HPP Observatory Quick User Guide
Contents
1. C Search ID Deep Space Object ID Search Region Kornephoros Merak Mizar Polaris Ras Algethi Rasalhague Thuban Unukalhai Vega Vindemiatrix Alp Cep Star Eta UMa Star Alp CrB Star Alp Boo Star Alp2 CVn Star Alp Cyg Star Alp UMa Star Gam Dra Star Bet Umi Star Bet Her Star Bet UMa Star Ze UMa Star Alp UMi Star Alp Her Star Alp Oph Star Alp Dra Star Alp Ser Star Alp Lyr Star Eps Vir Star Del Oph Star Star Star Star Star 19h 30m 43s 21h 18m 35s 13h 47m 32s 15h 34m 41s 14h 15m 40s 12h 56m 02s 20h 41m 26s 11h 03m 44s 17h 56m 36s 14h 50m 42s 16h 30m 13s 11h 01m 50s 13h 23m 56s 02h 31m 46s 17h 14m 39s 17h 34m 56s 14h 04m 24s 15h 44m 16s 18h 36m 56s 13h 02m 11s 16h 14m 21s 00h 00m 53s 00h 01m 39s 00h 02m 36s 00h 03m 26s 62 35 08 49 18 48 26 42 53 19 10 57 38 19 05 45 16 49 61 45 05 51 29 20 74 09 20 21 29 23 56 22 55 54 55 31 89 15 52 14 23 24 12 33 36 64 22 33 06 25 31 38 46 55 10 57 33 03 41 40 66 50 53 73 36 43 66 05 56 63 38 26 15h 15h 15h zi x 1 Keypad Options 45 4 67 8 68 6 54 4 55 3 434 47 2 mu 62 2 63 4 45 2 64 5 46 8 53 7 50 1 66 8 43 8 60 8 37 6 38 8 33 1 37 7 32 4 30 6 Figure 23 Observatory Catalog tab 30 Zoom To Golo Abor 42. Invert V Auto r Pixel Data Pixel X 1665 Y 1445 Value 4507 Avaval 4442 42 Noise 55 72 Magnitudes Absolute 6 16 Diffuse 12 96 Seeing 1 31 2 r Geometry Sep Angle X Hair Preview 4 0K 4 5K 5 0K No Pixels 16 78M Ave 3913 RMS 424 Box 25425 v 1 2816 50 3968 99 4561 Link ENET STX 16803 Res Imaging High Temp 10 02 C 8 Filter Clear Figure 15 CCDOps main panel Quick launch options and monitoring panel at the bottom right are indicated by circles Open sub panels cross hairs histogram and contrast 22 Cooling Temperature Regulat on Active ir Cancel Fan Auto Control Active CCD Active CCD Imaging CCD Setup Non 4BG streak removal Mo Vertical N binning f Tracking CCD Setup Active Tracking CCD Internal v Resolution mode Auto v General Reuse dark frames No v Response factor 3000 00 Overscan Rows Cols n 200 Max Figure 16 Camera setup panel with default values and user options indicated by circles 23 p Ng UG ene Auto Grab Setu T setName N Type FITS v Cancel Number of exposures 3 Exposure interval Per Image Notification None v Figure 17 Autograb panel with default values and user options indicated by circles Filter Warm Pix T Update mode Automatic Exposure delay D Figure 18 Focus panel with default values a
3. If this is not the case then the camera cannot stabilize the temperature and one should choose a higher setpoint Image acquisition For acquiring images go to the Expose tab see Fig 31 Here one can define all exposure settings and also define named presets for often used settings In particular use the following options e Exposure Preset Sets basic settings for commonly used camera presets e g Single Imaging Continuous Imaging Dark Choose the preset that matches your intention and adapt some of the settings below to optimize the exposure Note whenever one of the pre defined settings of the chosen preset is changed this is indicated by a star e g Single Imaging e Seconds Sets the integration time Note that the shortest possible integration time is 0 12 s When choosing an integration time lt 0 12 s the software will automatically reset it to 0 12 s Also note that for high precision photometry one should use integration times gt 0 5 s or even gt 1 s because the shutter might not be reliable for shorter integration times e Frame Type Choose Light for recording normal images with shutter open and Dark for dark images with the shutter closed e Filter Wheel Select different filters The monitoring panel at the bottom right will display Waiting for Filter wheel until the new filter is set e Binning Set the on chip binning value 1 for no binning Besides for increasing the flux but lowering resolution an
4. e focus the Neon spectrum onto the ST 1603 camera by using the camera Focuser of the DADOS spectrograph see Figs e tighten the Focuser fixation screw e detach the calibration lamp and re attach the Barlow lens Important Also make sure that the spatial orientation of the webcam the cam era and the complete spectrograph assembly is correct see previous Section 37 6 4 Operation All sub components required for the operation of the Spectrograph i e the telescope the ST 1603 CCD camera and the Webcam are controlled by MaxImDL See Section 5 for operational instructions for the telescope and the CCD camera In particular note how to setup and connect the ST 1603 Important When using the ST 1603 camera set Filter or Controlling Camera Model to No Filter Important for the ST 1603 Subframe does not work and needs to be de activated The webcam is also connected by the Observatory window e g see Fig 20 and operated by the Webcam tab see Fig 42 General operation procedure 6 5 slew telescope to target if required focus target onto slit focal plane imaged by ST 1603 by using the Max ImDL Focus tab when using telescope adapter piece as in Fig B7 focus position 24913 um TBC center target onto desired slit by using the N S E W buttons of the telescope control see Figs select step size 10 Sec or less if required turn On Off slit illumination turn Off slit illumination acquire spect
5. 11s Mouse RA 16h 31m 47s View Dec 17 39 57 Mouse Dec 11 25 28 View FOV 30 Mouse Alt 30 58 42 Rotator PA N A Mouse Az 173 56 04 Gamma Lib 38 Lib HIP 76333 Star RA 15h 35m 32s Dec 14 47 22 Mag 3 9 Options gt Slaved to Telescope Figure 25 Observatory Zoom tab 31 All Sky Zoom Catalog Telescope Dome Focus tatus Weather Webcam Setup Focuser1 C Focuser2 Incremental o Absolute m Focuser Status 34 5 12300 Position 12300 Nk Focuser Focus Star a0 Moen _Move To Focuser Step Size Target 1 2 Fux Dia Move Out F Temp 00 Ato 520 pixels Focuser Type Absolute Backlash Con Eu ing Microinches must exceed best Backlash Compen HFD by at least 1 2 Flux Diam 31 07 Pa Jul ERUNT Microns one f FWHM 17 41 Steps 50 ET Exposure Preferred Direction D Margin Move In v 0 al Selected star at 2190 2183 forfocus 48 Pos 12399 1 2 Flux Dia 11 96 Telescope Pos 12873 1 2 Flux Dia 14 75 Pos 10706 1 2 Flux Dia 27 90 Focal Ralio Pos 10943 1 2 Flux Dia 22 16 Pos 11775 1 2 Flux Dia 13 46 2 g S 3 Q 2 Q w RK HFD unbinned m 10500 11500 12500 13500 14500 155C 4 m H Position Figure 26 Observatory Focus tab with sub panel Autofocus Settings accessed by
