Duplication and Reserved Observations

The general policy of the ISO Observatory is to avoid repeating the same observation, i.e. to avoid duplication, because after expiry of the proprietary period (see section 10) all data enters the public domain for archival research.

Duplication is determined by consideration of the target observed, the observing mode used, details of the observation parameters (e.g. size of rasters, wavelength ranges, filters) and the scientific objective. In general, it is not permissible to duplicate a combination of target and observing parameters. Thus, assuming different scientific aims, it may not be a duplication to observe the same target with the same Astronomical Observation Template (AOT) but with a different filter (e.g. for AOT PHT03) or different wavelength range (e.g. for AOT LWS01). In some cases, it is possible to make the same observation (target/observing parameters) with different AOTs (e.g. CAM01 and CAM03) and this will be considered a duplication. Overall responsibility for resolving cases of duplication rests with the ISO Project Scientist, who will consult with the OTAC Chairman for cases involving open time and with the ISO Science Team and/or its Vice-Chairman for cases involving guaranteed time.

The guaranteed time observations, as planned pre-launch, were published to the community with the pre-launch Call. Open time proposals in response to the pre-launch Call were not permitted to duplicate these guaranteed time observations. After the end of the Performance Verification phase, many guaranteed and open time observations were updated to take best advantage of the in-flight performance of ISO and its instruments. In addition to this process, a number of additional targets have been entered into the Mission Data Base. These include: (a) observations from the so-called ``spring'' target lists that, due to the exact time of launch and the expected extended lifetime of ISO, have become visible (applicable to guaranteed time proposals and to open time proposals with spring-only target lists) and (b) some follow-up observations, using some of the additional guaranteed time made available by the expected extended lifetime.

The ``List of Reserved Observations'', which forms part of the documentation for the Supplemental Call has been compiled from the Mission Data Base as follows. All the guaranteed time priority 1, 2 and 3 (equivalent to grades 9, 7 and 4 in PGA) observations plus the open time priority 1 and 2 (equivalent to grades 8 and 6 in PGA) observations have been included. These observations--released or unreleased, executed or awaiting scheduling--have been extracted from the Mission Data Base as of 26 July 1996. The list also contains the priority 3 open time observations (equivalent to grades 3 and 2 in PGA) that have been executed as of 5 August 1996 (see below for priority 3 observations executed later). Note that non-executed priority 3 open time observations have not been included as these are not reserved for the Supplemental Call. This list supersedes the Guaranteed Time Catalogue of Observations that was released with the pre-launch Call.

While efforts have been made to ensure that duplication has been avoided in this list of reserved observations, it is likely that due to both the number of observations and changes involved and also the short time available for checking, some duplication may remain. As necessary, this will be resolved with first rights going to those guaranteed time observations published with the pre-launch Call, second rights to the open time observations recommended by OTAC in the pre-launch Call and third rights to modified guaranteed time observations. Within categories, respective priorities will be taken into account.

The observations in the ``List of Reserved Targets'' are reserved and Supplemental Call proposals are not allowed to duplicate any of these. The information contained, per observation, in this list is expected to be sufficient to determine and avoid duplication. Proposers are expected to consult this list prior to submitting their proposals.

Some detailed points need to be made clear:

• Proposers are allowed to apply for extra time for observations within their own proposals.
• As the observing programme continues, more priority 3 open time observations will be executed and these will not appear on the reserved target list. Should it happen that OTAC recommends one of these observations to a different Supplemental Call proposer, the original priority 3 time holder will not lose his/her scientific rights to that observation. Note that up-to-date information on executed observations may be found in the ISOlog, available on the ISO public WWW server at http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es/isolog/.
• If OTAC recommends priority 1 or 2 time for a different Observer for an existing un-executed priority 3 observation, the data rights for that observation go to the higher priority programme.
• If OTAC recommends priority 3 time for a different Observer for an existing un-executed priority 3 observation, the data rights for that observation remain with the original Observer.
• At the time of the pre-launch Call, priority 3 time was recommended for a number of highly-rated polarisation proposals; the intention is to review--and possibly upgrade--this priority when in-orbit results have shown what the lowest detectable percentage polarisation is. As, at the time of issue of the Supplemental Call, the polarisation modes are still not commissioned (section 4.3.3), these priority 3 polarisation observations are also reserved.