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uc:uc20230627_june_27_2023 [2023/06/27 17:48]
nchanove |
uc:uc20230627_june_27_2023 [2023/06/27 18:43] (current)
nchanove |
| === Additional telescope and instrument discussion === | === Additional telescope and instrument discussion === |
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| Normally get motion errors as telescope warms up; mitigation plan seems to be working well, no issues so far. | We normally get telescope motion errors around this time of year as the telescope warms up. The mitigation strategy that Bill and Russet devised seems to be working well as there have been no issues so far. |
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| Agile sync card issues means that first exposure in a series may have a problem; operator has to restart. Seeing this issue 1-2 x per week. | Regarding the Agile sync card issue described in the above report, operationally this means that the first exposure in a series may have a problem and the observing specialist would have to restart things. We are seeing this issue roughly 1-2 times per week. |
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| Denise - FlareCam working great, BYUCam not well. Bill found problem with filter wheel on BYUCam and will test when has time. Potential problem with FlareCam - condensation maybe. Could be heat related but hopefully will get cooler tomorrow. | For an ARCSAT update, Denise reports that FlareCam has been working great but BYUCam has not. Bill found a problem with the BYUCam filter wheel that may have been responsible for the instrument crashes, and he will test this when he has time (probably not for quite a while). Russet reported a recent potential issue with FlareCam, possibly condensation. This could be heat related given how hot it has been the past few days but it should get cooler tomorrow and this issue will hopefully go away. |
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| === KOSMOS slits update === | === KOSMOS slits update === |
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| We will be delivering 28 slits, 4 of each of the following widths (3 mounted positions and a spare): 0.8, 1.0, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 5, and 20 arcseconds. | We will be delivering 28 slits, 4 of each of the following widths (3 mounted positions and a spare): 0.8, 1.0, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 5, and 20 arcseconds. **If anyone needs any other slit widths, let us know NOW.** Sarah expects to be sending these new slits to APO in mid-August so they could be available when we come out of shutdown. For those who have had challenges with the KOSMOS bias levels: Sarah is hoping to resolve this by end of shutdown. She has a few experiments to try during shutdown and will update users as changes get made. She intends to save a backup of its current state so that it will be completely reversible if a user needs the instrument in its current configuration (e.g. to complete a dataset in a self-consistent manner). |
| If anyone has any other needs, let us know NOW. Everything is getting recalibrated so machine will be at peak performance. Need to figure out to best box/send to APO. Send to APO in mid-August. Could be available when come out of shutdown. For those who have had challenges w/bias levels: hoping to resolve by end of shutdown. A few experiments to try during shutdown - will update users as changes get made. Intend to save a backup to its current state so it will be reversible. | |
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| === Instrumentation update === | === Instrumentation update === |
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| Update on new echelle from JW - in conceptual design. Hope that we can have a lot of science/community engagement with the development of the instrument. Broad goal is to develop ARCES replacement to serve needs for another 20 years. working on Conceptual design. Goals: high throughput spectrograph 350-1000 nm. Use state of the art techniques for building. Nominal resolution ~ 30k or higher. We foresee a white pupil spectrograph design (most echellese in last 20 yrs have moved to this) - dual arm, one for blue portion and one for red, tailor cross diseperaion and cameras for both ranges. Atmospheric dispersion corrector to address light loss at edges of band. Tip-tilt image stabilization - remove jitter from atmosphere and telescope. And slit mechanism, slit viewer. Open question: whether their community interest in 2-slice image slicer - imagine having circular spot of target at slit - slicer would divide it into 2 halves, double resolution. High res mode to get 60k. Want to get a sense from community re: whether such a mode would be of interest - has ramifications for detector sampling. Please consider this and talk to users, provide NC feedback. Develop and deliver data reduction suite. Current activities - got 1 HN to use DSSI for high cadence sampling images at NA2 port; interested in knowing how image spots move around at high cadence. This allows us to say something about tip-tilt down to about ~ 27 Hz. | John Wilson gave a status update on the new echelle spectrograph, which is currently in the conceptual design phase. The hope that we can have a lot of community engagement with the development of the instrument. The broad goal is to develop a replacement for ARCES, which has been a tremendous workhorse instrument for the 3.5m users for the past 20 years, to serve user needs for another 20 years. |
| IDG - Randy Hammond coming in July to examine NA1 port and telescope structure. Science tiger team has been stood up - purpose is to provide guidance re: what community's desires are, place to vet ideas, etc. Near term goals: in CD phase, hope to have CDR by end of CY23 or early 24, have refined survey of user community for folks to weigh in on science needs. Really interested in feedback and engagement from ARC community so deliver instrument that meets the needs of the community. Practical requirement: funding scenario is daunting, need to develop well though tout science case. Chip: 60k mode would enable lots of science - Caty Pilachowsky -stellar abundances. Kevin: Solar types/giants no difference from 30-60k. | |
| | Work is underway on a conceptual design, with the goal of producing a high throughput spectrograph that operates from 350-1000 nm using state-of-the-art techniques for building it. The nominal resolution is expected to be similar to that of ARCES: R ~ 30k or higher. We foresee a white pupil spectrograph design (most echelles in the last 20 years have moved to this) with dual arms, one for the blue portion and one for the red. This enables us to tailor the cross disepersion and camera prescriptions for both spectral ranges. We are planning an atmospheric dispersion corrector to address light loss at the edges of the bands and tip-tilt image stabilization to remove jitter introduced from both from atmospheric turbulence and telescope vibrations, along with a slit mechanism and slit viewer camera. One open question is whether there is community interest in having a 2-slice image slicer. If one imagines having a circular spot of the target at the slit, the slicer would divide the spot into 2 halves and enables us to double the resolution (with the high res mode getting to ~ 60k). The design team wants to get a sense from community regarding whether such a mode would be of interest since it has ramifications for detector sampling. **Please consider this and talk to your users and provide feedback to Nancy.** We also plan to develop and deliver a data reduction software suite. |
