Subject: APO 3.5m users committee minutes, Dec 2013
From: Suzanne Hawley
Submitted: Thu, 19 Dec 2013 22:18:46 -0800 (PST)
Message number: 1324
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PLEASE NOTE: The FITS headers for all instruments now use common time
keywords, as discussed with the users committee and implemented during the
2013 summer shutdown. Below is a brief description, as documented on the
3.5m current information page at:
http://www.apo.nmsu.edu/arc35m/Engineering/index.html
We have recently had some questions about this change and will discuss it
at the next users committee meeting. Users are encouraged to provide
feedback to their users committee members prior to the meeting (Jan 13,
2014).
------
As of August 30, 2013, the 3.5-m has implemented a TAI time standard in
all the instrument headers. All time keywords are referenced to TAI. In an
effort to make all time keywords the same from instrument to instrument
several keywords are no longer being written to some instrument headers.
The standard keywords are: TIMESYS, UTC-TAI, UT1-TAI, LST, DATE-OBS (TAI
time at start of exposure in year-month-day-hour:minute:second format),
and EXPTIME. Every effort has been made to give users the minimum number
of time related keywords with which they can recreate any of the old
keywords on their own in post processing.
----
APO 3.5-m Users Committee Phonecon, 12/02/13
Attending: Suzanne Hawley, John Bally, Rene Walterbos, Bill Ketzeback,
Mary Beth Kaiser, Joe Huenerhoff, John Wisniewski, Joanne Hughes Clark,
Scott Anderson, Michael Strauss, Jeff Bary, and Bruce Gillespie.
Absent: Remy Indebetouw, Al Harper
**********************************
User feedback and comments from institutional representatives:
o Washington (Scott Anderson) - Scott had nothing new to report.
o Chicago (Al Harper) - no report.
o New Mexico State (Rene Walterbos) - Rene had nothing new to report.
o Princeton (Michael Strauss) - Michael said that everything was fine.
o Colorado (John Bally) - John had nothing new to report.
o Virginia (Remy Indebetouw) - no report.
o Johns Hopkins (Mary Beth Kaiser) - Mary Beth had no concerns to report.
She noted with appreciation that Hal Weaver got some very good data on
comet ISON.
o Georgia State (Mike Crenshaw) - no report [Mike and other GSU
astronomers were observing at APO at the time]
o Seattle Univ. (Joanne Hughes Clark) - Joanne said her runs have been
fine, and the staff quite helpful.
o NAPG (Jeff Bary) & U. Oklahoma (John Wisniewski) - Jeff and John said
that so far they have only been involved in the selection and scheduling
of their upcoming observing programs and so far, so good.
**********************************
Discussion of telescope/instruments report:
In Mark's absence, Suzanne pointed the committee to his report (see
below). One highlight is that the camera upgrade for the DIS slit viewer
is delayed due to the camera manufacturer. Bill mentioned that the
increase in dark current seen in SPIcam images was correlated with the
changeout of the ion pump about a year ago, and he's working with the
manufacturer of the pump to find a remedy. Suzanne emphasized the
importance for SPIcam users of monitoring their data. Joanne asked to
please have the Observing Specialists let the users know when a
dark-current "event" occurs. Bill said he would ensure that this happens.
Mark Klaene's detailed report for the reporting period follows:
*************************
3.5-m Telescope and Instruments Highlights
10/15/13 through 11/25/13
0) Overview
Generally a productive period with the first snowfall of the season now on
the ground, albeit not much snow.
1) Telescope
Telescope has been working very well. We had one instance of the glycol
fluid in the moat seal flowing into the main azimuth bearing. It took 2
days to clean and repack the bearing. One night would have been lost
however weather was so bad that we would not have been able to open
regardless.
2) Instruments
DIS has been operating normally. The movement of DCam (shown in the mask)
was located and a temporary fix put in place. Delivery of the new DCAM
camera has been delayed by the manufacturer by about an additional month.
Agile is operational with no problems
TripleSpec had no operational problems this period.
SPIcam variable dark current has been isolated to the current ion pump
type and controller. A different ion pump has been installed but so far
only minimal improvement has been noted. We are continuing to monitor dark
current and ion pump spikes closely to understand the issues and determine
best path forward.
Echelle is operational with no problems
NIC-FPS is operating in shared-risk observing mode due to occasional image
corruption issue. NFS less than 9 is operational.
**********************************
ARCTIC PDR report:
Suzanne reported that the preliminary design review for the ARCTIC visible
imager instrument was held at the end of October. The review went well,
and the review committee was supportive of the overall design and
implementation approach. There is an unresolved question of whether to
use an e2v CCD or one from a relatively new vendor, Semiconductor
Technologies Associates (STA). Joe Huenerhoff is looking into the
trade-space comparisons between the two. The JHU Instrument Development
Group will be asked to do a followup check of the optical design.
