apo-wiki

Attending: attendance was not taken at this meeting

• Wyoming
• Colorado
• BYU
• NMSU - A KOSMOS user reports that there are saturation issues with the KOSMOS internal flats; the internal lamp is very bright. New streaks have appeared on the flats as well. A proposed mitigation strategy is that one can step down the brightness on the lamp so that the red flats can have exposure times of greater than 0.5 sec.
• Oklahoma - as an early heads-up, they planning to have a class trip of 16 people in April
• UVa
• Georgia State
• NAPG
• Seattle
• Washington
• JHU - may also put in for a Q2 training trip
• FGCU

Jamey's detailed report is included below, followed by additional information discussed during today's call.

3.5-m Telescope and Instruments Highlights, 12/03/2021 - 2/01/2022

0) Overview

APO is no longer under any staffing restrictions from the State of New Mexico due to COVID. COVID daily cases are recently the highest counts seen in New Mexico during the pandemic; they are projected to peak and turn over in the next few weeks. There is a masking mandate while indoors in New Mexico.

Weather for December was warmer with less precipitation than average, while January was colder with more precipitation.

Q1 in-person training has started, with a small group from Colorado that just recently wrapped up (a remote session ran at the same time and was successful as well). More trainings are scheduled for February and March and the planning has begun on those.

1) Telescope

The 3.5m telescope is performing as expected.

2) Instruments

KOSMOS: Commissioning activities are continuing; the instrument is still being offered on a shared risk basis. A new instrument shutter rated for low temperature operations was installed and is working; the shutter for the guider is currently having temperature issues. The slitviewer shutter is currently only spec’ed to operate in temperatures between 0-80 C. We are working with the manufacturer to find an extended range replacement.

DIS: Scattered light has leveled off for both the blue and red cameras. For the red camera the throughput is good for a stellar spectrum in the default position, but spectra of extended objects or targets off center on the slit may fall on contaminated areas of the detector. Throughput on the blue camera is about half of what it was earlier in 2021.

!TripleSpec: Cold, operational and performing nominally.

Agile: Cold, operational and performing nominally. There is a known issue with missing observatory and WCS cards from the headers that we are trying to track down. This problem seemed to originate about the time we converted and moved the hub35m to a new server (mid December).

Echelle: Echelle inter-order light continues to improve with the temperatures dropping.

NICFPS: The instrument is performing nominally with the occasional need to reset the controller due to corrupted images, and previous cautions about rotator angle.

ARCTIC: Cold, operational and performing nominally.

3) ARCSAT:

Limited use during December and January. Recent use has been problem free (knock on wood).

As a reminder, the new ARC policy for visitors to the mountain now requires proof of boosters, not just the original COVID vaccine. The new policy is posted on the APO web page.

A new, KOSMOS-compatible version of TUI for Linux is available for users to try. It is still in the development stage and may produce errors but we really need users to test it out. It can be downloaded from the standard TUI repository that is accessible from the APO web pages (in the 3.5m section of the home page: Telescope & Instrument Information → TUI → Downloads, or [https://www.apo.nmsu.edu/35m_operations/TUI-images/]). Shane is working on a python 3 version of TUI, which will be a big step forward.

KOSMOS commissioning is ongoing, and the instrument is available in shared risk mode. An issue with a sticky shutter on the slitviewer camera is being investigated, and additional slits of various widths are being fabricated. Updates are available on the APO webpage.

There are several remaining half nights in Q1. Users who wish to request this time should email Ben, Russet, Nancy, and their institutional scheduler per usual.

The Q1 schedule is fully populated; there is no open time in Q1. The call for Q2 proposals will be issued after the 3.5m Q2 schedule is published.

The proposals for Q2 have been received and the schedule is now being built.

As a reminder, we'd like to know about training trips well in advance of receiving the observing proposal requests. We need advanced notice so that we can arrange for appropriate staffing during the training. We also need to know people's on site vs remote plans EARLY. This is to avoid housing conflicts with other projects on the mountain. We recognize the need for flexibility since the COVID situation is still pretty fluid, but it's easier for us to migrate a planned on site training to a remote version than to go in the other direction.

There is nothing substantial to report since the AAS meeting was canceled. We have no plans to have an APO exhibitor booth at the June 2022 AAS meeting. We will have to see how 2022 shapes up in terms of COVID risks before deciding anything re: the January 2023 meeting.

Open action items from previous meetings:

• Nancy: start investigations re: short wavelength throughput (climate data, other facilities). Status: OPEN. There are no new updates on this.

New action items from this meeting:

• None

None.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday March 1, 10:30 am MST. The remaining meeting dates for Q1-Q2 2022 are April 5, May 3, and June 7.