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Observing
at WMKO |
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Instruments
Available for Semester 2025A
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For detailed information about the instruments, please check the Instruments Home Page
For information about which instruments can be used on the same night, please check Instrument Sharing
For a Resolving Power vs. Wavelength comparison of Keck
instruments, please check this Instrument Comparison graph.
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Keck I Instruments are:
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HIRESb
(blue x-disperser)
HIRESr
(red x-disperser)
KPF
KPF-CC
LRIS-ADC (red and blue, with ADC)
LRISp-ADC
(polarimeter, with ADC)
MOSFIRE
OSIRIS-NGS limited availability, see below
OSIRIS-LGS limited availability, see below
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Keck II Instruments are:
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DEIMOS limited availability, see below
ESI see scheduling note below
ESIi (ESI
with the Integral Field Unit)
KCWI
KPIC limited availability, see below
NIRSPEC (without AO) limited availability, see below
NIRSPAO-NGS (NIRSPEC with Natural
Guide Star AO, see restrictions below) limited availability, see below
NIRSPAO-LGS (NIRSPEC with Laser
Guide Star AO; see restrictions below) limited availability, see below
NIRC2-NGS limited availability, see below
NIRC2-LGS limited availability, see below
NIRES see note below
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Subaru Time Exchange Instruments are: |
FOCAS, HDS, Hyper Suprime-Cam, IRCS, CHARIS+SCExAO, VAMPIRES, REACH, MEC, Fast PDI, NsIR, and IRD. See below for
limitations.
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Telescope Limits |
Please note that Keck I and Keck II have different eastern and western telescope limits. This affects the times objects will be available for observing. Objects can be acquired earlier on Keck II and followed later on Keck I.
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Special Notes for Semester 2025A:
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Please read this information carefully, as there are a significant number of important considerations for 2025A.
Keck I Telescope: Keck I telescope will be shut down from March 9- April 23 for the first of two planned shutdowns to conduct repairs of the telescope pier. The second shutdown is anticipated in the Sept/Oct timeframe of 25B, and is expected to be of similar length.
Keck I AO: Keck I AO (Osiris-NGS/LGS) will be unavailable from February - June. The AO Development and Operations teams are placing significant focus on improving the reliability and performance of the AO systems on both telescopes, in addition to bringing the new KAPA system online for Keck I. As such, KI AO will be unavailable until July to ensure focus on integration, testing, commissioning, and science verification of KAPA, and to provide additional staff focus on AO reliability issues for both telescopes. Scheduling KAPA work relative to the long overall Keck I shutdown for the pier repair efforts further necessitates the need for this AO downtime.
KPF and KPF-CC: The 25A coversheet will contain both the KPF and KPF-CC instrument options. The KPF Community Cadence (KPF-CC) program is operating a queue observation service in 2025A. For PIs who wish to opt in, they must select the KPF-CC instrument on their coversheet. PIs also must submit all proposed observational requests to the queue prior to their TAC's proposal deadline. Much more detail on the KPF-CC program, how to opt-in, and how to submit requests can be found at this link, please read carefully: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-TfR6lNEtHO3muw_2Sc7l9Klveb3yovMUu28Jeq21t0/edit?usp=sharing
Keck II AO: Keck II AO (Nirc2 and NIRSPAO) will be unavailable for 3 weeks beginning in early February, as well as 3 weeks beginning in mid-April.
NIRSPEC/NIRSPAO: Nirspec/Nirspao will be unavailable from February 1 through early March for routine service to remove ice from the dewar window.
DEIMOS: Deimos will be unavailable for 3 months beginning in April for the installation of a new science detector.
KPIC: KPIC Phase I capabilities are being offered as a facility instrument in 25A. More information on KPIC Phase I can be found at KPIC Information
NIRSPAO/KPIC: SCALES is expected to arrive at the Observatory in early 25B and will occupy Nirspao's location in AO. NIRSPAO-NGS/LGS/KPIC will no longer be offered for use once SCALES arrives. Further details on the timeline for Nirspao availability will be communicated in the 25B instrument availability. For more information on SCALES, see https://arxiv.org/pdf/2208.10721
NIRC2: The NIRC2 vector vortex coronagraph will be removed during the mid-April Keck II AO downtime and will no longer be available for use with NIRC2. The vector vortex coronagraph will become available for use with SCALES once the instrument is commissioned.
