HIMALAYAN CHANDRA TELESCOPE
Mt. Saraswati, Hanle
(Cycle 4: May - July 2004; Accepted
Proposals)
The 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) was installed at
the Indian Astronomical
Observatory (IAO), Mt. Saraswati, Digpa-ratsa Ri, Hanle at an altitude of
4500 m (15000 ft) above msl by the Indian
Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore, in August 2000. Subsequent
efforts were centred on commissioning the first light instruments, performance
tests of the telescope, dome and remote operation through dedicated satellite
communication link from the Centre
for Research & Education in Science & Technology (CREST), Indian
Institute of Astrophysics, Hosakote, about 35 km northeast of Bangalore. The
Himalayan Faint Object Spectrograph Camera (HFOSC) and the
near-infrared camera are available for regular observations.
About 50% of the time was allocated during Cycle 1, which
increased to 70% during Cycle 3. The telescope will be
available only during May - July 2004 in cycle 4, since it is proposed to
undertake mirror aluminization during August 2004. As in the previous
cycles, some time will be used for preventive maintenance of the telescope and
instruments. It is also proposed to reserve some time for
service observations.
The HCT Time Allocation Committee (HTAC) has been
constituted by the Director, IIA, with A.V. Raveendran (Chairman),
M. Parthasarathy, T.P. Prabhu, R. Vasundhara, G.C. Anupama, D.K. Sahu, D. Angchuk and P.Sreekumar (ISAC) as members. HTAC invites observing proposals from astronomers.
The instruments available during this cycle will be the Himalayan Faint Object
Spectrograph (HFOSC) and the NIR Camera.
Guest observers can operate the telescope and instrument
from CREST using the satellite communication link. There are no operators
available at present, but the astronomers at CREST and engineers from IAO will
introduce the guest observers to the user interfaces for operation and to the
procedures for downloading the data during the day. There could be occasional
problems at night which can be attended by experts only during the following
day. The HCT has key programmes on targets of opportunity (ToO) such as novae,
supernovae, afterglows of GRBs and AGN variability. A part of the allotted
telescope time may be used by the ToO teams for such observations. The guest
observers are welcome to participate and collaborate on such programmes
undertaken during the time allotted to them.
The current performance of the telescope with no autoguider
installed is:
Pointing accuracy: 3
arcsec rms
Tracking accuracy:
1.38 arcsec (mean) over 10 minutes
Image quality: 0.7
arcsec diameter (80% power)
Note: In the absence of the autoguider, integration times of only
10 to 20 minutes are possible, depending on the location of the object in the
sky.
The last date for
receiving completed observing proposals is
now extended to 31 March 2004 and the information on allotment of time will be communicated
to the proposers by 10 April 2004. Further information on the site, telescope
and instruments may be obtained at http://www.iiap.res.in/iao/iao.html.
Proposals and queries may be sent to htac@iiap.res.in.
Proposals
accepted during the previous cycles
Observing Proposal Form Information
to Guest Observers