APEX - Recent Changes in Period 99

This section describes relevant changes for observations to take place during Period 99.

General

  • During Period 99, the ESO time slots are expected to be scheduled in late April to early May and late June to early July.
  • The exact distribution of the observing time between the APEX partners can be found on the APEX web pages. Time-critical observations should only be requested during the ESO runs.
  • Large Programmes with APEX using Poor PWV conditions: In order to make the best use of the time where the PWV is high (PWV>2 mm) ESO invites Large Programmes for those conditions. Poor PWV large programmes must be clearly identi ed as such in Box 5 and 8 of the large programme proposal form. Ideally a "Poor PWV LP Programme" therefore consists of a large sample of targets covering a wide RA range. The proposal must demonstrate that the scienti c goals can be reached with only a signi cant subset of the observations completed. Poor PWV-LPs may cover up to 2 consecutive semesters.
  • Large and Monitoring programmes can cover only 2 periods, until the end of the current APEX agreement.

Instruments

  • ARTEMIS has been offered since Period 98. In Period 99, both the 350 and 450 μm channels are o ffered for simultaneous observations. This instrument is optimized for wide- eld mapping of areas of at least 4'x2', and achieves similar mapping speeds at both wavelengths. The preliminary observing time calculator will be updated around 15 September 2016, so users are requested to check their observing time requests after this date.
  • SABOCA  is not offered in Period 99 as the same capabilities are offered by ARTEMIS.
  • SHFI:
    • APEX-1: Large proposals for PWV>2mm conditions are encouraged.
    • Programmes which would benefit from the wider bandwidth, higher sensitivity or increased baseline stability of the new 230 GHz MPIfR receiver can optionally request to execute their programmes with this new receiver, pending successful commissioning, and only in collaboration and after prior approval by the instrument PI, Rolf Guesten (rguesten[AT]mpifr-bonn.mpg.de).
  • FLASH:
    • This PI instruments is offered to the ESO community on a collaborative basis with MPIfR. Large programmes or time critical observations with PI instruments will not be accepted. Users who would like to use FLASH must contact the instrument PI, Dr. Rolf Guesten (rguesten[AT]mpifr-bonn.mpg.de), at least two weeks prior to submitting their proposal. Members of the PI team should be included as CoIs on the proposal. The operation of these PI instruments requires the presence of the instrument team so all ESO FLASH and observations will be scheduled on fixed dates; the exact dates have not been determined yet.
    • Observations will be done by the PI team during a maximum of 3 days. Preference will be given to proposals using the dual-beam, wide-bandwidth capabilities of FLASH due to limited ESO observing time.
  • CHAMP+: This MPIfR PI instrument is not offered in Period 99 due to a planned technical intervention. It may be offered again in Period 100.
  • SEPIA: This instrument can house up to 3 ALMA-type receiver cartridges.

The band 5 receiver, covering 159 to 211 GHz with dual polarization, sideband-separating mixers (2SB), has successfully completed commissioning in September 2015, and is available for Normal, Large and Monitoring programmes in Period 99.

The commissioning of the band 9 receiver, covering 600 to 722 GHz with dual polarization in double side-band mode, has almost been completed at the time of writing. It is expected that this receiver will be upgraded to a 2SB version in February 2017. All proposals should assume the DSB version, but will be automatically transferred to the 2SB version if this is available in Period 99. No Large or Monitoring programmes will be accepted for SEPIA band 9 in Period 99.

Both band 5 and 9 receivers use the XFFTS backends, covering 4 GHz IF bandwidth. In the 2SB receiver of band 5, both bands are recorded, while in the DSB receiver of band 9, only one band is recorded. In both cases, there is a gap of 8 GHz between the image and signal bands. An observing time calculator is available.

The Late Breaking News page should be checked for updates on the commissioning on the band 9 as it will continue after the release of the call for proposals.