--------------------------------------------------------------------------- DETAILED OPERATIONS INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE 0.9m TELESCOPE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- first draft by Jen Winters and Charlie Finch 01 AUG 2007 last edit by Jen Winters 09 JUL 2013 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. NIGHT ONE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DO A TEST TO MAKE SURE THE FILTERS THAT THE OBSERVING ASSISTANT HAS PUT IN FILTER WHEEL 2 ARE ACTUALLY WHAT THEY SAY THEY ARE: 1) TAKE ONE 120s DOME FLAT FRAME IN EACH FILTER (NV, R, I, OV) 2) imstat THE FRAMES 3) CALCULATE THE RATIO OF EACH (MINUS THE BIAS COUNTS) TO THAT IN OV 4) THE RATIOS SHOULD BE NV: ~97% R: ~92% I: ~84% OV: 100% REMEMBER THAT WE USE *ONLY OV* ZERO POINT THE TELESCOPE: 1) GO TO A BRIGHT STAR & TAKE A TEST FRAME 2) USE offset TO MOVE IT TO X & Y COORDS = 513 3) TAKE ANOTHER TEST FRAME TO ENSURE THAT IT HAS MOVED 4) IN TCS WINDOW, GO TO 'TELESCOPE' => 'INITIALIZATION' => 'TELESCOPE' AND ENTER THE COORDS & EPOCH (from the Slew Position box in the TCS MOVEMENT window) 5) CLICK 'apply' THAT SHOULD DO IT! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. STARTING UP --------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOU SHOULD GO UP TO THE TELESCOPE AT AROUND 3PM (IN WINTER) TO START CALIBRATIONS. LOG INTO COMPUTERS IF THE ASSISTANT HASN'T DONE SO ALREADY: LOGIN: v12 PASSWORD: see binders from PIBOX LOAD CTIOPI PACKAGE BY TYPING 'ctiopi' TO USE COMMANDS SUCH AS 'qlook', ETC. CREATE A DIRECTORY FOR THE DATA WITH THE NAME BEING THE BEGINNING OF THE NIGHT OBSERVING, e.g., n1 (YOU WILL HAVE TO RENAME THIS DIRECTORY AT THE END OF THE NIGHT). CD INTO THAT DIRECTORY IN BOTH WINDOWS (THE ARCON ACQUISITION & THE ARCON REDUCTION) TYPE 'epar obspars' IN THE BLUE ARCON WINDOW TO RE-SET THE FRAME NUMBERS TO f001 FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE NIGHT. ALSO, MAKE SURE THAT THE OBSERVERS' NAMES ARE CORRECT. TYPE 'preview 1' THREE TIMES TO FLUSH THE CCD CHIP FOR THE START OF THE NIGHT. GO UP TO THE 'SCOPE AND PUSH IN THE TWO DARK SLIDES. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. CALIBRATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOW YOU ARE READY TO TAKE THE BIAS FRAMES. TO DO THIS, TYPE observe/zero/17/bias CHECK THE COUNTS ON THESE FRAMES. TO DO THIS, TYPE 'imstat f001.imh' IN THE REDUCTION WINDOW. THEY'LL BE THE MEAN. THE COUNTS SHOULD BE AROUND 1500. q TO QUIT. WHEN THE BIASES ARE DONE, TURN ON THE DOME FLAT LIGHTS. THEN, UPSTAIRS TO MAKE SURE ALL THREE LAMPS ARE ON. PULL OUT THE TWO DARK SLIDES. NOW YOU ARE READY TO TAKE THE DOME FLATS. TO DO THIS, TYPE doobs/11/dflat/cb/ov,r,i/120 CHECK THE COUNTS ON THE FIRST FEW FRAMES TO BE SURE EVERYTHING IS WORKING OK. THE COUNTS SHOULD BE ~29K, ~25K, & ~22K RESPECTIVELY FOR OV,R,I. DO THIS BY TYPING 'imstat f020.imh', ETC. NOW YOU CAN GO TO DINNER! