September 17, 2015

Call for Observing Proposals: Semester 2016A (Jan. 2016 -- June 2016)
Observing proposals for the 188-cm reflector1 at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory (OAO) are invited2
for the observing season from January 2016 to June 2016, semester 2016A.
The proposal deadline is 10:00(JST) October 15, 2015.
How to prepare and submit your proposal
Foreign observers can apply to only “Normal” observations as principal investigators. We ask applicants tofill out the application form of three pages and to attach scientific justification. The scientific justificationincluding figures, tables and references should not be more than two pages in length. A template application
form and a LATEX style file can be downloaded from the English web page of our observatory(http://www.oao.nao.ac.jp/en/).
A graduate student can be a principal investigator. His/Her supervisor or equivalent who is responsible forthe student should come together for observations.
Since observers are requested to perform their observations mostly by themselves, we ask applicants who
do not speak Japanese and are not familiar with the telescope and instruments, to have a Japanesecollaborator who is familiar with them. When a foreign applicant finds difficulties in finding a Japanesecollaborator, please contact the observatory (cfp-consult@oao.nao.ac.jp).
The submission of a proposal should be made via e-mail. Please send both of (1) a TEX PDF file of theapplication form and (2) a PDF file of the scientific justification (within two pages) to proposal@oao.nao.ac.jp
as e-mail attachment files. We notify you of receiving your proposal via e-mail (to the e-mail address written inthe application form) within two working days. If you do not receive any response from us for more than two
working days, please contact us via e-mail (proposal@oao.nao.ac.jp), telephone or fax.
1: The telescope is located at 133d35’ 38”(E), +34d34’37”(N) and at an altitude of 372m. Its observing sec Z range is between 3
and 1. Objects with declination < -35.5 deg. will never be observed.
2: The applicants need to be completely free to publish the whole observational results.

Hideyuki IzumiuraDirectorOkayama Astrophysical Observatory
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
3037-5 Honjo, Kamogata, Asakuchi,
Okayama 719-0232, Japan
phone +81-865-44-2155
fax +81-865-44-2360
e-mail: cfp-consult@oao.nao.ac.jp

Status Report for Common User Observations (January 2016 — June 2016)
Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, NAOJ
As of September 17, 2015
HIDES (high dispersion echelle spectrograph, observatory instrument):
HIDES is a cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph, placed at the coudé focus of the 188-cm reflector. It
works at optical wavelengths from 360 nm to 900 nm. The detector is a mosaic of 3 identical CCDs fromEEV with 2048x4100 pixels each. Read out noises are about 5e- and the gains are 2.5–3 e-/ADU for thethree CCDs. Total read out time is about 40 seconds. Instantaneous wavelength coverages are 375 nm
and 234 nm with the Red and Blue cross-disperser gratings, respectively. The maximum spectral
resolution (λ/Δλ) of 110,000 is achieved when the slit width is 0.38 arcsec. Details of the mosaic CCD
camera can be found at http://www.oao.nao.ac.jp/~hides/wiki/index.php?Mosaic_CCD_en. Either“HIDES-Slit” or “HIDES-Fiber” (see below) is selected in the item 11 (11.Instrument) of the application
form. Both can be chosen at the same time. In that case, however, the reason should be given in the item
17 (17.Technical Description).
* HIDES-Slit:
An observing mode with a mechanical slit at the coudé focus. The maximum spectral resolution(λ/Δλ) of 110,000 is achieved when the slit width is 0.38 arcsec. Three optional functions areavailable: iodine cell, image rotator, and offset guider. Observers who plan to use these functions
should give a description about the usage in the item 16 (16. Requests Concerning Instruments) ofthe application form. Note that the iodine cell and the image rotator cannot be used at the same time.
Please feel free to send any questions on HIDES to izumiura@oao.nao.ac.jp.
* HIDES-Fiber-HE:
An optical fiber-feeding system has been developed for HIDES to send the incident light at theCassegrain focus of the 188-cm reflector through an optical fiber to the entrance of HIDES. Its highefficiency (HE) mode provides magnitude better sensitivity with this system than that with the coudé
optical train (#1) under typical seeing condition. Its spectral resolution is (λ/Δλ) about 50,000. Aniodine cell is also available that is prepared for the fiber-link system. Observers who plan to use theiodine cell should give a description about the usage in the item 16 (16. Requests ConcerningInstruments) of the application form. Neither an image rotator nor an offset guider is available.
* HIDES-Fiber-HR:
A high resolution (HR) mode of the fiber-feeding system provides a resolution of 110,000. Itssensitivity is four times as high as that of the slit system. From 2016A the instrument is open tocommon use as a PI-type instrument on a shared-risk basis. Applicants who want to use theinstrument should contact Dr. Eiji Kambe (kambe@oao.nao.ac.jp) prior to the submission of theproposal, at least one week earlier to the deadline. His admittance is mandatory for the proposal
submission; any proposal without his admittance will be declined.
Any questions concerning the fiber-feeding system can be directed to the instrument PI, Dr. Eiji Kambe(kambe@oao.nao.ac.jp).
#1: The mode we open for the observing in this semester is the one with a spectral resolving power (λ/Δλ) of 50,000.