6. DADOS spectrograp 1 Instrument specifications telescope Planewave CDK20 optical design Corrected Dall Kirkham aperture 20 inch 508 mm focal length 3454 mm diffraction limit at 500 nm 0 2 arcsec focal ratio F 6 8 central obstruction 39 of the primary mirror diameter back focus from racked in focuser 147 mm CCD K AF 16803 array 4096 x 4096 pixels pixel size 9 x 9 um CCD dimensions 36 9 x 36 9 mm CCD type full frame antiblooming shutter even illumination mechanical shutter external ports USB20 1 x and 10 100 Mbs Ethernet telescope 4 camera field of view 36 7 x 36 7 arcmin diagonal field of view 51 9 arcmin plate scale 0 54 arcsec pixel magnitude limit TBC 2 Start up Make sure that you go through all of the following operations and that you stick to the order 2 1 Open the telescope box the dome In general observations are only allowed if the dome can be completely opened and locked in its open position In the winter make sure that no snow or dirt can fall down onto the telescope when opening sliding the dome Only push pull the dome from the inside so that you can check that the telescope fits through the door opening e fully open both doors e make sure the open doors are snapped into their secure locks they cannot swing back see Fig e release the dome locks located inside the dome see Fig e check that the telescope is correctly parked and that it will fit
7. Neximage Connected Frame rate fps 0 ASCOM Switch unavailable Observatory 9 se All Sky Zoom Catalog Telescope Dome Focus Status Weather Webcam Setup Webcam Neximage Connected Options gt Frame rete fps 30 ASCOM Switch unavailable Figure 42 Webcam operation with slit illumination On top and Off bottom Settings for the webcam are accessible by the Options button Figs Note that in these images the webcam orientation is not in the recommended position see 45 UT II 111 Figure 43 Neon calibration spectrum Figure 44 Commissioning image of Vega spectrum Note that in this image the webcam and spectrograph assembly orientation are bad For the recommended orientations see Sect 6 3 and Figs 371 39 46 7 Data reduction using MaxImDL TBD TBD see also video tutorial at http www cyanogen com maxim_tut php 47 A Mounting the SBIG camera IMPORTANT Mounting or dismounting the camera requires two people Do not try it on your own DISMOUNTING Make sure the SBIG power cable and the USB cable are unplugged see Fig 48 Do not unplug the filter wheel cable and the autoguider cable DISMOUNTING Never dismount the filter wheel which is directly attached to the camera see Fig 46 For storage attach the camera cover as shown in Fig 46 Mounting or dismounting the camera requires two people One person holds the camera and the other person tigh
8. Vv a Figure 47 Mounting the camera Note the autoguider head A is at the same side as the wedge of the adapter plate Make sure the camera flange tightly fits to the camera adapter plate and then tighten all four 5 64 Allen screws ol NN Figure 48 Attach the camera power cable and the USB cable Note in this image instead of the USB cable the Ethernet cable is used However only use the USB cable 52 B First light of DADOS spectrograph telluric lines 400 509 600 700 BOD wavelength nm Figure 49 Uncalibrated Vega spectrum using the 900 L mm grating The different spectral regions are not calibrated but simply scaled to match each other The plate scale is 0 096 nm pixel which was determined using the solar spectrum and the Neon calibration spectrum byrthese 22 10 2013 17 40 UT m utl os 1 31 rfe Aeons spinet DADOS 200L mm amp SBIG STF 8300M eter Jolu v Zuun t4 Xme4 9056 2 Schilerlabor Astronomie CFG Wuppertal dl reva tOsec 14 abentit sex io Tellurische Linien Erdatmosphare Balmerserie ME ii 3 Ha y Spese meg 3900 4100 4300 4500 4700 4900 5100 5300 5500 5700 5900 6100 6300 6500 6700 6900 7100 7300 7500 7700 7900 100 5300 8500 8700 900 9100 9300 950 Calibration by Bernd Koch V3 5D Bernd Koch b koch baader planetarium de Figure 50 As comparison to our uncalibrated first light spectrum Fig 49 Flux calibrated Vega Eus by Bernd Koch DADOS Tutor Baader Plan
9. of the 3 reference stars add additional stars for refining the correction model Here you can abort if the star is not visible Usually about 6 stars 3 reference stars 3 additional stars are sufficient enough for accurate pointing For later use do not forget to save the new model by e MENU ALIGNMENT ALIGNE DATABASE SAVE MODEL 4 2 CDK operation The software PWI3 is used for setting monitoring the mirror temperature and the mirror fan as well as for operating the automated focusing stage For the moment the software should only be used for focusing After launching the software click on the button CON NECT as indicated in Fig If the connection was successful the software will immediately start monitoring and displaying the ambient and mirror temperatures Mirror temperature control Not yet tested do not use it for the moment Focusing In the right side panel select the tab Focuser Fig 14 to operate the focusing stage The actual position is displayed in wm You can change the position by using the IN OUT but tons or you can manually set another absolute position and hit GOTO Note when setting a new position the motor will slightly overshoot and then slowly settle at the given position SBIG Filter focus position at T TBD um 4 3 Camera operation SBIG STX 16803 The camera is operated by the software CCDOps After launching the software the cam era first needs to be linked to the software Either use Camera Esta
10. 0 0 125 2 287 2 714 196 8 78 9 226 5 59 2 212 0 571 65 3 135 8 317 7 71 9 66 9 108 7 349 6 92 2 1651 89 9 3104 66 5 301 7 729 0 3 100 5 149 2 992 143 0 103 8 327 3 83 2 186 6 75 9 92 7 HI 241 0 39 7 175 9 81 4 23 9 121 9 17 9 115 5 244 1225 26 3 124 7 Sync t Observatory Al Sky Zoom Catalog Telescope Dome Focus Status Weather Webcam Setup Mouse RA 20h 41m 33s Mouse Dec 58 53 08 Mouse Alt 49 38 24 Mouse Az 47 39 49 Gamma Lib 38 Lib HIP76333 Star RA 15h 35m 32s Dec 14 47 22 Mag 3 9 LJ Almach L Mirach Min Alpheratz PE e i Scheat Markab Alderamin a Den b 2 9 Enif Sadalmelik E e ol t 1 9 V N Albireo L Figure 24 Observatory Observatory All Sky Zoom Catalog Telescope Dome Focus E sched ar v e m NI Capella Mirfak 2 vt Polaris ET c fe Kochab Thup O Mizar MISI o M Etamin N a i SA Alpheccal e Kormephoros RaBardyaethi Unakalhai E amp E Yed Prior F L Status Weather Webcam Setup NGC2403 ra Arcturus K AIKE ga Cor Carali oc Zubenelgenubi DE Merc Algie Bupi Denebola Vindemiatrix Porrima Spica e Kre All Sky tab View RA 15h 44m
