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Utilizing ARK, the Astrophysics Research Knowledgebase,
a service of
NASA's High Energy Astrophysics
Science Archive Research Center, RPS provides a
facility for filling out the GALEX Observation Request forms. Electronic
submission of the forms is required. The scientific justification must also be
submitted electronically, uploaded as a PDF file after the initial submission
of the electronic proposal forms. Please note that this PDF cannot exceed
10MB in size.
Additional information pertaining to GALEX Cycle 6 (including a proposal
submission checklist and style templates for your scientific justification)
can be found on the GALEX Guest
Investigator Cycle 6 web site. This document describes how to go about
submitting your GALEX proposal using ARK/RPS.
In order to access the GALEX RPS web form, you must first
create an ARK account and/or join the GALEX
group.
If you already have an ARK account, login first and select "Join Group"
from the menu next to "GALEX RPS (GALEX)" and then click on the
Submit Changes button.
If you do not already have an ARK account, enter your e-mail address in
the input field provided and click on the check box next to "GALEX RPS
(GALEX)" and then click on the Join ARK button. Check your
e-mail and click on the activation code found therein. Fill out the ARK
registration form and submit.
Proposers may begin a proposal in either the GALEX
RPS web form (which handles the validation and submission of the cover
page, observation forms, and other information) or the
GALEX
Planning Wizard (which checks the feasibility of planned
observations). Proposal information may be passed between the two systems
iteratively, using a common file format that both systems understand.
To begin with GALEX RPS web form, fill out the
form as directed below. Observations can be added at the end of the form or
by clicking the Add Targets button at the top or bottom of the page.
The Add Targets button can be used to add observations by uploading
a plain text file containing a
list of names and/or positions. Please note that this method will only
fill in the observation field name and center position; you will still need
to enter other information (science target(s), exposure time, etc.) for each
observation using the web interface. You can
use the Save button to download a
plain text representation of the ARK form, which you can later
Reload into ARK or upload to the GALEX Planning
Wizard in order to check the feasibility of your planned
observations.
Alternatively, proposers may start by using the
GALEX
Planning Wizard to develop an observing program.
The Planning Wizard offers the following tools: Target/Archive
Search, Brightness Checker, Exposure Time Calculator, Sky Plotting, and
Target Visiblity checking. When you have completed your intital assessment of
feasibility, the save file created by the GALEX Planning Wizard should then be
uploaded to ARK using the Reload button. Proposers are requested to
edit these save files generated by the GALEX Planning Wizard only in ARK or
in the Wizard. Other editing may introduce difficulties in the proposal
technical review, even if they are not evident in ARK. Proposers can iterate
between ARK/RPS and the Wizard as needed, using the common save file. GALEX
tools may also be accessed stand-alone if desired.
If you Reload a save file prepared by another user, the PI contact
information will be replaced/updated automatically by with the information
from the current ARK user's profile after clicking on the Verify
button.
Note that the ARK/RPS web form replaces the XML target files
previously required with GALEX proposal submissions. If you have XML files
from GALEX cycles 1-3 that you wish to reuse, click on the ARK
Reload button and upload your XML file to ARK. ARK will parse the
XML file and fill out the RPS web form for you using the information found
in the XML file you upload. Note that some changes have been made for Cycle 6,
so XML files from previous cycles likely will not Verify without
some errors, so expect to have to make some modifications to the web form
after uploading an XML file from a previous cycle. In particular, you will
probably need to update the information on your Co-Investigators (check the
separation of the first and last names and fix as needed, update the
institutions where necessary, and add e-mail addresses), enter integration
times and coordinates for grism pre-images (new), and make sure handled
constraints properly (changed to checkboxes and include explanations). You
should also check the integration times for all observations and make sure
they are correctly specified in kiloseconds.
After you have filled out the form, click the Verify button to
make sure you have entered the form information correctly. If the form does
not validate, ARK/RPS will identify the reason(s) for non-verification.
Once the form verifies successfully, a Submit button will appear,
allowing you to you to submit the proposal to RPS.
The PostScript, PDF, and LaTeX buttons can be used to
generate formatted versions of the proposal forms. We recommend that PIs keep
formatted copies of the forms for their personal records, but it is not a
required part of the proposal submission process.
