blog:20260427

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20260427

Time

0130-0645

Attendance

Percy, Jason

Spaces Occupied

401, 433C, Dome

Goals

  • PICSARR2 data collection for astropol
  • Data collection for Saron's research project

Equipment Used

Scope Camera Focus
MainPICSI2 w/ 178
FinderASI 4322465
FinderASI 26002465

Frame Table

Time Observed Source Name Filter Int Time [s] Gain Airmass Mag (filter) RA [h] DEC [deg] Source Type Scope Purpose Notes
YYYYmmddTHHMM Object Filter time gain airmass mag(V) HH DD type Scope Purpose tracking? Others?
20260427T0152 Darks u 12ms 150 1.000 mag(V) HH DD type Scope dark calibrations PICSARR2
20260427T0155 Flats g 12ms 150 1.000 mag(V) HH DD type Scope LED calibrations PICSARR2
20260427T0208 HD 154445 g 12ms 50 1.468 6.5(V) 17 -0 High-pol Cal Main Astropol focus: 2521
20260427T0224 Eta Boo g 12ms 50 1.152 1(V) 13 18 Low-pol Cal Main Astropol focus: 2521
20260427T0242 Spica g 12ms 50 2.042 1(V) 13 -11 Low-pol Cal Main Astropol focus: 2521
20260427T0435 NGC 5466 b 180s x 5 250 1.440 9.7 14 28 Globular Cluster Main HS Intern's observing plan n/a
20260427T0505 NGC 5466 b 120s x 5 250 1.613 9.7 14 28 Globular Cluster Main HS Intern's observing plan n/a
20260427T0525 NGC 5466 v 120s x 5 150 1.757 9.7 14 28 Globular Cluster Main HS Intern's observing plan low SNR of ~3
20260427T0546 skyflats v 2s 150 1 N/A HH DD N/A Finder HS Intern's observing plan
20260427T0547 skyflats b 2s 150 1 N/A HH DD N/A Finder HS Intern's observing plan
20260427T0616 darks b 180s 250 1 N/A HH DD N/A Finder HS Intern's observing plan
20260427T0547 darks b 120s 250 1 N/A HH DD N/A Finder HS Intern's observing plan
20260427T0547 darks b 120s 150 1 N/A HH DD N/A Finder HS Intern's observing plan

Log

[01:42:16] SESSION START 

[01:42:16] obs arrival Jason
[01:42:16] obs arrival Percy
[01:42:16] Active instrument: PICSARR@
[01:52:49] Calibration start -- Darks complete 12ms, filter u, 3 min
[01:52:54] Calibration end
[01:53:28] Calibration start -- Flats 12ms, filter g, 3 min
[01:53:35] Calbration end
[01:53:43] Calibration end
[01:54:38] Completing start up procedures - opening dome and mirror doors
[01:55:23] Slewing to arcturus for pointing
[01:58:31] Plate solving to identify finder scope pov
[01:59:47] Slewing to Vega
[02:04:52] Vega acquired -- pointing complete
[02:06:39] Slewing to HD 154445
[02:08:06] HD 154445 acquired, beginning capture
[02:23:56] HD 154445 Capture complete. Slewing to Eta Boo
[02:24:43] Eta Boo acquired, beginning capture
[02:31:49] Monitoring the next target -- Spica too low, waiting on potential instruction from Astropol team
[02:41:21] Spica at 29deg, taking one capture of science target before ending astropol session and pivoting to other observing plans
[02:42:20] Slewed to spica
[02:42:31] Spica acquired, beginning capture
[02:58:50] Spica capture complete -- slewing to zenith
[03:00:27] ASTROPOL SESSION END

- [0304] Went into dome to replace PICSARR2 with ASI 2600
- [0325] Took a little bit to remember how to wire the ASI2600 correctly - but the feed is coming through now
- [0326] Recalibrated the focus to 2060 using Vega
- [0330] Slewing to NGC 5466
- [0430] We've been trying to get the target to a good SNR, looking through the blog for previous integration times and gain values used for globular clusters
- [0435] Beginning capture of NGC 5466 in b
- [0505] For whatever reason, the image began to saturate halfway through, retaking b band capture at 120s exposure
- [0513] The stars are saturating and the SNR isn't very good. Will need to decrease the gain to 150 and potentially the exposure time as well. This night was for figuring out ideal observing conditions
- [0519] SNR is 3, very low
- [0524] Taking captures in V
- [0531] Photos saturating once more. Will take flats and darks and begin shut down after this last capture
- [0536] Slewing to zenith
- [0608] PICSARR2 is back on main scope, we confirmed that data was coming through before disconnecting wires for the circuit board and closing up the dome
- [0616] Taking darks for Saron's data before final shut down steps
- [0641] Issues taking darks -- doesn 't automatically start taking the frame. Still does not take frame when the time elapses on the previous "snapshot" elapses. Additionally, we are receiving an error for the finder scope filter wheel 
- [0643] Calling it for the night
- [0649] Completing shut down procedures and heading out

ToDo

Notes

NGC 5466 - RA: 47hr,07min,04.8sec DEC: 28deg, 17', 39“, epoch 2600, capture area: 800×600, pan x tilt: 400 x 248

Issues with taking darks on the finder scope. Took one frame successfully, but the following did not work correctly

Weather

0100 49 74
0200 49 74
0300 49 74
0400 49 78
0500 48 71
0600 48 74

Data

20260427(Next day)

Time

1800-

Attendance

Nick, Dylan

Spaces Occupied

401, 433C, Dome

Goals

  • PICSARR2 data collection for astropol

Equipment Used

Scope Camera Focus
MainPICSI2 w/ 178
FinderASI 4322465

Frame Table

Time Observed Source Name Filter Int Time [s] Gain Airmass Mag (filter) RA [h] DEC [deg] Source Type Scope Purpose Notes
YYYYmmddTHHMM Object Filter time gain airmass mag(V) HH DD type Scope Purpose tracking? Others?
20260427T1854 Darks u 12ms 150 0 mag(V) HH DD type Scope dark calibrations PICSARR2
20260427T1903 LED g 12ms 150 1.000 mag(V) HH DD type Scope LED calibrations PICSARR2
20260427T2038 9 Gem g 12ms 50 1.471 6.5(V) 6 +23 High-pol Cal Main Astropol focus: 2521
20260427T2057 Beta Leo g 12ms 50 1.196 0.37(V) 1 +14 Low-pol Cal Main Astropol focus: 2521
20260427T2114 Spica g 12ms 50 2.405 1(V) 13 -11 Science target Main Astropol focus: 2521

Log

ToDo

Notes

Weather

Time Temperature Humidity
2000 59 60
2100 56 66

Data