With this mode an improved sensitivity of one magnitude can be expected in the wavelength range from 440 to
750 nm compared to the one with the coudé optical train. However, there are two known limitations by thecurrent system. One is that the highest achievable S/N would be around 1500. The other is that the improving

factor in the bluer region is smaller than in the redder region. More information on the fiber-link system will befound in the following URL: http://www.oao.nao.ac.jp/~hides/wiki/.

ISLE (near-infrared camera and low-dispersion spectrograph):
ISLE is a near-infrared (1.0 - 2.5_m) imager and spectrograph for the Cassegrain focus (f/18) of the
1.88 m telescope at OAO (http://www.oao.nao.ac.jp/ isle/). The detector is a HAWAII Array (HgCdTe 1KX 1K), which covers 4.2 X 4.2 arcmin2 field of view with a pixel scale of 0.25 arcsec/pixel. ISLE also
provides low to medium resolution (λ/Δλ= 300 − 4000) long-slit (4 arcmin long) spectroscopic capabilities
using refection gratings. Both imaging mode and spectroscopy mode are available.
Any questions related to observations and proposal preparation should be addressed toyanagi@oao.nao.ac.jp
KOOLS (Kyoto-Okayama Optical Low-dispersion Spectrograph, PI-type instrument):
KOOLS offers two basic observing modes, namely, imaging and long-slit spectroscopy, in optical
wavelength for the OAO 188-cm telescope. From 2008A the instrument has been open to common useas a PI-type instrument on a shared-risk basis. Applicants who want to use the instrument should contact
Dr. I. Iwata (ikuru.iwata@nao.ac.jp) prior to the submission of the proposal, at least one week earlier tothe deadline. His admittance is mandatory for the proposal submission; any proposal without his
admittance will be declined. Specifications of the instrument and results of past test observations areavailable on the instrument web page (http://www.oao.nao.ac.jp/~kools/).
KOOLS-IFU (PI-type instrument):
KOOLS-IFU is an optical instrument combining KOOLS and a fiber bundle array (127 fibers) at theCassegrain focus (on HIDES-Fiber Unit) to obtain spatially resolved spectra. The field of view is 30
arcseconds. From 2015B the instrument has been open to common use as a PI-type instrument on ashared-risk basis. Applicants who want to use the instrument should contact Dr. I. Iwata(ikuru.iwata@nao.ac.jp) and Dr. K. Ohta (ohta@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp) prior to the submission of theproposal, at least one week earlier to the deadline. Their admittance is mandatory for the proposal
submission; any proposal without his admittance will be declined. Any questions concerning the fiber
feed system can be directed to the instrument PI, Dr. K. Ohta.	 

Please also see the home page of the observatory for more details of the 188-cm reflector and theinstruments (http://www.oao.nao.ac.jp/en/).