After clicking on the Submit button, go to your
Recent Activity page. Summary information for the
proposal that you just submitted should be listed here, indicating that you
have successfully submitted your GALEX proposal forms to ARK/RPS. You may now
upload your scientific justification (in PDF format). From the
Recent Activity page, click on the Files
button next to the proposal you submitted, and then click on the
Upload button and follow the instructions on that page. After you have
successfully uploaded your scientific justification, you have completed your
RPS electronic submission.
Note: After submission and before the proposal deadline, you may still
Modify or Discard your proposal using the appropriate buttons
on the Recent Activity page. The Files
button also enables you to Download, Discard, or Replace
any file that you previously uploaded.
Additional information on how to use RPS and the answers to some
frequently asked questions can be found on the
RPS Quick Help page.
Short descriptions of the forms and fields are below. The fields are
listed in the same order as found on the web page. The labels for the fields
in the web form will link to the appropriate field description below.
If you have further questions about the content of the forms' fields, contact
the GALEX GI Help Desk.
Also, be sure to review the
answers to
frequently asked questions about proposing for GALEX and the information
on the GALEX Guest
Investigator Cycle 6 web site.
The section of the form contains fields for the proposal title, abstract, the
type of proposal, research area, and personal information about the principal
Guest Investigator (name, institution, address, telephone number, etc.).
The title of the proposal. Up to 120 characters. Required.
2000 characters maximum. Abstracts exceeding this limit must be shortened.
Required.
GALEX Guest Investigator proposals fall into four possible types, which are
described in the
GALEX
NRA. Required. Select one of the following proposal types:
Standard
Archival
Snap
Legacy
The type of research to be conducted in the proposal. Required. Select one of
the following areas:
Deep Fields/Cosmology
Intergalactic Medium
Galaxy Clusters
Galaxy Groups
Galaxy Interactions
Abnormal Galaxies
Normal Galaxies
Galactic Structure
Stellar Populations (Clusters, Statistics, Evolution, Environment)
Interstellar Medium
Young Stars
Mid-Life Stars
Old Stars
Solar System Objects
Your title (Dr., Ms., Mr., Prof.). The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
Your first name. Up to 30 characters are allowed. Required.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
If you like, you may add your middle name or initial(s). Optional.
Up to 30 characters are allowed. The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
Your last name (surname). Up to 30 characters are allowed. Required.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
The name of your department at your institution. Up to 60 characters are allowed.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
Your institutional affiliation. Required.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
The first line of your institution's address, e.g., the street name, any number
within it, etc. Up to 60 characters.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
The second line of your institution's address, if needed. Up to 60 characters.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
Your city or town. Up to 32 characters. Required.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
The name of the state/province/prefecture in which your institution is located.
Up to 30 characters. Required. For states in the U.S., please use USPS-standard,
two-letter abbreviations.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
The postal code, ZIP code, or equivalent of your institution. Up to 10
characters.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
The name of the country in which your institution is located. Required.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
If your country is not listed, please contact the
RPS Help Desk.
Your telephone number, plus any extension. Please include the international
prefix if appropriate.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
Your fax number, if available. 24 characters allowed.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
Your e-mail address. Up to 60 characters. Required. An e-mail receipt will
be sent to this address within 24 hours of the electronic submission
of your proposal, if the e-mail receipt option is checked in your
ARK user profile.
The value for this field comes from your
ARK user profile. If it is incorrect,
update your ARK user profile prior to proposal submission.
This form contains details of your collaborators, if any, and additional
contact information. Up to 10 Co-Investigators are allowed.
The first name of each Co-Investigator. Up to 20 characters.
The last name of each Co-Investigator. Up to 20 characters.
The institution for each Co-Investigator. Up to 60 characters. Please refer to
the List of Institutions Recognized by
RPS and use the official name of the institution wherever possible.
Note: If your Co-I's institution is not among those listed, please contact the
RPS
Help Desk and request that it be added to the list. Such requests are
answered within 24 hours.
The country for each Co-Investigator. If a country is not listed, please
contact us at the
RPS Help
Desk and request that it be added to the list.
The e-mail address for each Co-Investigator. Up to 60 characters.
Flag indicating whether or not the Principal Investigator is the main
contact person with regards to the proposal.
