the observing schedule by the Director. Brief explanatory notes are provided to proposers, especially for rejected proposals. Note also that only 75% of the science time can be scheduled by NOT; the rest is Spanish time (20%), or time allocated based on the agreement to operate the telescope at the ORM observatory (5%). Awards of observing time do not imply any financial support from NOT. 2: Proposals for projects of all sizes are welcome, large and small as well as medium-size. Pooling of related and synergistic proposals by consortia of groups with similar interests is encouraged. Visitor mode observing is the basic mode provided. Programmes requiring service mode observing, or propose a Monitoring, Target-of-Opportunity (ToO) or similar project, should so indicate this in the proposal. In principle, compensation is provided in service mode for any observing time affected by Monitoring or ToO observations. Applicants having particular, or complex scheduling requirements should contact the director (director@not.iac.es) in advance in order to discuss optimum strategies. 3: The proposal submission procedure is electronic. The Latex template and style files for both regular and Large proposals for Period 64 are available at the NOT web site: http://www.not.iac.es/observing/proposals/. Detailed instructions are provided in the template files themselves and in a README file; they should be followed carefully. Applicants should process and view the output of their files before submission in order to check that they process properly. Proposals using modified style files will not be accepted. Proposals requesting more than one observing run in a period (using different instruments on a project counts as separate runs) should specify them individually in the proposal as indicated. 4: Regular and Large proposals should be submitted by e-mail before the above deadline to: proposal@not.iac.es, with the word "Proposal" both as Subject and as text. Automatic e-mail acknowledgement of receipt, with notification of any problems encountered in processing, is provided. Before the deadline, questions on proposal preparations or procedures may be sent to the same address with "Question" as the Subject. 5: Up-to-date information on instruments at NOT is found at http://www.not.iac.es/instruments/. Please note the following features for Period 64: - Work is continuing to further improve the stability for radial-velocity measurements with FIES. The FIES grating has been mounted in a vacuum enclosure, making the spectrograph immune to the large wavelength shifts (of order km/s) caused by the changing pressure of Earth's atmosphere. In addition, a new tunable Fabry-Perot Etalon calibration unit (TFP) was be installed, which should provide an ultra-precise calibration source used to set the velocity zero point of the instrument. The TFP is currently being upgraded, and should be available from the start of Period 64. - The double image polarimeter DIPol-UF is now available as a visitor instrument at the NOT. It allows for high-speed and high-precision broad-band polarimetry simultaneously in 3 pass-bands (BVR), but can also be used as a high-speed 3-band photometer. DIPol-UF is not a common-user instrument, but is only supported during specific periods. See for more information: http://www.not.iac.es/instruments/dipol-uf - The SOFIN high-resolution Echelle spectrograph is again available. It only is offered to do circular spectro-polarimetry with the medium-resolution (R~80,000) camera. SOFIN is not a common-user instrument: only limited support is provided. 6: The OPTICON Trans-National Access Programme provides access for external users to NOT and several other European telescopes with support from the European Union. NB: Proposals for OPTICON time are submitted and reviewed separately two months before the normal NOT proposals, and all eligible non-Nordic applicants should follow the OPTICON procedure. See http://www.astro-opticon.org/h2020/tna/call/index.html for the next deadline and all details on this programme. April 23, 2021 T. Augusteijn Director, NOT