The Open Access Program makes LCO's network or telescopes available to the entire astronomical community, thanks to an award from the Heising-Simons Foundation. The award provides 80 hours on the 2-m telescopes, 425 hours on the 1-m telescopes, and 80 hours on the 0.4-m telescopes for eight 6-month semesters (from 2025A through 2028B). Proposals should be submitted to the LCO Observation Portal. Prospective authors must first create a Portal account. We specifically solicit science projects that effectively follow up on current time domain surveys, especially those with public distribution of data and alerts.
From 2017 through 2024, Open Access to the LCO network was supported by a Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP) grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Open Access program was intended to encourage the astronomical community to prepare for time domain research with the Vera Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Although the LSST has not yet begun (anticipated commencement in 2025), the MSIP program was discontinued because of the NSF's budget constraints.
The MSIP-supported Open Access time allocation process was managed by the NSF's NOIRLab (the US national observatory), with technical assistance from LCO. The program received approximately 40 proposals every six months. The selection process resulted in 20-25 proposals being awarded time. The NOIRLab's open skies policy allowed scientists from around the world to apply for LCO time. Over 7 years of the program, principal investigators (PIs) from 89 different universities, colleges, government labs and other organizations gained access to the LCO network.