11. Figure 37 Spectrograph assembly Complete assembly with attached Barlow lens and Webcam ready to be attached to the tele scope Note that this webcam orientation will produce the slit image as in Fig 39 The telescope adapter piece as shown is optimized for focusing the target onto the slit A Barlow lens B Webcam C Adapter piece for telescope 42 Figure 38 Spectrograph assembly attached to the telescope Note in this image the webcam is mounted 180 opposite to the recommended position see Fig 87 Figure 39 Optimized slit orientation on the webcam 43 Figure 40 Changing the grating position to change the spectral range Loosen the fixation screw but do not completely remove it and use the um screw to change the illumination angle of the grating Note that pushing the grating um screw goes in works better than pulling push fixation screw sideways to support pulling the grating with jum screw A um screw B fixation screw Figure 41 Spectrograph calibration assembly Replace the Barlow lense by the 2 receptacle and attach the Neon calibration lamp Note for storage of the Barlow lens attach it to the barlow lens adapter piece A 2 receptacle B Barlow lens on adapter piece for storage C Neon calibration lamp D telescope adapter piece not used for calibration 44 Observatory NS All Sky Zoom Catalog Telescope Dome Focus Status Weathe Webcam Setup
12. HPP Observatory Quick User Guide August 2015 Abstract This step by step user guide describes the standard procedure for start up operation and shutdown of the HPP observatory as it is adequate for most student projects e g VP ASL experiments or for outreach activities For more functionalities of the telescope the mount or the camera see the corresponding manuals Contents 1 Instrument specification e 21 Open the telescope box the dome iene ge oo aS eee ay yee Chee E 2 6 Start up the instrument software 2 2 2 ee ee How r rh BK KB E J 3 Shutdow 18 Dome epee TT 18 heehee r TN an 19 ea ee eg ee eA 19 M 19 Deda bho beeen ehh P222 9 eee se 21 5 Instrument operation using MaxImDL 25 5 1 Observatory contro ii iii isi s k s i k k k k k k k k k k k k a G 25 Dll Ce so a mom ow wk adadan os epus kr ea we es d 25 ee see 25 re 26 ede baa Be an Gb apn dn Ma E E eee 27 Na BN Aa Un pan Dn a Ma a AA 28 Sa A whos wee yee ee eee ee eee eee SAN seen 28 6 Spectroscopy with the DADOS spectrograp 36 eee ee oer eee 36 er er eee 36 6 3 Alignment aaa Rss 37 6 3 1 Spatial orientation 2 u k k k d k k k 4 k 2 37 peso gee ee te Sew ee soe es aoe ene ss Dewy wae man r ts RL GP AN LN ea BEN Be AAU So GA GB Kp TA Kp ans 7 Data reduction using MaxImDL TBD A Mounting the SBIG camera B First light of
13. XXX password XXXXXXX e telescope computer username XXXXXXX password XXXXXXX Important make sure to shutdown the remote computer before turning off the main switch see Sect 3 for the correct shutdown procedure You find the relevant programs grouped together on the desktop of the remote computer see Fig 12 e main program MaxImDL this software is used to control all individual components e auxiliary software these are the individual software distributions from the manufacturers but they are obsolete when using MaxlImDL mount control Virtual Keypad telescope control focus control PWI3 camera control CCDOps See the next sections 4 and 5 for operational instructions of the software 2 7 Figures and ee o mu Se To PAN ts ir v P 4 DLL III oomehshdidd A ne eea Lo M gt ree t M oo Figure 1 door locks top and dome locks bottom Figure 2 Mirror cover Figure 3 Strap to fix the loose cable when camera is detached n HE Ml 11 rt Figure 4 Overview of electronics main power switch circle remote computer A power adapter GM4000 mount B router B GM4000 control box C Delta T control box D handles to push pull dome E DC REGULATED POWER SUPPLY Figure 5 Main power switch circle Also indicated are the remote computer A and the power adapter for the GM4000 mount B Figure 6 Power switch of the rem
14. ab see Fig 20 Connect each component separately starting from the top using the corresponding Connect buttons For disconnecting start from the bottom Note When connecting the Focuser the PWI3 software is launched in the background Leave it open and only close it after closing MaxImDL Note The webcam is only used when using the Spectrograph 5 1 2 Telescope control The telescope can be controlled manually by the Telescope tab see Fig 21 or one can use the Go to button for known objects given by the Catalog tab see Fig 23 or by using the right click option of the mouse by the All Sky tab see Fig 24 or the Zoom tab see Fig 25 Telescope The information window summarizes the current position the tracking status and if the telescope is moving or Idle Use the Mount panel to Park Unpark the telescope and to set sidereal tracking on off It is only possible to enable disable Sidereal Tracking No Tracking but setting the Solar Tracking Lunar Tracking is only possible using the hand control see Section 4 1 The telescope can be moved manually in a similar way as with the keypad on the hand control by using the keys in the Nudge panel The speed the movement corresponding to one mouse click can also be set there To move the telescope to specific coordinates use the Target Coordinates panel and click on the Go To button to move the telescope All the other options in this panel should already be correctly set For
