News & Opportunities

Time Allocation Under the Long Baseline Observatory (LBO)

Because of the reorganization among NRAO, the LBO, and the Green Bank Observatory (GBO), this 2019A Call for Proposals is only for observations with the VLBA/HSA and the GMVA ;  the call for the GBT and the VLA can be found at the GBO Call for Proposals and the NRAO Call for Proposals, respectively. For the meantime the LBO, GBO, and NRAO will continue to run a single, joint proposal review and time allocation process, as described here.

 

VLBA Shared Risk Observing

In 2019A, the LBO will offer the use of all VLBA stations (N.B.: not the HSA) with a maximum recording rate of 4096 Mbps.  This resource will be offered as Shared Risk Observing. This means that if there is a problem with using this resource, we will not automatically re-observe a given project.  During semester 19A we expect to be able to support 4096 Mbps recording for ~15% of the open-skies observing time.  Therefore we will only allocate 4096 Mbps to the most highly-ranked proposals that request it.  Your proposal should indicate whether it could be considered for allocation at 2048 Mbps, perhaps with an increased time request, or dropped from consideration altogether.

For further details on this new capability and others in the Shared Risk Observing program, visit the VLBA SRO web page.


Joint Observations with XMM-Newton Project

By agreement with the NRAO/GBO/LBO Observatories, detailed in a Memorandum of Understanding, the XMM-Newton Project may award up to 3% of NRAO/GBO/LBO open skies observing time.  Similarly the NRAO/GBO/LBO Time Allocation Committee may award up to 150 ks of XMM-Newton time per year.  See the Joint Observations with XMM-Newton page for details.


Large Proposals

The VLBA continues to encourage Large proposals (those requesting 200 hours or more).  VLBA proposers are urged to submit their Large proposals for this Call,  or to submit relevant pilot projects that will be useful in preparing for a future Large proposal.


VLBA Resident Shared Risk Observing Program

The VLBA Resident Shared Risk Observing (RSRO) program provides users with early access to new capabilities in exchange for a period of residency in Socorro to help commission those capabilities. For example, the phased-VLA system was developed through RSRO programs.  Users are encouraged to conceive and propose innovative ideas for new VLBA capabilities.  Some staff suggestions are  included at the VLBA RSRO program page, along with details for submitting RSRO proposals.

Proposers should be aware that RSRO capabilities are generally not approved at priority A, owing to the level of risk associated with these observations.

 

Other Proposal Opportunities

Proposers should keep in mind that the following classes of observations are very welcome, as well as Large Proposals (see above):

  • Director's Discretionary Time Proposals:  Proposals for Director's Discretionary Time (DDT) may be submitted at any time.  They must be submitted through the Proposal Submission Tool, and are intended to address targets of opportunity, high-risk/high-return exploratory time, or other science opportunities deemed sufficiently urgent to justify prompt action.  For pre-planned observations of possible transient events, whose event times are unknown a priori, a Triggered proposal submitted at a regular deadline is preferred over a DDT.  See the Proposal Types web page for further details.
  • Filler Programs: Some programs are not time critical, do not require highly subscribed GST ranges, or can usefully observe in multiple brief, randomly-timed sessions. Such programs may be able to take advantage of "filler" time, and are strongly encouraged.  Types of projects that might be suitable for VLBA filler time include: surveys of many sources, deep integrations spread over many sessions, and long term monitoring.  It is rare for fewer than 6 antennas to be functional and have good observing conditions as well; high frequency projects that can use a reduced array are therefore viable.  To be eligible for FILLER status the project should be flexible enough to be scheduled:
        with non-ideal weather conditions;
        with less than the full complement of antennas;
        with a target list of source positions around the sky; and
        with short duration or variable length scheduling blocks.
    Proposals for filler projects must include the word "filler" in the proposal title.  Teams must provide tools that allow VLBA operations, with minimal effort, to create schedules for arbitrary blocks of time of one hour or longer when such time becomes available during dynamic scheduling.  Large VLBA filler proposals (i.e. combining Filler and Large proposal types), and multi-semester proposals, are also welcomed.  
  • High Risk Proposals: As a means of maximizing its scientific impact through cutting-edge observations, the Observatory strongly encourages the submission of high-risk/high-reward proposals.
  • Commensal Observing: The VLBA has some innate ability to support commensal observing either through clever use of existing infrastructure or through operation of user-supplied capabilities.  It is recommended that interested proposers discuss their ideas with VLBA staff prior to submission in order to develop a plausible program.  Such observations will be subject to resource constraints.

Further information about each of these programs can be found here.  If, after reading pertinent documentation, there are still questions, please submit the questions to the NRAO helpdesk.

Connect with NRAO

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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