The name of the person to contact, if not the Principal Investigator.
The telephone number of the person to contact, if not the Principal
Investigator.
The fax number of the person to contact, if not the Principal Investigator.
The e-mail address of the person to contact, if not the Principal Investigator.
If there are NASA civil servants among the team (either PI or Co-I), enter
the estimated total full-time-equivalent effort (in units of years) that
the NASA employees are expected spend on this project. Required.
This flag will help the project to decide which programs should be given
higher observing priority in the event of a FUV detector problem or extended
downtime. Checking "yes" may mean your program will be declared complete with
some or all targets having only NUV data.
Check this box if your science requires photon
list data. There is currently no data analysis software and only limited
help desk support for use of photon lists. Proposers requesting photon data
should be prepared to develop their own tools in order to use this data.
If you have any comments,
constraint(s) descriptions, or
special requests that
apply to the whole proposal or that apply to multiple observations or that
are otherwise not specifically addressed as part of a comment in any specific
observation, please enter them in the space provided in order to avoid
repeating similar information. Please indicate to which observations the
comments in this field pertain. The technical reviewers prefer usage of this
field (whenever possible) rather than repeating similar or identical comments
at the observation level. Maximum 500 characters.
We strongly recommend usage of the Exposure Time Calculator (ETC), part of the
GALEX
Planning Wizard, when preparing your proposal. The following fields will
provide important information regarding the feasibility of your proposal
to the GALEX technical review team and may help optimize your planned
observations.
Note: In 1.5 ksec, a point source of FUV [NUV] ABmag of 20 [20]
would typically have an imaging SNR of 22 [39] and a median spectroscopic SNR
in a 5 A bin of 1.2 [1.4]. These SNR values scale with the square root of
exposure time.
Note: Bright fields or sources result in
detector
dead time, which the ETC does not take into account. As a reference
point, stars brighter than 423 counts/sec NUV [97 counts/sec FUV] will suffer
a >10% loss in count rate from local gain sag. Fields with global count
rates of 20, 40, and 80 counts/sec will effectively have reduced exposure
times of 10%, 18%, and 31%. These dead-times affect each detector independent
of the other's count rates.
This should be the URL to one of the ETC runs you initiated with the
GALEX
Planning Wizard. Up to 125 characters. The "Link" to the right of the field
can be used to access the ETC run that is referenced.
Please use this field to explain (very briefly) to the GALEX technical
reviewers why you chose the ETC inputs used. Up to 500 characters.
Use this field to indicate the target(s) to which this run of the ETC
applies. This should be a comma-separated list of observation names that are
applicable to the ETC run that is referenced. The special value "$ALL"
(without quotation marks) in this field is used to indicate the ETC run
applies to all the observations in the proposal. Up to 1000 characters.
The details that need to be specified for each observation. If you have
questions about the contents of the Observation form fields, contact the
GALEX GI Help Desk.
In general, a proposal should not contain multiple new observations with the
same aperture type and identical or nearly identical (within a few
arcminutes) pointing. Typically, this should be handled as a single
observation by checking one of the
Observation Constraints
checkboxes and explaining the details in either the
Description of Constraint(s) or
Special Requests fields.
Proposers may now request a single
tiling observation for a survey of a given area of sky. Please use the
Comments field to give details of the tiling plan, as
well as explaining it in the "Description of Observations" section of the
science justification document.
Please use the
IAU
naming conventions for new observations or existing field names for
archival data. For archival fields, please use the field name given by the
Target
Observation and Archive Search Tool (TOAST) in order for the archival
request to Verify properly. Always use unique observation names so
that the ETC runs can be cross-correlated with the observations to which they
apply. Up to 30 characters. Required.
The J2000 right ascension of the observation's field center (boresight).
You may enter the right ascension in either sexagesimal format
(HH MM SS.SS — hours, minutes, seconds, separated by spaces)
or decimal degrees format (DDD.DDDDDD). Required. Use the
GALEX Brightness
Checker Tool (either stand-alone or preferably as part of using the
GALEX Planning Wizard) to verify that this position can be observed safely by
the instrument. If this is an archival observation, please enter the field
center position of the original observation, as given by the
Target
Observation and Archive Search Tool (TOAST).