15. amera Model IP Address sei Universal z M Connect Ti Figure 28 Camera control Setup tab with Setup Camera sup panel AB Camera Control 9 ls Camera 1 Camera 2 mt Setup Camera Cooler SBIG Universal Figure 29 Camera control Setup tab with Cooler sup panel 33 Cot Sr ms pm Options Dual Options Chip SBIG Universal BIG Universal Version 6 C reper e NA Limited www cyanogen com Figure 30 Camera control Setup tab with Setup Filter sup panel Filter Wheel X Binning Y Binning Luminance gt 2 Same gt daa Less lt lt Figure 31 Camera control Expose tab 34 Autosave Filename Max Dev M57 ot gt pixels Estimated Duration Astrometric Resync Off Syne Telescope OK Cancel C Correct via Slew 40 v E M C Solve Only Fiere Apply Delay First Delay Between id O Brna o 4 4 Capture Bina f Options P Slot Type Filter Suffix Exposure Binning Speed Readout Mode Repeat Script Figure 32 Camera control Sub panel Autosave Setup accessible by the Expose tab see Fig 31 35 6 6 1 Spectroscopy with the DADOS spectrograph General comments Operation of the DADOS spectrograph has been tested successfully see Appendix but the observing procedure and the calibration strategy still need to be improved and estab lished respectively Next steps 6 2 determine ap
16. blish COM Link or go directly to the menu Camera Setup which will both link the camera and open a panel for setting the camera configuration e g CCD temperature binning mode readout mode Both options are also available from the quick launch tab shown in Fig When linking of the camera was successful this will be indicated in the monitoring panel at the bottom right together with the actual CCD temperature the duty cycle to stabilize the temperature and the selected filter see Fig 15 19 standard operation settings Camera Setup see Fig 16 CCD cooling In order to reduce dark current the CCD can be cooled by a Peltier element Depending on ambient temperature use a setpoint between 20 C and 0 C As soon as the temperature is reached the duty cycle should drop from 100 to a value lt 75 If this is not the case then the camera cannot stabilize the temperature and one should choose a higher setpoint resolution mode This sets the on chip binning value high for no binning medium for 2 x 2 binning and low for 3 x 3 binning Besides for increasing the flux but lowering resolution and therefore minimizing the integration time binning is also used for minimizing the overhead time for downloading the image In high resolution mode the image size is 4096 x 4096 pixels with a download time of TBC whereas for low resolution the image size is 1365 x 1365 pixels with a download time of TBC other settings do not change oth
17. d therefore minimizing the integration time binning is also used for minimizing the overhead time for downloading the image e Subframe Sets the sub image to be read out Click On and draw the subframe using the mouse Note for the ST 1603 Subframe does not work and needs to be de activated e Acquisition settings Choose Single for single exposures Continuous for multi exposures or Autosave for multiple exposure settings see also Fig 82 e more Options e g automatic dark exposure subtraction are available using the Options button e Start Stop Start or stop the exposure with the chosen settings ZA 5 3 Image inspection For guick image inspection use the stretch button see Fig to manually set the greyscale range and use the mouse click options e scrolling for zooming in out e dragging Shift left click for adjusting brightness and contrast similar to DS9 functionality e dragging Ctrl left click for shifting the image For more options see Sect 7 TBD 5 4 Figures Edit View Analyze Process Filter Color Plug in Window Help File Em kr ea v k D Gp mod 5 WHggumossBM s ISO JETE II DRACO se Bee Figure 19 Quick launch buttons for camera control and observatory control two buttons on the right and for setting the image cuts i e stretch left button All Sky Zoom cog Telescope Dome Focus Status Weather Webcal Seto s EREA tars T
18. elescope gt Co Disconnect iMconMout aa Focuser 1 gt Lo PlaneWave Focuser PWI3 Focuser 2 No Device Selected Dome No Device Selected Rotator PlaneWave Rotator PWI3 M Webcam Nexlmage Switch g No Device Selected Boltwood CS Unavailable Davis Not Connected Auto Shutdown v Enable Shutdown Ux Figure 20 Observatory Setup tab Connect Disconnect each component separately The Webcam is only used for Spectrometry 28 racking RA 15h 36m 24s Dec 14 50 24 JNow RA 15h 35m 32s Dec 14 47 21 J2000 Alt 27 25 Az 189 62 Kari or use image right click menu Calibrate iv Use Scope Pier Hip F Pier flip m Mirror 7 Siderea Figure 21 Observatory Telescope tab Observatory TE All Sky Zoom Catalog Dome Focus Status Weather Webcam Setup Connected Tracking RA 13h 34m 38s Dec 47 06 16 JNow Unpark setting cum General Files FITS Header Site and Optics Audible Alarms Iv Sidereal Tracking Main Telescope Focal Length mm 3454 H Focal Length mm fo u Aperture mm 508 um Aperture mm fo i of diameter z of diameter 472427 N 2015 11 03 22 05 52 fog 30 40 E Telescope 2015 08 03 22 04 16 Figure 22 Observatory Telescope tab with Site and Optics sub panel 20 Al Sky Zool Catalog elescope Dome Focus Status Weather Webcam Setup
19. er settings but use default values given in Fig selection of filters For selecting different filters go to the menu Filter and click on the new filter The monitor ing panel at the bottom right will display Filter moving until the new filter is set acquiring images For acquiring images use the quick launch button Grab see Fig 15 In the pop up panel one can then choose the following options Exposure Time Sets the integration time Note that the shortest possible integration time is 0 12 s When choosing an integration time lt 0 12 s the software will automat ically reset it to 0 12 s Also note that for high precision photometry one should use integration times gt 0 5 s or even gt 1 s because the shutter might not be reliable for shorter integration times Dark Frame Choose Only for recording of dark images only None for recording of light images only and Also for recording both light and dark images Image Size Sets the sub image to be read out Default is Full for reading out the complete CCD array Exposure delay not used choose 0 Special Processing Choose None for single image recording and use Auto Grab for recording sequences of images For single recording one can save the image after acqui sition by using the quick launch button Save see Fig 15 If Auto Grab is selected a new pop up window will appear where one can select the root filename and directory using the button Set Name Dir and the Number of expos
