********************************************************************** ***** THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR OBSERVERS AT THE 0.9M ***** ***** (version 2018.0628) ***** ********************************************************************** This document describes how to make observations at the CTIO/SMARTS 0.9m telescope, otherwise known as The Best Telescope in the World (TBTW). This description is used by the RECONS group to take data, but non-RECONS users will find a lot of useful information here. The most recent version of this document can be found on the RECONS website at http://www.astro.gsu.edu/~thenry/CTIOPI/ctiopi.observing.YYYY.MMDD ********************************************************************** ***** ALWAYS USE THE v12 ACCOUNT ON OBSERVING COMPUTERS ***** ***** (password can be found inside the CTIOPI binders) ***** ********************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ HELP FOR THE 0.9M ______________________________________________________________________ Todd Henry thenry @ astro.gsu.edu Michele Silverstein silverstein @ astro.gsu.edu Wei-Chun Jao jao @ astro.gsu.edu ********************************************************************** ***** ***** ***** FIRST STOP, LA SERENA ***** ***** ***** ********************************************************************** Upon arrival at the La Serena airport, you will most likely be met by someone arranged by CTIO to whisk you to the dorms in the AURA complex. You will sign a piece of paper and be billed later for the trip. If no one meets you, you can catch a cab, and ask them to take you to the "AURA/CTIO Recinto." It should cost about 6000 pesos or $10. Make sure to enjoy La Serena while you are there. Say hello to folks at CTIO you know, and make new friends with those you don't (yet) know. Always be sure to stop by to thank Ximena Herreros for her help coordinating your trip. Buying her flowers is an excellent idea. Go to the beach! Have pisco sours! Buy souvenirs at La Recova! ********************************************************************** ***** ***** ***** NEXT STOP, CTIO ***** ***** ***** ********************************************************************** You will take the carryall up the mountain on the first day of your observing run. As of December 2017, the carryall departs from the east side of the Gemini building two times per day with the times depending on the day and time of year. The carryall stops at the round office building for keys and drops you off by the cafeteria. For the carryall schedule, check www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/Visiting-Astronomers-Travel-Guide When leaving the mountain, note that the travel time from CTIO to the airport is about 1.5 hours, so plan accordingly to catch your flight to Santiago. After checking in (and perhaps having lunch if you took the early carryall), go up to the telescope and find the large plastic CTIOPI PIBOX (with a red top) and the smaller red-topped PIBOXito, both of which are kept in the 0.9m observing room under the table with the microwave, refrigerator, etc., on top. In the PIBOX, you should find four 0.9m setup notebooks for CTIOPI targets (00-06H, 06-12H, 12h-18H, 18-00H), the 0.9m logbook, and a photometry notebook. DVDs and other useful items are found in PIBOXito. Please return all items to the boxes after your run and put them under the table, as the next RECONS observer will need them. ______________________________________________________________________ HELP ON THE MOUNTAIN ______________________________________________________________________ Observer Support dial 421/422 4m dial 400/401/402 Electronics Support dial 412/417 Medical Center dial 430 ______________________________________________________________________ WEATHER ______________________________________________________________________ To check the sky: http://139.229.13.119 To check overall weather conditions at CTIO go to http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/Environmental-Page To check weather in Chile and the rest of South America go to www.eldoradocountyweather.com/satellite/misc/s.america-ir-sat.html or http://www.intellicast.com/Global/Satellite/Infrared.aspx?region=hisasat ______________________________________________________________________ RADIO ______________________________________________________________________ As of DEC 2016, good radio stations (at least by TJH's standards) include 88.9, 100.9, 101.5 and 102.1. The second one has been known to play the Pet Shop Boys, so listen at your own risk. ______________________________________________________________________ COMPUTERS AT THE 0.9m ______________________________________________________________________ The main computer you will use to take data is new-ctioa4: new-ctioa4 observer's computer with BIW/Torrent /home has 425 GB of disk space /home/observer entry directory on new-ctioa4 /home/data where you put data To reboot: open the cover push the on/off button to turn off new-ctioa4 wait a moment push the on/off button to turn on new-ctioa4 wait for the system to load login observer passw obs1rv1r prompt startx click on BIW icon ... see START BIW When within the CTIO system, e.g., on the mountain, you can see an archive of images taken at the 0.9m at: http://ctiop8/instruments/BIW/images/biw_images.html ********************************************************************** * * * CHECK THE DISKSPACE AVAILABLE ON THE /home DISK BEFORE * * STARTING YOUR FIRST NIGHT BY TYPING "df -h" * * * * THE 0.9m SMARTS FELLOW WILL MOVE PREVIOUS OBSERVERS' DATA OFF * * OFF THE DISK SO THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE PLENTY OF SPACE * * * ********************************************************************** There should be plenty of disk space, but you can check to see where space is being used by typing "du /home" or various subdirectories. Check that there is enough room to write .fits files for all the frames you anticipate you will take. Each quarter chip .fits file on the 0.9m takes up 2211840 bytes. The other computer you may use is ctio36: ctio36 additional computer /usr/u361/v12 home directory on ctio36 /usr/u363/v12 storage location for RECONS and SMARTS data You can ssh to other computers on the mountain. TJH has a file of tricks called .alias where some favorite quick commands are kept. You can make your own such file and activate it by typing "source .alias" to make your commands work. If the ctio36 machine locks up, you can try rebooting by holding the [STOP] and [a] buttons down simultaneously. Then, answer "sync" at the prompt. The root password for ctio36 is on a piece of paper in PIBOXito in case you need it to reboot. The printer at the 0.9m is called np36. So, you can print a file using lpr -Pnp36 file.ps. ______________________________________________________________________ REMOTE ACCESS ______________________________________________________________________ new-ctioa4 ssh -l observer new-ctioa4.ctio.noao.edu use new-ctioa4 password cd /home/data is where data are taken and stored du -h /home/data to find out where space is being used ctio36 ssh -l v12 ctio36.ctio.noao.edu use v12 password cd /u363/v12/ctiopi is where our files live ********************************************************************** ***** ***** ***** TIME TO OBSERVE ***** ***** ***** ********************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ BEFORE OPENING ______________________________________________________________________ You will not have a night assistant at the 0.9m. So, you are on you own for most of each night, although Telops can provide support when needed --- you are looking for Manuel Hernandez or Hernan Tirado. Others who may help are Rodrigo Hernandez, Humberto Orrego, David Rojas, and Javier Rojas. A single page of fundamental instructions on how to open/close the dome, move the telescope, etc. can be found in the observing room. It should be on the shelf above the Telescope Control System monitor, but could have wandered somewhere, including into the front of the blue OBSERVING PROCEDURES binder or black "0.9m Tel. Manual" binder. In that binder, there are more directions on using the 0.9m on white pages covered with plastic in the OBSERVING section. Additional information with lots of details about operating the telescope can be found in the blue OBSERVING PROCEDURES binder. It is often quite dry at CTIO, so TURN ON THE HUMIDIFIER (high setting) in the observing room. This will help prevent zaps to computers and you due to static charge. ______________________________________________________________________ GETTING STARTED, WELCOME TO BIW ______________________________________________________________________ In May 2016 an instrument controller called Torrent was installed at the 0.9m, replacing the honorable and venerable ARCON. This system is called BIW, for Best Imager in the World, very appropriate for the instrument available at The Best Telescope in the World (TBTW). There are four icons on the desktop for BIW: start BIW makes BIW go shutdown BIW stops BIW and kills running processes irafacq creates an IRAF window for acquisition irafred creates an IRAF window for reduction Information about BIW that you need to know: THE GOOD: a. You can use the GUI to take data instead of typing on a command line. You can also still take data much like you did with ARCON by typing commands directly into a command line. Many, but not all of the previous ARCON commands work. b. The well-depth is 60000 AU and the CCD is linear to 0.5% (!) all the way to 60000 ADU, where the wells saturate. c. Correct TCS (Telescope Control System) information is transferred to the headers. d. Offsets are sent directly to the TCS, so when using the offset command, be careful to set pointing X,Y coordinates correctly, and then sit back and enjoy NOT having to do offsets manually. e. Frames are written in .fits format rather than the old .imh and .pix files. THE BAD: f. readout times are slower than with ARCON --- 66 sec vs 45 sec for quarter chip, single amp g. readout noise is now 8-10 e- instead of 2-3 e- h. there is only one gain setting = 3 e-/ADU i. stars with 20000 counts or more have trails at the 1% level to the west due to readout ---------------------------------------- START BIW ---------------------------------------- 01. To start BIW, click on the start BIW icon that looks like a small camera. Many windows come and go upon starting, and four will remain: OPTGUI your control panel to take observations PanVIEW a running dialog of what's happening SAOImage a window to look at your data IRAF Window where you work with your data using IRAF ENV you can minimize this one to get it off the desktop (but don't shut it down) 02. Click on the irafacq icon to get an IRAF window that displays the image just taken. 03. Better yet, click on the irafred icon to get an IRAF window that gives you a red command line box for IRAF and an SAOImage window to evaluate the image. If for some reason you need to use BIW from the ctio36 machine: X1. login to ctio36 machine with v12 and the usual password. X2. Click on lower left blue button with f, slide to System Tools, then Terminal (the one with the yellow background when it comes up), and you should get a window. X3. If needed, reset the screen resolution by typing "nvidia-settings" click X Server Display Configuration click Resolution 1400 X 1050 X4. Then in the terminal window, type vncviewer new-ctioa4:1 password = vnc4observer ********************************************************************** * * * DO NOT GO TO THE LOWER LEFT CORNER OF THE INTERFACE WINDOW * * (the multi-color icon that brings up K Menu) AND LOG OUT! * * * ********************************************************************** ---------------------------------------- BIW MAIN GUI ---------------------------------------- There are four panels in the GUI for BIW/Torrent: #1 Upper left gray panel has various diagnostics, including the CCD temperature (~165K), other temperatures, and Telescope Control System (TCS) information. This is also where you enter your name and the proposal (RECONS for us). #2 Upper right tan panel shows what the CCD is doing. You will stare at this a lot. #3 Middle right gray-blue panel is where you enter the path for your data = /home/data/n1, the file name = f, and number = 1. The Image Number will index as you take frames. #4 Lower blue panel is where you control the exposure you want to make. NOTE: When changing the number of exposures or the exposure time, hit to make it stick. The various buttons, pulldowns, and boxes to fill are described here, listed in alphabetical order: Basename extension for filename (RECONS uses "f") Display use to reinitialize SAOImage window if it hangs EXIT get out of BIW smoothly Exp Time if you need to change the integration time, just type in the new number and return Filters choose your two filters filter assignments can be found in the file: /home/observer/apps/BIW/config/DEV_FILCT09M_filters.list flats is used to queue a set of observations, typically calibrations. You can make your own specific script in the /home/observer/scripts directory. RECONS uses /home/observer/scripts/ctiopi.calibrations Focus is used to focus the telescope. Enter the exposure time, number of exposures, and the focus value for the first image. The charge is transferred along the CCD so that you get several star images in a line to inspect for focus. You adjust the focus manually between each exposure and hit when you are ready for the next one. The file is written to disk in your data directory. Delete the file and reset the counter when you are done if you don't want to keep the focus frame. NOTE: The gap is after the FIRST exposure. Geometry allows you to set the detector how you want it, including amplifiers you want to use (4 is fastest, 2 is medium, 1 is slowest), binning, and the Region Of Interest (ROI), you want. The ROI is typically Full for most observers who want the 2048X2046 full chip. RECONS uses Quarter mode, so the setup looks like: Amplifier = upperleft (AMPLIST = 21 in header) Binning X = 1 and Y = 1 click on predefined ... Select ... Quarter the boxes should then show: X start = 513 Y start = 513 X box size = 1024 Y box size = 1024 Image Number number of the file Observation Title what you want to call the image Observation Type choose Object, Zero, Dark, Dflat, Sflat obslist can be used to input a list of objects Path where data will be written, typically /home/data/n# Pause pause the exposure (dark time clock continues) Resume appears when Pause(d) to resume the exposure Scripts can be used to run scripts (not tested, DEC 2016) Start take the image or sequence Stop stop single exposure AND the entire sequence last image will be written to disk ---------------------------------------- IRAF COMMANDS ---------------------------------------- A fairly comprehensive list of commands you can use for observing is given here. If you don't want to use the GUI, you can still do lots of things in an IRAF window, much as you did with ARCON, such as: * CTIOPI scripts that are now found in /home/observer/ctiopi d to save any parameter changes in IRAF :q to save any parameter changes in IRAF ctiopi * loads useful scripts for CTIOPI, including finishctiopi offset qlook display is the command that puts the image in the SAOImage box. It is best to [epar display] and make sure that the parameter "fill" is set to "yes" so that the image fills the box. There are a million subtleties to [display] that you can pretty much ignore for data-taking purposes. Note that in the login.cl it should say "set stdimage=imt800" to display correctly "set stdimage=imt2048" try if weird things happen doobs is used to set up a series of observations and is very useful for flats (take 11 exposures each in the filter sequence "v,r,i"). epar is the command you type to get inside each package to change parameters. You keep the changes and exit the package by typing d. finishctiopi * when observing for CTIOPI, makes .fits files, creates header files, and emails them. The script is located at /home/observer/ctiopi on the new-ctioa4 machine. flpr resets window commands after aborting or stopping. Type it three times to be sure. hedit is useful if you misname the file -- use it to change the title to one of the following formats: STAR0088 at R for pi STAR0088 at R for phot STAR0088 at R for pi and phot STAR0088 at R -- clouds STAR0088 at R -- bad STAR0088 at R -- sat hselect used to example keywords in IRAF headers, very useful hselect f* $I,FILTER1,FILTER2 boolean ... selection: yes imarith is used to add/subtract/multiply/divide images, i.e. basic arithmetic. imexamine is very useful when taking data. Type [imexamine] to get a cursor on the image in the imtool box. Type "r" to get a radial profile to see if a star is saturated (60,000 counts) or has enough counts, and to check the FWHM/seeing. Type "e" to get a contour plot to see if the focus is ok. Type "a" to get a readout of the peak value. Type "m" to get counts in a 5x5 box to get a sky noise estimate. Type "v" twice to get a plot along a vector where you mark the two ends. Type "s" to get a surface plot. NOTE THAT YOU MUST HAVE A SQUARE BOX FOR THE IMEXAMINE WINDOW TO LOOK AT THE SHAPE OF THE IMAGE --- A RECTANGULAR BOX WILL FLATTEN THE IMAGE AND MAKE IT LOOK IN FOCUS WHEN IT IS NOT!!! imhead typed