Observing Plan

See also the 2017 Goodman Spectrograph Step-by-Step User's Guide (web version, local version)

A Preferred Setup for 2019A Runs

This is a preferred setup, but, if the main program is using a roughly similar setup (particularly, using the 400 or 600l/mm grating with either the Blue or the Red Camera), it saves a lot of time just to use the main program's setup and calibrations (focus, dome flats, biases, comparison arcs, and even Hamuy tertiary standard stars). 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  Camera:        Blue Camera
  
  CCD ROI Mode:  Spectroscopic, 2x2
                 (Binning 1x1 instead of 2x2 is another possibility)
  
  CCD Read:      200kHz ATTN 2

  Mask:          1.0-arcsec slit 

  Grating:       400lines/mm ("SYZY_400")

  Set Mode:      400_WD (400lines/mm, set for c. 3500A-7500A, and scattered light feature moved to c. 3600A)
                 (400_M1 is another possible preferred Set Mode)

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remote Observing From FNAL

See also Remote Observing from FNAL (DECam-specific)
  1. Start up Polycom to SOAR control room:

  2. Login to decam-cr-01, decam-cr-02, and decam-cr-03:

  3. Start up SOAR vpnc on a terminal on decam-cr-01, decam-cr-02, and decam-cr-03:
  4. Start vncviewers on a terminal on decam-cr-01 (or a combination of decam-cr-01 and decam-cr-02):
  5. Start up SOAR "Quick Reduce" Jupyter notebook on decam-cr-03 (can also work on decam-cr-01 or decam-cr-02):
    1. Open up webbrowser (e.g., FireFox), if not already open.
    2. Open up a new terminal window). 
    3. cd /homelocal/observer/shared/SOAR4m
    4. Run the SOAR-QR setup script, providing the name of the night (e.g., "2019-03-21") as an argument: 
      • source soar_qr_setup.sh 2019-03-21
      • Note: it may take 15 seconds or so for the jupyter tab to open up in the webbrowser.
    5. In the juptyer tab, click on the "notebooks" directory.
    6. In the juptyer tab, click on "SOAR_Goodman_QR_Notebook.ipynb".
    7. Follow the directions contained within the SOAR-QR juptyer notebook.
    8. In particular, you will need to edit and keep current the contents of Section 2.b. ("User Inputs"/"Change Often (Nightly or Per Target)") of the juptyer notebook.
    9. Remember: to run a "cell" in a jupyter notebook, click on the "cell" and then hit "Shift-Enter" on the keyboard.
    10. Ideally, you will rsync data from soaric7 (see below) to the SOAR_QR_RunDir data subdirectory for that night (e.g., for 2019-03-21): 
      /homelocal/observer/shared/SOAR4m/SOAR_QR_RunDir/2019-03-21/data
  6. Observe! (for details, see below.)

  7. Copy data from:

  8. At end of the night:

Instrumental Calibration Check List

These are usually done in the afternoon for the main program. If we are using the same configuration as the night's main program, there is no need to repeat them.
  1. Check central wavelength of setup by taking a test image of a Comparison Lamp
  2. Do Focus Sequence
  3. After the focus sequence, adjust the Goodman configuration (slit size, CCD ROI mode, etc.) to the values you want for your targets (e.g., as in "A Preferred Setup for 2019A Runs" above).
  4. Do WaveCal
  5. Do Dome Flats (replaces doing internal quartz lamp flats)
  6. Do Biases
  7. Turn on Flexure Compensation

Start of Night Check List

During Night Check List

Science Targets

For targets brighter than i=19 or so, Steps 1-3 below should be replaced by using the GACAM to acquire the target. Here is the info for using the GACAM:

Here is a check list, in PDF format, for the actions described below: OldSchoolTargetAcqForm.pdf. It is helpful to print out a copy for each target fainter than i=19 or so.

The following steps are also described in detail on slides 30-43 of the 2017 Goodman Spectrograph Step-by-Step User's Guide (web version) local version).

