Applying for Telescope Time

All applications to the RSAA TAC 4m must be made via the web. Submission by hardcopy will not be accepted.

Preparation Applications are prepared in LaTeX using a template form. Always download the current version of the template rsaatac4m_blank.tex (last updated January 2022), as old versions of the application form will be rejected. Please also rename this to something sensible (but don't put spaces in the filename). Fill in the details between the { brackets } where appropriate. Note that many fields are required to have a value. The application will be rejected if these fields are omitted. The comments in the template indicate if this is the case. Some fields also require a specific value. Where this is the case, all options are provided by the form. You simply need to remove the comment flag at the begining of the line. The email address of the PI is used as a username for your RSAA TAC 4m user account (note this is independent of the TAC account for the 2.3m telescope). For this reason, the email address must be fully qualified ( e.g. joe.blogs@myuni.edu.au ). Again, the application will be rejected if the email address does not have a valid structure. Science Case The science case must be prepared as a separate document in PDF format. It may be compressed with gzip prior to submission. The filename extension is required to be .pdf or .pdf.gz. Do not include the processed LaTeX form within the science case document, nor modify the LaTeX form to include the science case. LaTeX It is essential that you check your LaTeX application form compiles before attempting to submit the application. To do this will require the style file rsaatac4m.sty (last updated January 2022). Again, make sure you have the current version of this file. Submission - Stage 1 Once both of the files you need to submit as part of the application are prepared, you can begin the web based submission process. Select the prepare LaTeX form and the Science Case document for upload and click the submit button. The LaTeX form will be uploaded, parsed, compiled and merged with your science case document. This may take a couple of minutes to complete. If there were errors in parsing or compiling the LaTeX form, you will be notified of the errors. In this case, correct the problems and begin the submission again. Otherwise, you will be presented with a summary of the details in the LaTeX form, and a web form for "Submission - Stage 2". Check the details in the summary are correct. Fix the LaTeX file and start the submission again if they are not. All details related to the instrument configuration required must be entered as additional information at this stage. Submission - Stage 2 Once all the details have been entered, "Submit the Application". The files uploaded and generated will be archived. Should this process be successful, your application will have been accepted and allocated a unique numeric proposal ID. Record this number. If this step fails, a message suggesting the appropriate course of action will be displayed on your browser. This may be to contact RSAA's computer system managers, or begin the submission process from scratch. If you wish to make changes to your application after it was submitted, contact tacinfo@mso.anu.edu.au. Do not submit the application again unless advised to do so but the TAC chair.