alone, this will give you short header names for each file taken and show them on the screen. Typed as "imhead f* > look" will make a file called look that lists all of the frames taken. If you [epar imhead] you can change "longhead" to "yes", d out of it, and then get all the details of the observation. Type "imhead f001 long+" to see the full header of a single file. imrename renames the specified image. imstat is useful to see what the mean is in an image lpar can be used to list the parameters without going inside the package. mkdir creates a directory. motor init this reinitializes the motor controller; do this when the filter wheel(s) has gotten lost (both wheels return to slot 8), or the shutter is not responding motor stat returns location of the two filter wheels observe is the command used to take data. Use "object" for a target, "dflat" for a dome flat, and "zero" for a bias. Use filter "cb" for dome flats and "dia" for objects. obspars gives the image number offset * displays the last image taken and computes the offset necessary to move a star selected by the cursor to a specified X,Y. "offset" first puts you in "imexam", where you move your cursor to the pointing star you want and hit "q". Hit "q" again and at the prompt and enter X,Y for the star. WITH BIW, THE TELESCOPE WILL OFFSET DIRECTLY FOR YOU, SO BE CAREFUL TYPING IN THE X,Y VALUES. qlook * "ql" for short, displays the last image and puts you in imexam in quick look mode. Just click the cursor in the SAOImage window and off you go. test lets you take a frame but does not increment the frame number. This is useful for centering an image, testing integration time, etc. (i.e. any frame that you are likely to throw away). zero takes a bias frame with exposure of zero seconds ---------------------------------------- TERMINAL WINDOW COMMANDS ---------------------------------------- flt init initializes both filter wheels to slot 8 in wheel1 and 5 in wheel2 tcs info shows information about where the telescope is pointed and more ---------------------------------------- OBSOLETE IRAF COMMANDS ---------------------------------------- x lpar telpars telescope parameters, e.g. focus x lpar detpars detector setup parameters, e.g. pixels used, gain x lpar instrpars instrument parameters, e.g. current filter positions x lpar wheel1 assignments for filters in wheel 1 (epar to edit) x lpar wheel2 assignments for filters in wheel 2 (epar to edit) ______________________________________________________________________ DIRECTORIES AND FILENAMES ______________________________________________________________________ The location for data is /home/data 04. In /home/data, create a directory for your first night, e.g. "mkdir n1". To move into the desired directory to take data or the night, type "cd n1". 05. Type "ctiopi" to load a set of very slick scripts that will allow you to do cool things --- see the IRAF COMMANDS section above. ********************************************************************** * * * IN IRAF WINDOWS, TYPE "ctiopi" TO LOAD THE OBSERVING SCRIPTS * * * ********************************************************************** Files will have names corresponding to what is in the Basename box on the GUI, "f" for RECONS. You can also set the frame number in the "Image Number" box. Numbers will be appended during the night, so that the first frame will be f001.fits, the second will be f002.fits, etc. ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** FOLLOWING ARE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR RECONS TEAM MEMBERS ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** ********************************************************************** ... but you may find some of this useful for your observing ... ______________________________________________________________________ CALIBRATION FRAMES --- BIASES AND DOME FLATS ______________________________________________________________________ Only one set of calibration frames is taken each night. The set of calibration frames should be for either the full-chip or quarter-chip mode, BUT NOT BOTH, because it takes several hours per set. Science images may still be taken in both setups during one night, but calibration frames from a different night will be used during data reduction. For both the full-chip and quarter-chip setups, bias frames (called "zero" in the GUI and headers) and VRI dome flats should be done. You should take 17 zero frames, 11 V dome flats, 11 R dome flats, and 11 I dome flats. This makes a total of 50 calibration frames. Before taking any type of calibration frame, it is best to take a test frame to see if everything is working as expected. You can use the gray "TEST" button to take a test frame but not save it (and not increment the frame number). 06. Set Observer = YOU! and Proposal = RECONS. 07. Set Path = /home/data/yourname/n1 (typically). 08. Set Basename = f and Image Number = 1 09. Click Observation Type = Zero and Comments = zero 10. Click Geometry and set the following: Amplifier = upperleft and hit Apply (AMPLIST = 21 in header) Binning X = 1 and Y = 1 click on predefined ... Select ... Quarter ... the boxes show: X start = 513 Y start = 513 X box size = 1024 Y box size = 1024 11. Click TEST to get a test bias frame and check the counts with imstat. You should get around 1270 counts. 12. You want to be sure the beep is working so that you are notified when the frame is done reading out. The beep comes from the computer right behind the observer's monitor. It is not terribly loud, but it should be there. OLD METHOD: Connect audio jack cables (3 prongs on one end, 2 on the other) between the old Aiwa stereo output in the back (2 inputs) and the right 2 inputs on the back of the Torrent Trendsonic computer (right behind the observer's monitor). Note that the pins are different sizes, so there's only one way to do it. Set the Aiwa stereo to VIDEO/AUX and turn the volume up. You should now hear the beep. 13. In the control room, turn on the flatfield lamps using the toggle on just under the red time readout on the tall white tower. 14. Push the green button on the MASTER POWER switch. The button is found in the control room on the large white rack of computer equipment. There is a similar button upstairs in the dome, where you can also turn on the MASTER POWER. 15. Push the red HALT MOTORS button so that it is in the out position (it should light up, but sometimes the bulb fades). 16. Turn on --- flip up --- the DRIVES toggle lever, but leave all of the others off (TRACK, AUTO DOME, EXTERNAL COMPUTER, DOME TRACK) except DRIVES, which you flip up to turn them on. 17. Go upstairs, pull out the dark slides, check that all three flatfield lamps are on and make sure the mirror cover is off the telescope. If not ... 18. Point the telescope to the white spot using the Offset/Zenith tab on the Movement panel on the TCS screen. Choose Set Punto Blanco/Flat Field and click Start Slew. You can do this in the dome using the monitor up there, or back in the conntrol room. *** Begin Interlude about V Filters *** As of August 2009, we again use the oV = old V = Tek#2 V filter, which has a several millimeter sized crack in one corner. WE MUST USE THIS FILTER FOR GOOD ASTROMETRY! We had switched to the nV = new V = Tek#1 V = replacement V filter. There is a tiny one millimeter crack in the very corner of this backup V filter. The nV filter is the standard one used for SMARTS programs because most people (a) don't care which V filter is used and (b) we don't know for sure if the crack in the corner of the oV filter affects FULL CHIP observations, which most people do. So, both filters are in the UBVRI wheel. *** End Interlude about V Filters *** The filter wheel that holds the UBnVRIoV filters should be in the following configuration for the 8 available slots: slot1 slot2 slot3 slot4 slot5 slot6 slot7 slot8 named u b nv r i ov - - filter U B nV R I oV - - Tek1 Tek2 Tek2 Tek2 On your first night, or when BIW loses track of filter positions, carefully check that the filters are the correct ones and are in the slots that BIW is telling you. Do this by spinning through the filters. 