Call for Collaborations with Hinode - December 12, 2006

By April 2007 the Initial Observing Phase of Hinode (Solar-B), a joint JAXA/NASA/UK mission, will be complete. At or about this time all the science data from the mission will be made available to the community as will all new data as it is received.

To broaden community involvement in the Hinode mission the science team is offering the opportunity to facilitate this program the Hinode team has created a group of seven Scientific Schedule Coordinators (SSCs) to both review requests and assist requestors in preparing their plans. It is the policy of the Hinode Science Working Group that all observing requests that are consistent with the objectives of Hinode will be accepted. However it is strongly recommended that individuals discuss their proposed observations with one of the SSCs before preparing and formally submitting their request to ensure that their proposed observations are not already part of the core team's program. Please note that having your observation program selected and implemented does NOT entitle you to exclusive use of the data. The Hinode open data policy applies to all data. Where the observation program involves more than one instrument, the requestor should contact an SSC associated with his primary instrument.

Planning for Hinode operations is performed on a three month cycle that is updated monthly. At the end of every month a meeting is held to confirm the observations for the coming month and to lay out the broad objectives for the second and third months. The monthly plan provides guidance for the three instrument teams' Chief Observers who are responsible for preparing the daily observing plan. For example, requests for observations received between the 15th of November and the 14th of December will be presented and discussed at the monthly meeting held at the end of December (i.e. the cut-off for consideration is the 14th day of each month.) If approved the earliest opportunity for their inclusion into the observing plan would be March. Requesters should understand that although every effort will be made to perform their observations when requested the Hinode team does not and cannot guarantee when they will actually occur. It is particularly important for collaborators who have assigned time on ground based observatories to have their requests in well in advance.

Hinode was designed with the intent of making simultaneous observations with three instruments in order to understand how changes in the photospheric magnetic field propagated upward through the various levels of the solar atmosphere. Collaborative observing programs using all the three instruments will be regarded favorably. However, proposals whose emphasis is on the observations from only one or two of the three instruments are certainly not excluded.

The requests are expected to be short - a maximum of three pages - and written in English. They should specify the science objective, how they expect to achieve the objective, provide an outline of the observations by one or more of the instruments and how long an observing period is required. Currently the XRT and EIS instruments have interactive web pages that allow scientists to plan their observations.

- John M. Davis for the Hinode SSCs

Last Revised: Monday, 24-Jul-2006

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