Director's Discretionary Time

The NRAO has established two categories of proposals for Director's Discretionary Time (DDT). DDT is limited to a maximum of 5% of the total observing time on the VLA. All DDT proposals should be submitted using the standard NRAO procedures, using the on-line proposal tool. Proposals submitted by any other means (e.g., phone calls, e-mails, faxes, word-of-mouth) will be not be considered.  The list of active triggered proposals can be consulted to determine whether there is an active conflicting proposal.

1. Target of Opportunity. Target of Opportunity (ToO) proposals are for unexpected or unpredicted phenomena such as supernovae in nearby galaxies or extreme X-ray or radio flares. ToO Proposals are evaluated rapidly, with scheduling done as quickly as possible and as warranted by the nature of the transient phenomenon. ToO Proposals are evaluated on the basis of scientific merit by the Chair of the relevant Science Review Panel and Observatory staff with the necessary scientific expertise. The technical feasibility of the proposed observations will be assessed by Observatory staff. The proprietary period for data obtained by ToO Proposals will be assessed on a case-by-case basis but will be no more than six months.

2. Exploratory Time. Exploratory Proposals are normally for requests of small amounts of time, typically a few hours or less, in response to a recent discovery, possibly to facilitate future submission of a larger proposal. In general, there will not be a need for immediate scheduling with these proposals, but they may need to be observed in the current VLA configuration rather than waiting 16 months. The possibility that a proposer forgets about or misses a proposal deadline, or just discovered that he/she was granted time for a particular source on some other telescope, will not constitute sufficient justification for granting observing time by this process. Thus, Exploratory Proposals must include a clear description of why the proposal could not have been submitted for normal review at a previous NRAO proposal deadline, and why it should not wait for the next proposal deadline. Proposals for exploratory time will be evaluated on the basis of scientific merit by the relevant Science Review Panel. Observatory staff will assess their technical feasibility. Notification of the disposition of an Exploratory Proposal normally will be within three weeks of receipt of the proposal; some of these proposals may be put in a queue such that they may or may not be observed. The proprietary period for data obtained by Exploratory Proposals normally will be six months.

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The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory are facilities of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.

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