# # Program information file # PROGRAM_ID 2021A083 PROGRAM_TITLE SpeX follow-up of infrared transients detected by Palomar Gattini-IR PROGRAM_INV1 Kishalay De PROGRAM_INV2 Matthew Hankins PROGRAM_INV3 Viraj Karambelkar PROGRAM_INV4 Lynne Hillenbrand PROGRAM_INV5 Mansi Kasliwal PROGRAM_SCICAT stellar PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG Palomar Gattini-IR [PGIR] is a new wide-field near-infrared time domain survey at Palomar observatory. With a field of view 40 times larger than any existing near-infrared [NIR] imager, PGIR is performing the first un-targeted census of the dynamic sky in the NIR band. Here, we request IRTF/SpeX time for IR spectroscopic characterization of highly reddened Galactic transients from PGIR, in our pursuit of the first NIR selected samples of classical novae and young stellar object [YSO] outbursts. PGIR has already proven to be the most productive discovery engine for Galactic classical novae in the Northern hemisphere, and the combined PGIR + SpeX campaign is uniquely placed to uncover the detailed demographics of shocks and dust formation in obscured classical novae that are systematically missed in optical time domain surveys. PGIR is providing new insights into a population of highly obscured YSO outbursts that are invisible in the optical bands, and can be studied with the combination of PGIR light curves and IRTF spectra. PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END