The unauthorized, incomplete, yet slightly updated C40 Cheat Sheet. Written by Valerie Mikles On a cold, winter, observing night June 2011

Transcription

1 The unauthorized, incomplete, yet slightly updated C40 Cheat Sheet Written by Valerie Mikles On a cold, winter, observing night June 2011 Table of Contents I. Getting to the Telescope II. Daytime Calibrations (and basic setup) 2.1 Starting the Telescope 2.2 Dome flats Pointing at the flat screen Turning on the flat lamp Setting up the CCD Command Window Setting up a subraster (region of interest on the CCD) Taking your flats 2.3 Biases 2.4 Finishing daytime calibrations III. Starting the Night 3.1 Open the Dome and Start Tracking 3.2 Software readiness 3.3 Twilight flats and Fringe Frames Twilight Flats Fringe Frames 3.4 Zero the telescope pointing 3.5 Focusing and estimating seeing 3.6 Guiding IV. Observing 4.1 Your first target 4.2 Changing targets 4.3 Weather caveats 4.4 Observing macros V. End of the Night VI. Taking your data home VII. Miscellany and Bugs VIII. Acknowledgments

2 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 2 I. Getting to the Telescope - Dinner: This part of the Visitor Guide was incomplete, so I start here. In the winter, you don t have to ask for dinner at 5:30pm. They do it anyway. If you start lingering around the counter any time after 5pm, they ll give you food. - Night lunch: You have no night assistant. Your night lunch sandwich is not delivered to the dome. You have to pick it up yourself from the dining hall. - Your car: If you go out the door to the main lodge and down the yellow staircase, the car for the Swope is just down those stairs and to the left. It s labeled Swope telescope on the windows. The key is in the car. It is manual transmission, so if you can t drive stick, be prepared to walk a mile to the dome. - Map to the telescope: Everyone agrees that having a map is a good idea. One does not yet exist. If you re on the ramp facing the road, turn left and follow the road down and around the mountain. There s a fork that goes up to Magellan. Don t take it. Keep going down the road until you see a split off to the right and a sign indicating that the C40 is that way. Follow that road. It is paved. If you find yourself on a dirt road, you re going the wrong way. If you hit the DuPont scope, turn around, and retrace your steps about a third of a mile and look for your turnoff on the left this time. You get to park right next to the front door. NOTE: There is no ice scraper in the car. We used an old 3.5'' floppy disk that we found in the glove compartment. I imagine this problem is limited to post-snow issues. - At the dome: When you get to the telescope, the control room is the first door on the left. The control room is not heated! There are two radiators in the room, but if it s cold out (below 5 C as it was for us), plan on staying bundled. The radiators will keep your legs warm if you re sitting next to them. II. Daytime Calibrations (and basic setup) There are three main consoles to interact with the telescope: the oldest 70s style one with the dials, the early 90s style analog TCS interface, and the modern flat screens (currently labeled Puma ) that feel completely out of place. If you read the old guide, a lot of the button names are in Spanish. Fortunately, the 70s console has English labels on it now, so reading the tiny, faded Spanish print is not necessary (although it is educational). There are three systems run from the TCS console: TCC, Guider, and Acq.PC. Make sure you re set to TCC. You can change systems by pressing the channel button on the Belkin console above the monitor. TCC is Channel 1. It toggles through the loop. Pressing Scan and Channel together sends it back to Channel 1.

