April 18, 2024: DKIST Announcement for Early Cycle 3 Proposal Planning

The National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is pleased to share the following information to assist with early proposal planning for Cycle 3 during its Operations Commissioning Phase (OCP). Full details will be published in the Cycle 3 Call for Proposals.

Dates and Deadlines

Key Dates for Cycle 3

Key Dates for Cycle 3
Release of Cycle 3 Proposal Call and Proposal Tool	May 15, 2024, 07:00 GMT
Opening of Submission Window	May 15, 2024, 07:00 GMT
Closing of Submission Window (Proposal submission deadline)	June 12, 2024, 23:00 GMT Please be aware that late Proposals (after the deadline has passed) or Proposals not submitted through the Proposal Submission Tool (Proposal Architect) will not be accepted.
Anticipated Execution Window (observing)	February 2025 - November 2025

Science Priorities and Research Targets

In Cycle 3, we continue to prioritize those proposals that aim to study active regions (specifically their fine-structure throughout the sun’s atmosphere as observable by the DKIST) requesting on-disk AR targets (e.g. sunspots, pores, active region filaments) or aim to study the corona off-limb (with the Cryogenic Near-Infrared Spectro-Polarimeter - Cryo-NIRSP). The latter is specifically to further the understanding of the corona through the coronagraphic capabilities of the DKIST.

All pointing targets are allowed and only constrained by individual instruments.

Pointing Target Types

Pointing Target Types

Cryogenic Near-Infrared Spectro-Polarimeter (Cryo-NIRSP)

Off-limb observations and respective targets only:

Prominence.
Active corona.
Quiet corona.

Visible Broadband Imager (VBI) and Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP)

On-disk and at/near-limb observations and respective targets:

Quiet sun.
Pore.
Sunspot.
Plages.
Spicules.
Filament.
Coronal hole.

Proposers should be aware that observations of limb spicules with the VBI and ViSP require a very well defined and stable lock-point target for the HOAO system in close proximity to the limb and likely offsetting the HOAO system in addition to very good and stable observing conditions.

This implies that despite the fact that spicules are always present, these observations are very demanding and the nominal risk is inherently enhanced (specifically regarding spatial resolution).

Observing Capabilities

Observing Capabilities

Observing Capabilities

Instruments

Cycle 3 will offer the following instruments:

The DL-NIRSP is not offered through the Proposal Call and cannot be requested.

However, after sufficient testing of the upgraded DL-NIRSP in 2024, the DKIST may work with interested PI’s of accepted proposals what concurrent shared-risk DL-NIRSP observations could be added to their experiment.

Combining Instruments

Combining the ViSP and the VBI Blue and/or Red channels will be facilitated through three different configurations of the Facility Instrument Distribution Optics (FIDO).

Option 1 : Config 1a
- ViSP: Ca II K 393 nm, Ca II H 397 nm, Sr I 460 nm, H-Beta 486 nm, Mg I b2 517 nm, Fe I 525 nm, Na I D1 589 nm, Fe I 630 nm, H-Alpha 656 nm, Ca II 854 nm.
- VBI-B: Blue continuum filter (B-Cont).
- VBI-R: No light.
Option 2 : Config 1c
- ViSP: Mg I b2 517 nm, Fe I 525 nm, Na I D1 589 nm, Fe I 630 nm, H-Alpha 656 nm, Ca II 854 nm.
- VBI-B: Ca II K, G-Band, B-Cont, H-Beta.
- VBI-R: No light.
Option 3: Config 3d
- ViSP: Mg I b2 517 nm, Fe I 525 nm, Na I D1 589 nm, Fe I 630 nm.
- VBI-B: Ca II K, G-Band, B-Cont, and H-Beta.
- VBI-R: H-Alpha, Red continuum (R-Cont), TiO, and Fe XI (for on-disk applications only, not off limb).

Proposers are not required to combine post-WFC instruments and can choose to request only one instrument in stand-alone mode.

If Proposers decide to request the ViSP without the VBI, a default VBI configuration will be added by DKIST Science Operations.

Cycle 3 will not support using the Cryo-NIRSP and post-WFC instrumentation within the same Proposal even if the requested observations are separated out during the day or on consecutive days.

Visible Broadband Imager

Blue channel (VBI-B)

The VBI-Blue will be offered with its Ca II K, G-Band, Blue Continuum and H-Beta filters, respectively, depending on the choice of the coudé configuration.

Proposers are not required to use all available filters.

Visible Broadband Imager

Red channel (VBI-R)

The VBI-Red will be offered with its H-Alpha, Red-Continuum, TiO and Fe XI filters, respectively, depending on the choice of the coudé configuration.

Proposers are not required to use all available filters.

The VBI-Red is not available under the FIDO configurations 1a and 1c.

Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP)

The ViSP will be offered in its intensity and polarimetric mode limited to the 0.2 arcsec, 0.1 arcsec and 0.05 arcsec slit widths and the following spectral lines: Ca II K 393 nm, Ca II H 397 nm, Sr I 460 nm, H-Beta 486 nm, Mg I b2 517, Na I D1 589, Fe I 525, Fe I 630, H-Alpha 656 nm, Ca II 854 nm.

Proposers are not required to use all three arms of the ViSP.

Cryo-NIRSP

The Cryo-NIRSP spectrograph (SP) and context imager (CI) are offered during Cycle 3 for off-limb observations only. Observations by the spectrograph will be limited to Fe XIII 1074.7 nm, Fe XIII 1079.8 nm, He I 1083 nm, and Si X 1430 nm spectral lines. Unlike the other lines, the Si X 1430 bandpass is limited to spectroscopy-only. The ~4.5 nm bandwidth of the SP allows only one line to be observed at a single time. Observations of multiple lines can be acquired sequentially, but not at a fast cadence. A combination of spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry can be used within a single experiment for the selected lines. The context imager is offered in the He I 1083 nm bandpass only.

Two separate programs with mostly predefined settings for spectroscopic or spectropolarimetric observations are offered that Proposers can select from and use to build a custom experiment (very similar to Cycle 2): a coronal (off-limb) program and a prominence (and/or coronal rain) program.

FIDO independent combination

Proposers should be aware that there is a FIDO independent combination that can always be executed only needing some minor exposure time adjustment for the VBI Blue with minimal impact on summit operations:

ViSP: Na I D1 589 nm, Fe I 630 nm.
VBI-B: B-Cont filter.

Proposal Process

To familiarize yourself with the Proposing process during the DKIST’s Operations Commissioning Phase we recommend visiting the following information.

Proposal Process

Proposal Process
Proposing Overview	https://nso.edu/dkist/proposing/
Proposal Preparation and Submission	https://nso.edu/dkist/proposal-preparation/ Please be aware that late Proposals (after the deadline has passed) or Proposals not submitted through the Proposal Submission Tool (Proposal Architect) will not be accepted.
Proposal Preparation and Submission Tool (a.k.a. Proposal Architect)	https://proposals.dkist.nso.edu/welcome
Walk Through Instructions for Proposal Architect
Proposal Selection
New Investigators/Proposers
If you are new to the process

Data Center

To familiarize yourself with the DKIST Data Center, we recommend visiting the following information.

Data Center

Data Center
Searching, browsing and downloading of data
Data Center Search Portal Manual
DKIST Data Center User Tools
Known Data Issues

Getting Help

Help Desk

Help Desk
Help Desk Portal	https://nso.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portals
Knowledgebase