Version 2.0 - QUARG
Contents
1. 6 4 Saving and Transferring Images All images taken should be stored on the external harddrive connected to the Windows computer Choose Select Destination Path under the drop down menu in Sequence Settings See Figure 11 A path may be created or a previous directory used Since each image binned 1x1 is approximately 18MB transferring many images from the computer will require either burning a DVD or moving them via FTP THE HARD DRIVE SHOULD NOT BE REMOVED FROM THE OBSERVATORY 7 Observing Once the basic astronomical imaging concepts become clear it is obvious that the process of observing and properly reducing images is somewhat of an art The objects being imaged are carefully selected to be positioned well in the sky proper exposure times chosen and cal ibration images taken If one of these elements is missing an observing session can quickly become a disaster therefore each of these must be properly planned before arriving at the telescope A Brief Note About Exposure Time Exposure times are set by MaxIm DL starting from 0 001 seconds In practise however exposure times less than 5 seconds are undesirable since they produce shutter errors on the image For very bright objects or very large exposure times the CCD will saturate at 65535 counts and no accurate photometry can be obtained from that object 23 If your exposure time is too high you may find vertical trails or bleeding along the columns of your ima2. 14 16 18 18 18 19 20 20 22 23 23 8 Solar Observing 28 Sal USINE teo a Se Ne See ll Se te al Gal Se See A EA ge 28 8 2 Using the Coronados 3 4 2 2424 4 244 24 4 ed sot aed sate aes 29 9 XEphem Maps and More 29 10 What to do in the event of a power failure 33 11 Important Phone Numbers and Observer Safety 34 dll GG Call jn cP ond Abia da A AAA IRA RA 34 11 2 Working at the Observatory and Getting Home Safely 34 11 2 1 AMS Walk Home Service oia a a a a ae a a 35 11 2 2 Lone Worker Program ev 228 428 each eae ark ea ae ae a 35 TAS SCOPE FOR BAT GS ty as ty aes Pgh e id Ih o aoe yank 35 11 24 EMERGENCIES TTT 35 12 Quick Startup Shutdown Guide 37 13 Trouble Shooting Guide 38 iv 1 Before Observing 1 1 Bookings and Keys The Queen s Observatory is run by the Queen s University Astronomy Research Group QUARG and the Queen s Physics Department It is used primarily for student training and public outreach programs All telescope operators must be appropriately trained before using the facility and there must be a minimum of two experienced operators present at each observ ing session unless prior special arrangements have been made with the Coordinator By University regulation all operators must be Queen s University students or staff members Currently the Queen s Observatory Coordinator is Terry Bridges Room 375 in Stirling Hall Terry can be reached by phone 613 533 2711
3. Bias which will take a zero second closed shutter exposure See Sect 6 2 To get the best bias calibration 10 to 20 bias images are taken The typical bias level for the Apogee Alta U9000 CCD is around 1209 counts pixel but could change depending on temperature and lighting conditions and so it is imporant that these frames be taken with the same camera cooler temperature as the images they are calibrating 7 1 2 Dark Frames Taking dark frames during the observing session will take into account the accumulation of dark current from thermal electronic and random noise surrounding the CCD This is why the CCD is cooled to a very low temperature although counts due to thermal noise will still accumulate with time This noise can be accounted for by obtaining a dark frame a time exposure image taken with the shutter closed Similar to the bias frames MaxIm DL has a Dark setting which keeps the shutter closed during the specified exposure time Because you wish to subtract the dark current which accumulates during a period of time it is important to choose dark frame exposure times which are equal to the exposure times of the images they are calibrating For example a 30s exposure of M31 will require 30s dark frames to be taken Similar to bias frames the dark frames must be taken under the same temperature and lighting conditions as the images they are calibrating Generally 25 Figure 15 A closed shutter 120 second dark frame ta
4. A short table of common commands in Linux can be found in Figure 3 and more complete tutorials can be found almost any where on the web http www ee surrey ac uk Teaching Unix http www ischool berkeley edu kevin unix tutorial toc html 10 Command Description Example pwd Display current directory pwd Is List contents of current directory Is cd lt path gt Change directory cd obsproj Move up one directory vel mkdir lt file gt Create a new directory mkdir newfolder rmdir lt directory gt Deletes a directory if empty rmdir oldfolder rmdir r lt directory gt Recursively deletes entire directory rmdir r oldfolder mv lt file gt lt path gt Move a file to another directory mv image001 fts newfolder cp lt file gt lt path gt Copy a file to another directory cp image001 fts otherfolder rm lt file gt Remove a file delete rm image001 fts Is files gt list dat List a group of files into a text file ls m31 gt complet m31 list dat ssh Remote access to another Unix ssh X phy315 venus phy queensu ca computer exit Close the terminal exit tab Hit tab after starting filename to complete it automatically left mouse click Highlights text center mouse click Pastes any highlighted text to the command line 5 2 XObservatory Figure 3 List of basic Linux commands Your default
5. On the image create a box around the selected star using the mouse button as shown in Figure 7 and the width and height of the box will automatically appear in Subframe For all subsequent focus images only this box will be read from the CCD reducing the chip s readout time and speeding up the focussing process Bre Jog Expose Settings Sequence Focus Inspect Guide Setup lt con Seconds Binning raas h h 3 Delay s o Subliame Len 481 Width Top 357 Height Figure 7 A subframe in the entire 3096 x 3096 image has been selected using the cursor 3 Hit Start Focus again to see the box imaged by itself Select the Inspect tab in the CCD window A 3D depiction of the PSF is shown giving the FWHM value for the star in the field which will be at a minimum when the optimal focus value is reached Ab Maxim CCD ay Expose Settings Sequence Focus Inspect Guide Setup C idl Nan Max Y 32 Max Pixel 2122 HM 4 44 Half Flux Dia 5 35 Large View fe CCD C Guider Figure 8 The 3D PSF of the selected star in the field The FWHM values will become smaller as the focus reaches its maximum 4 Activate the Continuous mode in the Focus window with a delay of 15 seconds This will allow for a series of images to be taken to have their FWHM analysed as well as the focus value changed between exposures 17 5 Set the telescope focus
6. We strongly encourage the use of the AMS Walk Home Service for Observatory users leaving the premises alone after dark In the event of equipment problems notify the Observatory Coordinator Terry Bridges immediately at extension 32711 In an emergency Terry s home number is on the sheet by the phone late night calls of questionable importance may not be appreciated so make sure you check the Troubleshooting section of this manual before you call Terry at home If you answer a call to the Observatory line from someone seeking information that you cannot supply please take a brief message and notify the caller that the Observatory Coor dinator will return their call as soon as possible Please leave voice mail with the message at extension 32711 Thanks 11 2 Working at the Observatory and Getting Home Safely So you ve just captured an image of a new Supernova and reported your findings to the world Great Fame and fortune will soon follow Until then it s 4 A M and you re a little worried about your walk home through the empty streets of Kingston What do you do Here are a few programs at your disposal to make both your night of observing and your trip home as safe and productive as your observations were Please do not hesitate to call any of the numbers listed below if you feel at all nervous at anytime 34 11 2 1 AMS WalkHome Service The WalkHome Service is an escort service for students provided by the Alma Mater Soci et
