Conference: ----------- Observatory Operations to Optimize Scientific Return (AS08) Title: ------ Coordinating Multiwavelength Campaigns Between Observatories Authors' names and affiliations: ---------------------------------- Karla Peterson, Space Telescope Science Institute Marty Eckert, Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics Nancy Evans, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Paul Hilton, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science Beth Perriello, Space Telescope Science Institute Bryce Roberts, Johns Hopkins University Evan Smith, Hughs-STX Peg Stanley, Space Telescope Science Institute Co-authors' contact information: ------------------------------- Marty Eckert Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics 2150 Kittredge St Berkeley, CA 94720 (510) 643-3028 euveplan@cea.Berkeley.EDU Nancy Evans Chandra X-ray Observatory Center Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA 02138 (617) 495-7146 evans@head-cfa.harvard.edu Paul Hilton ISAS 3-1-1 Yoshinodai Sagamihara-shi Kanagawa-ken 229-8510 JAPAN +81 42-759-8136 paul@astro.isas.ac.jp Beth Perriello Space Telescope Science Institute 3700 San Martin Drive Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 338-4921 bethp@stsci.edu Bryce Roberts Department of Physics and Astronomy Johns Hopkins University Charles and 34th Sts. Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 516-3945 broberts@pha.jhu.edu Evan Smith NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Mailstop 662.0 Greenbelt, MD 20771 (301) 286-9346 esmith@ucephei.gsfc.nasa.gov Peg Stanley Space Telescope Science Institute 3700 San Martin Drive Baltimore, MD 21218 (410) 338-4536 pstanley@stsci.edu Abstract: --------- There are now a large number of space based observatories as well as several queue-scheduled ground based observatories. As each new telescope is brought on line, astronomers find more ways to increase their scientific return through multiwavelength campaigns between the available observatories. Observers can and should be involved in the coordination process from the beginning. They need to be informed about the issues, understand their true requirements and stay in touch with the involved observatories, but this is not always sufficient. Starting in 1995 the schedulers for several missions (HST, XTE, EUVE, ASCA, VLA) began contacting each other directly to plan campaigns in a way that truly met the goals of the observers. This was very beneficial because different observatories have different scheduling constraints and sometimes different names for the same constraints. An example of a scheduling challenge is coordinating telescopes in low earth orbit. Many have very similar orbits and if the goal is to maximize the overlap time between observatories, this requires comparing the orbits of the spacecrafts and finding times when the target visibility and South Atlantic Anomaly passages are approximately in phase. As the number of tightly coupled observations increases, it would make sense to investigate automating comparison of viewing opportunities. New innovations in observatory coordination include trading telescope time (as Chandra and HST have) so that one observatory can award coordinated time between two telescopes. The past, current and future process will be discussed along with feedback from successful observers and advice to the potential observer. Keywords: --------- multiple observatory, coordinated observation, multiwavelength campaign