The J2000 declination of the observation's field center (boresight).
You may enter the declination in either sexagesimal format
(±DD MM SS.S — an optional sign, either + or -,
followed by the degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds, separated by spaces) or
decimal degrees format (±DD.DDDDDD). If you do not specify the sign,
it is assumed to be positive. Required. Use the
GALEX Brightness
Checker Tool (either stand-alone or preferably as part of using the
GALEX Planning Wizard) to verify that this position can be observed safely by
the instrument. If this is an archival observation, please enter the field
center position of the original observation, as given by the
Target
Observation and Archive Search Tool (TOAST).
In many cases, the field center and the science target position will be the
same and the size of the science target will be small. If this is the case
you do not need to fill in the following science target fields; the science
target will be assumed to be a point source at the field center. However, if
the science target is not at the field center and/or if there are more than
one science target and/or if the science target is extended (> 0.1
arcmin), then fill in the following fields accordingly. Please note that if
you fill in one subfield, you will need to fill in all of them. You may add
up to 10 science targets per observation. If you have more than 10 science
targets in a field, please make sure that the science targets entered in the
form are indicative of the outer edges of the relevant observing area. This
information may be used to limit possible shifts of the field center.
The designation of the science target. Please use
IAU
naming conventions, such as those recognized by either the
SIMBAD or NED name resolvers.
The J2000 right ascension of the science target. You may enter the right
ascension in either sexagesimal format (HH MM SS.SS — hours,
minutes, seconds, separated by spaces) or decimal degrees format
(DDD.DDDDDD).
The J2000 declination of the science target. You may enter the declination in
either sexagesimal format (±DD MM SS.S — an optional
sign, either + or -, followed by the degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds,
separated by spaces) or decimal degrees format (±DD.DDDDDD).
The diameter (in arcminutes) of the circle that completely encloses your
region of interest and is centered on the Science Target Position. This is to
assure that all of your targets will remain in the observing field, should
the whole field center need to be shifted. Round to the nearest tenth of an
arcminute, with a minimum of 0.1 arcminutes (approximately equal to the GALEX
PSF). The target size cannot extend off the edge of the 1.2-degree field.
Please note that data quality begins to degrade beyond a radius of ~33
arcminutes (~0.55 degrees). Use multiple science targets to approximate
extended objects of non-circular shape. Please note that, in ~97% of GALEX
observatios, pointing centers are within 3 arcminutes of the planned
pointing, but occasionally offsets are larger.
Choose from the following list of options:
- Galactic
- Extragalactic
- Both/Unknown
This is used to determine extinction estimates in the technical review.
Required.
If you wish to request a special co-add, specify "Yes."
Proposers may now request
special
co-adds of archival data, or of new + archival data. These may be
requested, e.g., to combine observations at overlapping but offset pointings.
Any data to be included in a special co-add should be carefully explained.
The GALEX Science Operations Center will work with proposers in Phase 2 to
optimize special co-adds to their science goals. Use the
Special Co-Add Description field to
indicate which other (archival or new) observations are to be included in the
special co-add.
Up to 800 characters. Indicate which other (archival or new) observations are
to be included in the special co-add. Explain your project's particular
requirements. Include total required (summed) exposure time and depth or S/N
required for specific targets/regions/entire field. Specify any requirement
for data from different epochs to be co-added into separate data
products.
If this observation is a request for archival data, specify "Yes."
For archival fields, please use the field name and coordinates given by the
Target
Observation and Archive Search Tool (TOAST) in order for the archival
request to Verify properly. Any observation listed in
TOAST
may be requested as an archival observation and is expected to be available
in Cycle 6 as part of GR6. However, proposers should be aware that only
observations already collected and (already) available in GR5 are guaranteed
to be available as archival data. If proposers are concerned that a particular
observation may not occur (e.g., it is a Snap target) they should
request a new observation and note the duplication and concern about
non-completion.