7. When the user first logs on to Galileo from the console a terminal window will appear on the Desktop and the XObservatory software will start automatically To control the telescope from the dome the user must remotely access from the laptop located beside the telescope as described in Section 3 2 The computer should be turned off as it should be left at the end of any observing session and so must be turned on username and password not required for the laptop Galileo can then be accessed through ssh from the dome where the user is prompted with another username and password see Sect 3 2 5 1 Linux Linux is an open source operating system used for a wide variety of computer hardware including several home computer distributions such as Fedora Debian or Ubuntu Most astronomical data aquisition and reduction is performed using a Linux operating system for ease of data manipulation The Linux operating system is much different from the more common Windows or Macintosh platforms with its most notable difference being that it op erates using a terminal window much like the DOS prompt in Windows All commands are typed into the terminal window to easily access different applications or programs although desktop navigation is still available TIP Several different desktops are located along the bottom of the desktop and can be accessed by selecting one or by using ALT CTRL arrow keys Some very basic Linux commands are listed below
8. don t worry Sometimes the encoders which control the motion of the telescope get stuck between encoder steps Simply slew the telescope a tiny bit using the Paddle until the noise stops 4 3 Closing the Dome The lower shutter of the dome must be closed tightly before closing the upper shutter The lower shutter crank is found to the right of the dome opening turn the crank until the shutter has closed tightly Close the upper shutter by turning the switch on the leftmost box on the panel at the top of the Observatory staircase to the right to close If for whatever reason there is no power to the dome controls the dome can be closed manually using the long crank in the corner of the warm room Please be extremely careful not to hit the telescope when using the crank 4 4 Logging Out Ensure telescope is safely parked at the Stow position before logging off computers Galileo Important Do not shut down or reboot the computer when you leave Make sure you log yourself out but leave the computer at the login prompt Log out by clicking the left mouse and selecting Exit and Yes Really Quit Dome Laptop You do not need to exit from the XObservatory software merely shutdown the laptop click on Red Hat button on lower left click on shut down and then on Shut Down Mars Ensure that the external hard drive is turned off and then log off from the computer go to Start Menu Shutdown then choose Log Off Do not sh
9. Autosave Filename Dither Images via Mount Setup Mosaic NGC2244 Sl Start at Suffix Time Cooler lor 1 gt 0 NA gt Options gt 1x1 Image Size Astrometric Resynchronization gt Resynchronization Interval Full Frame y Subframe from Settings Tab Camera not available Overwrite Files y Run Scripts Minimized Figure 11 The Sequencing tab in the CCD Control Window and the Options drop down menu process Note that the Filter option will not work due to the incompatibility of the telescope with the CCD Choose the Type Suffix Exposure Binning and Repeat options to set up a proper sequence The final filename given to each image is filename001Suffix fit An Autosave Filename must be specified usually the name of the object being imaged a starting file number a suffix and exposure time To begin the sequence hit OK on the Setup Sequence Window then Start under the CCD Control Window kir Sequence we Exposure Definitions Enable Type Filter Suffix Exposure Binning Repeat Script wae ee araa oo Lox Baral fo af ar aaa ah bh TH H f aes P ararar il sr fe ofa al arapar fe afer al amp arapar 1 A Delay first Delay between Duration s o 3 fo ko Options p Es Figure 12 Setup Sequence Window In the example in Figure 12 a sequence has been set which will take twenty biases ten 30 second darks and ten 30 second light images in the V band Note that setting t
10. and 2 together Control Towards the left of the window are many of the Control buttons including Find Homes Paddle and Auto Focus which may be of use The red Stop button will stop the 12 telescope motion suddenly if necessary and Quit will allow you to quit the program No Confirm will turn off the windows that ask you to confirm that you wish to execute a spec ified command activating this No Confirm button is not recommended Batch Mode tells XObs to relinquish control of the telescope don t do it Activate the Sounds button to hear the computer beep while the telescope is in motion recommended More on the rest of the buttons later Status At the centre of the XObs window you will find Status information to tell you what the telescope is up to at the moment When the telescope is tracking on a target the Tracking button will be green During the Find Homes procedure Homing will be illuminated The Weather button should be green when the weather station is functioning Roof Dome controls are not yet implemented Telescope At the far right of the XObs window is the Telescope motion control which you can use to move the telescope The Stow position is set to point horizontally due south ie over the stairs The telescope should be left in this Stow position after every observing session To Slew or Track on an object type the source name eg M31 or Moon into the box and click Slew to move to the object or Track
11. currently not operable Various parts of the weather station have been installed on the roof of Ellis Hall This in cludes a temperature and humidity sensor air pressure sensor rain gauge and anemometer to measure wind speed and direction Weather information is communicated to the obser vatory control software and is also displayed on the small black monitor on the desk by the computer terminal Even with the weather station hooked up Telescope Operators must remain vigilant about the weather Ensure that at least one person is responsible for keeping an eye on the weather and that the dome is closed IMMEDIATELY in the event of precipitation lighten ing elevated humidity gt 75 or high winds Obviously the telescope and camera will be damaged if they get wet 3 Opening for the Night 3 1 The Dome The dome should be opened a minimum of 15 minutes prior to the start of observing in order for the inside temperature to equilibrate to that of outside To reduce the effects of air currents it is wise to keep the hatch to the dome closed during observations and shut the door of the warm room to the hall And yes we realize that the name warm room is a misnomer the room is not heated This will become painfully obvious during mid winter observations so bundle up The dome shutter control box is located on the left of the panel at the top of the staircase into the dome To open the upper shutter turn the switch to the left and t
12. need not be reset between these bands It is however a good idea to perform more than one focus run if observing for a long period to ensure that the images are still well focussed Filter Focus um OI 7360 Ha 7070 I 6990 R 7060 V 7000 B 7160 U 7170 Table 2 Approximate focus values for each filter Note that these will not be exact and the telescope should be refocussed to obtain crisper images At the beginning of each night the peak focus value must be found to obtain good im ages Approximate values to begin the focus run are given in Table 2 and are a good starting point 5 5 Finding the optimal Focus Begin by finding a field with at least one star which is not too bright and not too dim which will be imaged 1 Use the Focus tab under the MaxIm DL CCD control window turn off Dark and Con tinuous options and ensure that the whole CCD 0 to 3096 pixels in Subframe is being imaged Set an appropriate exposure time and hit Start Focus This will take an full field image of a star field from which one star will be selected which is not too bright and not too dim 16 4D Maxim CCD JE Expose Settings Sequence Focus Inspect Guide Setup lt Seconds Binnin Delay s A at fr al Subframe r Left 10 Width 12096 gt Top 0 Height 3096 Cameraide Auto Reset T Dark T Continuous Figure 6 Focus tab in the CCD Control Window 2
13. on Stretch Yv ve Maximum Manual z 10039 26028 Figure 13 Screen Stretch Window The red arrow is the Minimum Level control which sets the brightness level in the image that corresponds to black on the display The green arrow is the Maximum Level control which sets the brightness level in the image that corresponds to white full brightness on the screen These two controls can be moved over the histogram image of the CCD image on the Screen Stretch Window to set a desired stretch and zero point minimum level For a quick and easy stretching the Automatic Stretch can be used from the drop down menu shown in Figure 13 e Low low contrast setting with dark background e Medium a medium contrast setting with dark background e High high contrast setting with dark background 22 e Moon even higher contrast setting with dark background slightly saturated pixels e Planet highest contrast but adjusted so that no feature in the image saturates e Max Val adjust so that the brightest pixel is set to the maximum brightness and the zero level is set to black e Range adjust so that the brightest pixel is set to the maximum brightness and the darkest pixel is set to black e Manual user adjustments either using the mouse histogram or Minimum and Max imum field This Automatic Stretch can also be implemented by right clicking on the image and set ting Screen Stretch to one of the above options
