The AO-1 Call is closed.
You can find the approved programmes and abstracts here.

1st Announcement of Opportunity (AO-1) for participation in the CHEOPS Guest Observers (GO) Programme

This 1st Announcement of Opportunity (AO-1) solicited proposals for observations to be carried out as part of the CHEOPS Guest Observers (GO) Programme, with the observation window spanning from February 2020 to January 2021.

Outcome of the AO-1 Call

The CHEOPS Time Allocation Committee (TAC) met on 2–3 July 2019. Details of proposals awarded time by the Director of Science, based on the recommendations of the TAC, can be found on the AO-1 approved programmes and abstracts webpage.

The next opportunity to apply for observing time on CHEOPS was the Discretionary Time Programme, which opened around the start of routine operations in early 2020.

Milestones

Opening of AO-1 Call for Phase I observing proposals 19 March 2019
Deadline for submission of Phase I observing proposals 16 May 2019 at 14:00 CEST
Meeting of the CHEOPS Time Allocation Committee 2–4 July 2019
Announcement of award of observing time on CHEOPS End July 2019
Preparation of Phase II inputs 14 August – 10 September 2019
CHEOPS launch slot 15 October – 14 November 2019
Reference start date for CHEOPS nominal operations 1 February 2020

Important Notes

Prospective observers were asked to take note of the following points:

  • All proposals had to be submitted via the Phase I Proposal Handling Tool. Submission required the use of a Cosmos Website ID together with membership of the CHEOPS Guest Observers Programme Group. Registration was required to download the software for the Scheduling Feasibility Checker, which was one of the tools needed to prepare proposals, and also to download simulated CHEOPS data. Requests for both IDs and group membership had to be made by following the instructions at the following link: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/cheops-guest-observers-programme/register
  • Users were recommended to get an ID and register early during the call.
  • A minimum of 1 orbit per target and a maximum of 100 orbits could be requested per proposal.
  • It is important to appreciate that, due to the nature of the science that CHEOPS addresses, the majority of CHEOPS observations are time-critical. These can be difficult to schedule, and in some cases it may not be possible to carry them out even if a target is awarded observing time and is considered to be high priority.
  • All tools and documentation, with the exception of the ESA Phase I Proposal Handling Tool, were provided by the CHEOPS Consortium and were the same as those used by the Science Team to prepare the Guaranteed Time Observing Programme.
  • Simultaneous scheduling of CHEOPS observations with other facilities was not possible.
  • CHEOPS is a small mission, with a correspondingly small team to support Guest Observers. Observers are encouraged not to leave proposal preparation to the very last moment, as it may take a couple of days to answer questions.
  • Notifications of any issues or updates to Call material were published on the AO-1 updates webpage.

Updates

  • 29 April 2019: The CHEOPS visibility maps README file was updated. Details were published on the AO-1 updates webpage.
  • May 2020: A new virtual image of the Scheduling Feasibility Checker was issued in preparation for the Discretionary Programme (cheopsfcvm06). More details can be found on the Scheduling Feasibility Checker webpage.

Key Documentation

Tools and supporting manuals

A number of tools and documents were available to help users with their proposal preparation.

Useful data and information

User-contributed tools/aids

Below are links to documentation and tools that have been developed by members of the CHEOPS Science Team and the CHEOPS Consortium. These are shared for use at the user's own risk, with caveats and warnings that are detailed in the individual documents.

Questions about CHEOPS or the GO Programme? Please email cheops-support@cosmos.esa.int and we will be happy to help!
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