Instrument Hibernation: :WMKO, in consultation with the Science Steering Committee after the receipt of the findings of the Instrument Suite Evolution task force (comprised of members of the WMKO community and WMKO science staff), is undergoing a process of hibernation and eventual decommissioning of instruments in the coming years as new capabilities arrive and to be responsive to pressures on WMKO resources. A hibernated instrument is not available for community use unless there is a significant emergent scientific and strategic need. After a year's hibernation, the hibernated instrument will be completely removed from service and decommissioned. The community should begin planning for the following:
- NIRES: NIRES is being considered for hibernation after the conclusion of the 2025A semester. A final decision on hibernation will be made at the end of August and communicated to the community.
- ESI: ESI will be hibernated at the end of the 2026A semester. ESI will continue to be scheduled in campaign mode to limit the number of reconfigs through each semester.
- Additional instruments are under consideration for hibernation and eventual decommissioning in later semesters, with a focus on those instruments whose capabilities are being significantly superseded by new instrumentation.
NIRSPAO/NIRSPEC: Please note that Nirspec and Nirspao nights will be scheduled in campaign mode to limit the number of reconfigs into AO during the semester. This may impact the ability to schedule certain date critical observations.
At-Home (pajama mode) Observing: At-home observing will continue to be available to observers. Please see https://keckobservatory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MOSD/overview for information about remote observing, including at-home observing.
Time Domain Astronomy: Observers will continue to have the ability to propose both cadence and ToO programs using the cover sheet. Policies related to Target of Opportunity or Cadence proposals can be found at Too Policies and Cadence Policies. These policies are not applicable to Subaru Exchange time. TAC-approved Cross-institutional ToO (TDA) projects will continue to be able to interrupt observers at any Institution, to increase the utility of the ToO process.
Twilight Cadence Observing: The twilight cadence program will continue in 2025A, with NIRC2-NGS and OSIRIS-NGS available for use. Each institution may allocate one twilight cadence program per telescope. Please note that due to ongoing AO upgrades, there will be times in the semester when AO is unavailable for cadence observations (see above). Cadence program PIs are responsible for development of instrument scripts, providing documentation, and training of staff needed to make the cadence program a turnkey operation. More details can be found in the Cadence Policy.
FOCAS, HDS, Hyper Suprime-Cam, IRCS, MOIRCS, PFS, CHARIS+SCExAO, REACH, FastPDI, VAMPIRES, NsIR and IRD will be available at Subaru. Please check the Subaru web site http://www.subarutelescope.org/Observing/index.html for detailed descriptions of these instruments. Please visit https://subarutelescope.org/Observing/Proposals/call.html for instrument restrictions, particularly for visiting (PI-type) instruments SCExAO+CHARIS, IRD, VAMPIRES, Fast PDI, REACH, NsIR and for filter availability of HSC. The SUBARU-KECK exchange will continue to have flexibility with regard to the number of nights available for exchange with the number of nights exchanged determined based on the demand from each community. Subaru ToO observers will continue to be able to interrupt Keck observers on the Subaru Telescope, and Keck ToO observers will be able to interrupt Subaru observers on the Keck Telescope. Compensation will be according to the policy of each observatory.
Subaru observations are executed in "classical" observing mode, except for HSC and PFS observations. Queue observing is the default observing mode for HSC; applicants who desire classical mode with HSC must
justify their request. For all classical observations, Subaru may support half night allocations, but whole night allocations are preferred. Please check the HSC queue mode website https://subarutelescope.org/Observing/queue/index.html for more details on HSC observations.
Subaru facility/instrument related restrictions for the 2025A semester:
- Telescope Downtime: Due to electrical work on the dome bogie cart, the telescope will be down for about three nights in February or early March.