14. star associated with atmospheric disturbances is known as the seeing and depends on the air currents flowing in the atmosphere above the observing site The see ing at the Queen s Observatory is typically no better than 7777 because of the poor location and the nearby lake which provides plenty of upper atmospheric disturbances Although the PSF due to seeing cannot be avoided the PSF of a source is also dependent on the telescope focus which we can control The FWHM of a star is measured at different focus values until a minimum FWHM is found corresponding to the optimal focus value A 15 built in tool in MaxIm DL has been constructed to make easy the task of focussing quickly outlined in Sect 5 5 The focus of the telescope is shown in the top lefthand panel of the XObservatory in terface measured in um and is controlled using the Paddle window On the paddle OUT pushes to a smaller focus value and IN makes the focus larger The default focus value upon homing is 10114 4um and must usually be changed to approximately 70004m See Table 2 to begin from Each of the seven filters will hvae a slightly different focus value A table of previously measured peak focus values below can be used to quickly focus but for more precise work it is recommended that a focus run be perfomed at the start of the night as described in Sect 5 5 Once a focus has been set one can assume that the five main passbands UBVRI are parfocal and so the focus
15. to move to it and continue tracking the target across the sky If your selected target is beyond the limits of telescope motion i e through the floor an error message will appear in the Messages window Site Information The top bar under Site Information provides the current date and time as well as the positions of the Sun and Moon UT stands for Universal Time which is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time not Daylight Savings Time LST stands for Local Sidereal Time the value of Right Ascension which is currently crossing the meridian JD refers to Julian Date The times for Dusk and Dawn are also shown The lower bar gives the temperature and other weather information as detected by the weather station weather station is currently not operable In the event of high winds excessive humidity or rainfall do NOT open the dome And don t just rely on the weather station for information check the weather yourself periodically Messages Information about system status and telescope position are output to the Mes sages window You can scroll up to previous messages using the scrollbar on the right Keep an eye out for error messages in this window 5 2 1 Before Moving the Telescope IMPORTANT Before you attempt to move the telescope go up into the dome and ensure that the cable for the camera has enough slack in it to accommodate telescope motion with out so much slack that the cable gets caught on the fork assembly when undergo
16. unfortunately there is nothing we can do to fix these pixels and image data in these regions will not generally be usable Also need a list of the bad columns Hot Pixels Row Column 897 821 647 508 481 578 1175 all 295 all Table 1 Hot Pixels on the Apogee AltaU9000 CCD at the Queen s Observatory 2 3 Filters The telescope is able to capture images in one of seven different filters in a rotating filter wheel mounted to the telescope The filter wheel contains the Cousins Johnson UBVRI filters from Sch ler Astro Imaging now Astrodon all 4mm thick and narrowband Ha and OMI filters from Astronomik with a thickness of 1 05mm There is also a clear position which is the default upon startup Figure 2 provides response functions for each filter provided by their respective manu facturers Astronomik Profi Ha Schuler Johnson Cousins Filters Transmission in Tansmittance 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 Wavelength in nm Astronomik OIII CCD 100 mc Transmission in 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 Wavelength in nm Figure 2 The response function of the UBVRI filters from Sch ler Astro Imaging The re sponse function of the Ha and OIII filters from Astronomik The red lines are the most important lines from artificial lig
17. will effectively turn on the CCD and you will hear the fans begin To ensure that the CCD has been correctly connected the CCD interface software MaxIm DL Sect 6 should be started and the software connection process begun Sect 6 1 4 Closing Down For the Night 4 1 Turning off the CCD Please turn off the cooler for the camera before closing up for the night so that it can warm up gradually To do this return to the Setup tab in MaxIm DL and select Cooler Off The CCD must also be disconnected under the same Setup tab hit Disconnect to stop communication with the software 4 2 Parking the Telescope The Stow position for the telescope in XObs is set to leave it pointing horizontally and south ward Please leave the telescope in this position to prevent dust build up on the primary mirror and to avoid accidents when observers are entering the dome in the dark Using XObs click on the Stow button to automatically move the telescope to this position The Stow button will occasionally fail to slew to the correct position and in this event the telescope must be stowed manually To do this click on Stow which will load the Stow coordinates click on Track which will move the telescope to the Stow position and fi nally click on Stow again to stop the telescope at the Stow position this last step is very important If the telescope makes an unusually large noise and sounds like it is struggling when it is in the parked position
18. Queen s University Observatory Manual July 23 2007 Notes to this version Version 2 edited by T Bridges and M Hall The Queen s University CC04 telescope installation was completed on March 8 2000 and again on August 25 2000 after a remounting The Queen s Observatory Operating Manual has been written and compiled by Kathy Perrett Terry Bridges and Melanie Hall and is in tended for internal use by the staff and students of Queen s University Technical assistance has been provided by Bernie Ziomkiewicz Dave Stiff Mike Ulin and the kind folks at Torus Technologies The reference manual for the Observatory Control and Astronomical Analysis System OCAAS for Linux provides a complete overview of the telescope control system A copy of the OCAAS manual can be found in the Observatory not to be removed or copies can be signed out from the Observatory Coordinator This remains a work in progress and we invite comments and contributions by email at observatory astro queensu ca This manual is also available online at www astro queensu ca Contents 1 Before Observing LE BOOKINGS ane Keysi a een RTE aa a A GR a R 1 27 R les and Safety A NN IA 2 Equipment and Specifications 21 Telescopes g sart ieg a Se al ee al ek ae a E ly Sas E 22 CCI Camera ka bbe tk ey a yh ee Se EM Bere A Sobek a 23 Filters te dolar po pd a ci bc 24 RG VO A NN Fac 25 SUGGES TTT 2 6 The Weather Station 346 344 AA AAA 4 eae ee 3 Openi
19. ached to the sides of the telescope and controlled using the Lights setting in the XObs interface Three levels of lighting are avail able 1 being the dimmest and 3 being the brightest obtained by selecting 1 and 2 together These lights are unfortunately generally too bright or too dim for efficiently imaging dome flats but setting 1 can be imaged for approximately 200 seconds to yield 45000 counts 26 This long exposure time becomes cumbersome once one realises that several flat fields are required to make a good flat frame when reducing images 3 5 in each filter Figure 16 Donut patterns due to dust on the mirror and hot pixels due to cosmic rays hitting the CCD are a common feature in flat fields as seen in this 200s dome flat The last way to create a flat field is the sky flat A sky flat is created by taking a series of dithered images of the night sky The idea behind dithering the images is that later during the reduction procedure the median of all the fields can be taken to remove stars and other objects It is therefore important when choosing your field for the flats that it not contain too many stars or bright extended objects To dither the fields simply use the Paddle to move the telescope slightly between exposures The final product of taking the median of the dithered flat fields is a flat field containing no stars which can be used to divide out the pixel to pixel sensitivities in the object images Need rec