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. FOCUS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHEN YOU COME BACK FROM DINNER, TURN THE DOME LIGHTS OFF. FLIP THE SWITCHES FOR THE DRIVES AND AUTO DOME ON THE TCS BLACK BOX AT THE BASE OF THE TOWER. OPEN THE DOME. TURN ON THE HUMIDIFIER. SYNC THE UT ON THE TCS WITH THAT OF THE USNO UTC CLOCK (http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/simpletime.html) IN TCS WINDOW: TELESCOPE/INTIALIZATION TURN BOTH FANS ON (THE ONE ON THE SHELF ABOVE THE ARCON MONITOR & THE BIG ONE ON THE WAY UP TO THE DOME. THE SWITCH FOR THE BIG BOX FAN IS IN THE ELECTRICAL CONTROL PANEL.) MAKE SURE THAT ON THE TCS BLACK BOX 'TRACK', 'AUX TRACK' & 'DOME TRACK' ARE ON. THEN, GO TO A BRIGHT STAR (OR YOUR FIRST OBJECT) TO CHECK YOUR FOCUS. THERE ARE ALREADY SOME IN THE TCS PROGRAM FOUND UNDER TELESCOPE/MARK-MOVE TABLE. SLEW TO THIS OBJECT TO CHECK YOUR FOCUS. THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO DO THIS: 1) USE THE IRAF 'focus' COMMAND, CHOOSING 10 SEC. INTEGRATIONS WITH A FOCUS INCREMENT OF 50. THIS WILL GIVE YOU 7 FRAMES FROM WHICH YOU CHOOSE THE BEST. 2) USE THE 'qlo' COMMAND, THEN THE J & K KEYS. IF THE FWHM SIGMA IN JK, TAKE THE FOCUS IN. ALSO, USE THE e KEY TO CHECK THE IMAGE QUALITY. MAKE SURE THE WINDOW IS COMPLETELY SQUARE (SIZE = 515, 425). OTHERWISE, YOU COULD BE ELONGATED WITHOUT KNOWING IT. *** IF YOU SWITCH TO THE i FILTER, YOU SHOULD GO OUT (UP) 35. *** REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU ADJUST THE FOCUS IN (DOWN), YOU MUST COME IN (DOWN) ABOUT 500 UNITS AND THEN GO BACK OUT (UP) TO OFFSET THE EFFECTS OF GRAVITY ON THE SECONDARY. *** IF, WHEN YOU TYPE e ON THE OBJECT, THERE IS A TAIL ON ONE SIDE, YOU NEED TO ADJUST THE FOCUS. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. OBSERVING --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. PARALLAX FRAMES PI FRAMES MUST BE TAKEN WITHIN 30 MIN. TO AN HOUR ON EITHER SIDE OF THE MERIDIAN ('ST' ON TCS) DO NOT SATURATE SEEING MUST BE <2.5" MAKE SURE FOCUS IS GOOD DELETE CRAPPY FRAMES MAKE SURE IN PROPER FILTER MAKE SURE POSITION PROPERLY SO YOU GET ALL REFERENCE STARS IN FRAME. YOU NEED ABOUT 2K FOR THE REFERENCE STARS. DO NOT DE-FOCUS PI FRAMES HAVE TO INTERGRATE FOR 30+ SECONDS, USUALLY MAKE SURE THE REF STARS ARE NOT SATURATED; IF YOU DO SATURATE THEM, TAKE ANOTHER FRAME JUST FOR REFERENCE. ALWAYS TAKE A TEST FRAME IN THE SET-UP FILTER TO ESTIMATE YOUR COUNTS. YOU SHOULD SHOOT FOR 50K, BUT WITH MOON CONTAMINATION OR CLOUDS, 8-10K ARE OK. GO TO THE TCS/MOVEMENT/SLEW POSITION MONITOR TYPE IN YOUR RA & DEC. MAKE SURE THAT THE EPOCH IS 2000. WHEN THE TELESCOPE HAS STOPPED SLEWING, TYPE test/object/10/test/dia/ov IN THE BLUE BOX (FOR EXAMPLE). *** IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU CHANGE FILTER WHEEL ONE TO dia FROM cb. *** WHEN THIS TEST IS FINISHED, TYPE qlo TO CHECK IT. r FOR RADIAL PLOT TO CHECK THE SEEING & COUNTS a TO CHECK THE COUNTS e TO CHECK THE FOCUS FROM THOSE COUNTS, YOU MUST CALCULATE YOUR INTEGRATION. IT IS GENERALLY A LINEAR RELATION. THEN YOU MUST OFFSET TO ENSURE THAT THE STAR IS POSITIONED PROPERLY. TO DO THIS, TYPE