************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ ***** ***** ***** THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR OBSERVERS AT THE 0.9M ***** ***** (version 13 FEB 2013) ***** ***** ***** ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ This document is a modified version of observing procedures for the CTIOPI program done at the 0.9m since 1999. Some bits in here may prove useful for your own observing. The most recent version of this document can be found on the GSU SMARTS website at http://www.astro.gsu.edu/~thenry/SMARTS/smarts.observing ________________________________________________________________________ SMARTS HELP FOR THE 0.9M ________________________________________________________________________ If you have a concern about what you are supposed to do as an observer at the telescope, contact the following people: Jen Winters winters@astro.gsu.edu Todd Henry thenry@astro.gsu.edu ************************************************************************ ***** ***** ***** BEFORE THE OBSERVING RUN ***** ***** ***** ************************************************************************ To be sure we all know when you will be at the telescope, you should confirm your understanding of which nights are yours by checking the observing schedule posted at: http://www.astro.gsu.edu/~thenry/SMARTS/scheduleYYYYA.htm, or http://www.astro.gsu.edu/~thenry/SMARTS/scheduleYYYYB.htm ************************************************************************ ***** ***** ***** AT CTIO ***** ***** ***** ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ HELP ON THE MOUNTAIN ________________________________________________________________________ Observer Support dial 421 Electronics Support dial 417 Computer Support dial 422 ________________________________________________________________________ WEATHER ________________________________________________________________________ To look at recent pictures of the sky, access the TASCA (Tololo All Sky Camera) website by typing 139.229.115.232/lastpic.php into the browser address line (this worked as of 01 JUL 2011, but not as of 25 JUL 2012). Alas, this only works if you are inside the CTIO network via VPN or are physically on the mountain. To check weather in Chile and the rest of South America go to http://www.ctio.noao.edu/site/environment.html or http://www.ctio.noao.edu/environ/environ.html To check recent weather history values for temperature, seeing, etc., type "weat" or look at the website http://www.ctio.noao.edu/htbin/wwweat. ________________________________________________________________________ COMPUTER ADDRESSES AT THE TELESCOPES ________________________________________________________________________ 0.9m ctioa4 observer's computer with ARCON /ua41/v11 home directory on ctioa4 /ua44/v11 alternate home directory on ctioa4 /ua45/v11 alternate home directory on ctioa4 ctio36 additional computer /usr/u361/v11 home directory on ctio36 or /home/u361/v11 /usr/u363/v11 storage location for CTIOPI data You can rlogin from anywhere on the mountain to another computer. I have a file of tricks called .alias where I keep some of my favorite quick commands. You can make your own such file and activate it by typing "source .alias" to make your commands work. If a machine locks up, you can try rebooting by holding the [STOP] and [a] buttons down simultaneously. Then, answer "sync" at the prompt. ________________________________________________________________________ REMOTE ACCESS ________________________________________________________________________ La Serena ssh -l v11 ctio.noao.edu 0.9m ssh -l v11 ctio36.ctio.noao.edu cd /ua41/v11 to get to the files from ctioa4 cd /ua44/v11 to get to the files from ctioa4 cd /ua45/v11 to get to the files from ctioa4 cd /u363/v11 to get to the files from ctio36 du /ua45/* to find out where space is being used ________________________________________________________________________ TAPEDRIVE INFORMATION ________________________________________________________________________ 0.9m from ctio36 workstation (not ctioa4!) DAT is /dev/nst0 ________________________________________________________________________ GETTING STARTED, AND IRAF COMMANDS ________________________________________________________________________ A quick list of how to get information about the telescope and instrument setup: lpar telpars telescope parameters, e.g. focus lpar detpars detector setup parameters, e.g. pixels used, gain lpar instrpars instrument parameters, e.g. current filter positions lpar wheel1 assignments for filters in wheel 1 lpar wheel2 assignments for