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The Australia Telescope Time Assignment Committee (TAC) is advisory to the ATNF Director. The TAC members are appointed by the ATNF Steering Committee .
The TAC assesses proposals submitted for observing time with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), the Parkes radio telescope, the Mopra radio telescopes and the Long Baseline Array. Service proposals for the Tidbinbilla 70-m antenna are also assessed. Time is allocated on the basis of scientific merit.
The TAC members meet twice a year to consider telescope applications for two six-month semesters that begin in October and March. The TAC normally has eight voting members, including the Chair. In additional, a group of approximately 16 external readers review the proposals and send input to the TAC. Members and Readers serve for a period of three years. The Head of Science Operations (Phil Edwards), and the Operations Research Program Leader (Jessica Chapman) also attend the TAC meetings as non-voting members. The telescope schedules are prepared after the TAC meetings by the Head of Science Operations.
Following a TAC meeting, an email with a science grade and scientific comments from the Time Assignment Committee is sent to all proposers on a proposal, with valid email addresses in OPAL. A second email, with information on any allocated dates, is sent a couple of weeks later when the telescope schedules are released.
For assistance with scheduling related matters, contact the Head of Science Operations, Philip Edwards (Phil.Edwards [@] csiro.au).
For queries on the TAC grades or comments contact the TAC Chair, Lisa harvey-Smith (Chair until end-October 2011) (Lisa.Harvey-Smith [@] csiro.au).
If you wish to discuss a scientific or scheduling-related issue, after consultation with the TAC Chair and/or Head of Science Operations, please contact the CASS Director, Philip Diamond (Philip.Diamond [@] csiro.au).
For some time assignment performance indicators, see the ATNF Annual Reports.
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Time Assignment Policies |
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| ToO and NAPA proposals | The ATNF Time Assignment Committee recognises two types of proposals for which observerations need to be scheduled at short notice. These are Target of Opportunity (ToO) and Non A-priori Assignable (NAPA) proposals. |
| ATNF Large Projects | Projects that require at least 400 hours of telescope time are in the category of large projects |
| Data Access | ATNF data access policy and information |
| Director's Time | Use of Director's time at the Narrabri, Mopra and Parkes observatories. |
| Relacing Lost Time | ATNF policy for replacement of lost time. |
| Duty Astronomer Policy | ATNF Duty Astronomer (DA) policy and other DA information. |
| Duty Astronomer Duties | Responsibilities of DAs at the Compact Array. |
| Remote Observing Conditions | Conditions for remote observing at the Compact Array. |
| Voting Members | |
| Michael Drinkwater (Chair) | University of Queensland |
| Helen Johnston | University of Sydney |
| Jim Lovell | University of Tasmania |
| Emil Lenc | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| James Green | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Martin Meyer | ICRAR |
| Jill Rathborne | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Willem van Straten | Swinburne University of Technology |
| Andrew Walsh | James Cook University |
| Ex-Officio Members | |
| Douglas Bock | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Phil Edwards | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Jessica Chapman | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |
| Administration Support | |
| Vicki Drazenovic | CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science |