20. changes ok Apply Reset Close Help We don t recommend you go deleting objects from the memory by using Objects Load and delete objects in memory If you accidentally do either use Load in that same window to reload the relevant database or simply exit and restart xephem from the menu To filter 32 out the unwanted objects from a crowded sky map select Control Filter from the Sky View window Select your limiting magnitudes and desired targets then click Apply or OK to set You can change your vantage point or zoom in on a particular area of the sky map by using the slide bars on either side and at the bottom of the Sky View window The FOV slide bar is on the left and sets the magnification or field of view of your image accordingly Azimuth or Right Ascension is set using the bottom slide bar and Altitude or Declination is on the right Alternatively you can right click on any part of the map and select Center and Zoom to get a closer view To refresh the map and return to a view of the current sky above click History Sky Above annotated in the menu H gio W Ue 2 Edite Sky above annotated pn Sky above clean 360 Equator East horizon South horizon West horizon North horizon 10 What to do in the event of a power failure If the power goes off during your observing session the UPS uninterrupted power supply will continue to drive the
21. e Message window will read that the dome homing has failed as expected and more likely than not that the z axis focus has timed out giving the following message Focus Axis Z timed out finding home This indicates that the focus the z axis has not homed properly and so must be homed again individually 4 If z axis timeout has occured hit Focus button in the Find Homes window to repeat only the focus homing Repeat until the timeout message no longer occurs and instead the following message appears indicating success Focus Homing complete Now going to 10114 4um 5 4 Focus To obtain crisp images with the CCD the telescope must first be well focussed so the light obtained from a source is as concentrated as possible However unlike focussing the light in your binoculars focussing light into a telescope is not quite as straight forward 14 HA Altitude Azimuth pare Az 06 33 8 86 45 56 339 51 25 22 04 08 Target Difference I Camera Control Find Hon x Roof Telescope Filter B Empty m Qui mj a Service Stow slew 7 Scope HA Az E Focus jin 10101 7 m nas aa aj agas Here Lookup Track Temp c 0 m scope bec alt close a Test Rel E Source nane OT cooler Error m HIE P E lt Calib Axes 1 No c Status IDLE Ml Focus EI m Raf HA Rotator E _Auto Focus 4 parc Filter Ey 4 Auto Dec A
22. ge in which bright stars are found and the images will be saturated more than 65 000 counts Longer images are also more prone to telescope tracking errors and so it is generally better to take a series of short exposures 1 2 min and average them to obtain higher signal to noise rather than by taking one long exposure image Obtaining the correct exposure time for an image can be tricky One may attempt to per form sample signal to noise calculations to estimate the optimum exposure time for an n magnitude object observed at a given wavelength in a given aperture an exercise recom mended for the reader but trial and error often seems to work just as well Target Not In Frame A good idea is to take a short exposure before observing your target to ensure it is placed properly in the middle of the frame If you select a target and begin tracking it only to find that it is not in your image there are several possible explanations First verify that you are indeed tracking on the target in question by checking the target coordinates and Tracking light in the XObs window If that checks out ensure that the dome is not blocking the view we all make this mistake at one time or another Also check for cloud cover Next check that your exposure time is long enough if you are attempting to find a very faint object try slewing to and tracking on a bright star to see if that works out Is your image way out of focus Failing that verify that t
23. he GPS is obtaining the correct time by following the instructions in Section 2 5 It is also possible that the telescope pointing calibration has been overwritten accidentally so please notify the Coordinator if the pointing and or tracking have failed 7 1 Taking Calibration Images A minimal amount of preprocessing is necessary to obtain nice looking images and accurate photometry For image reduction we suggest using XVista an astronomical image pro cessing application or the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility IRAF software package off site Both programs are currently installed on the Astronomy computers in the student computer cluster in Stirling Hall and a reduction manual for XVista is available at www astro queeensu ca mhall phys315 Experiment with exposure times number of exposures to average etc to achieve the desired calibration images New calibration images should be obtained at every observing session preferably at the beginning and middle end of each session 24 7 1 1 Bias Frames The bias subtraction procedure is necessary if you wish to remove the signal which is reg istered on the CCD in the absence of exposure to light The bias level of an image typically incorporates an additive offset meant to ensure the CCD is operating in a linear regime Figure 14 A zero second closed shutter bias frame taken with the Apogee Alta U9000 CCD MaxIm DL makes bias imaging easy by having a camera setting called
24. he suffix to V does NOT change the filter only the filename The filter is changed through the XObs interface on Galileo The Delay Between setting will set a delay between the end of the readout from the CCD and the next exposure When setting this remember that the readout time is 30 seconds for 1x1 binning it will be reduced by a factor of four for 2x2 binning etc in which time the telescope can be dithered focus changed or filter changed and a delay time may only take up more time than expected Once in the Set Sequence Window another drop down menu labelled Options can be 21 utilized to manipulate the sequence further The Group by Slot option is very important as it will tell the sequencer to take all 20 biases first then the 10 darks then the 10 lights If this option is not selected then the sequencer will image in a round bias001 then dark001 then light001 and then start over again at bias002 dark002 light002 etc Another option is to save the sequence which you have created with the Save Sequence As option so you may run the same sequence more than once 6 3 Adjusting Images Once an image has been read from the CCD and is being displayed on the MaxIm DL screen one can manipulate the stretch and the zero point to better display the image The Screen Stretch Window appears automatically when MaxIm DL is started but if it does not appear it can be accessed through View Screen Stretch Window or by hitting Ctrl H
25. ht pollution The green lines are the most prominent emis sion lines for nebulas The grey curve is the human eye s night sensitivity The blue line is the transmission curve of the filter 2 4 The Telrad The telescope is also equipped with a Telrad finder scope mounted on the upper side near the primary mirror The finder is aligned with the CC04 and provides a large field of view If necessary the Telrad can be turned on and its brightness controlled by a knob on its right hand side Looking straight into the Telrad when it is on you will see three red con centric circles At the centre of the smallest circle should be your target The inner circle has a diameter of 0 5 and the outermost circle has a diameter of 4 Please do not leave the Telrad on for extended periods of time as this will wear down the battery 2 5 The GPS The system is hooked up to a Global Positioning System GPS which will provide accurate time and location readings If the GPS is unable to find a lock or provides an incorrect reading please notify the Observatory Coordinator To verify that the GPS is functioning properly go to an xt erm window one is opened by default in virtual window 4 and type date rdate time nrc ca The first part of that command checks the system date as set by the GPS and the second part grabs the exact time from NRC The two times should be the same to within a second If they aren t contact the Coordinator to restart the GPS
