UK 8m Users Group Minutes Jan 20, 2012

chair: C. Conselice

Gemini Telescopes

• Ilona Soechting
  • Demand for Gemini declined in 2012 -- oversubscription about factor of 2, similar across partnership
  • UK imbalance of time should be made up by the end of 2012.
  • UK will leave Gemini Dec 31, 2012 -- will not have time in Jan 2013 (thus we leave before the end of 2012B)
• Chris Conselice
  • Reviewed instruments and operations of Gemini
  • New director Fred Chaffee appointed for 1 year, new director in a few months, being appointed now
  • New/upgraded instruments: GMOS-N upgraded with new CCDs, Flamingos-2 and MCAO GeMS are looking to possibly be ready for science use in 2012, not clear yet. A call for science verification proposals later this year
  • Future instruments involved high-resolution spectrographs
  • Point made that when UK joins a new >8m telescope project the lessons learned from Gemini should be carefully considered to maximise the interest in the new telescope project among UK astronomers
  • Possible conference on Gemini, and lessons learned, after our membership ends, in Oxford 2013

ESO

• Pat Roche
  • New instruments coming online at a healthy rate: old ones will be replace (ISAAC, FORS, etc). X-SHOOTER most popular
  • ut3 and ut4 most undersubscribed
  • 15% uk contribution to ESO funding, was 19%, lower now due to weaker pound - we are doing better than this in % of time.
  • Some notes on VISTA
    • Public surveys require 5-7 yr for completion
    • Lost 90 nights over 4 semesters due to late VISTA penalty -- taken out of UK allocation for next 4 semesters; eliminates band-3 proposals
  • Some new instruments
    • Harps upgrade
    • MOONS on the VLT -- wider field spectroscopic facility
    • 4MOST -- mounted on vista or NTT
  • Some notes on ALMA
    • Low observing efficiency -- extend cycle to the end of the year -- want to finish as many as possible
    • Cycle 1 call later this year
  • Gary Fuller (ESO Users Committee)
    • ESO software should be platform independent
    • Find a way for users group to talk to the STC
    • No obvious way to send suggestions to eso
    • Improved UK input to UC? --- but how?
    • Was an older ESO UK committee (need to think about having a meeting like this)
    • New pipelines needed
    • Long discussion of pipelines for reducing data --- do we want to have a pipeline for reduction?

STFC Update

• Simon Berry
  • New chief executive -- forming a new structure to STFC in place by April 1
  • PPAN dissolved and new single cross programme body developed -- chair Tony Ryan (a chemist), astro members: Matt Griffin, Bob Warwick, Alan Heavens, Sheila Rowan. Non-core group: Melvin Hoare, Tom Millar, Simon Morris
  • Two big projects: E-ELT: consider science and programmatic cases in next phase up to and beyond construction SKA: Pre-construction phase planning
  • Island sites, AGP outcomes updated
  • Programmatic Review -- during 2012, outcome 2013? Preparing for next CSR, examining all areas of STFC programmes
  • Science road map released: www.stfc.ac.uk/roadmap
  • ALMA front ends delivered to Chile; FMOS is now in routine operation on Subaru; SCUBA-2 in shared risk operation; DES work at UCL finished; KMOS will be delivered to ESO in March/April
  • SKA organization building being contributed by Manchester
  • eMerlin commissioning with 6 telescopes being completed; legacy surveys starting soon
  • R&D support for future spectrographs in place - £0.5M available for the design phase -- WEAVE on WHT, 4MOST on ESO, MOONS for ESO, Big BOSS and DESpec for US-led facilities; due in 18 months -- science case for GAIA follow up, and/or further exploration of dark energy
  • ELT: agreed to a budget allowing the long-lead items of E-ELT to commence in advance of the full approval for construction Business case for E-ELT has been made -- council needs to sign off on it however
  • Confirmed funding for next stage of development of UK led instruments
  • VISTA agreement: lose 90 nights over 4 semesters
  • ING and JAC no guarantee of funding after March 2013: Ideas are to keep JCMT until 2016 for 3 year projects -- longer term of JCMT not clear; staged approach for ING continued use based on new governance model, link with GTC -- build a spectrograph - WEAVE - one possibility
  • subcommittee chaired by Bob Warwick investigating proposals for continued funding
  • Future >8meter access -- possible ideas: GTC/ING combined process, buying time on Subaru, Gemini, Keck -- leadership needs to come from both STFC and the community -- open for ideas -- trading time for other facilities, e.g., JCMT?
  • Do we need a different user advisory structure? a single ESO committee? with sub groups for specific things, e.g., ALMA, etc?

ELT update

• Aprajita Verma
  • E-ELT final design review passed successfully -- technically ready for construction
  • Summer 2011 -- extended design phase to consider recommendations of the E-ELT review
  • Reduction of primary mirror to 39.3m from 43.2m
  • Faster telescope (f-ratio) reduction in cost & risk of secondary
  • Reduces cost from 1275m euro to 1050m
  • Instrument plan -- ELT-IFU and ELT-CAM First light instruments, first light around 2022
  • ELT-4 and 5 will be MOS or HIRES
  • Council in 2011 approved 2012 ESO budget that includes preparatory work for the E-ELT, 10% of observing time to Chilean astronomers
  • One-off contribution needed plus a 2% year on year increase in subscriptions
  • PPRP bid to back UK's involvement in E-ELT -- successful
  • ELT-IFU -- Harmoni support continued R&D on EAGLE and OPTIMOS-EVE; CANARY(MOAO demonstrator on WHT) strongly supported
  • Project office management & project science support (UK ATC & Oxford)
  • ELT talks/meetings at NAM, EWASS, and ESO. European-wide meeting on high-resolution spectrographs (Cambridge, Sept) and a planned UK-community meeting on HIRES & MOS at the end of the year.

• Chris Evans
  • MOONS -- Multi-object spectrograph
  • Science case -- redshift desert, SDSS like survey ; GAIA follow up on Ca triplet; high-res. mode
  • 500 sq. arcmin field of view, 500 objects, up to 1.8um
  • Build up large redshift surveys, etc.