19. Back in the control room, on BIW set the filters to cb and ov to start. Take test frame (about 30 sec is enough integration time), note mean counts with imstat, subtract the bias level, and get baseline counts for ov filter to which you will compare other filters. ********************************************************************** * * * USE THE COLOR BALANCE FILTER "cb" IN FILTER WHEEL #1 TO BALANCE * * THE QUARTZ LAMP EMISSION TO SKY COLOR * * * ********************************************************************** 20. Take a test frame in each filter and calculate the counts after subtracting the bias level. You should get the following count ratios: ********************************************************************** * * * FOR 30 SEC ON 2017.1129, THE FOLLOWING WERE THE COUNTS * * (AFTER SUBTRACTING THE BIAS COUNTS) * * *** THE RATIOS MATTER MUCH MORE THAN THE NUMBER OF COUNTS *** * * * * U 172 2.3 % not available * * B 3737 51.8 % * * nV 7025 97.3 % * * R 6497 90.0 % * * I 5712 79.1 % * * oV 7218 100.0 % * * * ********************************************************************** 21. To take the full set of calibrations, including biases and flats, click gray "flats" button in the lower left of the GUI. That gives you a new window called FLATS. For a standard set of CTIOPI calibration frames, Load the script "/home/observer/scripts/ctiopi.calibrations" in the Path box at the top of the FLATS window. Make sure you have the Basename set to "f" and Image Number set where you want it (typically 1), then hit the "GO" button. Alternately, you can write your own script and put it in /home/observer/scripts, or edit the parameters manually to get what you want. Three important things to know if you do that: a. click the "modify" button to make your changes stick b. highlight the first line in your sequence before starting, or the sequence will start with the last line you modified c. click the "GO" button to run the script For dome flats choose an exposure time that gives about 30000 counts in each filter (a range from 20000 to 40000 counts is acceptable). Integrations of about 120 sec are usually fine, giving about 30000 counts in the flats (highest in V, lowest in I). ***** YOU WILL LIKELY GO TO DINNER AT THIS POINT ***** 22. Turn the flatfield lamps off when the flats are done and checked. 23. Once you have frames, "imstat f*" to get the average counts in a frame to see if everything is ok. You should get about 1273 counts for zeros and 20-30K for VRI flats. "qlook" ("ql" will suffice) to inspect the frame. Use IRAF commands in imexam to check the image: "e" for a contour plot "r" for a radial plot "s" for a surface plot "v" twice gives you a cut across the image ********************************************************************** * * * FOR ZEROS, YOU SHOULD GET ~1273 COUNTS (as of 2017.1129). * * * ********************************************************************** * * * FOR DOME FLATS, YOU SHOULD GET 20000-40000 COUNTS * * HIGHEST IN V, LOWEST IN I * * 120 SECOND INTEGRATIONS ARE USUALLY ABOUT RIGHT * * * ********************************************************************** 24. "imhead" to check the frame size --- you should end up with a file size of [1074,1024] for 1,099,776 total pixels. Note that via ARCON, the size was [1098,1024] starting 2013.0401 or (usually) [1118,1024] before 2013. We don't understand why this changed. It doesn't affect reductions as the differences seem to have to do with the location of the bias columns. ______________________________________________________________________ WRITING DOWN THE OBSERVATIONS ______________________________________________________________________ For CTIOPI observations, keep the log in the logbook from the CTIOPI box, as has been done since 1999. ______________________________________________________________________ AFTER OPENING --- SCIENCE TIME! ______________________________________________________________________ ********************************************************************** * * * GENERAL SCIENCE GOALS FOR OBSERVING RUNS --- 10 nights * * * * 1000 total science frames --- 100 science frames/night * * 8 nights of astrometry --- 20 objects/night ~ 160 objects/run * * 2 nights of photometry --- 20 objects/night ~ 40 objects/run * * * ********************************************************************** 25. Turn on the fans over the primary mirror using the blue dial that says POWER FANS CONTROL above the observer's computer. Turn it to the vertical mark on the dial, around 30. 26. Turn on the large fan that ventilates the dome (and open the door to upstairs). The switch for the large fan is in the electrical control box in the northeast corner of the first floor. There are pieces of tape labeled FAN to guide you. 27. Go upstairs to open the slit and lower the windscreen. Make sure the dome lights are off and the platform has been lowered. 28. Fill the dewar with liquid nitrogen. It is important to fill the dewar at least every 12 hours and preferably every 8 hours. If the dewar loses vacuum, it takes about an hour to pump it down and another five hours for the dewar/CCD temperature to stabilize. 29. To set the dome position, line up the black tape marks on the rotating and stationary parts of the dome. In the observing room, make sure the toggles for AUTO DOME and DOME TRACK are down (off). On the TCS initialize the dome by using the Telescope ... Initialization ... Dome/Other buttons. Set Dome Postion to 90 and hit Apply. 30. Turn the TRACK, DRIVES, AUTO DOME, and DOME TRACK toggles up for on. The TRACK/AUX TRACK green toggle green is taped so you don't use it. (It seems to be ok in either the up or down position, presumably because both the TRACK and AUX TRACK values are set to sidereal.) Be sure that the HALT MOTORS red butten is OUT for the telescope to be able to move. 31. Zero the pointing of the telescope by setting up on a bright star. You can either choose a star from the The Astronomical Almanac book in the observing room, or use the zenith file on the TCS computer. To get to the zenith file, click on the Shared Documents icon on the desktop, then click on the file called zenith. Take exposures and center the star on the chip at (512,512), using "offset" as needed. The image orientation on the screen is North down and East left. 32. Initialize the telescope by using the TCS (Windows) machine. Use the Telescope tab and choose Initialization. Adjust three things: (a) Date/Time --- match it to the red digital readout on the white tower, (b), Telescope --- zero point (fixes the pointing of the telescope --- be sure you are using the correct epoch!), and (c) Dome/Other for dome alignment. ********************************************************************** * * * WHEN USING ZPOINT, BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE CORRECT EPOCH * * FOR THE COORDINATES OF YOUR ZPOINT STAR. IF YOU DON'T, THE * * TELESCOPE WILL POINT INCORRECTLY. * * * ********************************************************************** 33. To see if all is well with the telescope pointing, choose a second bright star, slew to it, and take a frame. You can skip this step and go to the next one if you are confident that the telescope is pointing properly. 34. Reset the Epoch readout on the TCS to 2000.0 by clicking on the Telescope tab, pulling down to Misc. and use the Display Epoch / Side of Pier tab to set to 2000.0. 35. Go to the first target star and take a test image. Inspect the result using imexam, then the following commands: "e" for a contour plot "r" for a radial plot "s" for a surface plot "v" twice gives you a cut across the image 36. Focus using the Focus button on the GUI, which relocates a star image on the CCD so that you get a series of several star images at different focus values. Choose 7 integrations of 10 seconds in the filter of choice with focus increment of 30-50, depending on how well you think you know the focus already. You have to change the focus by hand, so change the focus value using the small gray metal box with the two black buttons and then hit to take the next exposure. V and R are expected to have the same focus at the 0.9m, while I is approximately 35 units to larger numbers. When you change focus from a larger value to a smaller value, remember to offset the focus about 400 units "in" (e.g. 15000) and then go "out" (e.g. 15400) to the desired focus value. This way you move the secondary mirror against gravity, and prevent backlash problems that are known to be present in the focusing mechanism. When displayed, the focus frame will have 7 dots/star and the gap will be after the FIRST EXPOSURE IN THE FOCUS SEQUENCE. The focus is a function of temperature and telescope pointing. It is therefore best to check the focus for each target before taking observations that you plan to keep. To check the image shape, type "ql", put the cursor on a non-saturated but well-exposed single star, and type "e" --- this will display a contour plot on the graphics window, look for elongations in X or Y. Take special care to be sure that the focus is excellent --- the parallax reductions are much better with round images! ********************************************************************** * * * DELETE ALL FOCUS FRAMES TO MAKE DATA ORGANIZATION EASIER * * * ********************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ !!! CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE NOW READY TO OBSERVE AS YOU LIKE !!! ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ During twilight, you can take science frames once the counts in the background drop below 5000 counts, for whatever exposure time you need. Note that during twilight, the sky is darker at I than it is at R or V, so it is best to have the first/last object of the night be one you are observing in I. ********************************************************************** * * * 0.9m TARGETS HAVE VRI = 6 to 22 * * * * MAXIMUM ASTROMETRY INTEGRATION TIME SHOULD BE 900 SEC * * MINIMUM ASTROMETRY INTEGRATION TIME SHOULD BE 30 SEC * * * * MAXIMUM PHOTOMETRY INTEGRATION TIME SHOULD BE 1200 SEC * * MINIMUM PHOTOMETRY INTEGRATION TIME SHOULD BE 5 SEC * * * ********************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ GOLDEN RULES FOR ASTROMETRY OBSERVING ______________________________________________________________________ MAKE SURE FILTER 1 IS dia, NOT cb !!!!! MAKE SURE FILTER 2 IS ALWAYS ov, r, OR i 01. Plan your observing strategy, depending on the quality of the night: CONDITIONS SPECIAL CONCENTRATION < 1.0" seeing, clear faintest targets, close binaries 1.0-2.5" seeing, clear regular targets > 2.0" seeing, clear try I band, V band bright objects > 2.5" seeing, clear photometry MOON? try I band < 1.0" seeing, cloudy regular targets, close binaries 1.0-2.5" seeing, cloudy regular targets > 2.5" seeing, cloudy sleep! High humidity often comes with poor seeing. We rarely use frames with seeing worse than 2.4" = FWHM of 6.00. We also discard frames that have ellipticity > 0.20. A good goal is to keep the focus good enough so that ellipticity is < 0.10. 02. In general, use the hours between 10pm and 2am for ASPENS/SURVEY stars, stars with perturbations, or binary star programs, and the rest of the night for parallaxes. Middle of the night parallax frames are useful for high declination targets, proper motion determination, and perturbation searches. 03. Stay within 60 minutes of the meridian for parallax frames. This reduces the need for differential refraction corrections. Typically, choose the next target when it is 20-30 minutes to the east to allow time to set up. Note the following guidelines for parallax reduction: a. > 180 minutes from transit, frames kicked out by code b. 120-180 minutes, you're asked if you want to keep it c. < 120 minutes, ok, but ... d. < 30 minutes ideal, especially at V to reduce DCR effects 4. Choose an object. Make sure to check the observing list to see if more frames are needed, and what kind of frames are needed --- evening or morning. The goal is to have at least 30 evening frames and 30 morning frames on each target, and to keep the number balanced. There will be few "golden opportunities" to observe a target. These are times when the star is at high parallax factor and crosses the meridian within an hour of opening or closing. Try to take at least 5 frames when you get a chance like this. Consider observing it again several nights later if you have a long observing run. 5. Check the notes on individual objects in the observing list to see if there are any special observations needed for that object. For example, close doubles may require some special short integration frames or should only be done in exquisite seeing. ********************************************************************** * * * FROM HERE ON OUT, YOU CAN USE THE FFF RULE --- "FORMATION" TO GET * * THE PROPER POSITIONING ON THE CHIP, "FOCUS" TO GET GOOD IMAGES, * * "FLUX" TO MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF COUNTS IN THE STAR THAT SETS THE * * EXPOSURE. * * * ********************************************************************** 6. If it is the first observation of a star, take short integrations at VRI to find the target and set up a reasonable reference star field. Choose a set up that has at least 5 reference stars. You can take many test frames to explore the situation but not increment the frame number. Remember that the astrometry is best with the target near the frame center. Print out a copy of a good frame and use it to pick reference stars. On BIW, you use the File ... Print ... OK in the SAOImage window. You don't need to enter the printer name, the lp alone works, so just hit OK. ********************************************************************** * * * IF THIS IS A NEW SETUP FOR A STAR, SEE SECTION BELOW ENTITLED * * "NEW SETUPS AND HOW TO MAKE SETUP SHEETS FOR BINDERS" * * * ********************************************************************** 7. If it is not the first observation of a star, place the pointing star within 5 pixels (2.0 arcsec) of the noted position. Type "offset" in the IRAF window to calculate the offsets needed to put it in the final location. Be careful when you enter the numbers because BIW talks to the TCS and will offset the telescope for you. 8. Estimate an appropriate filter/integration time to reach about 50000 counts for the target star or brightest useful reference star. 60000 counts is saturated (use "imexam" and "r" to get the peak value). Try to get at least 1000 counts in the target and all reference stars. The star that sets the exposure should be marked on the finder, or a comment at the top stating "pi star sets the exposure." R is the first choice of filter, although V is used for bright stars and I for faint red stars. If the star has already been observed, the filter choice should be clearly marked on the setup frame, as well as a guideline for the integration time. USE THAT FILTER ONLY, UNLESS DOING PHOTOMETRY. IN GENERAL, 30 SECONDS IS THE MINIMUM INTEGRATION ALLOWED, IN ORDER TO PREVENT ASTROMETRIC ERRORS CAUSED BY SEEING EFFECTS ON THE STAR IMAGES. We have a few bright stars that require shorter integrations that are important enough for us to try anyway. 9. Check the positioning, focus, and counts. Using "imexamine", type "r" for a radial plot to check the counts. Remember that you must choose the integration time so that the faintest useful reference star has SNR > 100, while the brightest useful star (target or reference) is not saturated, but has about 50,000 counts at the peak. To estimate the noise level type "m" in imexamine on a part of the image with no sources --- the standard deviation of the pixel values is an estimate of at least the sky noise. Maximize the counts in the target star or the brightest useful reference star. Be willing to let possible reference stars saturate and be discarded because the final error in the parallax is dominated by the SNR of the target star. ********************************************************************** * * * NOTE THAT YOU MUST HAVE A SQUARE BOX FOR THE IMEXAMINE WINDOW TO * * LOOK AT THE SHAPE OF THE IMAGE --- A RECTANGULAR BOX WILL FLATTEN * * THE IMAGE AND MAKE IT LOOK OUT OF FOCUS WHEN IT IS NOT!!! * * * ********************************************************************** 10. If the exposure is longer than 300 sec, find an appropriate guide star on the AUTOGUIDER. If the exposure is shorter, you typically don't need a guide star. If you are having problems with the AUTOGUIDER, you can reboot it using login: camera2000 password: ev500gate The autoguider controls are simple. Use the arrow keys to move the white box around a bright guide star --- you can adjust how fast the box moves by changing the "Increment" value from 1 = slow to 10 = fast. Hit F9 to start guiding, and F8 to stop guiding. The 0.9m's tracking is usually perfect for exposures of 300 seconds or less. In fact, sometimes it seems 600 second exposures are BETTER WITHOUT THE GUIDER ON. The 'Camera Head Control' window is useful for the following items. It is accessible from the CTIO PC GUIDER 5.0.1' window, under the 'Window' menu. If the arrow keys control the mouse, click the 'snap' button. If you cannot see stars in the autoguider, set 'Erase' to 'off'. Alternately, try LOWERING the gain on the guider camera. Try to avoid integration times longer than 1000 ms. 11. Sometimes you need to change the display parameters in IRAF in order to see, e.g., a faint source next to a really bright star. You can do this by typing "display xxx 1 zr- zs- z1=aaa, z2=bbb" in the IRAF window, where xxx is the frame name. You get aaa and bbb by setting them, typically, to the z1 and z2 values displayed when doing a normal "display xxx 1" (i.e., you have to do this first in order to get the approximate values for aaa and bbb). This will help supress the large wings from a nearby bright star, while keeping the target visible. For more info on controlling z1 and z2 do "help display" in IRAF. 12. Take a series of parallax frames, typically 5 good frames. Name the star in the frame header with all capital letters and no blanks EXACTLY AS IT IS GIVEN ON THE OBSERVING LIST, i.e. WT0001, GJ0752B, LHS4009, G041-014AB, CE207-061, SCR0000-0000. CONSISTENCY HERE IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL FOR CATALOG GENERATION SOFTWARE! The maximum number of characters for target names is 16. ********************************************************************** * * * ALL FRAMES SHOULD HAVE NAMES IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT: * * * * STAR0088 at R for pi * * STAR0088 at R for phot * * STAR0088 at R for pi and phot * * * * STAR0088 at R -- clouds * * STAR0088 at R -- bad * * STAR0088 at R -- sat * * * ********************************************************************** 13. IF THE SEEING IS CONSISTENTLY MUCH WORSE THAN 2" IT IS PROBABLY BETTER TO DO PHOTOMETRY INSTEAD OF ASTROMETRY, IF IT IS CLEAR. See the photometry directions in the next section. 