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The following is the fixed format of a request for observations of a stationary
object: |
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| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
12345678901 |
| NSS dddddddddddd hh mm ss.ss Sdd mm ss.s tttt.tt nn vvvv b sss fff tttt yyyy-mm-dd yyyy-mm-dd rrr mmm |
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| The meaning of each field is explained in the table below: |
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| Field |
Columns |
Meaning |
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| NSS |
1-3 |
This fixed 3-character
code specifies that the target is outside the solar system. |
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| dddddddddddd |
5-16 |
This is a target name (e.g. NGC 1372) This is only used for placement in the FITS header and for other bookkeeping
operations. The telescope does not look up coordinates in catalogs. You may place this name
anywhere in fields 5 through 16.
Note: Target names which consist of the
character # followed by an integer number (e.g., #01033, # 25, etc.) cannot be
accepted because they might potentially cause problems to our software. |
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| hh mm ss.ss |
18-28 |
This is the target right
ascension in J2000.0 coordinates. |
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| sdd mm ss.s |
30-40 |
This is the target declination in J2000.0 coordinates. |
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| tttt.tt |
42-48 |
Exposure time. This must be between 0.50 seconds and 300.00 seconds. |
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| nn |
50-51 |
This is the requested number
of exposures. If more than one exposure is requested, the request is interpreted as a single-night time series,
where each exposure will have the same length, use the same filter, etc.
Notes:
- If you request up to 4 exposures, we will either schedule all of them or not schedule your exposures.
- If you request more than 4 exposures, we will schedule as many exposures as we can up to the number you
requested, but can't guarantee that it will be possible to schedule all of the exposures you requested.
This is because the number of exposures which it is possible to take on a single-night time series
varies with target position, time interval between exposures, exposure time, etc.
- If you want many exposures of a given target but are not sure if it is actually possible to take that
many exposures of the target at the specified exposure time and interval between exposures, you might
request the number of exposures that you wish, or the maximum number you would be willing to pay for,
and we will take as many exposures as we can, up to the number you requested.
|
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| vvvv |
53-56 |
If you requested only
one exposure, you may leave this field blank. If you requested more
than one exposure, this field allows you to specify the time interval (in seconds) between exposures in the
corresponding time series. If this value is 0 (zero), the time series will consist of exposures taken in direct
succession (so that the interval between successive exposures will be approximately equal to the sum of exposure
time plus camera download time). For positive integer values, this field specifies the number of seconds between
exposures. The scheduler does its best to ensure that exposures are equally spaced. The scheduler is usually
set to 15% tolerance, which means that the actual interval between exposures will be within +/-15% of the
user-specified value. The variations in the interval between exposures arise because
the scheduler may insert observations
of other targets between two successive exposures belonging to your time series (remember, at Tenagra each user
pays for his/her total exposure time, not for a contiguous block of telescope time; any idle telescope time
between exposures belonging to your time series may be used to perform other observations, possibly requested
by other users). These +/-15% variations in spacing between exposures should not affect the statistical significance
of the time series results.
Notes:
- Note that if you specify a spacing which is smaller than the sum of exposure time plus
camera download time for the specified resolution and frame size, it will be physically impossible to
carry out your time series with the specified interval between images. If your desired time interval
between exposures is small, you may wish to set the value of this field to zero so that the exposures
will be taken in succession.
- Time series may sometimes be interrupted by automatic "focus breaks" which occur at approximately 1-hr
intervals for checking/adjusting telescope focus. These focus breaks normally take only 1-2 minutes.
- When you request more than 4 exposures, the time interval between some of the exposures belonging to your time
series may be longer than the interval you specified in this field. This sometimes occurs when other
observation requests are scheduled in the intervals between the images belonging to your time series.
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| b |
58 |
Binning factor. The
Tenagra cameras are based on SITe 1024 X 1024 chips (pixel size = 24 micrometers). If the value of this field
is 1, you will take unbinned (high resolution) pictures at a scale of 0.87"/pixel; if the value of this field is
2, you will take 2x2 binned (lower resolution) pictures at a scale of 1.74"/pixel. |
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| sss |
60-62 |
Frame size. You can use
the full 14.8 X 14.8 arcminute field or choose the central 7.4 X 7.4 arcminute field on the CCD chip. Allowed values
are 'FUL' (full field of view, 14.8 arc minutes) and 'CTR' (central 7.4 arc minute field of view). The size of a
full field unbinned image (1024 x 1024 pixels) is about 2 MB; a full field, 2x2 binned image (512 x 512 pixels) is
about 512 kbytes. If you use only the central 7.4 arcminute field, the file sizes decrease by a factor of 4, that
is, an unbinned image (512 x 512 pixels) would be 512 kbytes and a 2x2 binned image (256 x 256 pixels) would
be 128 kbytes. For faster downloads, these file sizes can be decreased by about 50% using file compression. Please click here for more information about the available image
compression options, and then contact us to choose the compression option which best suits your needs. |
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| fff |
64-66 |
This is the filter selection for the exposure. See this graph for in formation about
Tenagra II filters. Allowed values are U, B, V, R, I, UNF (unfiltered), IRB (IR blocking). When the filter is
a single character it can be anywhere in the field. |
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| tttt |
68-71 |
This allows you to choose
the Tenagra telescope you wish to use. Currently the only allowed value is 32IN. |
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yyyy-mm-dd
yyyy-mm-dd |
73-93 |
These two fields
specify a window of opportunity for your observation request. The first date specifies the earliest night in
which you wish the observation to be made; in case we are unable to carry out your observation request on the
night specified on the first date field, we will retry it on subsequent nights until the date specified in the
second date field. If the request is carried out, we will stop retrying; if by the final date it still couldn't
be carried out, you will either not be charged for the observations, or will receive a refund in case the
observations in question has already been paid for.