Notes on the OAO Proposal Application FormThe OAO observing proposal application form is based on LATEX. We also provide a template file withMicrosoft ms-word. Please see the observatory web page (http://www.oao.nao.ac.jp/en/) for general
information on open use observations. A proposal that does not follow the guidelines below may not be
considered. If you encounter problems, please contact cfp-consult@oao.nao.ac.jp.
General Instructions:! Download both (1) style file (oaoprop_a.sty) and (2) template LATEX-file (template.tex) from theobservatory web page.
! Three pages of cover sheet and maximum two pages of scientific justification (SJ), including figures,tables and the reference list, are required for normal program.
! Check if all things in your application form fall within the form. Font size must be larger than 10 pt.
! Do not include figures or tables from page 1 to 4.
! Send both of (1) your application form (PDF) and (2) a PDF file of the scientific justification (within twopages) to proposal@oao.nao.ac.jp as e-mail attachment files. We will notify you of receiving yourproposal via e-mail (to the e-mail address written in the application form) within two working days. If
you don’t receive any response from the observatory for more than two working days after thesubmission, please contact the observatory (via either e-mail, fax or phone).
! The subject of the e-mail and the files should be named using the family name of PI and the semester,e.g., einstein_201Xa.tex, einstein_201Xa_sj.pdf, subject: einstein_201Xa. When you submit two or
more proposals, the names of the files should be like einstein_201Xa_1, einstein_201Xa_2, and soon.
! Proposals are reviewed by Time Allocation Committee of the observatory (which consists of six
Japanese astronomers outside of the observatory and one observatory staff member), based on
assessment by anonymous referees.
! In SJ you may include colored figures and tables if necessary. Figures and tables must be clear andbe easy to read for everyone: check whether numbers and axis labels are clear and large enough.
Also, please check the application form and SJ can be correctly printable.
! Applicants, who require multiple semesters to accomplish their program, should describe “Overallobservation plan” and “Plan for the next semester” in SJ. In addition, applicants, who have alreadyobserved in the same program, need to write “Current status of the program” in SJ.
Instructions for filling out the application form:! 1. Category: Write “N”(normal) which is the only category allowed for foreign investigators. Specify
the attribute of your program, “N”(new) or “C”(continuation), in the next box.
! 2. Principal Investigator: Write “Yes” if your proposed observation is planned to be a part of yourthesis.
! 5. Collaborators: Write all of your co-investigator names, institutions and positions.
! 6. Past Observations: List previous use of the OAO 188-cm telescope, if any.
! 8. Supervisor: If PI is a graduate student, the supervisor should fill out entries in section 8. Also, if theprogram is accepted, the supervisor must visit observatory along with PI.
! 11. Instrument: “1 HIDES-Slit” specifies observations at the conventional coudé focus using amechanical slit, while “2 HIDES-Fiber” does those using an optical fiber feeding from the Cassegrainfocus. One can choose both 1 and 2 at the same time. In that case, however, the reason should begiven in “17. Technical Description.” For KOOLS-IFU, choose both “2 HIDES-Fiber” and “5 KOOLS” atthe same time.
! 12. List of Objects: If you have 13 or more target objects, please attach a separate target list alongwith the scientific justification.
! 14. Preferred Dates: Please indicate your preferred dates for observations. Three parentheses ineach month indicate first, second and last parts of the month, respectively. ’U’s indicate those periods
are unavailable.
¥PreferredDatesA{¥submonth{--}{--}{--}} %Jan{¥submonth{--}{--}{--}} % Feb{¥submonth{--}{--}{--}} % Mar{¥submonth{X}{--}{--}} % Apr{¥submonth{--}{--}{X}} % May{¥submonth{--}{U}{U}} % JunIndicate whether you accept shared night observation using Yes / No.
! 15. Requests concerning scheduling: Enter your requests for scheduling, including moon phases.
! 16. Requests concerning instruments: If your observation plan needs special instrument setting,describe details of the setting and the items to be prepared before the observation dates. If you needspecial assistance of the observatory staff, please contact the observatory in advance.
! 17. Technical Description: Describe clearly the technical feasibility on observations and data
analyses of your proposed plan.