filters in wheel 2 lpar obspars observing parameters, e.g. observers, frame # A fairly comprehensive list of commands you can then use for observing is given here: ccdinfo tells you how the detector is currently set up, but does not allow you to change anything. to change a parameter, use [detpars]. detpars allows you to change parameters on the detector. you must use this if you are changing setups during the night. you must type "setdet force+" after using this. display is the command that puts the image in the ximtool box. it is best to [epar display] and make sure that the parameter "fill" is set to "yes" so that the image fills the ximtool (or saoimage) box. there are a million subtleties to [display] that you can pretty much ignore for data-taking purposes. to fit Ximtool display box, use "set stdimage=imt800" and stretch the box so that it barely exceeds the edges of the frame when the frame is displayed. 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. filter in blue window, changes the current filters finishsmarts when observing for SMARTS, makes .fits files, generates header files, and emails them. flpr resets window commands after aborting or stopping. type it three times to be sure. focus is used to focus the telescope at the 0.9m. the charge is transferred along the CCD so that you get several star images in a line to inspect for focus. all you have to do is adjust the focus between each exposure and hit when you are ready for the next one. hedit is useful if you misname the file -- use it to change the title, or change other parameters of the header. 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 (64,000 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 OUT OF 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. or, just type "imhead f001 long+" to see the full header of a single file. imstat is useful to see what the mean is in a flat/bias/image. lpar can be used to list the parameters without going inside the package. mkdir creates a directory. more repeat the previous observation. motor init in blue window, this reinitializes the motor controller; do this when you get a message that says "SMC not responding" motor stat in blue window, returns location of the two filter wheels observe is the command used to take data. "object" for a target, "dflat" for a dome flat, "zero" for a bias. use filter "cb" for dome flats, use filter "dia" for objects. obspars gives basic observing parameters, use to set the file name for the night or adjust the incremental number of the frame being taken. file names should simply be "f" 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" (type "q"), then put the cursor on the star of choice, and it will prompt you for the X,Y to move to. pause allows you to stop integrating to let clouds pass, recapture guide star, etc. (use resume to start again) qlook quick look, displays the last image and puts you in "imexam". resume to start integrating again after pause setdet force+ locks in the setup of the CCD. you need to type this after using "detpars" smarts loads useful scripts for SMARTS, e.g. finishsmarts stop to get out of a sequence of exposures. tchange can be used to adjust the length of the integration once you have already begun integrating. "tchange -30" would shorten the exposure by 30 sec, "tchange 30" (no + sign!) would add 30 sec to the exposure. tcs info (must be typed in the Arcon Console window, NOT the Arcon Acquisition window), tells you if the TCS (telescope control system) is talking to the observing computer. temp sets the telescope temperature. test lets you take a frame but does not increment the frame number. useful for centering image, testing integration time, etc. (i.e. any frame that you are likely to throw away). weat gives a weather update on the mountain. zero takes a bias frame with exposure of zero seconds. ************************************************************************ ***** ***** ***** 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. Instruction on how to open/close the dome, move the telescope, etc. can be found in the black notebook with the white label "0.9M TEL. MANUAL". The directions are given on the white pages covered with plastic near the front. ________________________________________________________________________ A FEW TIPS ABOUT THE TCS AT THE 0.9M: ________________________________________________________________________ 1. observer account The 0.9m TCS was restructured in November 2009 to have an 'observer' account that is used by all observers. If you reboot the TCS, you will log into the observer account automatically and not be prompted for a password. 