3 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet Starting up the Telescope On the 70s console: 1. Turn on the console using the key on the lower left. 2. Press the Power On button to the right of the key to activate the telescope. 3. Make sure the RED light for the platform is OFF. The red Emergency Stop light will come on, but that s supposed to happen. On the TCS console: 4. If the TCS program isn't running, type c40 on the TCS PC keyboard. 5. Check the UT time against the time on Puma. If the time is incorrect, type UT, then the correct time, and press <CR>. 6. Check that Guide and TP are enabled (lower left panel of the monitor). TP is Telescope Pointing. They toggle, so if they are not in green, then type GUIDE or TP to turn each on. 7. Type COVER to move the telescope to a position where you can remove the mirror cover (at the top of the telescope tube). Back to the 70s console: 8. Turn on the dome lights. This knob is just to the right of the power button. TIP: Even though the dome lights will be on, the wise and prudent astronomer never travels through a dome without a flashlight. In the dome: 9. Move the silver ladder underneath the telescope in a position that will allow you to access the cover 10. Find the long paddle hooked on a line at the base of the telescope.find the faded words for PLATFORM, and hold the UP button until you can reach the cover. 11. Remove the precariously draped telescope cover (or the scope s sombrero if you re imaginative). TIP: Be sure you are balanced on the ladder. If you are observing with a partner, safety dictates that you both go up to the dome to perform this task. 12. Lower the platform completely by pressing the DOWN button on the paddle. 13. If you are performing dome flats today, use the paddle to rotate the dome to the right so that the black tape arrows align. Now back to the 70s console: 14. Turn off the dome lights. You are now ready to take your daytime calibrations Dome Flats Because of the 2 minute readout time, we found it more prudent to take dome flats first and then leave the biases running while we ran down to dinner. If you are observing in the summer (or are opposed to sleep) go ahead and reverse the process. Give yourself half an hour to get to the scope and start-up and at least 15 minutes per filter for dome flats. Ten bias images take you 20 minutes.

4 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet Pointing at the Flat Screen The DOMEFLAT command no longer works. You have to point the telescope manually. At the TCS console: 1. Return the telescope to ZENITH (by typing Zenith). NOTE: This step is important. If you do not do this, the TCS will get confused and a disgruntled pleasant engineer will have to come and fix its conception of Hour Angle. 2. Move the telescope to DEC Determine the RA most closely matching Hour Angle E 03:07:00. Unfortunately, there is no HA command in TCS, so you have to use your astro 101 skills and the sidereal time. If you have no astro 101 skills, you can adjust the HA on the 70s console, then fine tune it with the paddle hooked on the TCS. The 70s console has slew (fast) and set (medium) speeds. The paddle has set and guide (slow) speeds. NOTE: TCS monitor is not visible from the 70s console. Congrats! You now have the telescope on and pointed at the flat screen! Turning on the Flat lamps The flat field lamp is located on top of the TCS 90s console. It s a black box with a switch and a knob with an analog counter. It also has a tell-tale sticker saying 980 MAX. Flip the switch to on. Use the following as a guide for the counter units. (It s not voltage.) B: 50s with (9000 ADUs with Gain = 3) V: 15s with (14000 ADUs with Gain = 3) R: 12s with (15000 ADUs with Gain = 3) I: 6s with (15000 ADUs with Gain = 3) gunn r: 24s with (personal experience) gunn i: 8s with (personal experience) Setting up CCD Command Window We are now ready to use Puma! Find your xterm and type the following commands: cd /home/obs40b/data mkdir mydirectory cp filter.names mydirectory cd mydirectory ccd NOTE: It is important to open CCD in your working directory for the night. It is most convenient to name mydirectory after the current date: e.g., s110621