26. ing large motions in Declination Someone should be present in the dome every time the telescope is slewed to ensure that it does not get snagged on anything 13 Currently the cable to the dome shutter control is dangling from the top of the dome Until we affix this cable and or automate the dome control you must ensure that the cable is well out of the way of the telescope each time it is moved If you are not planning to open and close the shutter unplug the dome shutter cable temporarily and loop the cable out of the way Remember to plug it in when you are done While slewing to a new target or finding its Home positions the telescope will move very quickly Be careful to warn observers before slewing the telescope so as to avoid injury Other items chairs step stools etc should also be moved away from the area 5 3 Homing The homing of the telescope effectively lets the telescope get its bearings when it is first turned on for the night The telescope will attempt to home in the x y and z directions to orient itself as well as try to find the Dome Home which will always fail since the dome is not connected to the telescope control center Figure 4 shows a screenshot of the homing procedure outlined below 1 Hit Find Homes to open the homing options window 2 Hit Home All At this point the telescope will begin to slew around the dome and end pointing straight up at zenith 3 After all the homing has been completed th
27. it is in the buffer and can be done by selecting File Save To begin select the image type under Type as Bias Dark Flat or Light of which the former two will be closed shutter exposures and the latter open shutter An exposure time in minutes or seconds is also entered for Dark Flat and Light exposures These settings will be added to the FITS header of the image although unfortunately the telescope information RA Dec HA UT etc does not currently appear in the FITS header Hit Expose to begin imaging 6 2 2 Sequence The Sequence tab is a feature which allows for multiple images of different types to be taken in succession It will automatically save each image which has been taken under an Au tosave Filename chosen by the user The option to overwrite files is located under the Op tions pulldown menu and will overwrite any image in the same directory with the same name This may be useful if the first few images of the sequence turn out to be of no use and you wish to reset the Start at counter to 1 To create a full sequnce of images select Setup Sequence in the Options drop down menu A window will appear with several fields to be filled in pertaining to the image aquisition 20 Iu Options D Setup Sequence e Sequence Wizard Scheduled Mode AD Maxim CCD ey men Path Maximum Dither Deviation Expose Settings Sequence Focus Inspect Guide Setup EO Images via Guider
28. ked If this doesn t work please contact the Observatory Coordinator 3 2 2 From the Dome Laptop The system can also be accessed from the dome laptop e Boot up the laptop e Once booted up open up a terminal window and ssh into Galileo ssh X telescope galileo phy queensu ca This will prompt for the password for the telescope account on Galileo again provided upon request from the Observatory Coordinator e Once logged into Galileo you need to start up the XObservatory software by typing StartXObservatory usually this command can be entered by recalling via the up arrow key 3 2 3 Logging into Mars The CCD camera is controlled by MaxIm DL CCD imaging software on Mars the Windows machine on the right side of the desk This will require a different username and password to login see Observatory Coordinator Once logged in turn on the external hard drive sitting next to the computer to save files to See Section 6 for more information about MaxIM DL and using the CCD 3 3 Connecting the CCD If the telescope has been previously used for public tours then the CCD may not be setup for use and an eyepiece will appear in its place for public viewings Be sure to contact the Observatory Coordinator before observing so that the CCD camera will be mounted on the telescope The CCD must be plugged into an extension cord as well as through the USB port both located in the dome Plugging in the power cord to the CCD
29. ken with the Apogee Alta U9000 CCD several dark frames are taken for a single exposure time to ensure good statistics in the final image 7 1 3 Flat Fields In order to remove the large scale variations in sensitivity across the CCD chip you must divide the image by a so called flat field There are three ways of obtaining flats by taking a short exposure of twilight sky twilight flats taking a short image of a field with flat illumination dome flat or by taking several dithered images of the night sky sky flats Twilight flats are difficult to obtain but groups arriving in the early evening might wish to give it a try You must find a field with no bright objects and take an exposure just long enough to get the typical number of counts in a pixel to between 20000 and 45000 Do not saturate the chip in any area i e maximum number of counts must be lt 65535 It is a good idea to turn the tracking off while doing a sky flat so that potentially uneven sky illumination is smeared out and star images can be removed by median combining the flats Dome flats are typically easier but sometimes less effective You will notice a screen affixed to the inside of the dome That s your flat field Point the telescope using the Paddle under XObs until the telescope is more or less pointing at the level of the screen board Rotate the dome until the screen is directly in front of the telescope The screen is then illuminated using the lights att
30. lt Lights 4142 al Paddle 4 Soun e 8 az Ep L az Site Infor an ars A O Moon Sun push 51 38 17 51 38 16 Jul 2007 8 22 2 ESE 2 06 UT TE UT Wind Direction Temp Pressure Humidity Rain YT Go 0 c Ton mar T Messages 17 44 16 UT Seeking Filter home oO Z Erase 17 44 6 UT Seeking Dome home Axis z timed out finding home Last S Tele escope Axis y home complete Ene Homing complete Now going to B Empty o z timed out finding home ing Focus ha ome 28 UT Homing complete Now going to 10114 4um 17 48 31 UT Fo c s Focus Ofrsat complete L Figure 4 A screenshot of XObservatory when homing shows the Find Homes window cen tered with messages appearing in the bottom text window All stars viewed from Farth are so distant that they are actually point sources in the sky When a point source of light gets passed through our atmosphere and through the telescope the signal gets smeared out and appears as a disk on our CCDs The smearing out of the star can be modeled by a point spread function PSF which describes the response of all smearing factors to a point source or point object such as a star Figure 5 As the light from a point source such as a star passes through our atmosphere and instrumentation it convolves into a point spread function such as a gaussian The minimum FWHM of the star corresponds to the peak focus value The spread of the
31. meters for the Queen s Observatory in Kingston Ontario will need to be set by clicking under Local where by default it is set to Chicago Illinois typing Kingston and hitting Set Clicking the Update button at the bottom of the window will make the changes Local EST Calendar Kingston Ontario January 2001 Latitude 44 13 35 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Longitude 76 29 47 a A E T Elevation 200 0 m 14 115116 17 18 19 20 nenes 10 0 Cl E 22 23 10 25 26 27 Atm Pres 1010 mB 2812912013901 1 2 3 Epoch 2000 0 4 S 6 7 FM s 10 lt lt lt Naw Tx gt gt Time G Night Julian 2451930 79383 Sun Dip 18 UTC Date 1 21 2001 Dawn 5 53 UTC Time 7 03 07 Dusk 18 42 Sidereal 9 59 59 Length 11 11 TZ Name EST LST O 8 00 28 TZ Offset 5 00 00 Looping Local Date 1 21 2001 step RT Clock Local Time 2 03 07 N Steps 1 Delta T Auto 64 44 pause o Update Now left click on View and select Sky View to bring up a map of the sky This is the current sky visible at your location with North at the top and East at the left 29 la ontrol Locate Telescope History ERAMOS Y q 10 PEY S S 5 Arcturus gt How gt m Az 180 00 4 21 2001 2 03 07 EST To set the telescope control and marker
32. ndard fields in addition to your object images if necessary Sect 7 1 Shutdown Turn off the CCD cooler and disconnect the CCD in MaxIm DL Make sure your images are stored on the external hard drive or that you have removed them from the computer in some other way Safely Remove Hardware for both CCD and external hard drive Close the dome you must shut the lower hatch before the upper Rotate the dome so the hatch points roughly North West 37 6 Move the telescope to the Stow position manually if necessary 7 Log off the computers If using dome laptop shut it down Do not turn off Galileo or Mars 8 Fill out the logbook entry and sign it 9 Tidy up after yourself please 10 Close the windows and turn off the lights in the dome too Make sure you have your keys when you leave 11 Shut the door and return the keys as soon as possible the next working day 13 Trouble Shooting Guide To Be Done 38