offset/qq AND THEN THE X & Y PIXEL VALUES FOUND ON THE SET-UP. THIS WILL GIVE YOU THE OFFSET VALUES. OFFSET HELP: (TO MOVE THE *IMAGE*) E/W = RA; EAST = -, WEST = + N/S = DEC: NORTH = -; SOUTH = + NOTE THAT THIS IS OPPOSITE TO WHAT IS IN THE TCS, AS THOSE DIRECTIONS ARE TO MOVE THE *TELESCOPE* GO TO THE TCS. (MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE NOT GUIDING!!) UNDER MOVEMENT/OFFSET-ZENITH ENTER IN THE OFFSET VALUES. GENERALLY WHEN THE SLEWING CORRECTION HAS STOPPED, YOU CAN START GUIDING. THEN TAKE ANOTHER TEST FRAME. TURN OFF GUIDING. AND THEN ANOTHER OFFSET. TURN ON GUIDING. WHEN THE SEEING IS BAD OR IT IS WINDY OR YOU ARE OBSERVING A VERY FAINT STAR, USE F3 FOR (SLOW) GUIDING. WHEN IT IS GOOD OR YOU ARE OBSERVING A BRIGHT STAR, USE F9 FOR (QUICK) GUIDING. NOW YOU ARE READY TO OBSERVE. TYPE observe/object/etc... MAKE SURE THAT THE NAME OF THE OBJECT IS ENTERED EXACTLY. YOU MUST ALSO qlo EVERY FRAME TO GET COUNTS AND SEEING, WHICH ALL NEED TO BE ENTERED INTO THE LOG. *** MAKE SURE TO REFILL THE DEWAR AT MIDNIGHT DURING THE LONG WINTER NIGHTS*** RAISE THE PLATFORM. TAP THE HOSE A FEW TIMES ON SOMETHING METAL TO DE-ELECTRIFY THE NOZZLE. IT IS FULL WHEN LIQUID STARTS DRIPPING OUT ONTO THE PLATFORM. LOWER THE PLATFORM *** ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE PLATFORM IS DOWN WHEN TAKING DATA! CHECK THE TCS WINDOW. IT WILL BLINK AT YOU IF THE PLATFORM IS STILL UP. IF THERE IS A FULL MOON, YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL OF THE BACKGROUND COUNTS, AS THIS COULD SATURATE YOUR SCIENCE STARS. TO CHECK THIS, TYPE m AWAY FROM A STAR IN A BLANK PART OF THE IMAGE. THIS WILL TAKE THE AVERAGE OF 4 PIXELS AND GIVE YOU THE BACKGROUND COUNTS. YOUL SHOULD ADD THIS TO THE PEAK VALUE OF YOUR SCIENCE STAR TO ENSURE THAT YOU'RE NOT SATURATING. B. PHOTOMETRY FRAMES PHOTOMETRIC WEATHER: 1) THIN CLOUDS OVER THE ANDES 2) SLIVER OF CLOUDS OVER THE OCEAN 3) NO CLOUDS YOU DON'T WANT TO INTEGRATE LESS THAN 10 SECONDS; DEFOCUS IF NEEDED. IF YOU'RE GETTING PHOTOMETRY FOR A PI STAR, POSITION THE FRAME AS IF IT IS A PI FRAME (WITH ALL REF STARS); THEN YOU CAN USE FOR BOTH. TRY FOR AIRMASS < 1.8 PHOTOMETRY STANDARDS: ALL SA FIELDS ARE GOOD. MAKE SURE YOU GET AT LEAST ONE RED STANDARD (GL644 IS BEST; GL0866 OK). GET TWO MULTI-STAR FRAMES AND 2 RED STDS. FINDERS IN PI BOX IN PHOTOMETRY NOTEBOOK SAVE STD. COORDS IN TCS (MARK/MOVE TABLE?) GOOGLE JSKYCALC BY JOHN THORSTENSEN. IT'S *AMAZING!* GOALS: 1.1, 1.4, 1.9 THEN PLUG IN SCIENCE STARS IN BETWEEN 3-5K COUNTS OK FOR FAINT STARS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. CLOSING DOWN --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PERIODICALLY 'imhead' TO CHECK THE OBJECT TITLES A. CLOSING THE DOME IN THE CONTROL ROOM: TURN TRACK & DOME TRACK OFF TURN OFF FAN ON SHELF ABOVE ARCON MONITOR SLEW TO COVER POSITION GO TO THE TELESCOPE ON YOUR WAY UP, TURN OFF LARGE FAN GO TO PLATFORM MAKE SURE MASTER POWER IS ON CLOSE THE DOME TURN THE LIGHT ON PUT THE WINDSCREEN UP PUT COVER ON SLEW TO ZENITH POSITION FILL