5 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 5 The ccd command launches an xterm window with the title CCD_Dialog, as well as a GUI configuration window. This window has pull down menus (activated with the right mouse button) for selection of the type of shutter to be used, the CCD, and the telescope. There is also an entry to allow changing the number of overscan columns from the default of 16. If you can find it, there s a nice picture of it in the CCD Manual. For our run, we selected: Shutter/Filter = Curtain Chip = SITe3 Overscan = 32 Motor Control: LCO-40 Telescope: LCO-40. When the appropriate selections have been made, click on "OK" and the CCD program will then start. The CCD_Dialog window will display various messages as the data are collected. For the CCD Dialog terminal, you can reduce the size and position it under the turquoise CCD Command Window GUI, just to keep an eye on things. In the CCD Command Window: SANITY CHECK: If the CCD Command Window doesn t have the appropriate UT when you open it, that means it will put the wrong time in the headers. To ensure that the UT date and time in your headers are accurate, move to the TCS console and change the system to channel 3. In TCS console Pos.Aq screen: This gives you a non-xwindows command line. Log in as root using the password on the yellow post-it over the console. Its current instructions are: User name: root Pswd: (see yellow post-it) bash#> date z0 bash#> date d0 bash#> date YYYYMMDDhhmm.ss bash#> exit Again, hopefully you know to substitute YYYYMMDDhhmm.ss with the year, month, day, hour, minute, seconds Setting up a subraster (CCD region of interest) To improve readout time, if you do not require the full field of view, it is prudent to set up a subraster. In the CCD Command window, click the Subraster On button. This will open a configuration GUI In the subraster GUI: 1. Set the x-range and y-range in the appropriate boxes. You can have multiple subrasters on the CCD simultaneously if you wish, or you can just choose a central region. 2. Enter the name of your subraster (e.g., for a 1000x1000 pixel subraster, I name it 1x1k.)

6 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 6 3. Hit SAVE NOTE: Later, you can recall subrasters by inputting the filename and hitting load. 4. Hit APPLY 5. Hit DONE (this takes you back to the CCD Command Window) NOTE: Sometimes, you may end up with a filter that is smaller than your field of view. We experienced this with the Gunn i filter, as it is only 2x2. You re kind of at the mercy of what the bigger telescopes ask for in their setups with this. Take a flat, and use that to determine the best subraster if you want to minimize time spent reading out blank pixels Taking your flats Pay close attention, because the procedures here are similar for any data you take, and I m not going to repeat it later. In the CCD Command Window: 1. Select your filter. Changing the filter may take a second or two. Wait for it to say okay. 2. Select Imtype= flat 3. Set Loop to the total number of images you wish to take. NOTE: It is best to start with loop=1 to make sure you aren t saturating the CCD. You want to keep your counts below ~ If you are saturating the CCD, first check that the dome lights are off. If you aren t getting enough counts, check that the dome lamp is on (you know, by going up to the dome and visually checking it out). If neither of those are issues, you can begin fiddling with the lamp settings and exposure times to get the desired counts. 4. When you finish, go back to the lamp box on top of TCS and turn the flat field lamp off. First, you must turn the knob back to zero, then flip the switch. That s important. It s a fickle machine. Checking your data in IRAF: You can start this up using the quick start buttons in the drawer of Puma. This will open and IRAF xgterm and DS9. Use of IRAF and DS9 are beyond the scope of this Cheat Sheet. 2.3 Biases If you are taking biases, set the observation type to zero. This will not change the exposure time. If you do not change the exposure time to zero, you ll get a dark instead of a bias. Also, if you ve done the flats first, make sure the Lamp is off. You cannot take biases after the dome opens (typically 5:30pm in winter) because the shutter leaks. That s all I'm going to say about biases. 2.4 Finishing Daytime Calibrations NOTE: If you are leaving biases running while you skip off to dinner for half an hour, then you can skip this section.

