Observing with GREGOR

The deadline for proposals for observing campaigns (KIS time) in the first semester of 2024 (Period 2024A) is 22 January 2024 at 12:00 am UT. The period for scientific observations begins in April and ends in July. The call for proposals for 2024A will be announced in the Spring of 2024.

Please note the various options to apply for GREGOR time below.

The following instruments with be available in 2024A:

• GRIS Spectro-polarimeter in near-infrared at wavelengths 1.0–1.3 or 1.5–1.8 microns. Modes: Slit-scanner (64arcsec x 0.26arcsec simultaneously, 64arcsec x60arcsec scanned) or Image slicer- IFU (FOV: 3”x6” simultaneously, 60”x60” scanned). Simultaneous continuum 988nm slitjaw images are available (plus H-alpha narrowband slitjaw images if the 650nm beam splitter is used).
• The upgraded High-resolution Fast Imager (HiFI+) consists of three camera control computers with two synchronized sCMOS cameras each. HiFI+ offers near-diffraction limited imaging at high cadence in six spectral windows: Ca II H, G-band, blue continuum, broad- and narrow-band H-alpha, and TiO. When using the beam splitter of 650 nm it will be available only for the blue channels.
• GREGOR has a new AO mode (H-alpha-AO) which allows to lock the AO off-limb on prominences (if the prominence shape permits). This mode is offered on a shared-risk basis and allows to use of HiFI+ H-alpha 656 narrowband and GRIS He 1083 in the slit or IFU mode.<o:p></o:p>

Please see at Scientific Instruments website for the current capabilities and restrictions.

Please note:

The Covid-19 situation during is expected to be better. Therefore the observations can be carried out also during weekends. During this period, the PIs can observe on-site and assistants will support the PIs in the telescope or from Freiburg if needed. If the Covid-19 situation allows it, the PIs can still observe in the telescope following the pandemic rules announced by KIS. If needed, the observations can be performed remotely from Freiburg or partner institutes. Experienced PIs can also observe from their home institutions (with the assistant on-site or from Freiburg connected via Zoom). If necessary, external PIs are assisted by support astronomers from Freiburg. External PI’s can also travel to KIS in Freiburg and observe from there. They can also look for cooperation partners from KIS or partner institutes. The PIs will be informed about the exact conditions in time before the start of the observations.

Please use the proposal template below to apply for the German observing time. A similar template is found on the Spanish Time/SOLARNET/CCI Time pages, where however additional information/forms may need to be filled. Proposals applying for the KIS time should be sent to tac_kis@leibniz-kis.de

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CCI international time program (ITP)

5% of the telescope time is reserved for international access to all solar telescopes on the Canary Islands (GREGOR, VTT, THEMIS). The observing time is assigned by the EAST TAC. For ITP time, applications must include researchers with affiliations in at least two of the following countries: Spain, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Finland. Contact Dan Kiselman (dan@astro.su.se) for more information. Application at  https://solarnet-project.eu/Access-Calls

Spanish time (Solar CAT)

See www.iac.es/OOCC/solar-cat/ for more information. According to international agreements, 20% of the observing time is reserved for assignment by the Spanish solar CAT. Presently, there are no restrictions on nationality to apply for GREGOR and VTT time through the solar CAT. Application at www.iac.es/OOCC/solar-cat/.

German time

Each institute (AIP, MPS, KIS) has guaranteed observing time at GREGOR and VTT. The split is 20%/20%/60% between the AIP, MPS, and KIS of the remaining available observation days.

KIS decided to open their observing time with no restriction on nationality/institute provided that at least one Co-I on the observing proposal is from KIS.

Contact tac_kis@leibniz-kis.de for more information.

To apply send the filled-out proposal template found above to  kis_tac@~@leibniz-kis.de. 

Proposals submitted will be ranked by external reviewers based on their scientific merit. For the time to be allocated by KIS, this will be done in a double-blind manner (i.e. the reviewers will not receive the cover sheet of the proposal - similar to Hubble proposals, physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.3.20190301a/full/), so please avoid mentioning your name in the scientific justification. Subsequently, the proposals are evaluated with further criteria, PhD status, publications of previous observations, no usable data from a previous observation and other hardship cases.

Acknowledgement and citations

Please acknowledge the use of GREGOR and of data from GREGOR as follows:

The 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope was built by a German consortium under the leadership of the Institute for Solar Physics (KIS) in Freiburg with the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, the Institute for Astrophysics Göttingen, and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen as partners, and with contributions by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The redesign of the GREGOR AO and instrument distribution optics was carried out by KIS whose technical staff is gratefully acknowledged.

The following publications should be cited when referring to GREGOR:

• Schmidt et al. 2012, AN 333/9, 796, and relevant instrument papers in AN 333/9,
• Kleint et al. 2020, A&A 641, A27