2. pointing files All of the pointing files are located in the 'Shared Documents' directory. If you want to save a pointing file for a list of your targets, it will have to be in this directory --- all other directories on the system are write protected in the observer account. 3. zenith pointing file In the Shared Documents directory there is a useful pointing file 'zenith'. Pat Seitzer has compiled a list of bright zenith stars to be used for pointing, unless you'd like to be a real astronomer and use The Astronomical Almanac. ________________________________________________________________________ A FEW TIPS ABOUT THE ARCON ACQUISITION WINDOW AT THE 0.9M: ________________________________________________________________________ TYPE d TO SAVE ANY CHANGED PARAMETERS IN IRAF TYPE flpr 3 TIMES TO CLEAR ANY ERRORS THAT MAY SCREW UP ARCON TYPE smarts TO LOAD THE SCRIPTS FROM CTIOPI OBSERVING If you lose the TCS header information, you can type "tcs info" in the blue ARCON Console window (NOT in the ARCON Acquistion window). If you get a bunch of numbers, you are ok --- only the last frame had a problem. It is wise to take a test frame after any TCS problem to make sure the TCS header is being written. Login in/out of ARCON is the usual solution. The definitive method involves turning off/on the entire TCS using the switches below the guider. ************************************************************************ ***** THERE IS A STANDARD VISITOR ACCOUNT ON THE 0.9M THAT WILL ***** ***** ALLOW YOU TO USE SOME SCRIPTS CREATED TO MAKE OBSERVING ***** ***** SMOOTHER --- LOGIN AS v11. ***** ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ GETTING STARTED, CCD CAMERA SETUPS ________________________________________________________________________ First things first --- it is usually quite dry at CTIO, so TURN ON THE HUMIDIFIER (high setting) in the observing room. This will help prevent ARCON crashes due to static charge. Second things second --- log out of ARCON and come back in for a fresh start. This resets directories accordingly. Third things third --- while in the top directory, load useful scripts for observing, e.g. offset, ql (quick look of the last frame taken), in both the ARCON Acquisition and ARCON Reduction windows, type smarts Fourth things fourth --- it is a good idea to have the .imh and .pix image files in the same directory. To make this happen, every time you reboot ARCON and in every directory you create, you need to type reset imdir=HDR$ Make sure the chip is setup correctly by typing "ccdinfo" in the ARCON Acquisition window. If you need to change the setup of the CCD for the night, use type "detpars". Change the parameters to match one of the two setups below. There are only two setups on the 0.9m that have been used regularly for the past decade or so. The parameters with * are different for the two setups. ************************************************************************ ***** AFTER SETTING UP THE CCD, TYPE "setdet force+". ***** ***** THIS LOCKS IN THE SETUP FOR THAT TYPE OF OBSERVING. ***** ************************************************************************ 1. FULL-CHIP SETUP (used for most programs) Make sure the chip is setup correctly by typing "ccdinfo". The setup has the following parameters: gain = 2 (gain 1 saturates at 40K as of March 2009) xsum = 1 ysum = 1 * xstart = 1 * ystart = 1 * xsize = 2048 * ysize = 2046 extend = "separate" noverscan = 64 xskip1 = 10 xskip2 = 0 * xtrim1 = 0 * xtrim2 = 0 ytrim1 = 0 ytrim2 = 0 * amplifiers = "ul" or "quad" (depends on user preference) preflash = 0 pixsize = 24. nxpixels = 2048 nypixels = 2046 detname = "Tek2K_3" mode = ql After the settings are entered, exit detpars, then type setdet force+. Exit again, and in the blue window you should see the CCD resetting to the new configuration. If it stalls, log out of ARCON, come back in and try again. This gives images for the full CCD chip, which equals 13.6 arcmin on the sky, centered on chip center. The "quad" amplifier reads out in 33 seconds via four amplifiers. As of 2009, we use gain = 2 because gain = 1 has a well only about 40,000 deep after an "electrical event" in 2009. 