7 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 7 1. Make sure the flat field lamp is off 2. Type COVER on the TCS console 3. Turn on the dome lights using the 70s console 4. Go upstairs and reverse the process of removing the cover. Raise the platform, move the ladder, put the cover on, and then lower the platform completely. The cover is a little flimsy, so it s a bit of a balancing act trying to flip it back into place. TIP: If you have an observing partner, take them with you. As always, you get bonus points for bringing a flashlight, even if you don t use it. 5. Return to the control room and turn off the Dome lights using the 70s console. 6. Type ZENITH in the TCS console 7. Turn the telescope and console off (power off switch, then the key on the console) III. Starting the Night Go to the LCO Environmental page (Magellan if Swope s is broken). Record the temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction for the Nightly Observing Report. 3.1 Open the Dome and start tracking If you are lucky, one of the operators will stop by the scope just before sunset, open the dome, and get the fan started. If so, skip to Step 6! Otherwise: 1. Turn on the ventilator fan. It s in the closet by the bathroom. Flip a switch, then crank the voltage up. There s a screw with an arrow. You point the knob toward the screw. (High tech, I know.) 2. On the 70s console: turn the telescope on with the key, then hit the Power On button. 3. There are 4 buttons in the lower-center part of the 70s console. The lower right says SHUTTER. Open the shutter. (This opens the dome.) 4. Press and hold the Windscreen Down button. 5. If the cover isn t off your scope, follow the instructions in Section 2.1 for removing the cover. 6. To the right on the 70s console is another grouping of buttons and one very obviously labeled TRACKING. Press RUN to initiate the tracking. If tracking is NOT lit, that means it IS tracking. 3.2 Software readiness 1. In the TCS Console, type ZENITH. When in doubt, send your scope to zenith. 2. Type DOME AUTO to make sure the dome is auto-tracking with the telescope. NOTE: The Dome tracking switches to manual when the telescope is slewing. It s supposed to switch back to AUTO automatically, but if it does not, simply type DOME AUTO in the TCS console again.

8 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet Twilight Flats and Fringe Frames Twilight Flats In the TCS Console: 1. Adjust the R.A. to point 2 hours east of zenith (away from the sun). In Puma, CCD Command Window: 2. Select your bluest filter first. IMTYPE=flat. Change the object name. NOTE: Use of the CCD Command Window is described in Sections If you are using a subraster have the appropriate subraster loaded and the Subraster button is On. 4. Set your exposure time. IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to shutter speed, your minimum exposure time is 3 seconds. Keep that in mind when taking flats/pointing/etc. 5. Wait patiently for the sky to fade sufficiently so it does not saturate your CCD, then you are go for launch. Good luck! TIP: If you don t wish to move the telescope between each sky flat, you can always turn off the tracking for a few seconds while each exposure is reading out (using the button on the 70s console). Just remember to turn it on again before the next exposure Fringe Frames Fringe frames are only necessary in the I-band (or i, or i ). 1. In the TCS Console, Point the telescope to an empty patch of sky. NOTE: There s a list of Empty Fields taped to the TCS console. 2. In the CCD Command window, select your filter and exposure time. IMTYPE=fringe. Hit START to take your image. You need to get enough signal to see the diffraction, so it may take fiddling. It depends how bright the sky still is. Yay! You have now finished your calibrations! 3.4 Zero the Telescope Pointing 1. Choose a star near zenith from the Astronomical Almanac. NOTE: LCO is very on top of things with making sure you have the most up to date Astronomical Almanac. This means that the coordinates are not J2000 anymore, Toto. In the TCS Console: 2. Type MP (or whatever is appropriate for your almanac). 3. Enter the RA and DEC in the TCS console. RA nn nn nn.n DEC nn nn nn.n 4. Type SLEW