(Note: the following steps are kind of painful and time-consuming; so, if want, you can try to push the GACAM method described above to fainter magnitudes by increasing the GACAM's exposure time (up to 40 sec = 40,000 milli-sec is do-able.))

  1. Take acquisition image of the field:
    1. Mask out
    2. Grating out
    3. Take one 5-sec image of the target object (1 sec for standard stars)
    4. Within IRAF:
      1. display filename 1
      2. In ds9 Pan Zoom window, take Position Angle from Goodman GIU and insert into Rotate box
      3. Using a finding chart (e.g., from SkyView, SDSS, or DES) identify target in ds9 window
      4. Highlight target in ds9 window with cursor and hit "a" within imexam.
      5. Record values of COL, LINE from imexam to "Current Pixel Values" for X and Y, respectively, in Goodman GUI
      6. Change value back to 0 in Rotate box in ds9 Pan Zoom Window and Apply
      7. "q" out of imexam
  2. Take acquisition image of the slit:
    1. Mask in (for efficiency, you might do this before running the above IRAF step above, since moving the mask takes about 20 sec)
    2. Take a 5-sec image of the slit (1 sec for standard stars)
    3. Within IRAF:
      1. display filename 1
      2. In the ds9 window, highlight with the cursor the line (e.g., line 474) on the image of the slit where you want the object to sit and hit "j" within imexam.
    4. Record value of the fitted CENTER from imexam plot to "Desired Pixel Values" for X. and Y, respectively, in Goodman GUI. For the Desired Y value, input the line on the slit where you want the object to sit (e.g., "474").
    5. Click yellow "Calculate Required Offset"
    6. Announce to Telescope Operator that you are about to "Apply Offset"
    7. Click purple "Apply SOAR Offset"
    8. Wait until Telescope Operator indicates the offset has been applied.
    9. "q" out of imexam
  3. Take acquisition of target (hopefully!) in slit:
    1. Take a 5-sec image of the target in the slit (1 sec for standard stars)
    2. Within IRAF:
      1. display filename 1 zs- zr- z1=700 z2=4000
      2. in the ds9 window, at the line (e.g., line 474) on the image of the slit where you want the object to sit, hit "j" within imexam at these positions:
        1. just above the target
        2. on the target
        3. just below the target
  4. Finally, take a test spectrum of target in slit:
    1. Grating in (or, if using GACAM: MASK IN and ARM OUT)
    2. Take an N-second exposure, where N is equal to one-third the total exposure time you would like to spend on this target. (Taking 3 exposures helps for cosmic ray removal during processing.)
    3. Within IRAF:
      1. display filename 1
      2. implot filename (use "c" to set a particular column of the spectrum to view, then use "w" and "e" and "e" to define a window to set the aperture, and then ":l line_lo line_hi" to extract the raw spectrum; typically, line_lo will be about 5 lines smaller than the center line [e.g., "474-5"] and line_hi will be about 5 lines larger than the center line [e.g., "474+5"].
    4. Alternatively to using display/implot to check out the raw spectrum, use the SOAR Goodman Quick Reduce (installed on decam-cr-03.fnal.gov) to display a quick-and-dirty wavelength- and spectrophotometrically calibrated spectrum:
      1. Copy the raw spectrum from soaric7; e.g.: 
        rsync -avz observer@soaric7.ctio.noao.edu:/home3/observer/today/0127_gwc_0013.fits .
      2. Update the User Inputs section of the jupyter notebook, pointing to the location on disk of the raw spectrum copied from soaric7.
      3. Run the jupyter notebook.
  5. If the test spectrum does not look interesting (i.e., you don't really care about this target after seeing an initial spectrum), move on to the next target without bothering to take additional spectra of this target or a HgAr + Ne comparison lamp wavecal at this sky position (i.e., skip the next two steps).
  6. If the test spectrum does look interesting, take 2 more N-second exposures of the target.
  7. After taking the 2 additional N-second exposures of the target, take a sequence of 5 HgAr + Ne comparison lamp wavecal exposures at the same sky position as the target.

End of Night Check List

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Last updated: 8 March 2019