- The following Facility instruments are available for S25A semester: FOCAS, HDS, HSC, IRCS(+AO188), MOIRCS, PFS
- PFS: The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) will be available for open use in S25A under shared-risk mode. For the latest information and application procedures, please refer to the PFS webpage. Most importantly, all PFS proposals (including time exchange programs) must provide the "target upload ID" in the proposal. Also, please note that targets must be fixed at the time of proposal submission - the targets cannot be changed at later stages. The default observing mode of PFS is the queue mode. Fibers will be shared by different programs.
- Queue mode weather factor: HSC/PFS queue mode proposal must consider 30% bad weather factor in order to increase the observation completion rate by ensuring sufficient observation time. The requested time in HSC/PFS queue mode should not exceed 3.5 nights (35 hours).
- NsIR Downtime: Due to the installation work of the Nasmyth Beam Switcher (NBS), all instruments except for IRD on the NsIR focus - including IRCS, SCExAO, CHARIS, VAM, FastPDI and REACH - will be unavailable for about 2.5 months between late March and July.
- SSP: IRD-SSP will be allocated the final 6 nights. If PFS-SSP is accepted, it will be assigned up to 36 nights in S25A, and therefore the number of available dark nights for normal programs may be limited in this case.
- HSC: There will be at most two or three HSC observing runs in the S25A semester.
- LGSAO with TBAD: The laser guide star (LGS) system for AO188 will be operated with TBAD (Transponder Based Aircraft Detector) with a shared-risk policy. Please check the AO188 webpage for the latest information.
- DM upgrade for AO188: As part of the AO3k project, the DM has been upgraded from a 188-element bimorph mirror to a 3228-actuator magnetic mirror. AO188 provides three modes: NGS/AO188-mode (uses 188-element WFS + 3k-element DM), LGS/AO188-mode (uses 188-element WFS + 3k-element DM), and NIRWFS/AO3k-mode (uses NIR WFS + 3k-element DM). While NIR WFS provides high-performance AO correction, NGS and LGS mode performance is unchanged because they use 188-element WFS. Please refer to the AO3k web page for more information.
- PI-type instruments: Proposals to use visiting instruments/devices must include the relevant PIs as Co-investigators. Following instruments/module are offered for open use in S25A:
- CHARIS with SCExAO+AO188 (including spectro-polarimetric mode)
- VAMPIRES with SCExAO+AO188 (cameras have been upgraded for improved sensitivity, speed and dynamic range. A new multi-band imaging mode is available.)
- Fast PDI with SCExAO+AO188 (in a shared-risk mode)
- REACH (combination of SCExAO and IRD for single-mode fiber spectroscopy)
- IRD with AO188 (NGS-AO or LGS-AO, in a shared-risk mode)
- NsIR Wave Plate Unit (a visiting device for IRCS/SCExAO polarimetry mode)
- NIR WFS (a near-infrared wavefront sensor inside the AO188 instead of the visible wavefront sensor)
- CHARIS, FastPDI and VAMPIRES can be used together at the same time as the modules of SCExAO. Please check the relevant webpages for the latest information.
- REACH can be used simultaneously with CHARIS with any dispersion modes, but the wavelength coverage of CHARIS will be from 1850nm to the longest wavelengths.
- Instrument switch between some instruments: Instrument switching between IRD, REACH, CHARIS, VAMPIRES and Fast PDI in one or half observation night for one observing proposal is possible. Please check the official Subaru call for details.
LGS-AO: A detailed set of guidelines for LGS-AO nights and information on the capabilities of the systems may be found on the LGS-AO page. Backup programs for LGS proposals are essential. Backup programs for LGS on Keck II may be either NGS programs or NIRES. On Keck I, either NGS-OSIRIS and non-AO HIRES may serve as a backup.
KOA (Keck Observatory Archive): Data from all instruments will be archived in the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA). The default proprietary period for data is 18 months except for data taken with NASA as the allocating institution which has a default proprietary period of 12 months. If observers desire a different proprietary period they may request this through the Keck coversheet. Please see the KOA homepage for information on the archive. Please also see the KOA proprietary period policy.
For detailed information about the instruments, please check the Instruments Home Page
(further observing
information)
This page last updated 09 August 2024 ccj.
Telescope-scheduling@keck.hawaii.edu