9 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 9 In Puma: 5. Take a 3 second exposure, then examine your image in IRAF. If you don t see your bright star, check to make sure you re in the right epoch. (It happens to the best of us.) 6. Record the pixel position of your bright star, and then the pixel position of the center of the chip (or subraster region). Calculate your offsets. There are arcsec per pixel. NOTE: All offsets must be in units of arcsec. In TCS Console: 7. Enter your RA and Dec offsets (in arcsec) using RBB and DBB (for RA and Dec respectively). RBB xx.xx DBB xx.xx 8. Enter the direction you want the telescope to move. NN for north, NW for northwest, SE for south east, and so on. This is the direction you want the telescope to move in the sky (not the star on the screen). NOTE: Due to a glitch in the computer, East is West and West is East! Mua-ha-ha! 9. Take another 3 second exposure. Are you lined up? If yes, type CSET in the TCS Console. If not, check that you remembered to convert seconds to arcsec. 10. Find ROFF and DOFF in the TCS console and record those in your log in case you need to reset TCS later. 11. RESET YOUR COORD EPOCH TO THE ONE YOU NEED FOR YOUR DATA by typing MP 2000 (or whatever is appropriate). 3.5 Focusing and estimating seeing. NOTE: Subraster and guiding must both be off for this program to work. It s always amusing to do it wrong just once and see the awesome mess it makes! The current focus position is displayed on a little box sitting on top of the TCS console. It s a green, digital display, and displays numbers like (That s our current focus. I write this as I sit in the control room taking a long exposure on a cold, winter night.) Don t press the buttons on the box. 1. Select the range of focuses you wish to test on a focus loop. (You can do them all at once with the focus macro and only have to read out once.) Determine your focus step size (usually about.050) and calculate how many exposures you need to take in the loop. 2. In CCD Control Window, select Imtype=object, Extime=5, Loop=(whatever number you figured out from step 1). A 5s exposure should be good. 3. Point your telescope some place with stars. A little off from zenith is usually fine. 4. On your desk, locate the little silver paddle that says Telescope Focus Control. (Thank the man/woman who attacked this room with a label maker!) This is how you change the numbers on the box. Go about.200 less than where you wish to start your focus loop. Then bring the value up to your start point. NOTE: Due to the way gravity works on focus, it is always best to approach your focus number from the bottom. 5. Make sure subraster is off and guiding is off.

10 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet Hit the FOCUS button in the CCD control window. It will take the exposure, then do a partial readout as it shifts the charges. When it finishes, it will beep at you. Change the focus to the next value and hit the FOCUS button again to continue the loop. NOTE : If the readout takes more than 10 seconds to shift the charges, something is wrong. Usually, it means you forgot to turn off the subraster. Hit ABORT and try again. 7. The output file is called focus.fits. It is not part of your numbering convention. Examine your image in IRAF, using IMEXAM. Find a line of stars that are not saturated. NOTE: The first image shift is twice the size of the subsequent shifts, so you know which FWHM is associated with your starting focus value 8. Plot Focus Value vs. FWHM of the star (or just visualize it). If it does not form a parabola, you did not choose a sufficient range of focus values to find the minimum. If you do see the minimum of the parabola, set your focus there. NOTE: Remember to undershoot and approach your focus from the bottom. NOTE 2: There are offsets in focus if you are changing filters. Depending on how quickly you have to change filters, it may or may not behoove you to fiddle with focus. NOTE 3: If weather conditions vary during the night, you may have to change your focus. Check the focus at any time by calling up your most recent image, finding a star, and using the e function on imexam to check the ellipticity. If your star is round, your focus is still good. Estimate your seeing using your best focus star. Record this value with the weather data for the Nightly Observing report. The table below is copied from a printout in the control room. CCD Pixel Size (arcsec) SITe Seeing FWHM Seeing FWHM Seeing FWHM

11 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet Guiding On Puma: 1. In your terminal, type rgdr. A little guider GUI will pop up. This doesn t have to be turned off every night, but you can if you want. 2. Hit the INIT button. When turning the guider on, you need to wait about 30 seconds. Usually, you only see 2 messages after. NOTE: It ll say something like Failed to read /dev/con2 This is normal. 3. Hit the Centerfield. Then hit Park. (We only did this once, so I m not entirely confident in what these things do. Ask an engineer for help.) On the TCS console: 4. Change the screen to Channel 2: Guider. 5. Locate the CCD-TV Control Electronics Unit. (Currently a black box, second position from the top). Flip the power to ON. NOTE: It is wisest to set the telescope to ZENITH before turning the guider on. - The knob labeled OFFSET controls the amount of sky being subtracted. - The GAIN knob goes from 1-9. Then it shows 0 for 10, 5 for 15, and 0 for 20. Keep track of where you are. These old consoles only have one digit. - There s an analog switch for integration time. Integration should be less than 2 seconds, preferably zero. - If you re tracking on a bright object, there s a bright switch that you can turn on. 6. Point the telescope at your target object using RA, Dec, and SLEW commands. NOTE: Make sure you have reset the Epoch to whatever is appropriate for your data. 7. There are two monitors above Puma. One is a copy of TCC (Channel 1), the other is a copy of Guider (Channel 2). When the telescope is finished slewing, look at the guider monitor. Adjust the sky, gain, and integration time on the TCS console until you find a star of sufficient brightness to guide on. On Puma: 8. Using the paddle on the TCS GUI, move your chosen Guide Star to about the center of the screen and into the little white Guide Box. Toggle F/S for Fast/slow. It s important to have a Guide Star near the screen center. NOTE: Find a guide star with negative Y. You can go +/-2000 in X, but always go for negative Y. This is what we were told by the engineer. I m sure if I spoke Spanish, I d understand why it is important. On the TCS Console (Guide Channel 2) 9. Once you have the star near the Guide Box, move the box to the star using the arrow keys. Moving the box is a little more precise than moving the stars. 10. Press F3 to turn on guiding. (And F1 to turn off Guiding). You ll see in the third box down on the left of the TCS Guider screen guider: move if it s on and guider: off if it s off. Congratulations! You are now ready to observe your targets