THE DEWAR PUSH IN 2 DARK SLIDES LOWER THE PLATFORM TURN LIGHTS OFF TURN MASTER POWER OFF BACK TO CONTROL ROOM AT TCS BLACK BOX: DRIVES & AUTODOME OFF B. DATA MANAGEMENT 1. CHECK THE HEADERS BY TYPING imhead IN THE RED WINDOW. USE hedit TO CHANGE TITLES. MAKE SURE OBJECT NAMES ARE PERFECT!!! THEY SHOULD BE IN FORMAT: GJ0866ABC @ OV FOR PI (OR PHOT OR STAND) 2. MAKE .fits FILES: GO BACK TO ONE DIRECTORY AND CHANGE THE NAME SO THAT THE FORMAT IS 20060707-09. TYPE df TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS ENOUGH ROOM TO WRITE THE FRAMES. EACH .fits FRAME NEEDS ABOUT 2301120 BYTES. TYPE finishctiopi. THE FORMAT MUST BE 20060707.09.001 C. FILL OUT A NIGHT REPORT. THIS IS FOUND AT http://www.ctio.noao.edu/new/Tools/Forms/EON IT MIGHT BE FOUND UNDER THE BOOKMARKS ON THE CTIO36 MACHINE. TURN OFF HEATER, HUMIDIFIER, & STEREO --------------------------------------------------------------------------- REBOOTING ARCON --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXIT ALL THE WAY OUT. LOGIN: V12 PASSWORD: see binders from PIBOX SELECT (2) IRAF WITH ARCON ANSWER 'yes' TO SYNCHRONIZE PARAMETERS 'set stdimage=imt2048' (IN RED ARCON WINDOW) 'reset imdir = HDR$' TO PUT .pix & .imh FILES IN SAME DIRECTORY (IN BLUE ARCON WINDOW) THEN STRETCH PANNER WINDOW FOR FULL FRAME CLICK ON OPTION/MAGNIFIER & OPTION/PANNER THEN TAKE TEST FRAME --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SETUPS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR LATE M's ==>> ALWAYS IN I WHITE DWARFS ==>> ALWAYS IN R PI STAR IS NOT USUALLY THE EXPOSURE STAR (USUALLY AROUND 5K FOR PI) MAKE SURE REFERENCE STARS ARE UNIFORMLY SPACED AROUND PI STAR r & e EACH STAR TO CHECK THEY'RE NOT BINARIES OR GALAXIES NEED AT LEAST 2-5 MIN INTEGRATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IRAF --------------------------------------------------------------------------- epar rimexam to change the radius value of the radial plot window. It should be 20 pixels. imdel deletes an image (both the .imh & .pix files) rmdir removes an empty directory rm -rf removes a full directory - CAREFUL WITH THIS COMMAND! del deletes a file imrename renames an image (both the .imh & .pix frames) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SSH (REMOTE ACCESS) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TO SSH BACK TO GSU & ACCESS YOUR FILES THERE: IN A TERMINAL WINDOW, TYPE: ssh 'yourlastnamehere'@ssh.chara.gsu.edu, then your password when prompted --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEATHER INFO --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TASCA: http://www.ctio.noao.edu/noao/content/tasca-latest-image CALSKY FORECAST: http://www.calsky.com/cs.cgi?obs=21010762018068&c=&Meteo= LOGIN: ctio; PASSWORD; ctio CTIO CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS: http://ctio4l.ctio.noao.edu/web/CTIO/environ.php INTELLICAST SATELLITE LOOP: http://www.intellicast.com/Global/Satellite/Infrared.aspx?location=CIXX0020 EPHEMERIS: http://oldsite.ctio.noao.edu/obsaid/ctio_ephem_2013.html#Jan