20. etarium 53
21. example the Site and Optics settings are directly loaded from the GM4000 mount see Fig 22 Note that Alt Az can only be displayed by the different panels if the Site and Optics settings are correctly set 25 Catalog To find a specific object one can either display objects using Search ID for searching for the object s name or one can restrict the list of all available objects by defining different Criterions using the Search Region option For example by specifying a minimum altitude one can only display all currently visible objects To move the telescope to an object highlight the object in the list and click on the Go to button All Sky and Zoom This tab shows a map of the sky Use the Options button to change the density or type of the displayed objects and turn on off the object labels See also the mouse right click and scrolling options e g to zoom in out or to move the telescope to the current mouse position 5 1 3 Focusing options The automated focuser is operated by the Focus tab in the observatory window see Fig 26 The Focuser Status panel displays the current focuser position and the results of the last focus measurement There are two approaches for focusing the image onto the camera Manual focusing Use both the Camera Control window see Sect and the Observatory Focuser window e Take multiple exposures see Sect 5 2 and Fig while moving the focuser in out by using either the Incremen
22. for exchanging the gratings Only exchange the gratings in a clean environment with electrostatic shielding Use the optical gloves and never touch the gratings by hand 6 3 Alignment 6 3 1 Spatial orientation Attach the ST 1603 and the Webcam with orientations as indicated by Fig 37 This makes sure that all three slits are visible and horizontally oriented in the webcam see Fig 39 When attaching the complete spectrograph assembly to the telescope make sure that it is oriented horizontal or vertical with respect to N S E W This makes it easier to move the target onto the slit using the telescope N S E W keys Important Before attaching the spectrograph assembly to the telescope make sure that the focal alignment is done using the calibration lamp see next Sec tion 6 3 2 Focal alignment The focal alignment needs to be done off the telescope using the slit illumination and the Neon calibration lamp A slits on Webcam e turn on the slit illumination see Fig 34 focus the slits onto the webcam by moving the webcam in out i e the slit image should look similar to Fig 39 or better e tightly fix the webcam position e turn off the slit illumination B spectrum on ST 1603 e Attach the calibration lamp to the spectrograph assembly according to Fig i e replace the Barlow lens by the 2 receptacle to attach the lamp e loosen the Focuser fixation screw see Fig e start continuous imaging by the ST 1603 camera
23. he secure locks release the dome locks close the dome from the inside so that you can check that the telescope fits through the door opening i e that the correct parking position was set engage the dome locks close doors and lock the dome 17 4 Instrument operation using individual software pack ages This section gives a short overview of basic functionalities of the instrument software These should be sufficient for most applications For more specialized instrument operations see the original user manuals of the instruments 4 1 GMAO000 mount operation The GM4000 mount is operated by the Virtual Keypad software which is effectively only a virtualization of the physical GM4000 hand control Both the software and the hand control have exactly the same functionalities and menu navigations After connection of the software menu Connection Connect the physical hand control and the software are synchronized and therefore one can still use both but not at the same time For a complete overview of the functionalities of the GM4000 mount see the manual in particular Chapt 13 Men struktur which is also given in the document GMZ000 menu structure general In general navigation through the hand control menus is very intuitive Start by hitting MENU and then use the up down keys not the E W N S keys to navigate through the menu use ENTER for selecting submenus and for initializing actions and use ESC for re
24. n its parking position In case of parking the telescope will automatically move to its parking position the parking procedure can be started from any telescope orientation tracking speed Depending on the object you need to change the tracking speed e MENU DRIVE TRACKING SPEED One can choose between sidereal solar for solar system e g planets lunar custom only for advanced users and stop no tracking 18 4 1 1 Alignment of the telescope If the pointing of the telescope is bad you can either try to load a different sky model e MENU ALIGNMENT ALIGNE DATABASE LOAD MODEL or you have to redo the alignment procedure e MENU ALIGNMENT 3 STARS follow the instructions on the display For the alignment procedure the GM4000 mount requires calibration centering of 3 reference stars plus a few additional stars scattered on the sky for refining the sky model From the list of available stars suggested by the software choose bright stars that you know and that are preferably widely scattered on the sky The telescope will then slew to the offset coordinates of the selected star and you will need to use the N S E W keys to center the star on the CCD After centering the star confirm it and continue with the next star Note that for the first 3 reference stars it is not possible to cancel the calibration and to choose a different star if the initially chosen star is not visible e g because of clouds or not found After calibration
