13th Announcement of Opportunity (AO-13)

 

This Announcement solicits proposals for observations to be carried out in the period from January to December 2016.

We bring to your attention the following:

  • Following a recommendation by the IUG it is possible to submit Key Programme proposals with observations spanning two AO cycles of observation.

  • To ensure a safe disposal in 2029, a series of dedicated manoeuvres to modify the orbit of INTEGRAL were executed in January and February, this year. The new orbit has a nominal duration of about 64 hours compared to the old one, which lasted around 72 hours. Consequently, the available observing time per revolution is now approximately 170 ks, compared to 210 ks before the orbit change was implemented.

  • Observations with non-standard, custom patterns, such as the GPS and Galactic scans, generally reduce scheduling efficiency, and increase workload for both the ISOC and the Mission Operations Centre. Because of the overall reduced manpower in INTEGRAL operations, the use of non-standard patterns is now strongly discouraged. Hence, starting in AO-13, custom patterns will be considered only for the highest, A-grade, proposals, and their scheduling will be done on a best effort basis.

  • ESA continues to provide the opportunity to propose for coordinated observations with XMM-Newton and/or NASA's Swift satellite. A total of 300 ks of XMM-Newton observing time and a total of 150 ks of Swift observing time is available for these coordinated observations.

  • Finally, we would like to remind you that there is no second call for proposals requesting data rights anymore (so-called data rights proposals). Therefore, we strongly encourage you to submit any data rights proposals as observing time proposals in the coming and future announcements of opportunity; amalgamation has been made more flexible.

 

AO-13 Milestones

 
Release of AO-13: Call for observing time proposals   9 Mar 2015
Deadline for submission of observing time proposals   17 April 2015 (14:00 CEST)
Meeting of the Time Allocation Committee (TAC)   26-28 May 2015
Start AO-13 cycle of observation (duration 12 months)   01 January 2016
 

AO-13 Documentation

AO-13 Tools

Need help?

Staying informed