Important recent Changes (since Periods 94 and 95) regarding La Silla Instrumentation and Facilities
This section describes important changes which took place during Period 94 and 95, as well as changes expected to take place during Period 96.
ESOFORM:
- Seeing and Image Quality: Starting from Period 96, the seeing information to provide in Box 3 of a proposal is the seeing in the V band at zenith. This change now ensures that the scheduling tool uniformly takes the seeing into account. Service mode users for approved programmes will enter the Image Quality for the airmass and wavelength of interest required for their observations as constraint during Phase 2. The Messenger article `On the Difference between Seeing and Image Quality: When the Turbulence Outer Scale Enters the Game' by P. Martinez et al. describes the meaning of these two quantities.
Accordingly, the Exposure Time Calculators have been modified and clearly distinguish between the two quantities, using a slightly modified version of the formula given in the above article.
Exposure Time Calculators:
- Exposure Time Calculators: in addition to the change mentioned in the previous point, a number of ETCs are now using a new sky model developed as part of the Austrian in-kind contribution (see Noll et al. 2012, A\&A 543, 92, Jones et al. 2013, A\&A 560, 91, and The Cerro Paranal Advanced Sky Model).
Instruments
- HARPS:
- The commissioning of the Laser Frequency Comb will take place during April 2015. Pending on the commissioning results, it could be used for operations during Period 96. Interested users are invited to consult the News page before the start of their run.
- The upgrade of the optical fibers will take place in May and early June 2015.
Large Programmes
- Large Programmes are not offered on the NTT in Period 96.
- Large Programmes on the 3.6-m telescope may span up to Period 99. See the Call for Proposals for Period 96 for details.