If you are requesting an archival observation, you will need to enter the
name exactly as it is given in TOAST so that the
observation will verify. In a few cases (1% of extant observations), you may
receive the following error message on verification: 'Observation or Field
Name: non-unique archival field name -- please append subvisit suffix "_sv##"
-- see help for more info.' In this case, you will need to construct a more
complex observation name than what appears in TOAST. Please append the
subvisit number (column 2 in TOAST's 'Matching Observations Table') to the
TOAST Observation Name (column 1 in TOAST's 'Matching Observations Table') to
construct an observation name for ARK of the form
TOAST_Namepart1_Namepart2_sv##. If the number of the subvisit is less than
10, you will need to pad the subvisit number with a 0. E.g., for subvisit 2
the name would be TOAST_Namepart1_Namepart2_sv02; for subvisit 17 the name
would be TOAST_Namepart1_Namepart2_sv17. This will occur in some Virgo, FOCA,
and LGAL fields, most calibration fields (CAL or WDST), a few GI programs
(GI1_100, GI5-064), and all MISMWS fields. We apologize for this
inconvenience.
If you are submitting an archival proposal that will involve a very large
number of targets and will use as-is data (e.g., searching the entire AIS or
determinining SEDs for 500 sources cross-matched with 2MASS and SDSS, etc.),
then you can enter one or two examples. Indicate in the
Comments that these are typical cases, that your
program will involve many more targets, and give an estimate of how many
science targets/fields/square degrees will be included. In this case, please
give an approximate typical exposure time per field, rather than the largest
possible value (if there is a range), and explain your exposure time estimate
in the Comments.
If this observation pertains to archival data, specify the aperture
(observing mode), either "Image" or "Grism", expected or already available in
the archive in GR5. The contents of GR5 may be searched using the
Target
Observation and Archive Search Tool (TOAST).
The remaining fields,
other than Comments, apply only to requests for new
observations (i.e., not archival data).
Choose from the following list of options:
- Both NUV and FUV Safe to Observe
- FUV Only (NUV Unsafe to Observe)
- NUV Only (FUV Unsafe to Observe)
Required for new observations.
The total integration time for this observation, in kiloseconds. This number
should be a multiple of 1.5 ksec (one typical GALEX orbit). Required for new
observations.
Examples: If you are observing a field that only requires one
1500-second observation, then you should request one observation with a
Total Time for this Observation of 1.5 ksec. If you are observing a
field that requires 4.5 ksec on-source, then you should request one
observation with a total time of 4.5 ksec. If you are observing a field that
requires two different observations of 3.0 ksec each (e.g., with the
observations separated by at least a month), then you should request a single
observation, with a total time of 6.0 ksec. In this case, you should
check the Time Critical checkbox and mention the
need for the one-month separation of two 3.0-ksec observations in
Description of Constraint(s) box.
Note that the instruction for this last scenario is a change from Cycles
1-5.
Specify the aperture, either image or grism, for the observation.
Required for grism observations. Choose either "Archival" or "New" as
appropriate.
Every grism observation must have a matching pre-image (or predecessor image)
so that the pipeline can determine where to do spectral extractions from the
grism images. The total observing time for the pre-image needs to be at least
5% of the total observing time of the grism observation, so that there is a
sufficient signal-to-noise ratio. The pre-image should be archival, if a
suitable archival image exists, i.e., with a pointing center within 15
arcminutes of the proposed grism observation, barring specific science
drivers for new imaging observations. Images of all survey types (including
AIS and CAI, added for Cycle 6) are now acceptable as archival grism
pre-images, provided they meet the 15-arcminute offset and
5%-of-grism-exposure-time requirements. If no archival image is available
that is suitable as a pre-image, then you will need to request a new
pre-image as part of your proposal. If you require a new pre-image, it must
be a separate observation (aperture "image") from the grism observation in
your observing program, and the observing time is included in your program's
total time. New pre-images should have the same coordinates as the associated
grism observation and must have exposure times that are multiples of 1.5
ksec, even if this greatly exceeds the 5%-of-grism-exposure-time requirement.
Required for grism observations. If you will use an existing or planned
observation by either the GALEX PI team or by another GI, please give the
full GALEX team target name, as listed in TOAST. If you will
be using a different observation from your own program, specify only the
observation number in the field provided. Before you Submit your
proposal, please check that the pre-image observation numbers are still
correct, since changes to the observations can affect their numbering.