2. QUARTER-CHIP SETUP (used for CTIOPI) Make sure the chip is setup correctly by typing "ccdinfo". The setup has the following parameters: gain = 2 (gain 1 saturates at 40K as of March 2009) xsum = 1 ysum = 1 * xstart = 513 * ystart = 513 * xsize = 1024 * ysize = 1024 extend = "separate" noverscan = 64 xskip1 = 10 xskip2 = 0 * xtrim1 = 0 * xtrim2 = 0 ytrim1 = 0 ytrim2 = 0 * amplifiers = "ul" preflash = 0 pixsize = 24. nxpixels = 2048 nypixels = 2046 detname = "Tek2K_3" mode = ql This gives images using one quarter of the CCD chip, which equals 6.8 arcmin on the sky, centered on chip center. The "ul" amplifier reads out in 45 seconds via one amplifier or 30 seconds via four amplifiers. With one amplifier the images are smooth with no seams, an advantage for astrometry observing when centroids are done to 1/100th of a pixel. ************************************************************************ ***** NOTE THAT IF YOU SWITCH SETUPS AFTER MIDNIGHT, YOU WILL ***** ***** HAVE TO BE SURE THAT YOU ARE IN THE CORRECT DIRECTORY FOR ***** ***** THE DATE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NIGHT!!! ***** ***** (YOU MAY HAVE TO CREATE A DIRECTORY WITH THE CORRECT DATE) ***** ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ DIRECTORIES/FILENAMES ________________________________________________________________________ Each night has a separate directory. For working through the night, you can name the directory "n1" for the first night, etc. To move into the desired directory to take data for the night, type "cd n1". Type "reset imdir = HDR$" to make sure the .pix files end up in that directory as well. Eventually, the name of the directory should be YYYYMMDD-09, i.e. 20060201-09 for 01 FEB 06. At the end of the night, the directory name MUST match the local date at the BEGINNING of the night. The name of the files MUST have the single letter name "f". Type "epar obspars" to setup the file name and number 1 (at the start of the night). Once you have entered this, type " d" to save the parameters in IRAF. Numbers will be appended during the night, so that the first frame will be f001, the second will be f002, etc. ________________________________________________________________________ CALIBRATION FRAMES ________________________________________________________________________ BEFORE taking calibration frames, repeat three times the command "preview 1". This takes a frame of 1 sec exposure, but does not save the image. This "flushes" the CCD from any remaining charge traps or electronic noise accumulated during the CCD idle time. REAL ASTRONOMER TIME The command "test" is your best friend. By typing "test" into the ARCON Acquisition (blue) window, you open up a universe of possibl data-taking actions. Use this to be sure the chip is responding as expected, to find your field in the sky, to see if your integration time is acceptable, etc. Before you take your first frame edit the parameters for your frame names and numbers by typing > epar obspars Enter "f" for the image name template and "1" for the picture number. If you use "f" for your image names, some useful scripts will work for you at the end of the night, e.g. finishsmarts. BIAS FRAMES Take bias frames before flat frames because the flats take a long time, during which you can go to dinner. To take the bias frames, go upstairs to the telescope and push the dark slides in --- there are two of them and they have gold-colored "handles". Then, back in the computer room, type the following into the ARCON acquisition window: > observe Exposure type (|zero|dark|object|comp|pflat|dflat|sflat|focus): zero Number of exposures to take: 17 Title of picture: bias DOME FLATS Typically, the Telops folks will point the telescope to the white spot for you to take dome flats. If for some reason you want to take flats on your own (in the morning, for example), you can do so by setting the telescope to zenith, then turning off the auto dome, dome tracking, and telescope tracking (but leave the drives on). Then, click on the Apply box for Set Punto Blanco/Flat Field on the TCS and the telescope should end up pointed at the white spot. Alternately, you can set the slew position to be hour angle 02H 28M west by subtracting that amount from the ST (sidereal time), and set the DEC = -28 00 00. That should point the telescope at the white spot. Go upstairs and check. 