12 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 12 IV. Observing! 4.1 Your first Target - There is a chart taped to the desk hutch plotting Declination vs. Maximum Hour Angle. (Generally speaking, you should only be observing objects at Air Mass X>2.) Make sure your object has risen before you point the telescope. There s an internet site called StarAlt ( that I use to check the rise/set times of my targets and relative position of the Moon. - Occasionally the telescope can run away when slewing to the north. Keep your eye on the progress of any slew motions and hit the ESC key on the TCS console to immediately abort any telescope move that is out of control. (We ve heard this, but haven t experienced it, so I m just passing it along.) In the TCS Console (TCC Channel 1): 1. Switch to Channel 1. You should have already moved to your first target (using the RA, Dec, and SLEW commands) and set up guiding as specified in the Section 3.6. NOTE: Make sure your coordinates are in the right epoch! (Do you hear an echo in here?) In Puma, CCD Command Window: 1. If you are using a subraster, make sure subraster is On. (Details in Section 2.2.4) 2. Check your filter, Imtype=object, Extime, Loop, etc. 3. Hit START. 4. Check your first image against your finder chart and make sure you re getting everything you want. TIP: The wise astronomer always keeps a detailed log. There are observing log sheets available in the control room. 4.2 Changing Targets 1. In the TCS Guider console, hit F1 to turn guiding off 2. In the TCS TCC console, enter your new RA and Dec, then type SLEW 3. Once slewing is complete, find a new guide star using the procedure outlined in Section 3.6, and press F3 in the TCS Guider console to reinitialize Guiding. 4. In Puma s CCD Control Window, enter the parameters for your new observation and hit START. 4.3 Weather Caveats As of now, the Swope s weather station is broken. Go to the Magellan Weather Station page to keep track of conditions on the mountain. - Humidity: Close at 90%, reopen at 85% - Wind: Close at 35mph, reopen at < 30mph NOTE: Put the windscreen up if you are observing into the wind. There s a button on the 70s console. Go up to the dome and check to make sure you aren t blocking your view.

13 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 13 - Rain/Snow/Sleet: Close, duh. Do not re-open until you get a call from the 100 night assistant saying it s okay to re-open. 4.4 Observing Macros Check the CCD Manual Appendix B for more detailed information about writing a macro. They re pretty easy to set up Running your Macro On Puma: 1. In your data directory, open a file called ccd.macros using your favorite text editing program. (Sorry, Microsoft Word is not available.) 2. Write your macro, then close the text editor. (A macro is a single line with a list of commands.) 3. In the CCD Command Console, enter the name of the macro in the Macro window on the lower right. 4. Press the RUN MACRO button to initiate the macro Making a simple Macro This is all in Appendix B of the CCD Manual, but here s a summary. There are four basic macro commands which control data acquisition: time: this sets the exposure time in seconds, format time=nnn f: this sets the filter, using the names as defined in your filter.names file, format f=filternumber (That s why it s important to have filter.names in this directory.) loop: this sets the loop counter, format loop=nnn NOTE: Even if only one exposure is required, you must set loop=1 start: this starts the exposure, format start In your ccd.macros file, create the macro by first giving it a name, then the subsequent string of four basic commands, each separated by commas. The name you give it is the name you enter into the Macro field on your CCD Control Window. You can also define some macros for your convenience, and then use these definitions in other macros. For example, if your ccd.macros file contained the following list of commands: bflat loop 10, f=2, time=30, start uflat loop 10, f=1, time=70, start doflats bflat, uflat you would have set up a macro named bflat that would perform ten 30 second exposures using filter 2 (B in this case), a macro named uflat that would perform ten 70 second exposures using filter 1 (U in this case), and a macro named doflats that would perform both of those