33. ng for the Night Sen H L 6755 Bie hoe he ee eh ae e o See ee SSeS de Logging ner a pea ata Good a ps Googe Se Aa aa tg 3 2 1 From the Galileo Console x Se iis Sig ae Ga Sh op a chs a She oe a oh ge OP 3 2 2 From the Dome Laptop 2245 242405 455 aa Sea eR 3 23 LOS EME mto Mars Con ar m ree alban momen Alten maven aCe Ma goo Connecting the ECO e AAA kh ad Hk Ha 4 Closing Down For the Night 41 Tune OE He CCOO Ros oS ye o iia e oe Op aes Ao 4 2 Parking the Telescope 3 2 2 act eae aot AR ake Beh we ae alk a a 4 amp 3 Closine ihe Dome 2 2 9 2 vy 4 ay oe oS ye yO AA AR LA Logging Outoa ha ee a ane ATRASADAS Saha ad 11 4 5 4 6 Filling Out the Logsheet x A a Leaving tor the Nishit tas e a a de Na Telescope Controls 5 1 5 2 5 3 5 4 5 5 5 6 NOSE Va tor ada dd E ep TET mer erp E cl eee A 5 2 1 Before Moving the Telescope o ooo oo o Finding the optimal Focus son 3 9 2 taa tada taa Wien Resa aa altos 151 a n ted Bae EE Nooo CCD Imaging MaxIm DL Bl ECOS Ps a E ARS AAA AA A 62 Taking lmages 2 3 RAR DAA RA A RA Rare A 6 2 A A A O RRR TARA RRR Ea 0 2 2 PEQUENA SA AAA A 6 3 Adj sti g Mage ti e o o de O 6 4 Saving and Transferring Images o ooo e Observing 7 1 Taking Calibration Images y 5a ERES O EA os Sey CS A A BN N EN T ALZ Dark LH Bley SIT TTS TTT 7 2 Standard Stars and Fields for Photometry daa as bhp eh Bega iii 10 10 11 13 14
34. o shut the window Filter controls the types of objects that are displayed on the map Click to toggle on or off the various target groups if you are particularly interested in globular clusters for example as most astronomers would be of course click on the Toggle button at the bottom to turn all objects off then click on the button beside Globular under the Clusters section Click Apply to apply the changes If you want to increase the limiting magnitude of the display ie see fainter objects use the Deep Sky Lim Mag slide switch at the bottom to set your desired limit Again click Apply to make it so The All button will select all object types When you are done fiddling with this click Ok at the bottom to activate the settings and close the window 31 EL ra Solar System Galaxies RADec Cylinder Toggle Toggle Grid Control F Planets FG Spiral Grid F Auto F Elliptical F H Spherical Dec 20 00 00 4 RA 2 00 00 F Hyperbolic PA Clusters vAlt Az F Labels F Parabolic RA Dec View Options F Just dots Flip Left Right Toggle Flip Top Bottom Equatorial plane me Skular F Ecliptic plane FO Open F Galactic plane Fu in Nebula F Eyepieces i f lt lae F Earth Sat Toggle FN Bright FF Diffuse FK Dark FP Planetary HEBE F Magnitude key Other Toggle F Auto magnitude Toggle F Field stars F Live dragging LUNES Horizon map FL Pulsars Constellation FI Radio Boundarie
35. o the right to close Please note that if you switch directions too quickly the shutter will not respond properly and may continue in the same direction Pause for a second or two before switching directions The ambient sky light can be quite high in certain areas of the sky especially when the Tyndall Field lights are on or during a Full Moon We recommend that you keep the lower dome shutter closed during your observing session whenever possible to cut down on the incoming light near the horizon If you need to open the bottom shutter turn the crank on the right of the shutter to lower it slowly You will need to close this part first when it comes time to shut things down otherwise the dome will not be sealed properly and water snow can enter the dome Never exit the dome by the shutter There is a five story drop off the roof and no fence Do not place anything or step on the lower shutter 3 2 Logging In 3 2 1 From the Galileo Console Currently the telescope operates under XObservatory controlling software See Sect 5 2 on the Linux machine at Ellis Hall named Galileo A username and password are required to login and will be supplied upon request Galileo will normally be running and the login screen visible Enter your username and password and the XObservatory software and Xephem will automatically startup If Galileo is not running try the reset button to reboot this will take 5 minutes as several disks need to be chec
36. ommended exposure times for sky flats 7 2 Standard Stars and Fields for Photometry Throughout the night atmospheric extinction will change the magnitude of any object being observed depending on the length of the air path called the air mass If photometry is the intended use for the images being observed then it is important to know the airmass at the location of the object The air mass can be calculated if one knows the latitude of the observation site the declination of the object and the hour angle at which the observation is being taken so be sure to note these in an observing log for each set of images The basic principle behind finding the extinction of the sky is to measure the flux from stars of known standard magnitude i e standard stars which can be found in the Lan dolt Standards catalog online in several filters 27 http mthamilton ucolick org techdocs standards index html http www noao edu wiyn obsprog images tableA html A star or field should be chosen to meet the observer s needs RA DEC and band Sev eral standard star images must be taken at different air masses throughout the night and compared to their known standard magnitudes A more in depth look at airmass extinction and standard stars can be found at http www astro queensu ca mhall phys315 corr_mag html 8 Solar Observing Need pictures here of the solar observing setup both with 16 and Coronado The Queen s Observatory i
37. our destination 11 2 4 EMERGENCIES In case of any emergency call the Emergency Response Centre ERC at 533 6111 24 hours a day 7 days a week The above Campus Security programs can also be reached at this num ber In the event of Observatory equipment problems contact the Observatory Coordinator 35 immediately at any time of day or night at 533 6000 x74781 Leave a voice mail message if there is no answer 36 12 Quick Startup Shutdown Guide Startup N 0 aA A Q 10 11 12 13 Check the weather Close the door to the hallway and open the dome shutter to equilibrate the temperature with that outside Log into both computers Begin MaxIm DL and connect the CCD Sect 6 1 Set and start the cooler temperature ASAP it will take a while to cool down Begin XObservatory on Galileo Verify that the telescope area is clear of barriers before moving the telescope Someone should be upstairs when the telescope is slewing Find Homes under XObs and verify output messages repeating Focus homing several times if necessary Slew to an object using XObs Rotate the dome to centre the telescope in the slit opening Turn off the lights in the dome the warm room and close the hatch before doing any imaging Choose a filter and conduct a focus run outlined in Sect 5 5 Observe Follow instructions on how to use MaxIm DL Sect 6 and be sure to take bi ases darks flat fields and sta
38. out by Optical Mechanics www opticalmechanics com CC04 Cassegrain reflecting telescope with an open truss tube assembly More information can be found at www opticalmechanics com cassegrain_telescopes htm Never touch the telescope mirrors Mirrors must only be cleaned with special techniques and should never be wiped with anything Do not attempt to clean the mirrors yourself There is a warning sticker on the telescope mount marked Pinch Point The telescope will rotate quickly when slewing so keep fingers cables and other objects away from the telescope to avoid injury and equipment damage 2 2 CCD Camera The camera is an AltaU9000 3056 x 3056 pixel CCD charge coupled device The pixel scale is 0 6 pixel 1x1 binning and the total coverage is 30 arcminutes on a side the pixel coor dinates increase from the upper left corner of the image See Figure 1 for more information As is typical of most CCD cameras there are several hot errant pixels in the array which can appear as bright pixels or columns in output images A list of these hot pixels is given in Kodak KAF 09000 Array Size pixels 12 x 12 microns Figure 1 Specifications and sensitivity curve of the AltaU9000 CCD provided by the manu facturer More information can be found at www ccd com alta_u9000 html Table 1
