Period 98 Telescope Allocation

Published: 06 Jul 2016
Paranal at night

The 98th Observing Programmes Committee (OPC) met on 18–20 May 2016. A total of 1140 (8-hour equivalent) nights of Visitor Mode and Service Mode observations were allocated on the VLT/VLTI, VISTA, VST, the 3.6-metre and NTT and APEX telescopes. Of these, 165 nights were allocated to filler programmes. The submission deadline for Phase 2 Service Mode observations is 4 August 2016; see separate announcement.

On the VLT, the balance between Visitor and Service Mode in P98 was 46% and 54% (fillers excluded). Public Spectroscopic Surveys, and new and ongoing Large Programmes, on the VLT occupy 28.3% of the allocation, while the equivalent numbers on the 3.6-metre and NTT are 40.5% and 37.8%, respectively. The outcome of the time allocation was communicated to the PIs of the 1023 proposals submitted for Period 98 on Monday, 4 July 2016.