BASIC INSTRUCTIONS

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 Suzaku Stage 1 proposal forms. Electronic submission of the proposal forms is required. The scientific justification must also be submitted electronically, uploaded as a single PDF file after the initial submission of the electronic proposal forms. Please note that this PDF cannot exceed 10 MB in size.

In order to access the Suzaku RPS web form, you must first create an ARK account and/or join the SUZAKU group.

If you already have an ARK account, login first and select "Join Group" from the menu next to "Suzaku RPS (SUZAKU)" 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 checkbox next to "Suzaku RPS (SUZAKU)" 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.

Next, proceed to the Suzaku RPS web form and fill out the form as directed below. Targets 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 blank targets or to upload a plain text file containing a list of target names and/or positions. Please note that this latter method will only fill in the fields for the target name and pointing position; you will still need to enter other information (observation time, instrument parameters, constraints, etc.) for each target using the web interface. Alternatively, after adding some targets, you can use the Save button to download a plain text representation of the ARK form, which you can edit in your favorite text editor and then Reload into ARK. Note that the file format used by the Reload mechanism is the same as the format of the files generated by the Save button.

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, which you will need to correct. Once the form verifies successfully, a Submit button will appear, allowing 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 Suzaku 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.

FORM/FIELD-SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS

Cover Page

This section contains fields for the proposal title, the type of proposal, the proposal abstract, and information about the Principal Investigator of the proposal, such as name, institution, address, telephone number, etc.

TOO Proposal

If your proposal is a TOO (Target of Opportunity), check the checkbox and specify the exact condition(s) to trigger the observation in the Remarks field. TOO and non-TOO targets should not be mixed in a single proposal. The number of targets for a TOO proposal is limited to 5 or less. Required.

International Merging

If you are unwilling to accept proposal mergers if recommended by the international merging committee, select No. The default is Yes, meaning you are willing to accept mergers. Required.

Subject Category

The type of object(s) to be studied in the proposal. Required. Specify one of the following categories:
     Galactic Point Sources
     Galactic Diffuse Emission
     Extragalactic Compact Sources
     Extragalactic Diffuse Sources

Proposal Title

The title of the proposal. Up to 120 characters are allowed. Required.

Abstract

800 characters maximum. Abstracts exceeding this limit will cause an error. Required.

Principal Investigator Title

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.

First Name

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.

Middle Name or Initial

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.

Last Name

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.

Department

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.

Institute

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.

Address 1

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.

Address 2

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.

City/Town

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.

State/Province

The name of the state in which your institution is located. 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.

Zip/Postal Code

The ZIP code of your institution. 5 digits. 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.

Country

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.

Telephone Number

Your telephone number, plus any extension. 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.

Fax Number

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.

E-mail Address

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.

General Form

This section contains fields for details about your collaborators, if any, and additional contact information. Up to 25 Co-Investigators are allowed; however, only the first 10 will appear in the LaTeX/PostScript/PDF version of the proposal forms that ARK/RPS generates.

Co-Investigator First Name

The first name of each Co-Investigator. Up to 20 characters.

Co-Investigator Last Name

The last name of each Co-Investigator. Up to 20 characters.

Co-Investigator Institute

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 typically answered within 24 hours, excluding weekends and U.S. Federal holidays.

Co-Investigator Country

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.

Co-Investigator E-mail Address

The e-mail address for each Co-Investigator. Up to 60 characters.

Contact First Co-Investigator?

Flag indicating whether or not the first Co-Investigator listed is also a contact person in cases where the Principal Investigator cannot be reached. The default is no.

Telephone Number of First Co-Investigator

Telephone number of the Co-Investigator that should be contacted. 20 characters.

Estimated NASA FTEs

The number of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) NASA civil servants (in units of years) that would be supported by this proposal, if approved. This may be a fraction or zero. This information is collected for NASA records only and does not affect acceptance of the proposal. Example: If two Co-Is are NASA civil servants and each will be supported for 10% of their time with this grant during this proposal cycle, then enter 0.2000 (0.10 + 0.10) for this field. Required.

Administrator Name

Name of administrator who will sign the form on behalf of the institution of the PI. Up to 60 characters. Optional.

Administrative Authority

Post or title of the administrator. 60 characters. Optional.

Administrative Institute

Institutional affiliation of the proposal administrator. 60 characters. Optional.

Target Form(s)

This sections contains all the details for each different target to be observed.

Target Name

The commonly accepted name for the object. Up to 20 characters. Required. Please use standard names for known targets (e.g., NGC 2237 or Eta Car).

R.A.

The J2000 right ascension of the source. The value can be entered in either sexagesimal format (HH MM SS.SS — hours, minutes, seconds, separated by spaces) or decimal degrees format (DDD.DDDDDD). If you enter the value in sexagesimal format, it will be converted to decimal degrees format when you submit. Required.

Dec.

The J2000 declination of the source. The value can be entered in either sexagesimal format (±DD MM SS.S — an optional sign, either + or -, followed by the degrees, minutes, and seconds, separated by spaces) or decimal degrees format (±DD.DDDDD). If you enter the value in sexagesimal format, it will be converted to decimal degrees format when you submit. If you do not specify the sign, it is assumed to be positive. Required.