39. p Ensure that the CCD is powered up and the USB cable connected in the dome and on Mars To connect the CCD camera from Mars the CCD Control Window must be opened 18 from the View menu or by hitting Ctrl W File Edit View Analyze Process Filter Color Plugin Window Help 2 ios Pe LEO deh Oo eee jup API coD Control window A Telescope Tha Window D Maxim CCD eax P screen Stretch Window Expose Settings Sequence Focus Inspect Guide Setup r Main CCD Camera Filter Wheel Setup jl Setup No Fites Cooler Cooler ir gt Connect y DIE is LO Line Profile window HE Command Sequence Window B Night vision Toolbars Status Bar Mode Aperture I Diplvin Calbrate gt gt Figure 9 Open the CCD Control Window in the View menu This control will be your primary tool in aquiring images e The Main CCD Camera should be set to Apogee Alta under the Setup tab in the CCD Control Window If it is not hit Setup under Main CCD Camera and change the Camera Model to Apogee Alta and hit OK e Hit the Connect button A message will appear under Main CCD Camera reading Cooler is off Setpoint 20 0 Temp 20 0 If the CCD does not connect and an error message appears then the CCD has not been properly connected to the computer Ensure that it is properly plugged in at the dome and at the computer All else failing unplug wait 10 seconds then plug back in and try again e To set
40. properly If the pointing is off substantially because of the GPS and you can t find the Coordinator but wish nonetheless to continue observing you can attempt to make use of the Telrad for positioning The Telrad should already be centered with respect to the telescope view so please do not adjust it Pick a bright star near to the target you wish to find With one ob server looking through the Telrad and one controlling the telescope motion with the Paddle centre the star in the innermost ring of the Telrad Make use of the intercom to communicate with the telescope operator Once the star is centered in the ring track on the star XObs Track and centre the image in the telescope view using images from the camera Take note of the coordinates of the star as registered by XObs Current and compare with the true co ordinates of the star in the XEphem catalogue Objects Search ObjX Y Z click on target in the list on the right Now look up the target objects in the XEphem catalogue as well You might expect a similar coordinate offset in RA mostly hopefully for your target so calculate the appropriate telescope coordinates accordingly You can start up a calculator tool from the Utilities Menu or by typing xcalc amp in an xterm window Type in the expected coordinates in the RA and Dec boxes under Telescope in XObs and click Track Hopefully that ll do the trick temporarily 2 6 The Weather Station The weather station is
41. rectly and safely and that Observatory safety procedures are followed Report all problems immediately e Check the weather before opening the dome shutter If it is precipitating even a fine mist exceptionally humid gt 75 humidity windy or threatening a thunderstorm do not open the dome or use the equipment Monitor the weather carefully during your session and close the dome immediately at the first sign of changing conditions e Never point the telescope at the Sun without the proper Ha solar filter or projection screen Exposure to direct sunlight without a filter will cause irreparable damage to the chip in the camera or human vision For solar viewing please see Sect 8 e An Observing Logsheet must be filled out after every Observatory session regardless of whether the dome was opened or not Failure to report an observing session will result in loss of telescope privileges e All users of the Observatory and other computing facilities on campus are subject to the Queen s University Computer User Code of Ethics www ccs queensu ca pubs rules code htm All network activity on the Observatory computer is logged and verified The Coor dinator reserves the right to monitor Observatory computer activity at any time and suspicious activity by any users will be reported and dealt with accordingly 2 Equipment and Specifications 2 1 Telescope The Ellis Hall Observatory houses a 16 inch diameter Torus Technologies since bought
42. s S F Figures FR S N Rem Fv Variable Full names F Undefined FT Star like T Abbreviations Labeling E a r a ea mag Stars Sol Sys Lim Mag A l Sol Sys 1 a JT A SS N MDeep Sky Mag dot step Deep Sky Lim Mag Help Close Ok Apply Toggle All Reset Close Help Fs Single FEB Binary FD Double FM Multiple Beooogd Z E G E 3 Ea E Can t find your favourite nebula or galaxy in the sky Bring up a full list of catalogue objects by clicking on the Data menu and selecting Search ObjX Y Z Left click on the object of your choice to reveal its nature coordinates and magnitude Click on Set Tel to slew the telescope to your selected target if it is visible Sky Mark if you just want to see where the object is located XEphem 3 4 File View Tools Data Preferences j Load Delete xephem Search and Objx Z vUndefined Hyperbolic Achernar k v Fixed Parabolic jy Acrux Elliptical 4Earth Sat Acrux Adara Name 1355157 Albireo Ep of Perigee 6 Alcor Inclination S Alcyone RA of Node 3 Aldebaran Eccentricty E Alderamin Arg of Perigee S Algenib__ Mean Anomaly E Algol Daily motion ANTEA R A TISS Orbit decay 0 0001562 rath Orbit reference Sa anis Drag coefficient DI Alphecca Alpheratz Alphirk Alrai Altair 4 Sky Point Sky Mark Set Tel A Search ObjX V 2Z Field stars Update Earth Satel li tes Make
43. s equipped with several instruments for solar observing 8 1 Using the 16 With the 16 it is important that the CCD not be used for solar viewing as it will damage the chip More important still is that the Sun is not observed directly through the eyepiece as it can cause serious eye damage The image of the Sun is instead projected onto a screen provided in the dome To block out some of the light from the Sun a shield is provided with a circular opening which is attached to the barrel of the telescope with the supplied screws Simply slew the telescope to a position where it is in reach and screw each of the three screws into place A white metal sheet with a bracket to attach to the telescope is provided to mount under neath the viewing eyepiece with four more screws Once the telescope is slewed to the Sun a disk the size of the sheet should appear slightly out of focus This is the Sun The telescope focus should be set to the smallest possible value 30um in order to view the Sun Further focussing can be conducted manually with the focussing knobs next to the eyepiece Focussing will be made easiest if there are sunspots present on the surface of the Sun on which to focus Otherwise the edge of the Sun may be used as a guide to the sharpest image 28 8 2 Using the Coronado To Be Done 9 XEphem Maps and More Now look at the XEphem utility which by default appears in the top right virtual window The location para
44. select Telescope and set Enable Telescope Marker and Enable Telescope Control boxes shaded You should now see white crosshairs show ing the direction in which the telescope is pointing The scroll bars at the bottom and on both sides allow you to vary the view shown in the map xephem Sky View Control Locate Telescope History EH Hel Enable Telescope Marker Enable Telescope Control a Now pick a target a star planet Messier object or any other celestial item on the map Right click on the target and select Set Telescope The telescope should now be slewing to track on your object of choice Check any error messages in the dialog box in your XObs window to see if there are any problems 30 Polaris Type Multiple Star UT Date 1 21 2001 UT Time 7 03 07 S Rise CirPl Transit 18 34 Transit Alt 44 58 Set CirPl R 2 31 48 70 Deer 63715 5170 Alt 43 58 12 Az 359 03 41 Cla l Mag 2 02 Center Center Zoom Place eyepiece AAYSO Assign Persistent Label 4 Track Create Trail To alter the display and target settings for the Sky View window click on the Control then select Options and Filter These windows are shown in the figures below Options controls the display settings for example you can switch to an RA Dec view add a coordinate grid add or subtract constellation labels and change the proportion of objects that are labelled in the view Click on Close t
45. telescope computer and camera until it has 5 minutes of battery life left It will then execute an auto shutdown procedure to shut down the telescope and camera properly The computer monitor is not hooked up to the UPS and will shut off Make use of the flashlights in the computer desk to move around the Observatory safely in the dark If the power remains off for more than a few minutes you may wish to call it a night and go home The telescope will take care of itself but you must ensure the dome is closed tightly before leaving To close the dome manually you may use the long crank found leaning in a corner of the warm room Bring the crank up into the dome and with extreme care not to hit the telescope attach the hook on the end to the ring at the top of the shutter Turn the crank until the shutter closes tightly you will need to have closed the lower shutter first Return the long crank to its place downstairs Please notify the Observatory Coordinator as soon as possible that there has been a 33 power outage 11 Important Phone Numbers and Observer Safety 11 1 Who to Call Service Internal External Campus Emergency 3 6111 533 6111 AMS Walk Home Service 3 2662 533 2662 Weather Recording 9 545 8550 545 8550 Fireball Hotline 7 7608 533 6000 77608 Observatory Coordinator 7 4781 533 6000 74781 Queen s Observatory 533 2711 In the event of an emergency fire etc contact Campus Security 36111 immediately
