TAUVEX is an Indo-Israeli Ultraviolet Imaging Experiment that will image large parts of the sky in the wavelength region between 1400 and 3200 Angstroms. The TAUVEX instrument consists of three co-aligned 20-cm UV imaging telescopes with a choice of filters for each telescope. Each telescope has a 54' field of view with a spatial resolution of about 6" to 10", depending on the wavelength. TAUVEX will be launched into a geosynchronous orbit as part of ISRO's GSAT-4 mission in early 2006. The TAUVEX hardware is being built at El-Op under the direction of Prof. Noah Brosch of Tel Aviv University while the software is being developed at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics under the direction of Prof. Jayant Murthy. The data will be shared equally by the two countries.

In the first year of operation, we plan to survey a region of the sky about 6000 square degrees in size in addition to deep observations at high celestial latitudes. The limiting magnitude will be on the order of 19 for the 3-band UV survey and 25 for the deep pointings. The regions of the sky to be surveyed and to be observed for deep imaging will depend on the science inputs from the Indian astronomical community, particularly for the extended mission which could last up to 7 years.

Science proposals will be invited from the Indian astronomical community for observations with the TAUVEX. The proposals could be either for making use of the survey images or for making deeper imaging observations of specific targets.

This announcement is being made to assess the science interests of the community, determine how much time will be available for the proposed observations, match the proposed projects to the available instrumentation and spacecraft orbits etc. This will help in mission planning and maximise the science returns of the project.

With this announcement the TAUVEX Team seeks inputs from potential users of TAUVEX as letters of intent to propose. At this stage science proposals could be more or less qualitative. The pre-proposal should include:

1. Title and a brief scientific justification.
2. A target list (with coordinates).
3. The required sensitivity limit (faintest stellar magnitude or surface brightness level)
4. Required tools for analysis
5. Required help from Project Team
6. Budgetary requirements

• Please feel free to communicate this announcement to anyone who may be interested in science with TAUVEX.
• Please consult the Guest Observer Site before you submit a proposal.
• If you wish to receive any future announcements on TAUVEX, please send a blank email to tauvex-announcements-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Download: The pdf file of this announcement