Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- howto [2023/09/18 23:19] – holtz
+++ howto [2023/09/18 23:30] (current) – holtz
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 == Dome Control ==
-The Dome Control is done via ACP (note, '''NOT''' ASCOM Dome Control, although this is an alternative interface in case of issues). In the ACP control box - in the bottom left click the button - '''Dome Control''' to access the controls. Once you open the dome - it will open the dome slit and then slew to the telescope, so beware! Make sure the telescope isn't pointed somewhere you don't want it to be, e.g., in the direction of the Sun!
+The Dome Control is done via ACP (note, '''NOT''' ASCOM Dome Control, although this is an alternative interface in case of issues). In the ACP control box - in the bottom left click the button - '''Dome Control''' to access the controls.
+We recommend watching the dome webcam when opening and closing the dome, to ensure it is doing what you expect. The dome is opened with the Open button. ***Note that when open the dome, it will automatically slew to the telescope, so beware! Make sure the telescope isn't pointed somewhere you don't want it to be, e.g., in the direction of the Sun!*** Note that you can click the Stop Dome Motion button to stop the dome.
 == Slew to an Object ==
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 Slewing can be accomplished through the ACP program, which provides a deep sky catalog and various bright stars, or through the !SciTech telescope controller. The "Nudge" window in ACP allows you to offset the telescope in any direction.
-To go to an object - in the bottom left of the ACP box, click '''Slew or Sync (catalog)'''. This will bring up an option to allow you to slew the scope to a given object. There are four options:
+To go to an object, click '''Slew or Sync (catalog)''' in the bottom left of the ACP box. This will bring up an option to allow you to slew the scope to a given object. There are four options:
   * Coordinates (RA and Dec) : note, however, that ACP does not seem to take J2000 coordinates in the slew window. To slew to coordinates, you may need to use the Sidereal Technologies telescope window Goto tab, with the J2000 box checked
   * Deep Sky Object : can be entered by name, but note it is picky about spacing in Messier and NGC catalog '''M 44''')
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   * Alignment Star: set of bright stars, you need to know your constellations to know where they are!
-There is also an ACP !FindBrightStar script: use Select the Script in the upper right of the ACP window to find it, then click the Run button in the lower right. After starting up, it will prompt you for a filter to use, which you will enter in the Console window: here the filter is specified by number, 2 will use SDSS r.
+There is also an ACP !FindBrightStar script to find a relatively bright star near to where the telescope is currently pointing: use Select the Script in the upper right of the ACP window to find it, then click the Run button in the lower right. After starting up, it will prompt you for a filter to use, which you will enter in the Console window: here the filter is specified by number, 2 will use SDSS r.
 == Taking exposures ==
-You take exposures manually using MaxIm DL, using the Camera Control window (the icon to the left of the observatory icon). Use the Expose tab, where you can set the filter and the exposure time. The science camera is Camera 1, while the guide camera (no filters) is camera 2. The guide camera is mounted on the 6" finder scope and is pointed in about the same direction as the main scope/camera.
+You take exposures manually using MaxIm DL, using the Camera Control window (the icon to the left of the observatory icon). Use the Expose tab, where you can set the filter and the exposure time. The science camera is Camera 1, while the guide camera (no filters) is camera 2.
-If you just take exposures using Camera 1, they will be unguided. This is probably fine for most observations. If
+The raw pixels in the science camera subtend about 0.24 arcsec on the sky. We typically run the detector in 2x2 binning to better match the seeing and reduce image size. The chip can also be windowed to only read out a portion of the detector: you can select Subframe and choose the area using the mouse.
-you wish to try autoguiding, use the Guide tab, click the Track button, and start exposing. If the software cannot find a guide star in the guide camera, it may try to guide on noise and may make the image much worse than without guiding.
-== Image display in MaximDL ==
+You can either take single images or set it up to take images continuously. The latter is useful, in conjunction with windowing the detector around a star, for focusing the telescope. Remember to switch back to Single mode when you are done.
+The guide camera is mounted on the 6" finder scope and is pointed in about the same direction as the main scope/camera. If you just take exposures using Camera 1, they will be unguided. This is probably fine for most observations. If you wish to try autoguiding, use the Guide tab, click the Track button, and start exposing. If the software cannot find a guide star in the guide camera, it may try to guide on noise and may make the image much worse than without guiding.
+== Image display in MaximDL ==
-The science camera has a lot of pixels, so if you display it at 100% it will be far larger than the image window and you will need to use the scroll bars to see everything. To see the whole frame at once, use 12.5% view.
+The science camera has a lot of pixels, so if you display it at 100% it will be far larger than the image window, even with 2x2 binning, and you will need to use the scroll bars to see everything. To see the whole frame at once, use 12.5% view.
 The Screen Stretch window is useful for adjusting the brightness and contrast.
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 (Must be used with a window computer, usually Jon and Zach keep a browser opened with the camera. If it asks you for the password, Jon and Zach can provide it).
-==== ACP WEb interface ====
+==== ACP Web interface ====
 ==== ACP Scheduler ====
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 ==== Calibration of AutoGuider ====
 The auto-guider is calibrated using MaximDL.
 https://cdn.diffractionlimited.com/help/maximdl/Autoguider_Calibration.htm
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 If observing manually, you should keep a log of your observations to make finding your .fits file easier. When taken with MaxIm DL,  the images are automatically named "CCD_Image_NUMBER.fit" which is usually not helpful for identifying objects. When taken through the web interface or in robotic mode, the images are organized by program and have more meaningful names.
-Data is stored on the local computer at TMO, but is automatically synced to the NMSU Astronomy servers every two hours. On the Astronomy computers, it is located at /home/tmo/, which can be accessed via the web at http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/tmo/.
+Data are stored on the local computer at TMO, but is automatically synced to the NMSU Astronomy servers every 15 minutes. On the Astronomy computers, it is located at /home/tmo/, which can be accessed via the web at http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/tmo/.
 ACP stores logs per object; this can be pretty inconvenient if you just want an idea of what it did all night. Therefore we have a script that runs each morning that concatenates these logs into summary logs for each night, helpfully stored in /summary_logs/.