Examples:
- GALEX PI team target: MIS2DFSGP_30847_0301
- Target 64 in GI program 47: GI1_047064_NGC4244
- New Observation (observation #4 of your proposal): 4
If the observation is time critical, specify "Yes." This could include (but
is not limited to) coordinations with other observatories, or specified
timing cadences, or orbital phases, or contiguous orbits. If you are
requesting time-critical observations, please verify that the requested
observations are possible, using the
GALEX Target Visibility
Tool (either stand-alone or preferably as part of using the GALEX
Planning Wizard). There are many times of year that a particular target is
not observable (too close to Sun/Moon/Jupiter, long observations during SAA
passages, etc.). Remember that, in general, a proposal should not
contain multiple new observations with the same aperture type and nearly
identical pointing (within a few arcminutes).
If the observation is a Target of Opportunity, specify "Yes." If you do not
already know the coordinates, use field and science target coordinates of
(0.0, 0.0). Note that unexecuted ToOs will not be carried over beyond the end
of the observing cycle.
If the observation has a low zodiacal light constraint, specify "Yes." This
will restrict available possible observation times and possibly also scheduling
priority, so request it only if absolutely necessary (and strongly justified
in the proposal text). Note that changes in the zodiacal light level within a
target's visibility window do not affect the SNR significantly.
If the observation is of a moving target, specify "Yes." In this case, use
field and science target coordinates of (0.0, 0.0), unless you know the
actual position (and presumably also the date) of observation.
If the observation has some constraint other than those listed above, specify
"Yes." Explain briefly in the following text field and more fully in the
feasibility section of the science justification.
If you specified yes for any of the above constraints, then you must
describe the constraint. Up to 500 characters. Details and justifications
should be included in the feasibility section of the science justification.
Please use the General Form field Any comments
that apply to multiple observations? instead of this field, whenever
possible.
Specify any special requests (other than a constraint) you may have
pertaining to the observation that have not already been addressed by the
above.
Please use the General Form fields Any comments
that apply to multiple observations? and
Does your science require photon
list data products? instead of this field, whenever possible.
Up to 500 characters.
Any other relevant comments you wish to make regarding the science target(s)
or this observation. Please use the General Form field
Any comments that apply to multiple
observations?, whenever possible. Please don't repeat identical or
similar comments here (or in the Special
Requests or Description of
Constraint(s) fields) for multiple observations unless each is a unique
case. Up to 500 characters.
We strongly recommend usage of the various
GALEX Guest
Investigator Tools when preparing your proposal. The following fields
will provide the GALEX team important information regarding the feasibility
of your proposal. If you use the
GALEX
Planning Wizard, these fields will be filled in automatically. Note that
the latest run of each tool done just prior to saving in the GALEX Planning
Wizard will be what is uploaded into ARK. If you want an earlier run to be
included in your ARK submission, you will need to change the URLs in these
fields.
This tool is now called TOAST, the Target
Observation and Archive Search Tool. It will help determine what observations
if any have already been made or are planned. Up to 125 characters. The
"Link" to the right of the field can be used to access the result of the tool
run that is referenced.
This tool will determine if your desired field is safe for GALEX to observe.
Up to 125 characters. The "Link" to the right of the field can be used
to access the result of the tool run that is referenced.
More
information on brightness limits is available.
Note: In Cycle 6, the Brightness Checker assumption for zodiacal
light contribution to total count rate has been changed, from a fixed 20k/sec
to an actual estimate of the lowest zodi level during the visibility window,
which is substantially lower (can be more than 10k/sec). Thus, some fields
that failed the global count rate test in past cycles will now pass.
This tool will show bright stars, existing observations, and the predicted
background at your desired observing location and is very useful in figuring
out how to avoid over-bright stars. It is also very useful in locating
archival data and visualizing the output of the TOAST table in relation to
science targets. Up to 125 characters. The "Link" to the right of the field
can be used to access the result of the tool run that is referenced.
This tool will determine when your target is observable by GALEX. Up to 125
characters. The "Link" to the right of the field can be used to access the
tool run that is referenced.
This tool will tell you where bright celestial objects are relative to your
desired observing field. Up to 125 characters. The "Link" to the right of the
field can be used to access the result of the tool run that is referenced.
If you expect sky background to be an issue, this will tell you what to
expect from the zodi contribution. Up to 125 characters. The "Link" to the
right of the field can be used to access the result of the tool run that is
referenced.
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