Where can I find detailed information how to conduct a research project on the VLTI instrument? In general, is it possible to purchase time for observation? And if yes, what are concrete procedures?
Z,
You have a few months till the next Call for Proposals.
http://www.chara.gsu.edu/files/2017Meeting/Hummel_workshop2017.pdf
Money is not the issue - scientific relevance is.
As your affiliation is not with an ESO member state or strategic partner, you would need to partner up with someone who does have that status with ESO, and allow them to be the principal investigator on the proposal.
A very competitive science proposal is needed to get time on an ESO (La Silla) telescope. A very, very competitive science proposal to get time on an ESO (Paranal) VLT unit telescope. And a very, very, VERY competitive science proposal to get time on the whole ESO VLTI interferometric array.
Everything is heavily oversubscribed, so time allocation committees of experts assess and rank proposals based on their scientific merit and on the technical likelihood of meeting the stated goals - will the telescope, instrument, atmospheric criteria, and time requested yield sufficient sensitivity and spatial/spectral/temporal resolution? The proposers' track record in previously making and publishing observations (not necessarily on the facilities being applied for) is also taken into account, so as to minimize the risk of time being awarded but not subsequently leading to the promised outputs. So the greatest scientific idea in the world may not be good enough, if the applicant seems to have little or no background in similar endeavours.
And can anyone tell me how to get time to observe Taylor-Hals ' dual pulsar b1913+16 on the Arecibo telescope in search-mode. Joel Weisberg is currently monitoring it, but in the fold-mode, and I consider this mode unsuitable for monitoring this pulsar.
Best wishes Dr. Sergey Yudin.
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