14 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 14 tasks sequentially. If you then go to your CCD Control Window and enter the Macro doflats, then hit RUN MACRO. You can now sit back and let the macro change everything in the CCD Control Window for you! V. End of the Night Congratulations! You survived a whole night of observing. 1. Turn off guiding by flipping the switch on the CCD-TV Control Electronics Unit (TCS Console). Also switch off the two monitors on the hutch above the Puma consoles. 2. On the 70s console, Stop Tracking 3. In the TCS Console, type DOME PARK 4. On the 70s console, hit SHUTTER CLOSE to close the dome 5. Type COVER on the TCS console 6. Turn on the dome lights using the 70s console 7. Go upstairs and reverse the process of removing the cover. Raise the platform, move the ladder, put the cover on, and then lower the platform completely. 8. Turn off the fan on your way back to the control room. First lower the voltage, then flip the switch. 9. Back in the control room, turn off the Dome lights using the 70s console. 10. Type ZENITH in the TCS console 11. Turn the telescope and console off (power off switch, then the key on the 70s console) 12. In Puma, open up the Nightly Report web form. Fill in the weather and seeing data that you have meticulously been tracking in your log. Report any problems. 13. Go to the sink and wash any dishes you ve used during the night. Make sure to throw out your trash. Turn off the coffee pot. 14. Turn off the radiators. 15. Drive safely back to the dorms and sleep well! VI. Taking your data home (via the internet) The whole DAT tape thing is so last millennium. Clearly in the modern technology era, we use the internet to get our data home (or at least onto our laptop and appropriate portable drives). - When you do your set-up form, you should get some network info. You may not. Ask your engineer or call the 100 night assistant for the passwd. - Our user name is obs40b. It s generic enough that it may be yours too. - From your target directory (on your laptop or data storage device), you can scp your data using the command: scp obs40b@puma.lco.cl:/home/obs40b/data/mydirectory/*. NOTE: If you know the server name for your target directory, you can invert this. It s just standard scp format. The internet has been insanely unreliable, so keep an eye on it while you re transferring data.

15 C40 Observing Cheat Sheet 15 VII. Miscellany and Bugs Everything that can go wrong with this antiquated equipment is beyond the scope of this cheat sheet. Check the other manuals available in the control room and online. Call the 100 night assistant if you still need help. You now know everything I ve learned in my week at the Swope! VIII. Acknowledgments Thanks to my observing partner, Christopher Britt, for learning how to run the telescope slightly faster than me and explaining everything to me. Thanks to our engineer, Andrés Rivera, for walking us through how to use the telescope. Thanks to Oscar Duhalde for checking up on us at the telescope (and pointing out that whole epoch coordinate confusion thing). Based on (and updated from) the Unauthorized (and Possibly Incomplete) Guide for Solo Observing by Jason Prochaska & Friends June (2001) Parts of this Guide are taken from the CCD MANUAL FOR THE 40-INCH TELESCOPE, written by Patricia Knezek, Ian Thompson, Gaspar Galaz (August 1996), updated by Mark Phillips November (2000) Excerpts are also from the C40 Telescope Control Program written by Ian Thompson Version V1.07, 4 September 2000