14. Unless otherwise specified in the observing list or on the setup finder (fainter targets often specify only two or three frames), your goal is to get 5 good frames. Try to time the observations so that the target passes through the meridian some time during the sequence. Check for saturated stars in the raw frames using "imexamine". Keep all frames that have the parallax star near the correct position, even if it's just a setup frame more than one hour from the meridian, or if a reference star is saturated. Delete really bad frames completely. "really bad" means saturated, ellipticity > 0.20, and/or terrible positioning. ********************************************************************** * * * NEW SETUPS AND HOW TO MAKE SETUP SHEETS FOR BINDERS * * * ********************************************************************** If you did new setups, here is what you do to make the pages that we need in the binders that are kept in the PIBOX. 1. Copy the .fits files to the ctio36 machine. You do this from new-ctioa4 in the IRAF window by !sftp v12@ctio36 and use the password to get onto ctio36. cd to the directory for RECONS data at /u363/v12/ctiopi/. Make a new directory for each night using format YYYYMMDD and place the data in there. Then, go to bed. Note that if the ctio36 machine freezes, try ALT to get it back. 2. The following afternoon, once the calibration frames for that evening are happily underway, you're ready to generate digital pointing setups. Use accurate equinox J2000.0 coordinates for the pointing setups. 3. On ctio36, open a terminal window via the Fedora icon (blue button f) and select ... System Tools ... Terminal 4. Type 'xg' (not xgterm) to open an xgterm window. 5. Type 'ctiocl' to start an iraf session that includes all of the ctiopi packages. Note: there is no need to open a ds9 window --- the script will do that for you and size it just right. 6. cd to the directory that has the night with the data you want to use for the new setup, e.g. /u363/v12/ctiopi/20100303 in your iraf window. Using the logbook, select a frame that you would like to use as the setup frame for a given object (perhaps the one that was best exposed or had better seeing - typically the one whose representative exposure times and seeing you plan to quote). 7. Type 'setpoint' in the IRAF window. This will launch a ds9 window (you can move it if need be but don't resize it). If you cannot see the entire field in the ds9 display, it means the screen resolution is not set properly. You will have to reset the screen resolution --- go to the Fedora icon (blue button F) and select ... System ... Preferences ... NVIDIA X Server Settings. In there, select 'X Server Display Configuration' on the left-hand side. On the right hand side, you'll see a drop-down menu next to 'Resolution'. Select 1400x1050 and click 'Apply' and 'Quit'. This should stick as long as you don't log out of the machine. 8. The script will prompt you for a number of different pieces, outlined here: A. "Choose the setup frame ...", this is the .fits file you have chosen to use as a setup. B. "Evaluate possible reference stars ...", this executes 'imexam' so you can cycle through all possible reference stars by using routine commands (e.g., r for radial plot, e for contour plot). At this stage, you'll want to make a mental note of the exposure setter if not the PI star. You can make a printout of the field to mark up as you draft the field. C. When you know which stars you want, type 'q' to quit. D. "Tag reference stars ...", here you will tag the reference stars that you selected using the space bar --- TAG THE PI STAR(S) LAST. It's good to tag the exposure setter (if not the PI star) first so you don't forget. When done tagging, type 'ctrl-z' to exit. E. "Enter size of circular star marker ...", use option 2 as a default. Only in the cases where there are a number of reference stars (or more importantly, the PI star very near reference stars) would you select option '1'. Option '3' produces obnoxiously large circles, so I don't imagine it will be necessary (but a "feature" nonetheless). If you don't like option 2, don't worry, you will immediately have the option to change your mind (just type 'y' when prompted for "Do you want to change ..."). When you are happy with the apertures, type 'n' to continue. F. "How many resolved pi stars ...", in most cases, this will be 1. For multiple systems (that are resolved, i.e., each received an aperture), enter the number of apertures assigned. If more than 1, read below. Otherwise proceed to step F. I. If your system has two components, each with an aperture in your field, select 2. "Enter number corresponding to primary ...", select the aperture number that belongs to your primary component(s). "Enter label of primary ...", enter the label you want, i.e., A, AC, etc. "Enter number corresponding to secondary ...", select the aperture number that belongs to your secondary component(s). "Enter label of secondary ...", enter the label you want, i.e., B, BC, etc. II. "X position of PI component labels", this is the pixel offset for the A, B, AC, BC label with respect to the center of the aperture you tagged. You can change the offset after looking at a draft that will appear. "Y position of PI...", same thing as above. For example, if you enter '18' and '18' for X and Y, respectively, your labels will be diagonally up and to the right of the stars. Find a position where the labels do not interfere with other reference stars (don't worry about the aperture numbers, they are not printed out in the final setup, they're just there to identify important stars). When you're happy with the placement of the labels, type 'n' to continue. G. "Enter number of exposure ...", here you enter the aperture number of the star that sets the exposure (typically, either the value of the PI star or number 1, if you tagged the exposure star first. H. "Enter number of star for pointing ...", because we are no longer using the PI star (which almost always has a proper motion) as our pointing reference, we need to select a reference star to act as our pointing reference. It is best to pick a star near the center (and near the PI star) so that it shows up when you first point the telescope at the field. It also helps to choose a star for which the label for the (X,Y) position fit cleanly without covering other reference stars or landing on the bad column. This will become instinct after the first few setups so don't worry if you don't get it right the first time (unfortunately for this step, if you select a bad star, you will have to start from the top). I. "Enter X pixel coordinate...", drag the cursor over the center of your pointing reference star and take the X (and Y) value from the ds9 window (at the top, labeled 'Image'). Enter the X value then press enter. Do the same for the Y pixel value when prompted. J. "X position of pointing star label...", again here, as with the labels for a multiple system, there is a lot of flexibility as to where you can place the actual label in the image. Just as a reference, the following values work great for the four cardinal positions around the aperture center (assuming both x and y are pixels numbered in the 100s, e.g., not '37'). Again, if you don't like the position, there is the option to change it as many times as you like. When you are happy with the label's position, type 'n' Position X Y ------------------------- Above -55 20 Below -55 -32 Right 18 -7 Left -125 -7 K. Now the ds9 window will close and you'll be prompted for details that will be printed on the page outside of the setup image. These are outlined below. I. "Enter star/system...", enter the star name, as it appears on the observing list. II. "Enter accurate J2000.0 coordinates...", as mentioned above, this should be accurate, proper motion adjusted, coordinate - NOT the ones from the TCS that you have written down in the logbook. III. "In which filter...", enter the filter used for the setup (capital letter). IV. "What is the exposure time...", enter a representative exposure time (only numbers, don't type 'seconds'). V. "What is the seeing...", enter a representative seeing (again, only numbers, no '"'). VI. "Enter any short notes...", this is useful for setups that require, for example, only "3 Frames at 600 sec". Also, if the exposure setter does not reach ~50K counts(i.e., very faint targets), it is helpful to state what the peak counts one can expect are. This can be done by typing, for example, "PI star counts $\\sim$30K" without the quotes. You need two backslashes for the '~' character to work because bash script uses one backslash as a special character. If you have no notes, just hit enter. 