25. nd user options indicated by circles 24 5 Instrument operation using MaxImDL The observatory software MaxImDL is based on the widely used ASCOM driver standards for telescopes cameras webcams focuser assemblies and many other instruments used in Astronomy Therefore all the individual components can be controlled by MaxImDL and advanced options e g automatic focusing or planetarium utilities can be used In addition the software has a wide range of built in data reduction utilities and can manage calibration data flows based on fits header informations This section gives a short overview of basic functionalities of MaxImDL These should be sufficient for most applications For a first glance into the functionalities of MaxImDL see also the video tutorials http www cyanogen com maxim_tut php provided by the manufacturer and or the MaxImDL user manual Note operation using MaxImDL assumes a well aligned telescope If the point ing is bad or insufficient repeat the alignment procedure using the hand control as described in Section 4 1 1 5 1 Observatory control All observatory utilities except the operation of the CCD camera e g telescope pointing focusing planetarium utilities for the camera operation see Sect are controlled by the Observatory window e g see Figs 20 27 The observatory window can be launched by the quick access button in the main panel of MaxImDL see Fig 19 5 1 1 Setup Go to the Setup t
26. oftware it is very impor tant to follow a correct shutdown procedure For shutting down reverse the start up procedure Shutdown Camera Disconnect the camera In MaxImDL go to the camera control window and click on the Warm up button Wait until duty cycle is 0 then click on the Disconnect button In CCDops use the ShtDn quick launch button In the pop up panel then select Warm Up amp Wait After a few seconds the software will disconnect the link with the camera and you can close CCDOps Disconnect observatory utilities In MaxImDL go to the observatory control win dow and individually disconnect the webcam the focuser and the telescope Then close the PWI3 then close the programs If the Virtual keypad was used disconnect it and close the program Turn off the light of the Finder scope see Fig 13 Park the GM4000 mount see also comments in Sect Shutdown the GM4000 mount press the on off button at the GM4000 control box Figs 4 M Note that although the button looks like a switch it is actually only a button and it will resume its initial position after pressing it so press the button only once After up to 5 seconds the mount will start the shutdown procedure and the display will read shutting down Wait until the display gets dark Shutdown the remote computer by alt F4 and select Herunterfahren turn off main power switch Figs 4 5 install mirror cover see Sect Fig open the dome doors and lock them in t
27. on to stop the focusing e Use the Absolute panel to move the focuser to the Minimum position 26 5 2 Camera control All camera operations e g setup and image acquisition are controlled by the Camera Control window e g see Figs 28 B1 The camera control window can be launched by the quick access button in the main panel of MaxImDL see Fig 19 Setup Go to the Setup tab see Fig 28 Click on Setup Camera to set the camera model Use the settings according to Fig 28 and only change the model i e STX 16803 for standard imaging or ST 1603 for spectroscopy Sect 6 Click on Setup Filter to set the filter settings e g filter names see Fig 80 When using the ST 1603 camera set Filter or Controlling Camera Model to No Filter else use SBIG Universal Note that the filter settings can only be accessed and changed when the camera is disconnected If the filter settings are still ok default situation click on the Connect button The camera should now be connected and some basic information e g cooling status is displayed in the information area see Fig 28 Activate the cooling by clicking on Coolers on and set a setpoint value by clicking on Cooler for Camera 1 e CCD cooling In order to reduce dark current the CCD can be cooled by a Peltier element Depending on ambient temperature use a setpoint between 20 C and 0 C As soon as the temperature is reached the duty cycle should drop from 100 to a value lt 75
28. ote computer circle a 10 MICRON GMM4000 CONTROL 20x iFa n Figure 7 On Off button at the GM4000 control box 10 Sina N TJ SAP AA uc I TR gt E m wr r ORG Figure 8 Delta T control box Frontside top and backside bottom The circles indicate the heater switches in their default positions OFF LEDs off 1 P4 L Figure 9 CDK electronics overview with the CDK control panel on top and the Delta T control box at the bottom see also Fig 8 12 e FOCUS ACCY a Figure 10 CDK control panel with default setting Power ON A Fan OFF B 13 1 w Enter the name of the remote computer Computer astro hpptel Username ASTRO HPPTEL astrouser You will be asked for credentials when you connect Allow me to save credentials Connection settings Save the current connection settings to an RDP file or open a saved connection Figure 11 Shortcut and login for remote access to telescope computer Note ignore the warning after clicking Connect and click on Yes 14 4 Maxim DEG Virtual Keypad Figure 12 Software shortcuts on remote computer 15 Figure 13 Finder scope Off position circle for the light modulator A from the front top and the back bottom Also indicated are the caps B which protect the alignment knobs for x and y direction 16 3 Shutdown To prevent any damage to the instrument and the s
29. ow lens should correct for that Spectrograph assembly and setup See Figs for an overview of the packing of all the components and their assembly for observation See Fig 41 for the calibration assembly using the neon calibration lamp The spectrograph consists of the following sub parts DADOS spektrograph 3 reflection gratings 200 L mm 900 L mm 1200 L mm 2 eyepieces focus lens for using eyepieces as slit viewer different adapter pieces for telescope and camera Webcam slit viewer USB Extender cable ST 1603 CCD camera 1 5x Barlow lens to extend telescope focal ratio of F 6 8 to F 10 Neon calibration lamp telescope adapter piece 36 For attachment to the telescope use the adapter piece as shown by Fig For the We bcam use the USB Extender cable and connect it to the remote telescope computer For the ST 1603 use the same USB cable as for the STX 16803 which is already laid through the GM4000 mount and connected to the remote computer Connect the ST 1603 power adapter to the power outlet box belonging to the main power switch see Fig 5 IMPORTANT Always make sure that the webcam USB cable and the ST 1603 power cable cannot get stuck when moving the telescope IMPORTANT Make sure that the Barlow lens is tightly screwed into the DA DOS spectrograph and that the complete spectrograph assembly is securely at tached to the telescope and all the attachment screws are tight IMPORTANT see DADOS manual