Total Observation Time

The preferred exposure (i.e., total amount of good on-source data, after standard screening such as excluding Earth occultations and SAA passages, but not accounting for dead times) in kiloseconds for the observation. This is the total observation time, so for monitoring observations, this is the sum of all pointings/exposures. For example, for two observations of 40 ksec each, specify 80 ksec as the Total Observation Time and 2 for the Number of Observations. The minimum time for one pointing is 10 ksec. Required.

Number of Observations

Number of observations of the target. This should be 1 unless constraints are specified or a raster observation is being proposed. For monitoring observations the total exposure time will be evenly divided. If the proposed project requires a complex pattern of intervals between successive observations, specify each pointing as a separate target. Similarly, using this method for requesting raster observations implies a regular rastering pattern (e.g., covering a 40x40 arcmin are using 2x2 pointings) with equal exposure at each pointing. For more complex set of observations, specify individual pointings as separate targets.

Time Critical

Logical value indicating whether the observation is constrained.

Estimated FI/XIS Count Rate

Estimated FI count rate of your target in counts per second per one XIS unit. Required.

Estimated BI/XIS Count Rate

Estimated BI count rate of your target in counts per second per one XIS unit. Required.

XIS Clock Mode

Specify the XIS clock mode: NORM (Normal) or PSUM (Parallel-Sum). The default is Normal mode. Required.

In Normal mode, window and burst options are available, and the editing mode is selected by the operation team based on the estimated count rate and telemetry rate. Please refer to the up-to-date estimates of allowed maximum count rate from the target for various modes. Note that the nominal exposure time is 8 sec in these modes. If you want to specify the editing mode, please specify the reason and mode description in the Remarks field.

Usage of the P-sum clocking mode is always coupled with the use of timing mode for event editing, resulting in a time resolution of 7.8 ms. The P-sum/timing mode is only available for XIS3. To request this, the proposer must select PSUM as the XIS clock mode. Furthermore, the proposer must describe the mode to be used for the remaining units in the Remarks field.

XIS Window Option

If you wish to use the window option in Normal mode, specify the window size (1/4 or 1/8). The default is N for no window option (i.e., to use the full XIS field of view). Required.

XIS Burst Option

If you want to use burst option in Normal Mode, specify Y and describe it (specifically, the exposure time) in the Remarks field. The default is no.

Estimated HXD Count Rate

Estimated PIN and GSO count rate of your target in counts per second per total HXD. Optional but strongly recommended if either count rate exceeds 5 ct/s.

Remarks

Any relevant comments you wish to make regarding the target and the observation mode. Up to 200 characters.

Observation Constraints

The following types of constraints are supported: Coordinated, Monitoring, TOO, Phase Dependent, and Roll Dependent.

Co-ordinated Observation(s)?

Indicates if the observation is linked with other simultaneous observations, making the exact time important. The start and end times must be given in UT (year, month, day, hour, minute). See the AO document for the anticipated dates for the AO period. The default is no.

Co-ordinated Observation Start Year

The year to start time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Start Month

The month to start time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Start Day

The day to start time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Start Hour

The hour to start time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Start Minute

The minute to start time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Stop Year

The year to end time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Stop Month

The month to end time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Stop Day

The day to end time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Stop Hour

The hour to end time-critical observations.

Co-ordinated Observation Stop Minute

The minute to end time-critical observations.

Monitoring Observation

Indicates whether the observation is to be made in several parts at fixed intervals but with no fixed starting time. The number of parts is specified on the target form in the "Number of Observations" field. The default is no.

Minimum Interval Between Observations

The desired minimum time interval between monitoring observations, in kiloseconds.

Maximum Interval Between Observations

The desired maximum time interval between monitoring observations, in kiloseconds.

Phase Dependent Observation

Indicates that the observation is to be spread over a number of intervals with a fixed interval between them and a given reference date. The Epoch is the reference date given in MJD and the Period is the orbital period of the source in days. The Minimum (Start) and Maximum (End) Phase are the minimum and maximum orbital phase. The default is no.

Phase Dependent Epoch

For phase dependent observations, the reference date in Modified Julian Day (MJD) number format. The observations will be made at an integral number of Periods from this date.

Phase Dependent Period

The orbital period of the source in days.

Minimum Phase

Minimum orbital phase to be observed. Values must be between 0 and 1.

Maximum Phase

Maximum orbital phase to be observed. Values must be between 0 and 1.

Roll Dependent Observation

Indicates that the observation is dependent on the roll angle. The default is no.

Minimum Roll

Minimum roll angle in degrees. A roll angle of 0.0 is defined such that the DETY axis of the detectors points north-south; the array rotates counterclockwise with increasing roll angle. The proposer is responsible for verifying that the scientifically desirable roll angle is achievable within the operational constraints.

Maximum Roll

Maximum roll angle in degrees. A roll angle of 0.0 is defined such that the DETY axis of the detectors points north-south; the array rotates counterclockwise with increasing roll angle. The proposer is responsible for verifying that the scientifically desirable roll angle is achievable within the operational constraints.