9. You should now have a pair of files in the directory called 'starname'.point.ps and 'starname'.ps. The important file is the .point.ps file (the other one is just the marked up image). Print out each of the .point.ps files to be filed into the setup binders, using the command "lpr -Pnp36 filename.point.ps". 10. The setup files are being stored on the ctio36 machine at /u363/v12/ctiopi/Setups.lastATLmove.YYYY.MMDD, where the date indicates the last time setups were moved back to ATL. There is another staging directory at /u363/v12/ctiopi/Setups --- these should eventually be moved back to ATL, then shifted over to /u363/v12/ctiopi/Setups.lastATLmove.YYYY.MMDD. Type 'mv *.point.ps /u363/v12/ctiopi/Setups/' to transfer your new setups to the staging directory. The rest of the .ps files and the tempfile can be deleted. All that should be left in the data directory are the fits files, ready to be ftp'd to Atlanta. When all of your setup .point.ps files are in the Setups directory, it is a good idea to ftp those back to Atlanta. This can be done in the terminal window via rsync -avz *.ps yourname@joy.astro.gsu.edu:/nfs/recons2/setups.dir/ 11. At the end of the run, be sure that you have put one copy of the setup in the binders and bring one copy back to Atlanta. ______________________________________________________________________ GOLDEN RULES FOR PHOTOMETRY OBSERVING ______________________________________________________________________ MAKE SURE FILTER 1 IS dia, NOT cb !!!!! MAKE SURE FILTER 2 IS ALWAYS ov, r, OR i 1. It must be clear! No clouds of any kind are tolerated. This is the most anxiety-ridden decision of observing. Don't forget to use weather maps on the web to try to predict the future. Also, don't be afraid to ask around at dinner to see what others think. Buena suerte! 2. Photometry should be done all night when it is photometric. You might do a few parallax frames at the beginning and end of the night, when you're already pointed at a star that also needs photometry. But, photometry time is precious, so don't spend much, if any, time on parallax frames, which don't require clear conditions. 3. There is a separate PHOTOMETRY binder that gives setup charts, finder charts, and magnitudes for standard stars. The setup charts for the standard stars are useful to see how to arrange fields on the 0.9m chip. There is also a PHOTOMETRY WORKSHEET that will help in planning observations. Use it to make your life easier. In the same binder there is a cookbook of observing methods to get good photometry. 4. In the TCS directory called "Shared Documents" there is a folder called "ctiopi" that includes a list of coordinates for our photometric standard stars. This file has been write protected to prevent other users from modifying the file. If you are observing for CTIOPI and want to update the coordinates (perhaps to avoid an offset every time you slew to that standard), you'll need to click on the Start Menu -> My Computer. From there, go to the Shared Documents -> ctiopi folder. The file is called CTIOPI_standards, right click on it and go to Properties. In Properties at the bottom (labeled Attributes), unclick the Read-only box. Please remember to click it back to Read-only before you leave. 5. You should take at least 20 total observations of standards each photometry night in each of the VRI bands. These 20 observations must include one or two very red stars done at least 3 times each for the color transformations. The red standards are marked on the standard star observing list. One way to easily get the 20 total observations is to do a Landolt field that has several stars in it, e.g. one Landolt field with 5 stars done at three different airmasses = 15 observations. 6. We MUST do extinction curves every night we want to do photometry. Arlo Landolt has data illustrating that the CTIO extinction at 2.00 airmasses changes from 10% to 33% regularly. So, we cannot assume a standard extinction curve for a given night. For extinction corrections, observe standard stars from airmass about 2.00 up to as close to 1.00 as possible. Do each field at least 3 times and preferably 4 times as it moves up/down in the sky during the night. ********************************************************************** * * * YOU SHOULD OBSERVE EACH FIELD AT LEAST THREE TIMES FOR THE STARS * * THE FIELD TO BE TRULY USEFUL FOR EXTINCTION CURVES. * * * ********************************************************************** 7. FOR 0.9M ASTROMETRY TARGETS WE NEED VRI PHOTOMETRY FOR THE TARGETS AND ALL REFERENCE STARS. Position the telescope carefully to be sure that the target and all reference stars are on the chip. You must also be sure that neither the target star nor any of the reference stars saturate! The counts should be at least 30,000 for the target star or brightest useful reference star. There are some rather faint stars for which it would take hours to get that many counts. The longest integration in any filter for a photometry frame should be 1200 seconds --- we will take whatever counts we can get for these faint stars, but integrate no longer. 8. If you are doing photometry of a star that's already been set up for parallax, align the field according to that setup, so the relevant frame can also be used for parallax. ______________________________________________________________________ GOLDEN RULES FOR REFRACTION OBSERVING (RARELY DONE) ______________________________________________________________________ MAKE SURE FILTER 1 IS dia, NOT cb 1. The seeing must be better than 2.0 arcsec. 2. A series of refraction frames on a field should be done in a single night. You can probably do only one to three fields in one night. It is a very time-consuming process because you have to do refraction frames at VRI and and photometry (VRI), including standards, in the same night. 3. Observe each star 4 or 5 times for a series. One observation should be made about 4 hours east west, 3 hours east, 2 hours east, 1 hour east and on the meridian. Each observation should be done as if it were a parallax frame --- properly positioned, focused, and with about 55,000 counts in the target star or brightest useful reference star. A complete sequence of frames on a field would be: VRI at 4 hours east, VRI at 3 hours east, VRI at 2 hours east, VRI at 1 hour east, VRI on the meridian --- the last meridian set is crucial, so plan accordingly. You can also do the sequence to the west. 4. It is possible to use the refraction frames taken in the parallax filter for parallax, as well as doing photometry for the field because you must do standards as well. 5. There is a refraction worksheet in the notebook that will help in planning observations. Use it to make your life easier. ______________________________________________________________________ TROUBLESHOOTING ______________________________________________________________________ --- IF BIW LOSES ITS WAY option 1: minor shutdown --- click the Exit button on the GUI option 2: major shutdown --- click the shutdown BIW icon --- IF YOU LOSE THE IRAF WINDOW click on the irafacq or irafred icons on the desktop --- IF YOU LOSE THE SAOImage WINDOW option 1: click on GUI button Display and click Start Display option 2: type "!ds9 &" in an IRAF window --- IF YOU LOSE POINTING ... you have various options ... (a) Make sure you are entering the correct epoch for the coordinates into the TCS for your bright star during pointing. If you are using the Almanac, use 2016.5 (or whatever) instead of 2000.0. (b) Use the plumb-line that is hanging on the side of the telescope tube. Once vertical, type in the RA = Sidereal Time and DEC = -30d 10m 09s. (c) Point the