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 120-180 sec are usually fine, giving about 30000 counts in the flats (highest in V, lowest in I). To take dome flats, turn on the lamps with the switch in the computer room, then go back upstairs and pull the dark slides out. While you are up there, check that all three lamps are on. If they aren't, call the the Telops folks. Be sure to use the color balance filter, "cb", in filter wheel 1. ************************************************************************ * * * USE THE COLOR BALANCE FILTER "cb" IN FILTER WHEEL #1 TO BALANCE * * THE QUARTZ LAMP EMISSION TO SKY COLOR * * * ************************************************************************ * * * CAREFULLY CHECK THE DOME FLAT COUNTS FROM THE oV,R,I FILTERS * * TO BE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT FILTERS. * * FOR 120 SEC ON 2011.0923, THE FOLLOWING WERE MEANS FOR 5 FRAMES EACH * * (AFTER SUBTRACTING THE BIAS COUNTS) * * * * U 502 1.8 % * * B 14371 52.4 % * * nV 26675 97.1 % * * R 24383 88.8 % * * I 21926 79.9 % * * oV 27451 100.0 % * * * ************************************************************************ Back in the computer room, use the command "doobs" to take the flats. > doobs Exposure type (|object|dflat|sflat|): dflat Number of exposures to take in each filter: 11 Title for pictures: dflats List of filters in wheel1: cb List of filters in wheel2: ov,r,i List of exposure times: 120,120,120 For both full-chip and quarter-chip setups a set of 33 dome flats at VRI takes about 2 hours. If ARCON crashes during the dome flats, you can restart just the parts you missed. Remember to "epar obspars" to reset the frame counter. OPTIONAL: type "reset imdir = HDR$" to make sure the .pix files end up in that directory as well, but that clutters your directory. DON'T FORGET TO TURN THE LAMPS OFF WHEN YOU ARE DONE. If the program requires the U or B filters, sky flats must be done. For sky flats, there MUST be an absolute minimum of 3 sky flats per filter for median filtering. If there are fewer than 3 sky flats with a given filter, those flats are USELESS! There MUST also be enough counts in each flat frame --- at least 5000, and preferably more than 10000. There is only a short amount of time when the sky is bright enough, but not too bright, for sky flats. You should try to get 5-10 flats in each filter. Sky flats should be started right after sunset with exposure times of 5 seconds. Always begin with the U filter (if needed) because the sky is brighter at B than at U. As the sky becomes fainter, increase the exposure times to keep the median level of the flats near 20000 counts. When possible, all the flats should have median levels of 20000 to 30000 counts. As the sky gets darker, the median level of the flats can be allowed to drop, but it should not be much lower than 10000 counts. Once you have taken 5-10 flats in the U filter, start taking flats in the B filter with the same exposure time that you used for the final U sky flat. In general, exposure times for sky flats should be quite short, less than 20 seconds. If you need to, you can use longer exposures, but you must be careful not to expose so long that stars begin to become visible on the flats. If you need a very long exposure to get a high enough level in the flat, it is too dark to take sky flats! ************************************************************************ * USE "dia" IN FILTER WHEEL #1 FOR SKY FLATS * ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ AFTER OPENING --- REAL OBSERVING! ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Turn on the fans over the primary mirror using the green cylindrical knob in the observing room (turn it to the vertical mark on the dial). 2. Make sure that the large fan that ventilates the dome is on (and the door to upstairs is open). The switch for the large fan is in the electrical control box in the northeast corner of the first floor. It is noted with a piece of tape. 3. Make sure the dome lights are off, the windscreen is down, the slit is open, and the platform has been lowered. 4. Back in the control room, make sure the UTs are synched between the DFM controller (Windows machine) and the red digital display at the top of the white metal tower. 5. Turn Tracking, Drives, Auto dome, and Dome Track on. Make sure Track/Aux Track (green) is set to Track (it has tape on it to keep it there). 6. 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 yellow folder icon in the Movement window (click on the Mark/Move Table tab to bring that window up), then Shared Documents, then the file called zenith. Take exposures and center the star on the chip, using "offset" as needed. 7. Initialize the telescope using the pull-down on "Telescope" in the Telescope Control System window. Adjust three things, as needed: (a) time, (b), zero point (fixes the pointing of the telescope --- be sure you are using the correct epochs!), and (c) dome initialization. 8. 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. 9. 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. 