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Optical/IR TAC


Optical/IR TAC Membership

Each member grades every proposal. Therefore, almost every proposal is read and graded by non-experts. It is essential that proposers present the scientific motivation for their proposal in language that astronomers outside their specific field can easily understand.

This year's TAC members, their institutional affiliations, and research areas are:

D. McCarthy (Chair) UA/SO Solar System, exoplanets, galactic, AO/interferometry, instrumentation
E. Olszewski UA/SO stellar populations, local group
L. Prato NAU/Lowell binary stars/formation scenarios
S. Starrfield ASU stellar explosions
C. Bender UA/SO stellar atmospheres/exoplanets
K. Volk UA/LPL Kuiper belt objects, planetary dynamics, exoplanets
S. Alberts UA/SO Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Galaxy Clusters, Star Formation, AGN
D. Sand UA/SO SNe, dwarf galaxies, dark matter
B. Weiner UA/SO Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology, Instrumentation


Optical/IR TAC Procedures

Steward Observatory schedules its telescopes in semesters.

Before each meeting, TAC members read and grade every proposal except in cases of a conflict of interest. Telescope schedulers provide the TAC a list of available time (bright, gray, dark). For each telescope, proposals are then ranked according to their average grade. TAC members generally base their grades on overall scientific merit and feasibility and demonstrated productivity using Arizona facilities such as refereed publications, conference proceedings, and prompt analysis of data.

Where there are "close calls" the TAC gives preference to new faculty members, independent postdocs (e.g., Hubble or Jansky Fellows), and graduate students (2nd year projects and theses). The TAC meets approximately 2-4 weeks after the deadline for proposals. During its meetings, the TAC discusses these rankings as well as each individual proposal for the major telescopes. Members may change their grades based on this discussion, and proposals may be re-ranked. The final rankings are provided to the schedulers who generate a preliminary schedule for all telescopes for approval by the Director. A final schedule is posted online about one month prior to the start of the next semester.