Notes:
- Dates are referred to universal time.
- Nighttime in Arizona always starts at most a few hours after 0:00 UT, so each night at Tenagra can
be uniquely identified by its UT date.
- When the two date fields are the same, your observation request will be submitted to the scheduler for that night only.
|
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| rrr (optional) |
95-97 |
This optional field specifies
the number of times to repeat your observing request. For example, if you specify the "window of opportunity"
(see above) for your observing request as 2003-09-15 to 2003-09-17, and set the value of this field to 3, the
observation will be attempted in the time interval 2003-09-15 to 2003-09-17 (until it is carried out or until this
window of opportunity passes), and then the same process will happen in the time intervals 2003-09-18 to 2003-09-20 and
2003-09-21 to 2003-09-23. To request daily observations of a target, use the starting date as a single-night window of
opportunity (e.g., 2003-09-15 to 2003-09-15) and use this field to specify the number of nights on which you wish to
observe the target. |
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| mmm (optional) |
99-101 |
This optional field specifies
a variable exclusion radius (in degrees) around the moon, which serves to prevent observations too close to
the moon. The radius specified in this field is the exclusion radius around the full moon. For other moon phases,
the exclusion radius is scaled by a cosine factor so that it drops to one half its full moon value when the moon
is in quadrature, and to zero at new moon. Your observation request will not be carried out when the distance between your
target and the moon is smaller than the scaled exclusion radius for the moon phase at the date of the observations.
This feature is particularly useful when you request long-term observations of a given target; the
scheduler will automatically interrupt the observations during time periods when the moon is too close to your target.
Notes:
- If you leave this field blank, a default moon exclusion radius of 5 deg will be adopted.
- The exclusion radius only takes effect when the moon is at an altitude greater than -5 deg as seen from Tenagra.
This allows certain observations to made at distances from the moon which are smaller than the exclusion radius,
if they can be carried out while the moon is below altitude -5 deg.
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| Examples |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
12345678901 |
| NSS M31 00 42 44.40 +41 16 08.0 30.00 1 1 FUL R 32IN 2003-09-15 2003-09-17 |
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| The above is a request to take a single 30-second exposure of M31 (R.A. = 00h
42m 44.40s, Dec. = +41d 16m 08.0s) on the 32-inch telescope. The exposure will
not be binned (0.87"/pixel), will use the full field of view of the CCD detector
(1024 x 1024 pixels), and will be taken using the R filter. The request will be
attempted between 2003 Sept. 15 and 2003 Sept. 17 UT. If for some reason the
request is not carried out on 2003 Sept. 15 UT, it will be attempted until 2003
Sept. 17 UT; we will stop retrying if the request is carried out. Since the
repeat field (columns 95-97) was left blank, the request will not be repeated.
Since the moon exclusion radius was left blank, the default value of 5 deg around the full moon
(scaled down for other moon phases) will be adopted. |
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| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
12345678901 |
| NSS CVXYZ 04 55 03.60 -05 58 28.1 60.00 15 600 2 CTR V 32IN 2003-12-25 2003-12-25 |
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| The above is a request to take a single-night time series consisting of fifteen 60-second V-filter exposures of the
cataclysmic variable CVXYZ (R.A. = 04h 55m 03.60s, Dec. = -05d 58m 28.1s) on
the 32-inch telescope. Successive exposures in the series will be separated by
approximately 600 seconds. The exposures will use 2x2 binning (1.74"/pixel), and
will only use the central 7.4 x 7.4 arcminute field of the CCD chip (256 x 256
pixels). Since the dates are equal, and the repeat field (columns 95-97) was
left blank, the time series will be attempted only on 2003 Dec. 25 UT. Since the
moon exclusion radius was left blank, the default value of 5 deg around the full moon
(scaled down for other moon phases) will be adopted. |
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| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
12345678901 |
| NSS FASTONE 07 36 03.60 +20 32 45.1 150.00 15 0 2 FUL UNF 32IN 2003-12-25 2003-12-25 4 |
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The above is a request to take a single-night time series consisting of fifteen 150-second unfiltered exposures of the
cataclysmic variable FASTONE (R.A. = 07h 36m 03.60s, Dec. = +20d 32m 45.1s), in
direct succession, using the 32-inch telescope. The exposures will use 2x2
binning (1.74"/pixel), and will use the full 14.8 x 14.8 arcminute field of the
CCD chip (512 x 512 pixels). Since the dates are equal, and the repeat field
(columns 95-97) was set to 4, the time series will be attempted on the four
nights 2003 Dec. 25, 26, 27, and 28 UT. Since the moon exclusion radius was left
blank, the default value of 5 deg around the full moon
(scaled down for other moon phases) will be adopted. |
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| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
1234567890 |
12345678901 |
| NSS NGC 6494 17 56 48.00 -19 01 00.0 20.00 3 180 1 FUL R 32IN 2003-12-25 2003-12-25 90 40 |
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The above is a request for monitoring of NGC 6494 (R.A. = 17h 56m 48.00s, Dec. = -19d 01m 00.0s) over a 90-day
period starting on 2003 Dec. 25 UT, using the 32-inch telescope. On every night in this period, a time series
consisting of three 20-second R-filter exposures is requested. Successive exposures in the series
will be separated by approximately 180 seconds. The exposures will not be binned (0.87"/pixel), and will use the
full 14.8 x 14.8 arcminute field of the CCD chip (1024 x 1024 pixels).
The exclusion radius around the full moon was set to 40 deg, and will be scaled down for other moon phases. |
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| If you have questions about
the the observation request format or about the above processes please e-mail
them to mbs@tenagraobservatories. |