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| | In terms of current activities, we recently took one half-night to use DSSI for high cadence sampling images at the NA2 port to characterize how the image spots move around at high cadence. This allows us to say something about the predicted efficacy of a tip-tilt system down to about ~ 27 Hz. Additionally, Randy Hammond from the JHU Instrument Development Group is coming to APO in July to examine NA1 port and telescope structure. A science tiger team has been stood up and had one meeting so far; the purpose of that group is to provide guidance regarding what the community's desires are, have a place to vet ideas, etc. |
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| | As for near term goals, we are currently in the conceptual design phase and hope to have a Conceptual Design Review by the end of CY23 or early 2024. We may also have a refined survey of the user community for people to weigh in on science needs. To reiterate, the instrument development team is really interested in getting feedback and engagement from the ARC community so that they can deliver an instrument that meets the needs of the community. As a more practical requirement, the funding environment for instrumentation is challenging and we will need to develop well thought out science cases to pursue funding opportunities. |
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| | Chip indicated that having an R~60k mode would enable lots of science, for example stellar abundance work like Caty Pilachowski at Indiana University is doing. Kevin countered that for solar or giant type stars there is no scientific advantage of R~60k over R~30k. |
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| === Q2-Q3 3.5m scheduling === | === Q2-Q3 3.5m scheduling === |
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| No open time left in Q2 or Q3. Shutdown and recovery are potential areas of concern - schedule less vulnerable programs immediately after shutdown in case need extra time. CO program that could only be right after shutdown so they are at risk. | There is no open time left in Q2 or Q3. Shutdown and recovery are potential areas of concern and programs that are scheduled immediately after shutdown are at risk in the event that we need extra engineering time at the end of shutdown. |
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| === Q2-Q3 0.5m scheduling === | === Q2-Q3 0.5m scheduling === |
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| Q3 proposals is due today - BYUCam not available. We will share info with users if learn more about FlareCam. Not available during shutdown. | Q3 ARCSAT proposals are due today; BYUCam will not be available in Q3. We will share updates with users if we learn any more about the aforementioned FlareCam issues. ARCSAT will not available during the 3.5m shutdown. |
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| === Training update === | === Training update === |
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| book-keeping | Nancy mentioned three items: |
| surveys | - We are aware that the list of trained individuals on the APO web site is outdated. We have been maintaining a separate list and will be merging that with the online list to ensure that the information presented online is current. |
| heads-up for Q4 | - For those who come to APO for training visits, please urge all training participants to complete the evaluation form provided by Nancy. We strive to continually improve our training offerings but we need to hear from recent trainees about what worked well and what can be improved. |
| | - We are expecting at least three class visits during Q4, maybe more. **All institutions planning to bring classes to APO in Q4 should let us know ASAP so that we can prepare and begin to head off potential schedule conflicts.** |
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| === June AAS meeting recap === | === June AAS meeting recap === |
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| New backdrops for booth, ppl liked swag - great contacts | The June 2023 AAS meeting in Albuquerque was a success. We have new backdrops and banners for the booth, which looked really nice, and people liked the swag we gave out. The talk about APO that Nancy gave in the special session about astronomy in New Mexico was well received and generated interest, questions, and potential opportunities for new collaborations. |
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| * Nancy: track down missing ARCTIC data reduction scripts for wiki. -> OPEN. Making progress on it this week. | * Nancy: track down missing ARCTIC data reduction scripts for wiki. -> OPEN. Making progress on it this week. |
| * UC reps: please urge your users to review the Q3 schedule and let us know immediately if there are errors. -> CLOSED | |
| * UC reps: please notify your department members of the July 31 deadline for sending Nancy listings of papers from January 1, 2022 to present that made use of 3.5m and/or ARCSAT data. -> OPEN | * UC reps: please notify your department members of the July 31 deadline for sending Nancy listings of papers from January 1, 2022 to present that made use of 3.5m and/or ARCSAT data. -> OPEN |
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| cookbook on how to make MOS masks? | |
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| New action items from this meeting: | New action items from this meeting: |
| | * UC reps: remind your users to let us know ASAP if they need any KOSMOS slit widths that are not listed in the planned set to be delivered in August. |
| | * UC reps: ask your users to review the instrumentation notes above and provide Nancy with feedback if they have any. |
| | * UC reps: ask your institutional colleagues to notify us ASAP if they are planning to bring a class to APO in Q4. |
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| === Next meeting(s) === | === Next meeting(s) === |
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| The August meeting, which would be scheduled for August 1, will be canceled as it will be in the middle of summer shutdown. Therefore our next meeting will be on September 5, and we will use that opportunity to discuss our return to operations in late August at the conclusion of the summer shutdown. | The August meeting, which would be scheduled for August 1, will be canceled as it will be in the middle of summer shutdown. Therefore our next meeting will be on September 5, and we will use that opportunity to discuss our return to operations in late August at the conclusion of the summer shutdown. The meeting schedule for the remainder of CY 2023 will stay on the first Tuesday of the month at 10:30 MT; let Nancy know if you have any conflicts. |
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