telescope at a bright star and center it on the finder scope, then on the CCD. Use Sirius, Betelgeuse, alpha Cen, Antares, alpha Crux, etc. They are all the alpha stars in their constellations and mag 1 or brighter. You can't miss them in the sky (even through the slit) and they are easy to find in the book. At least one is always up. What you do is lie on the floor below the telescope and eyeball the star along the finder scope. You can usually get close enough that way to see a glint in the finder so you know which way to paddle around to find the star. Once you get the star centered in the finder scope, you can usually get it on the chip (unless someone has really screwed up the finder scope). Then, offset to center and type in the coords into the TCS. --- IF YOU HEAR A SOUND LIKE A CIRCUIT BREAKER SLAMMING This is the auto-dome controller not quite moving the dome. It happens most often when pointing near the horizon, or while the telescope is parked. Move the dome manually with the dome L/R controls on the telescope control hand paddle (in either the dome or the telescope control room) so the dome error is reduced. Dome error is displayed on the TCS monitor. --- IF THE DOME STOPS MOVING If the dome stops rotating, (1) use the hand paddle to figure out which way the dome is trying to spin (it will stop moving when you hit the button for the OTHER direction), (2) stop dome tracking, then (3) use the hand paddle to spin it the other way. --- IF THE DOME WON'T CLOSE The most likely cause is that the toggle on the handpaddle up in the dome has been left in the "OPEN" position. Move it to the neutral position and the dome will likely close. --- IF THE FOCUS STOPS WORKING If you can't get the focus mechanism to change numbers, it is likely stuck. If it is, you should not hear any sound when pressing the buttons. You can sometimes unstick the focus mechanism by moving the telescope away from your current position to change the weight-bearing vectors on the secondary. Slew away, then slew back and see if it starts working. --- IF YOU RUN OUT OF LIQUID NITROGEN Full tanks can be found on the bottom floor of the 1.5m dome. Grab one and head back to the 0.9m to fill the dewar. ______________________________________________________________________ AT THE END OF THE NIGHT ______________________________________________________________________ THERE ARE FOUR THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE AT THE END OF THE NIGHT: 1. *** SHUT DOWN THE TELESCOPE *** In the computer room: * Turn track and dome track off (TCS black box below guider) IF YOU DO NOT, THE TELESCOPE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE WHILE YOU'RE FILLING THE DEWAR. * Turn off the fans over the mirror using green dial above observer's computer. In the hallway: * Turn off dome fans (in the circuit breaker box). In the dome: * Slew to the cover position (button on Windows computer), and replace the cover. * Close the slit and windscreen using hand paddle. * Slew west using the hand paddle to get the telescope moving. * Slew to Zenith position (button on Windows computer). * Fill the dewar. * Push in the two dark slides. * Make sure the platform is down. * Turn off master power. * Turn off all the lights. In the computer room: * Turn off drives, autodome, and hit red button Halt Motors so that it is IN = OFF. * Fill out end-of-night report. http://www.ctio.noao.edu/new/Tools/Forms/EON/index.php * Turn off lights and monitors to save energy. 2. *** CHECK HEADERS *** Check header titles using "imhead f*" to make sure they are correct --- use IRAF task "hedit" to change titles, just type "title" when it asks which fields you want to edit. In particular, make sure that the names of the objects are perfect --- the software that does the catalog requires exact matches. Delete unwanted frames, such as focus frames. To make it easy to identify what kind of frames were taken (pi, photometry, refraction) or bad frames (bad) during reduction, make sure all frame titles have the following format, and descriptions if needed to help during reductions: STAR0088 at R for pi STAR0088 at R for phot STAR0088 at R for phot and pi STAR0088 at R for pi -- clouds STAR0088 at R for pi -- bad frame STAR0088 at R for pi -- sat 3. *** SEND HEADERS *** If needed, type "ctiopi" to load the CTIOPI scripts (originally written by Pat Seitzer). Specifically, you want to load finishctiopi.cl, which can be found at /home/observer/ctiopi/finishctiopi.cl That file can be modified to add/delete RECONS members from the headers distribution list. Note that you need to add bits in TWO parts of the script for someone to start getting headers. Type "finishctiopi". Enter your name, hours observed/lost and the number of parallax fields you setup. Enter the name(s) of the star(s) and their PI filters. ! DO NOT RENAME FILES BY HAND !!!!! ! finishctiopi.cl WILL DESTROY THEM !!!!! ! ! Wei-Chun revised finishctiopi.cl so that you don't have to rename ! files by hand. Somehow, if you already rename files, ! finishctiopi.cl will wipe them out and leave just the last frame ! ... and number it 017 ... WTF!? ! ! Using your favorite editor and technique, change the names of your ! files so that they start with the date at the beginning of the ! observing night: ! ! f088.fits ---> 20160525.09.088.fits 4. *** MOVE FILES TO ctio36 *** Pull up a terminal window in the ctio36 machine and make directories for your observing nights: cd /u363/v12/ctiopi mkdir YYYYMMDD Back on new-ctioa4, move files to the ctio36 machine, using sftp: sftp v12@ctio36 enter password cd /u363/v12/ctiopi/YYYYMMDD mput *.fits mput *head* Don't delete the files from new-ctioa4 (where you took the data) until you've confirmed that all files are on ctio36, and even better, confirmed with RECONS folks back in Atlanta that they have retrieved copies of the data. If you wish to rsync them yourself (not recommended): open up a terminal on ctio36 and cd to the night to move cd /u363/v12/ctiopi/YYYYMMDD type the following: rsync -avz *.fits @ssh.astro.gsu.edu:/nfs/recons/disk3/SMARTS/YYYY.MMDD/ This will only work if you have permission to write there as a member of the RECONS group. It is also prone to hanging, so if no file has transferred for a while, c and retry the command. It will pick up where it left off. You will probably want to go to bed rather than wait for it to finish. Note that if you do this, RECONS people will not be able to restart it for you. ______________________________________________________________________ AT THE END OF THE RUN ______________________________________________________________________ *** WE NO LONGER BURN A DVD OF THE DATA, BUT IF YOU WANT TO ... *** *** BURN A DVD OF ALL YOUR DATA FROM THE ctio36 COMPUTER *** 1. On the ctio36 computer, login as v12 and move to /u363/v12/ctiopi. Verify that all files are there to write to DVD. 2. On ctio36, open the Fedora start menu (blue button with f in it in lower left corner), go to 'Places', slide right to CD/DVD Creator, open it. 3. on the Fedora start menu pull down on Places ... Computer ... and a new window pops up 4. click on Filesystem ... click on u363 ... click on v12 ... click on ctiopi 5. click on folder name ... drag it to CD/DVD Creator window 6. Put a blank DVD in the top of the ctio36 computer in the back room. It's the tower with a black mesh front that says "Cooler Master" at the top. The DVD tray button is near the top. 7. click on Write to Disk once data all there and DVD loaded 8. click on the CD/DVDW SH-S182M 9. name disk for the format "CTIOPI 11-17 MAR 2010". 10. Verify that your data volume does not exceed disk size of 4.7 GB. 11. click on Write 12. Label the DVD with a felt-tip pen (ex. CTIOPI 11-17 MAR 2010) and bring it back. ______________________________________________________________________ NON-SIDEREAL TRACKING --- FOR SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS ______________________________________________________________________ Non-sidereal tracking is a three-step process. 1. Confirm whether you have the non-sidereal tracking rate, or the CORRECTION to sidereal tracking rate. 2. The tracking rates are controlled on the DFM control window (Windows computer) under the Telescope -> Rates menu option. The entire non-sidereal rate should be entered in the bottom set of boxes, not just the correction. Hit apply. For reference, the sidereal tracking rate is 15.0411 arcsec/sec (RA) and 0 arcsec/sec (DEC) 3. On the black TCS control box, flip the green tracking switch to 'Aux Track' ********************************************************************** ***** ***** ***** THE END ***** ***** ***** **********************************************************************