Suzanne asked if anyone has any experience with STA detectors, please let
us know. The final PDR report will be made available to the users
committee.
**********************************
ARCSAT update:
Joe announced that the web interface for ARCSAT (the .5-m telescope at
APO) is up and running; he is working on some minor bugs in the focus and
dome controls. We plan engineering testing to continue this week, and
then will release the telescope to some experienced users for further
tests. Suzanne added that we planto finish the user documentation and
testing in the next 1-2 months, and then will release the telescope to the
general ARC user community for shared-risk observing programs, with the
goal of regular observing starting in Q2.
**********************************
ARC Board meeting summary:
Rene commented that the annual ARC Board of Governors meeting went well,
and that the Board is happy with the progress on operational funding and
prospects for the next two to three years. The Board spent time
discussing future issues, and was pleased that the current institutional
partnership is stable and that there is real interest in expanding the
consortium. The Board was also satisfied with the continued high level of
observatory performance and staff support; the operating budgets for next
year were unanimously approved. Bill noted that this was the fourth year
running in which the 3.5-m telescope experienced a downtime of <1%. It
was also noted that SDSS4 was given Board approval to begin its first year
of observing operations in mid-2014.
**********************************
Q1 schedule:
Suzanne said that the Q1 schedule will be out shortly. The Chinese
consortium has signed the agreement to use the telescope; their program is
denoted by IH01 in the Q4 2013 observing schedule and in the upcoming Q1
2014 schedule.
**********************************
On-site visits, training:
Suzanne reminded the committee, and by extension, the general user
community, that the 3-night on-site training policy is applicable to all
users, including the new leasing partners. With more new people coming to
the site, it is even more essential to note on the observing proposals and
schedules if the observers will be on site at APO, and/or are there for
training. Additionally, if the new observer is a grad student, it is the
policy that he or she be accompanied by a PhD astronomer from the
student's institution. APO staff are not expected to train students how
to observe. This led to the following action item:
===> ACTION: Users Committee members to check the Q1 schedule to confirm
that their observing programs conform to the on-site training policy [see
http://www.apo.nmsu.edu/arc35m/TrainingInfo_ARC35m.html]
Jeff asked a more general question, what is the documentation that new
users should be looking at? Suzanne said that the training link, plus the
telescope and instrumentation user documentation at the APO website. The
committee agreed that it would be good to have a document that provides
guidance (website links, etc.) to new users.
Additionally, it was noted that APO welcomes largish student and other
groups to visit the observatory for multi-night observing programs and
training. These events need to have their arrangements made separately
both for scheduling with Russet and Suzanne, and with Mark Klaene on-site,
both well in advance. John Bally said that Colorado is planning a student
visit to APO in early April. John Wisniewski has a group coming for a
week sometime in Q2. Jeff Bary is expecting his users to come to the site
in groups of at most four people, on a yet-TBD schedule.
**********************************
New business:
Rene and Suzanne pointed out that the 20th anniversary of the dedication
of the 3.5-meter telescope is coming up this spring. Discussions have
begun on when, where, and how to celebrate this event. Options include
having a fete at APO in the spring or summer, including a celebratory
dinner, and possibly a science meeting. We have chosen not to do this in
conjunction with the transition from SDSS3 to SDSS4 to avoid dilution of
the 3.5-m celebration. This leads to the following action item:
===> ACTION: Users Committee members to think about the context and
themes for a 20th-anniversary celebration for the 3.5-m, to be discussed
at the next Users Committee telecon.
**********************************
ACTION ITEMS:
[open from previous meeting]:
===> ACTION: Find users to assist with instrument documentation.
Status: Open. Thanks to Michael Strauss and Mary Beth, who have
sent useful comments.
===> ACTION: Users committee members to query their communities for
interest in and volunteers to help with setting up a 3.5m user wiki.
Status: Open. No feedback yet.
[new from this meeting]:
===> ACTION: Users Committee members to check the Q1 schedule to
confirm that their observing programs conform to the on-site training
policy [see http://www.apo.nmsu.edu/arc35m/TrainingInfo_ARC35m.html]
===> ACTION: Users Committee members to think about the context
and themes for a 20th-anniversary celebration for the 3.5-m, and discuss
at the next Users Committee telecon.
**********************************
Next meeting: The next Users Committee phonecon will be on Monday 13
January at 8:30 AM Pacific Time. The agenda and other materials will be
sent to the committee members during the preceding week.
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