30. proximate correlation between the um screw positions and observed spectral region determine best focus positions for the Slitviewer Webcam and the spectrum on the ST 1603 camera Note use the calibration lamp and solar spectrum Improve and mark alignment of the Webcam with respect to the slits In principle all slits fit onto the field of view of the webcam see Fig 39 Note align the slits horizontally as in Fig for N S and E W movement of the target align the spectrograph assembly and the ST 1603 camera to the telescope N S E W movement of the target observe different spectral standard stars at different pointing directions and test tracking quality for target on the slit investigate manual tracking options Note for very small pointing corrections of a few arcsec the mount first moves away a greater distance and then slowly comes back to the corrected position compensation of gear wheel errors This is not practical for man ual tracking corrections but it might be possible to switch off or relax this setup for the mount check whether it is more practical to use an external Webcam software instead of MaxImDL to simultaneously have the webcam and the telescope controls open establish full calibration procedure Note see DADOS tutorial by Bernd Koch from Baader Po check impact of Barlow Lens i e check vignetting with without lens Note the spectrograph is optimized for F 10 but the telescope is F 6 8 The barl
31. rum with ST 1603 see Fig change spectral range by using the grating um screw see Fig 40 and comments therein check target slit alignment acquire spectrum with ST 1603 change spectral range by using the grating ym screw check target slit alignment acquire spectrum with ST 1603 Calibration TBD TBD see also http www baader planetarium de dados download tutorial dados d pdf 6 6 Figures 38 Figure 33 Spectrograph assembly packing Top A DADOS case B Barlow lens C Webcam D USB Extender cable E ST 1603 case Bottom A Mounting accessories B Eyepieces C Calibration lamp Neon D Barlow lens E DADOS manual F additional Gratings G DADOS tools H DADOS spectrograph J Webcam K ST 1603 CCD L ST 1603 power cable M ST 1603 accessories 39 Figure 34 Spectrograph assembly DADOS spectrograph A Slit illumination B towards ST 1603 C Focuser for ST 1603 with fixation screw circle D towards telescope E Slit viewer F wm screw for grating position Figure 35 Spectrograph assembly Connect ST 1603 CCD camera with the DADOS spectrograph A ST 1603 B adapter piece C DADOS 40 Figure 36 Spectrograph assembly Webcam The webcam has been modified by an adapter peace to attach the slit viewer focusing lens A Webcam B adapter piece C Focusing lens Al EZ E 2 z 2 Tp 2 2 Z 2 RZ Z 89WN a Na E
32. tal or the Absolute panel see Fig 26 To speed up the image acquisition choose a subframe around the object to be focussed see Sect 5 2 e Optimize the FWHM or the Half Flux Dia values given by the information panel in the Camera Control window Automatic focusing Use the Autofocus panel in the Observatory window see Figs 26 27 e click on the Options button and set the options as given by Fig e click on the Snapshot button to acquire a full field image using the current settings given in the Camera Control window e in the full field snapshot image MaxImDL automatically selects the brightest star as focus reference If another star should be used for focusing click on this star The In formation panel in the Observatory Focus window will then display the coordinates of the chosen reference star e click on the Exposure button to define the exposure settings for automatic focusing see Fig 27 i e define the Exposure Time the Binning mode the size of the Subframe and the Filter e Finally click on the Start button in the Autofocus panel to start the automatic focusing procedure e MaxImDL then automatically acquires images of the chosen reference star for different focus positions The results are continuously displayed in the Information panel and a HFD Position plot is created see Fig 26 e As soon as the minimum of the HFD Position plot can be determined click on the Abort butt
33. tch It will start up and initialize as soon as it is connected to the power supply Immediately after activating the main power switch you should hear the fan of the camera 2 5 Turn on GM4000 mount The GM4000 is a computerized mount and needs to be booted and shut down after use see Sect 8 To start the mount press the on off button at the GM4000 control box Figs 4 7 Note that although the button looks like a switch it is actually only a button and it will resume its initial position after pressing it so press the button only once After a few seconds the display of the GM4000 hand control will consecutively read booting starting up version initializing Initialization takes about 30 seconds and the mount is ready to use as soon as the display reads the time and date Note that for visual observations the telescope is now ready and can be operated by the hand control For an overview of the basic functionalities of the hand control see Sect 2 6 Start up the instrument software All instruments can be fully operated by software installed on the remote computer outside at the telescope The computer can be remotely accessed by the control room computer Turn on both computers To connect to the remote computer click on the Remote Desktop shortcut see Fig and use the login provided by the ASL supervisor Ignore the warning after clicking on Connect and click on Yes e control room username XXXX
