Observing Proposals
Proposals are invited for telescope time on the VBT (National) and the 40-inch Carl-Zeiss telescope (IIA only). On the 1.3m JCBT, 20% time is available for non-IIA proposals. The observing cycles are for a 4-month period, and proposals are invited three times a year. The three cycle periods and their corresponding deadlines are given below.
Current Schedule
May - August 2025
January - April 2025
Proposal Submission
- VBT and JCBT: Please use the IIA Proposal Management System (IPS) for submitting observing proposals
- 40-inch CZT:Download [tex.gz, 1.3KB] the observing proposal form (latex file). Duly filled proposals may be sent by email to vtac @iiap.res.in
IIA Office order [pdf, 3.0MB] on Telescope Time allocation and data policy (March, 2015)
| Cycle | Deadline |
|---|---|
| January-April | November 1 |
| May - August | March 1 |
| September - December | July 1 |
Observing Conditions
Weather
Peninsular India is usually hit by two monsoons in a year - the southwest monsoon starting around the beginning of June, and the northeast monsoon which settles in around the end of October. The peak observing season is January - April or May.
Astronomical Seeing
The telescope seeing at the Zeiss 1m telescope is very close to the site seeing and is in the range of ~0".8-2" (FWHM), 1.5" being typical. The dome + mirror seeing at the Vainu Bappu Telescope (VBT) is somewhat worse; the range is ~1"-3" (FWHM), with ~2".5 being the typical value.
Clear Sky Statistics
Statistics of photometric and Spectroscopic nights at the VBO
