Director's Discretionary (DD) Time

The Observing Schedule as prepared at the start of a semester sometimes has some nights unscheduled, more commonly on the smaller telescopes. For the latter, please consult the full small telescope schedule on the SMARTS WWW page.

In order to apply for DD time please send an email to the CTIO Director, with copy to Ximena Herreros. In this email include the name and affiliation of the P.I. and collaborators, together with the telescope and instrumental configuration required. Although time is allocated to the best science, you should assume that the instrument already installed will be the only one available. Then,

• EITHER: For a new project, write a short (one page or less) scientific justification.
• OR: If you writing in respect of a project for which time has been awarded, then just quote the proposal semester and number code, and justify why you need extra time.
• OR: If you writing in respect of a project which was rejected by the TAC, quote the semester and number code, and then justify why you think you should be given time.

Please note that DD time is treated at lower priority than regularly scheduled time in case of resource conflicts, and we cannot offer any financial support. Apart from that, once awarded, DD time is considered to be just like normally scheduled time.