46. the cooler temperature hit cooler under Main CCD Camera and set to at least 20 C minimize thermal noise and hit OK WARNING You must wait for the cooler to stabilize at the set temperature before taking any images which could take up to an hour in hot conditions 6 2 Taking Images MaxIm DL provides two different modes of imaging under the Expose and Sequence tab The Expose tab allows quick Light Bias Dark or Flat images to be taken and stored in 19 buffers which can either be saved or deleted once viewed This mode is suggested for testing things like pointing and exposure times where the images do not need to be saved The Sequencing tab is more efficient when a series of exposures is to be taken of the same source which can include bias and dark frames during the same session but performs the same basic operations as Expose 6 2 1 Expose 4D Maxim CCD Expose Settings Sequence Focus Inspect Guide Setup Type Minutes Seconds Delay s Light 0 feo fo 3 Bias C Dark E si C Flat No Camera No Autoquider New E buffer Figure 10 The Expose tab in MaxIm DL The Expose tab is fairly straight forward the only trick being that it stores images in buffers instead of saving them to file If you d like to have multiple buffers open then click New Buffer and each image will go into a seperate buffer instead of being written over and lost The option to save the image is yours while
47. top left virtual window shows a large control panel entitled XObservatory This is used to control the telescope and to monitor equipment status The various sections of the window and uses for XObs are described in this section 11 Local JT 1 18 05 21 22 05 21 17 mE a 18 46 12 2451835 420 76 TR 23 IA mran CIA IZA CT TI p n ma 22 04 48 UT Welcome telescope user Pointing Schematic At the top left corner of the window is a schematic of the telescope location with respect to the inside of the dome the northwest direction is labelled NW The telescope position is represented by a small circle which gets filled with a green cross when the telescope is slewing The positions of the Sun and Moon are shown by yellow and grey filled circles respectively if you are observing during the day ensure that you do NOT point the telescope directly at the Sun Positions Along the top of the window are the current telescope coordinates and tracking information The quality of the pointing and tracking is evident from the Difference coordi nates Camera The active Filter is displayed on the left If you left click on the Filter button a drop down menu will appear which gives the list of available filters You can switch filters by selecting your desired setting Below the Filter selector the current Focus position is displayed in um The Lights buttons can be set to 1 2 or 3 settings where 3 is obtained by selecting 1
48. utdown Mars 4 5 Filling Out the Logsheet An observing logsheet MUST be filled out after every observatory session even if you did not open the dome Failure to fill out the logs will result in loss of Observatory privileges If you had arrived to find the Observatory in disarray or if there were signs that the equipment was not handled appropriately by a previous group please make note of this in the logbook If you encountered any equipment problems during your Observatory ses sion explain how and when the problem occurred and describe it as completely as possible Contact the Observatory Coordinator as soon as possible 4 6 Leaving for the Night Please ensure that all windows are shut tightly and that the lights are off Double check that all is well in the dome before you go Shut slam the door closed when you leave and make sure it is locked Please return the keys to the Observatory Coordinator as soon as possible the next work ing day 5 Telescope Controls The telescope is currently controlled through the Linux operating system Fedora on the left most computer in the observatory Galileo If the user is unfamiliar with Linux platforms it is recommended to learn the basic concepts and commands in Linux Sect 5 1 to better un derstand the process It is however not pertinent that the user know much more than how to login and logoff since all other commands can be executed through the XObservatory interface see Sect 5 2
49. value to 500um of the approximate peak value given in Figure 2 for the filter being used Between exposures the focus value is increased and recorded along with the FWHM of the star to tabulate values and to hone in on the optimal focus value 6 Click Start Focus and start the measurements 5 6 Filters The filters are controlled in the XObservatory interface and are changed using the drop down menu on the left hand panel of the main window The filters rotate in a filter wheel constructed for the Queen s Observatory Although the first two slots are labelled Empty the first slot actually houses the OII filter position 2 really is empty This is the default filter after homing The remaining slots are labeled by band colour UBVRI and Ha Ha with the second slot containing no filter at all Specifications of these filters can be found in Section 2 3 6 CCD Imaging MaxIm DL MaxIm DL is an advanced CCD imaging software which supports astronomical CCD imag ing and analysis It is currently installed on the Windows machine Mars and can be ac cessed from the Desktop The basic operations of the software described below will give the basic skills needed to perform accurate and efficient CCD imaging It is recommended that those who are interested in learning about any of the other many features offered by MaxIm DL consult the MaxIm DL Help Menu or read through the MaxIm DL User Manual located in the observatory 6 1 CCD Setu
50. where a message can be left or by email at tjb astro queensu ca or observatory astro queensu ca The Observatory Coordinator must be notified before using the facility Qualified tele scope operators must sign out keys in advance from the Coordinator or from the Physics Office before 4 00pm and will be asked to leave their student ID card until the keys have been returned Observing time allocation is subject to availability and priority is given to students and tour groups with advanced bookings 1 2 Rules and Safety e A Queen s Observatory Rules and Safety Sheet must be read and signed by each trained Telescope Operator before they are permitted to observe without supervision A copy of this sheet is kept on file in the Physics Department By signing this form users are asserting that they have read and agree to abide by the rules stated therein e For safety and security reasons no one is ever permitted to observe alone At min imum two people must be present at the Observatory at all times The Telescope Operator s must be trained Queen s faculty staff member s or student s e The Observatory Coordinator must be notified prior to using the facility and equip ment e All Operators present during an observing session are responsible for the proper use of the equipment and facility as well as the safety of all others present at the Observatory It is the Operators responsibility and duty to ensure that the equipment is handled cor
51. y Staffed by students who will walk you from one point to another within WalkHome s boundaries WalkHome s hours are Sunday to Wednesday 7 p m to2 a m Thursday to Sunday 7 p m to 3 a m in the fall and winter and 9 p m to 1 a m in the summer A team of one male and one female will walk or bike with you to your destination Stop by the Infobank in the lower JDUC or call 533 WALK 533 9255 Campus Security Programs http www queensu ca security programs html 11 2 2 Lone Worker Program Since you will be observing in groups of 2 or more no one may work alone at the Observa tory this will not apply Nonetheless if you work alone at night or weekends holidays etc feel free to phone Campus Security at 533 6733 and report where you are working how long you will be there and the phone number of the closest phone The operator will ask you to call again when you leave approximately what time you expect to leave and if you would like a security escort when leaving If you do not call at the end of your work period security staff will come and check on you 11 2 3 Escort Program Campus Security provides escorts from one point on campus to another for staff faculty and students when WalkHome is off duty This service is provided at any time day or night all year round Anyone who wishes to be escorted may phone Security at 533 6080 and request an escort Security Staff will be sent to meet you and will escort you to y
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