34. tens loosens the screws Note that you need to use the US Allen key set red set blue set is metric For using the camera mount the adapter plate that has an edge whereas for visual observations with eye pieces use the round adapter plate Allen screw 5 32 see Fig 45 e Attach the camera adapter plate to the CDK according to Fig 45 with the wedge side facing upwards use the Allen 1 32 key e Loosen all four 5 64 Allen screws at the camera flange Fig 46 e Mount the camera according to Fig 47 with the autoguider head on the same side as the wedge of the adapter plate Align the camera parallel to the wedge Make sure the camera flange tightly fits to the camera adapter plate and then tighten all four 5 64 Allen screws e Plugin the SBIG power cable and the USB cable Fig 48 48 0 Figure 45 Adapter plates for the camera top and for the eye pieces bottom Note the wedge side facing upwards away from the CDK control panel Use the 5 32 Allen key to mount the plates 49 A t d 9 4 M a ds Neo Ne S x A h Y Nat 1 Y V 4 l y 1 S v T M N X 3 V fo 2 B A ha LS vX gt w gt gt 2 Figure 46 SBIG camera with attached filter wheel For storage attach the cover plate top For mounting the camera loosen all four 5 64 Allen screws at the camera flange 50 Qs E
35. the Op tions button Al Sky Zoom Catalog Telescope Dome Focus status Weather Webcam Setup Focuser1 Focuser2 Incremental r Absolute r Autofocus m Focuser Status 5 12300 4 Stat 12300 Move In Move To Options Temperature 2540 Move Out Delay after Move s 3 H Exposure Time s o2 ts Temp F Tracking Snapshot Absolute l ons pn r Backlash Compensation Flux Diam 31 07 B Eia FWHM 17 41 Steps 50 E Selected star at 2190 2183 forfocus 48 Pos 12399 1 2 Flux Dia 11 96 Pos 12873 1 2 Flux Dia 14 75 Pos 10706 1 2 Flux Dia 27 90 Pos 10943 1 2 Flux Dia 22 16 Pos 12011 1 2 Fux Dia 12 78 o Pos 12129 1 2 Flux Dia 12 53 Pos 12247 1 2 Flux Dia 11 76 Pos 12365 1 2 Flux Dia 11 27 Pos 14861 1 2 Flux Dia 43 03 Pos 14920 1 2 Flux Dia 45 82 Pos 13991 1 2 Flux Dia 28 55 qg 32 Pos 14020 1 2 Flux Dia 34 59 Pos 13863 1 2 Flux Dia 30 19 Pos 13877 1 2 Flux Dia 31 62 e Pos 13891 1 2 Flux Dia 30 29 Pos 13891 1 2 Flux Dia 31 47 Pos 13905 1 2 Flux Dia 31 12 54 Pos 13919 1 2 Flux Dia 29 44 Pos 13933 1 2 Flux Dia 31 07 16 Figure 27 Observatory Focus tab with sub panel Refinement Exposure accessed by the Exposure button 32 BIG Universal Version 6 7 0 C 1998 2014 Diffraction Limited www cyanogen com C
36. through the doors if this is not the case stop all activities and call the HPP responsible or the VP ASL supervisor at IfA e push the dome away into its open position e engage the dome locks e close the doors 2 2 Remove mirror cover When the telescope is parked in particular when it is not used for a long time period the primary mirror should be protected by the corresponding plexiglas cover see Fig 2 For removing installing the cover pull back the spandex stray light cover and pass the mirror cover through the bars as shown in Fig 2 9 Mounting the SBIG camera The SBIG camera should always be attached to the telescope If this is not the case or if you intent to use the telescope without camera see Appendix A for instructions about how to mount or dismount the camera Important if the camera is detached use the strap at the telescope handle to fix the cables see Fig 2 4 Power on the instruments In general all required instruments except the remote computer will be powered on by acti vating the main power switch see Figs 4 B Default setting e remote computer OFF e power adapter GM4000 mount ON e Delta T control box ON e Delta T heater switches Fig primary secondary OFF LEDs off e CDK Power Fig 9 L0 ON e CDK fan switch Fig 10 OFF e SBIG ON The power switch of the remote computer is on the backside see Fig 6 Note that the SBIG does not have an on off swi
37. turning to the superior sub menu Starting from the main screen outside the menu the display reads the RA and DEC coordinates you can use the quick access action buttons as indicated on the keys to directly enter various object catalogs for selecting new targets and for using the automatic goto options The E W N S keys can be used for manually slewing the telescope to a given position after unparking the mount see below To change the slew speed go to the main screen and use the up down keys Note when using the automatic goto function the mount will indicate by a beep signal when it has arrived the new position turn on the PC speakers when you are using the virtual keypad The fine positioning can sometimes take a few seconds therefore wait with new operations until you hear the signal Note that when the telescope is moving automatically i e by using a goto function it will immediately stop as soon as you hit one of the E W N S keys or the STOP key unparking parking of the telescope For storage inside the dome the telescope needs to be in a fixed parking position prede fined in the hand control As long as the mount is in the parked state it is not possible to move the telescope e press MENU e select ALIGNMENT by using the up down keys not the N S E W keys and hit ENTER e select UNPARK PARK and hit ENTER twice Note that in case of unparking the mount will simply change its state but the telescope will stay i
38. ures to be consecutively ac quired Do not change the other settings use default values given in Fig 17 focusing mode For focusing one can use the Focus button see Fig for consecutively acquiring im ages In the pop up panel one can then choose the following options Exposure Time Sets the integration time Frame size Sub array to be readout e g to minimize overhead download time Turbo Mode Fast readout of CCD without proper resetting of the charges after read outs e g to minimize overhead time default is Off other settings do not change other settings but use default values given in Fig 20 image inspection For quick image inspection use the quick launch buttons XHair cross hairs Hist his togram and or use the Contrast pop up panel which appears after each readout see Fig 15 In the Contrast panel one can manually set the greyscale range and select dif ferent zoom options Mag 4 4 Figures Ge p 1121 File Observing View Help Focus Poatiors Footer Fara Temperature Temperature CLEAR DATA Time Range hour 1 CONF SCONNECT Focus Status Micron U o Focus AF CONFIG START AF STOP AF Figure 14 PWI3 panel Only use functions indicated by circles 21 File Edit Camera Display Utility Misc Track Filter AO DSS Window Helps mme K _ Save Open Estlnk Sht n Setup 2 Grab Focus TDI AutG T amp A SHG SWG DSS Hair Hist Ec ma F a F Untitledi
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search