The 100-m radio telescope of the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie and the data reduction facilities are available to all qualified scientists. The directors of the institute make observing time available to applicants based on the recommendations of the Program Committee for Effelsberg (PKE), which judges the scientific merit (and technical feasibility) of the observing proposals.
Information about the Program Committee, the allocation of observing time etc. can be seen at the Effelsberg Program Committee web page.
There are three deadlines a year, normally around February 1st, June 1st, October 1st. The Effelsberg telescope is one of the World's largest fully steerable instruments. This extreme-precision antenna is used exclusively for research in radio astronomy, both as a stand-alone instrument as well as for Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) experiments.
Access to the telescope is open to all qualified astronomers. Use of the instrument by scientists from outside the MPIfR is strongly encouraged. The institute can provide support and advice on project preparation, observation, and data analysis.
The directors of the institute make observing time available to applicants based on the recommendations of the Program Committee for Effelsberg (PKE), which judges the scientific merit (and technical feasibility) of the observing requests. Information about the telescope, its receivers and backends and the Program Committee can be found at www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/effelsberg/astronomers (potential observers are especially encouraged to visit the wiki pages!).
Observing modes
Possible observing modes include spectral line, continuum, and pulsar observations as well as VLBI. Available backends are several FFT spectrometers (with up to 65536 channels per subband/polarization), a digital continuum backend, a number of polarimeters, several pulsar systems (coherent and incoherent dedispersion), and two VLBI terminals (dBBC and RDBE type with MK6 recorders). Furthermore, the new flexible, fully-digital backend system EDD (“Effelsberg Direct Digitization”) is currently being implemented and will be available for an increasing number of observations in the near future For information look here or contact a local astronomer.
Receiving systems cover the frequency range from 0.3 to 96 GHz. The actual availability of the receivers depends on technical circumstances and proposal pressure. A description of the receivers, information about calibration parameters, system temperature, sensitivity, etc. can be found here.
How to submit
Applicants should use the NorthStar proposal tool for preparation and submission of their observing requests. North Star is reachable at https://northstar.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de . No other proposal submission will be accepted. VLBI
For VLBI proposals special rules apply:
For proposals which request Effelsberg as part of the European VLBI Network (EVN) see: https://www.evlbi.org/proposal-submission Information on proposals for the Global mm-VLBI network can be found on
http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/div/vlbi/globalmm/index.html.
Other proposals which ask for Effelsberg plus (an)other antenna(s) should be submitted twice, one to the MPIfR and a second to the institute(s) operating the other telescope(s) (eg. to NRAO for the VLBA).
For more information about observations together with NRAO facilities (e.g., HSA observations) see https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vlba/proposing. Important Remarks Please note, that the Effelsberg Programme Committee (PKE) is composed of several scientist with different backgrounds. It is hence advisable to write the proposals in a way that they could be understood by readers who are not working in the particular field. Furthermore, it should be noted that all proposals are treated confidentially. Therefore, it is not necessary to withhold or obscure information, which on the contrary might lead to a downgrading of the proposal.
ACME Transnational Access Programme The ACME (“Astrophysics Centre for Multimessenger studies in Europe”) project (see https://www.radionet-org.eu/radionet/acme-project-started/) enables transnational access (TA) on the basis of scientific merit to a wide range of complementary astroparticle, high energy and astronomical Research Infrastructures to perform new science of multi-messenger astrophysics. Transnational access to the 100-m telescope is provided to selected user-groups of one or more researchers, with the majority of the users working in EU and/or Associated Countries and not affiliated with German institutes. The access includes the logistical, technological and scientific support and the specific training. Additionally financial support for travel and accommodation could be offered for selected user(s). More extensive support can be offered as Effelsberg is one of the “Joint Centres of Expertise” for the radio regime within the ACME project. In that context, the staff of the Effelsberg observatory offers advanced support for the user community in all phases of an observing project, e.g. - Extended counsel during the proposal writing
- Bespoke assistance with preparation of the observations, as well as with the data inspection and post-processing
- Commissioning of special observing modes
- Specific training sessions
Furthermore, help with the access to the Effelsberg data archive can be provided on request. Only user groups that are allowed to disseminate the results they have generated under this program may benefit from the access. Publications based on TA programme should be acknowledged accordingly: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101131928 (ACME). For more details, please see: https://www.acme-astro.eu or contact the Effelsberg staff under sched100m@mpifr.de . Publications based on Effelsberg Observations should be acknowledged:
*Based on observations with the 100-m telescope of the MPIfR (Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie) at Effelsberg. |
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