10. Go to the first target star. 11. Focus using [focus], which relocates a star image on the CCD so that you get a series of several star images at different focus values. Choose seven integrations of 10 seconds in the filter of choice with focus increment 50 (30 for seeing of 1.2 arc-sec or better). You have to change the focus by hand at the 0.9m, so change the focus value and then hit to take the next exposure. V and R are expected to have the same focus at the 0.9m. The focus in 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 some 400 units "in" (e.g. 21000) and then go "out" (e.g. 21400) 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. 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! ________________________________________________________________________ TROUBLESHOOTING ________________________________________________________________________ --- WHEN ARCON CRASHES (and it will): Symptoms of an ARCON crash are: * a painful zap * the CCD preview monitor has gone completely black * the countdown timer freezes * trying to take pictures spits out endless errors. The solution is to right click, exit from windowing system, and log out of ctioa4. When you log back in as v11, choose option 2 (IRAF with ARCON acquisition) and once OpenWindows starts, answer yes when it asks if you want to synchronize parameters. From there, type "smarts" in both iraf windows to load the smarts tools, and move into the current night's directories in both iraf windows. OPTIONAL: type "reset imdir = HDR$" to make sure the .pix files end up in that directory as well, but that clutters your directory. --- 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 DFM controller. --- 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 YOU LOSE POINTING (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 2012.5 (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 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 ________________________________________________________________________ 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 down the fans over the mirror (dial above ARCON) In the hallway: * Turn off dome fans (in the circuit breaker box) In the dome: * Slew to the cover position (button on Windows computer), replace the cover. * Close the slit and windscreen (old console, or hand paddle) * 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 * Fill out end-of-night report * Log out of ARCON * Turn off all the lights 2. *** MAKE .FITS FILES, SEND HEADERS *** If needed, in the home directory for CTIOPI on the v11 account, type "smarts" to load the SMARTS scripts. First, rename the directory so it has the format YYYYMMDD-09 i.e. 20060201-09. Then, move into that directory. Type "df" to check that there is enough room to write .fits files for all the frames you took. Each .fits file on the 0.9m takes up 2301120 bytes. Type du /ua45/* to find out where space is being used on the disk. Type "finishsmarts". Enter your name, hours observed/lost, etc. You will be asked for a file name --- USE THE EXACT FORMAT OF THE DATE AND TELESCOPE, USING THE LOCAL DATE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NIGHT, i.e. "20060201.09" (note there is a period not a dash in this name). The "finishsmarts" task makes .fits files (takes about 2 seconds/file on ctioa4, about 16 seconds/file on ctio36), generates header files and emails them automatically to an address that you give. The only questions you will have to answer are about who was observing, and how many hours were observed/lost due to the weather and the telescope. The files will be renamed with the date and telescope so that they will be 20060201.09.001.fits, etc. Therefore, the first file taken on 01 FEB 06 is found in directory 20060201-09, has the name f001.imh during the night, but has the name 20060201.09.001.fits when written to DVD. You may want to go to bed rather than wait for it to finish, if this is not your last night. ________________________________________________________________________ AT THE END OF THE RUN ________________________________________________________________________ *** BURN A DVD OF ALL YOUR DATA FROM THE ctio36 COMPUTER *** 1. On the ctio36 computer, login as v11 and move to /u363/v11/yourname. Create a directory for the night you observed and copy over the .fits files from the ctioa4 computer: copy /ua45/v11/20101021-09/*fits . 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 v11 ... click on yourname 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 "WHATEVER 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. WHATEVER 11-17 MAR 2010). ************************************************************************ ***** ***** ***** THE END ***** ***** ***** ************************************************************************