Proposals: Phase II

Please check our Proposals page for the next Phase II deadline.

IMPORTANT: Phase II deadlines are hard deadlines. No late proposals will be accepted.

Note that if your targets are scheduled to become visible later in the semester, then you must still submit your proposal before the Phase II deadline. This approach helps us effectively plan the semester’s observations.

Between Phase I and Phase II, certain elements can and cannot change.

  • Targets may be added/removed as long as the science case remains the same.
  • You cannot use more time than the TAC has allocated, but you may use looser observing conditions than those requested in Phase I to improve the chances of your observation being scheduled.
  • Any significant changes in instrumentation requirements or science aims require approval from the head of SALT Astro Ops, Encarni Romero Colmenero (erc@salt.ac.za).

To get started on Phase II, ensure you have the latest PIPT installed. If your Phase I is not visible in the PIPT, import it using the menu item ‘Online > Import from Database’. Then, use the menu item ‘Online > Convert to Phase II’.

For the current instrument status, please refer to the instrument availability page.

Please note that we strongly encourage everyone to adhere to the finder chart guidelines. An online finder chart generator is available for creating your finder charts. For crowded fields like the Magellanic Clouds, additional finder charts (~2×2 arcmin and at full resolution) are required. This detailed finder chart should be in the same filter and orientation as the one generated by the link above. Please follow the given guidelines and avoid copying figures from papers as they do not constitute valid finder charts.

Detailed information on each instrument and SALT capabilities can be found in the call for proposals document.

Reusing a proposal from a previous semester is not allowed. However, you can copy blocks or instrument configurations from your previous proposal.

Note that blocks are tracked across resubmissions using unique identifiers. If a submitted block shares the same identifier as an existing block, they are considered the same block. Otherwise, they are treated as separate blocks, even if they have the same name.

You can make certain changes to your submitted blocks before they are observed. These include:

  • The number of visits,
  • The maximum number of visits for all semesters combined,
  • Comments,
  • Block ranking,
  • Wait period between observations,
  • Priority,
  • Finding charts,
  • Phase or time restrictions if the block has not been observed in the current semester yet.

For other changes, you need to copy the block, and you may need to delete the old block or reduce its number of visits.

For more information on how to prepare Phase II observations, please see the FAQ.

For more information and answers, check the Phase I FAQ or contact salthelp@saao.ac.za.