The AO package consists of 'administrative' documentation, manuals, tools, and supporting documentation.
The following documents are provided:
The Herschel Announcement of Opportunity for Open Time (OT2). This letter from the ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration is the formal Announcement of Opportunity to apply for the Herschel observing time.
Executive Summary (this document). It describes the essentials of the call, summarises the AO and associated documents, tools, and services, providing the reader with a concise overview and help on where to find what information.
Policies and Procedures. This is the 'rules' document of the Announcement of Opportunity, providing all necessary information about the policies adopted and the procedures to be followed.
Herschel Observers' Manual. It provides information about Herschel pertinent to using the observatory from the perspective of an observer.
HIFI, PACS, SPIRE and SPIRE/PACS Parallel mode Observers' Manuals. They provide information about the HIFI, PACS, SPIRE instruments and the SPIRE/PACS parallel mode, and decribe their use to perform observations. (There are four separate documents, one each for HIFI, PACS, SPIRE, and the SPIRE/PACS parallel mode.)
HSpot Users' Guide. It provides information about the HSpot tool itself, and how to use it to plan Herschel observations. There is also a separate document giving information about 'known issues' with HSpot.
Reserved Observations List (ROL). It contains the GT and OT Key Programme and GT1, OT1, and GT2 reserved observations, which cannot be duplicated by to be submitted OT2 programmes (except for OT1 priority 2 observations, see the Policies and Procedures document).
The AO package also includes the following tools:
HerschelFORM LaTeX package: This is the LaTeX package to be used for OT2 proposal generation.
HSpot: This is the software tool for planning Herschel observations and submitting proposals. HSpot allows you to design, plan, and optimise an observation, and to determine how much time will be required to execute it.
Herschel Reserved Observations Search Tool (HROST): This is a java-based web tool developed at the HSC to search the ROL.
Herschel Duplication Checker (HDC): This is a standalone web-based tool that identifies all AORs in your proposal that potentially duplicate other approved science observations which are part of the ROL.