In order to maximise ISO's scientific return from unpredictable astronomical events some of which may need rapid reaction times, a number of small teams have been set up to define and prepare the necessary ISO observations for likely Targets of Opportunity (ToO), such as supernovae, novae, bright comets, etc. The responsibilities of these teams include: preparing generic observations in advance; storing pre-planned observation sequences in the SOC's data bases; fine tuning them as needed; and being responsible for publishing the data to the community as quickly as possible. Such observations are executed only in the event that the specified phenomenon actually occurs and it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator of the team to inform the SOC of the occurrence of the phenomenon. Time for such ToO observations comes from the general pool available for Open Time.
The following ToO programmes already exist, resulting from the pre-launch Call:
Proposals for additional ToO teams may be submitted in response to this Call. Proposals may come from individuals or teams. The proposal process for ToO investigations is essentially the same as for other observing proposals. The minor changes/additions are explained in section 5.3. These ToO proposals will be reviewed by OTAC in the same way as other observing proposals; OTAC may recommend that several proposals merge into one team.
Each selected team must contain, ex officio, one or more SOC astronomers. These may either be included in the original proposal or will be added to selected teams. The roles of these SOC staff include co-ordination during definition, responsibility for maintaining the appropriate observations in the SOC's data bases and, being the focus at the SOC, during any execution of these observations.