ESO announces Period 109 Call for Proposals

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has released the Call for Proposals for Period 109 (for observations between 1 April 2022 – 30 September 2022). The proposal deadline is Thursday 23 September 2021 at noon Central European Summer Time (8pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, 6pm Australian Western Standard Time).

Under the terms of the Strategic Partnership between ESO and Australia, Australian-based astronomers have access to the facilities of the La Silla and Paranal Observatories, specifically the:

• 3.6-m telescope (3.6)
• New Technology Telescope (NTT)
• Very Large Telescope (VLT)
• Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI)
• Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA).

Proposals for ESO time to use the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) antenna on Chajnantor will also be considered on the same basis as those from any ESO member state.

Complete details on how to apply can be found on ESO’s P109 Call for Proposals web page. All applicants should consult the Call for Proposals document for Period 109, and are required to update their ESO User Portal accounts to submit or be on proposals.

A wealth of information for Australian applicants can be found on AAL’s Australian ESO Forum. Any questions about policies or the practical aspects of proposal preparation should be addressed to the ESO Observing Programmes Office, [email protected]. Applicants who may wish to seek advice on proposal or observing strategies, optimal choice of instrument, etc. are invited to contact AAL’s ESO Program Manager at [email protected].

Important Data Privacy Notice for all recent and intending Australian ESO applicants
ESO supplies AAL with telescope/instrument demand and time allocation data relating to Australian astronomers only. Australian ESO applicant data is used only for statistical purposes, and will only be published or made available to other third parties such as AAL member institutions, in aggregated and anonymised form. ESO’s data collection/use provisions are available on the AAL ESO Forum for reference. It may be necessary to use automated data matching from data provided to the Data Central Lens proposal database to confirm the identity of ESO applicants. Applicants may opt out of providing data for Australian statistical purposes (including those from P101-P108 inclusive) by contacting [email protected].

Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the expected changes in instrumentation offered and procedures for Period 109 given in Sec. 1.1 of the Call for Proposals.