Observing at WMKO

Applying for Keck Telescope Time

Each user community, University of California, Caltech, NASA, University of Hawaii, Subaru, Yale, Swinburne, Notre Dame, NOIRLab, and Northwestern has its own internal requirements regarding deadlines for submittal of proposals and information required to apply for time on the Keck telescopes. However, regardless of the institution to which the user applies, (s)he should complete the WMKO Proposal Cover Sheet Form and submit it, along with the individual institution request forms, to the appropriate TAC. This form is used, once a given proposal has been allotted time by its TAC, to concatenate the approved time assignments into the master schedule. Observers will be notified by the appropriate TAC of the fate of their proposal and by WMKO for telescope time assignments if the proposal was accepted. Telescope schedules will be posted on the W.M. Keck Observatory web pages approximately two months before the beginning of the semester.

Participating Institutions:

• University of California  (link gives general information about applying for Keck telescope time.) See also Submitting a full UC proposal  for specific proposal submission instructions.
• Caltech Qualified Caltech applicants for Caltech time on the W. M. Keck Observatory may also contact the COO/Palomar Office in Pasadena for further information.

Swinburne University, Yale and Northwestern University access time on the Keck Telescopes through cooperative agreements with CIT.

• NASA
• University of Hawaii This link gives access to a tar file containing the proposal application forms. Proposals submitted to the University of Hawaii must have a principal investigator affiliated with the University of Hawaii.
• NOIRLab
• Swinburne University Swinburne began a direct partnership with Keck in 2023B.
• Notre Dame joined the Keck observing community in 2018A.

• Subaru and Keck will continue their exchange of several nights as in past semesters, with the number of exchange nights being determined by the demand of both institutions. Please see the Subaru Call for Proposals for instrument restrictions, particularly for visiting instruments, and for filter availability on HCS. Please see the Subaru Exchange web page for specific details of applying for Keck time through Subaru.

Past Participating Institutions:

• The Australian National University (ANU) was a Participating Institution from semester 2013B - 2018A.
• NOAO:  Observing time on the Keck telescopes through NOAO and the Telescope System Instrumentation Program (TSIP) ended with semester 2014A.
• Gemini and Keck will not exchange time during the upcoming semester.

Observing Considerations:

• Instrument Choices
• Observing Location Choices
• Split Night Observing Considerations   How observers can help make the Support Astronomers more efficient on observing nights split between two observing groups.
• Proposal Cover Sheet Form

The proposal coversheet form is available through the Keck Observer Login Page.  All observers applying for Keck observing time should fill out this form. Submit the form with your proposal to your institution if required. Please go to the Keck Observer Login Page to login to your Keck home page or to create an account if you do not yet have one. If you have forgotten your login name and password, help is available at the login page. From your Keck homepage you can view your upcoming telescope runs, view your previous semesters' coversheets, create or modify coversheets for the upcoming semester, view and modify your contact information and profile.

• Timetable for Applications and Scheduling for the current semester and beyond
• People to contact if you need help
• Further observing information, especially recommended for first time Keck observers (all your questions answered.)

---

This page last updated 02 August 2024 ccj
Telescope-scheduling@keck.hawaii.edu