Science Operations

Quick Review

Quick review of setup and observing commands for binocular MODS observing:

  • Login to obs1 or obs2 using your partner account (inaf, lbtb, osurc, az, lbto; note that lower case is needed). If you are not at the summit, open an x2go session onto either obs1 or obs2 using a MATE desktop.
  • Copy your scripts to obs1 or obs2. The partner home directories are not cross-mounted on obs1 and obs2, but the partner home directories on the old workstations (obs4, now called obs-32bit) are mounted to obs1 and obs2 as /lbt/data/old_homes/<partner>.

    • scp -r myscriptdir/ <partner>@obs1.mountain.lbto.org:~/    will copy the entire directory myscriptdir/ to /home/partner on obs1.
  • Open a terminal window and type mods1 status and mods2 status. Everything but the mods1 and mods2 guis (UI) should be running and owned by mods.
  • Open 2 terminal windows: in one type mods1 start gui and in the other type mods2 start gui. This command should launch the MODS Control Panel.
    • Click GetDate on the right side of the Instrument Setup Screen to update the UT date in the image file names. Make sure it is the correct UT date for the night. If it is before 5pm (00h UT), you will need to edit the date to be the UT for the coming night. If you have taken data already with that UT date, click refresh and double check that the Blue and Red CCD filenames do not already exist. Once you’ve checked that the starting filenames are what you want, click Apply. 
    • Enter the Observer/Project Information on the left side:
      • Partner, PI and Project ID will be filled in by the scripts which you run and do not need to be entered at this time.
      • At this time, you need only enter:

        • Observer Names (can be separated by commas and spaces). This goes into headers as the value for the keyword, OBSERVER.
        • Support (SUPPORT), Telescope Operator (TELOPS) and a Comment describing the run.
      • Once all the necessary updates have been made, click Apply, then Save.
  • Wake up MODS:
    • type modsWake bino (or modsWake 1 or modsWake 2) in a terminal window.
      • This script wakes both MODS (bino), or only MODS1 or MODS2.
      • Waking MODS will power on and enable the IR laser used by the IMCS (Image Motion Compensation System), and clear exposure control settings in preparation for observing.
  • Open another 2 terminal windows: in one type modsDisp --mods1 and in the other type modsDisp --mods2. This will launch two read-only ds9 windows per MODS to display the most recent Blue and Red images as they appear in /lbt/data/new. Basic header information (the object name, mask and mask position) will be logged in the terminal windows . You should keep the terminal windows visible, as you can copy/paste filenames from them into the modsAlign command line.
    • The single command, modsDisp, will launch all four ds9 windows for MODS1Red, MODS1Blue, MODS2Red and MODS2Blue. Some users prefer to keep the logs separate and others prefer the single command that does it all.
  • Take a set of test images:
    • In a terminal window, type modsSimSnap [bino|1|2]or ( modsSieveSnap [bino|1|2]). This is a wrapper script that executes the simSnap.pro (or sieveSnap.pro) script binocularly or on one or the other MODS, similar to modsWake
      • modsSimSnap will take a set of images through the sieve mask and then another set with no mask in order to keep track of dust on the optics.
      • modsSieveSnap will take only a set of images through the sieve mask.
  • put MODS into Observing Mode.

    • Click the “Observing” button near the top left of the Dashboard and,
    • once the calibration unit has finished moving, click Home to move the guide probe to its home position.
  • Open ancillary tools:
    • LBTplot: In a terminal window, type LBTplot to launch this tool.
    • GCSGUIs: In another terminal window, type GCSGUI left & and then GCSGUI right & to launch the GCSGUIs
  • Give the OSA the coordinates of your first target so he can check pointing and collimate.
  • Acquisition:

    • acqBinoMODS mymods1.acq.txt [mymods2.acq.txt]

      •  will launch two terminal windows and run acqMODS –mods1 mymods1.acq.txt in one and, in the other, acqMODS –mods2 mymods1.acq.txt (or mymods2.acq.txt in case two scripts are given on the command line).
    • run modsAlign (filenames and arguments/options can be in any order on the command line):

      • long-slit alignment to position target 11″ (MODS1) and 9″ (MODS2) above slit center:

        • MODS1: modsAlign -y 11 mods1slitimg.fits mods1fieldimg.fits
          • should put target at Y~617 on 1Kx1K mods1r image
        • MODS2: modsAlign -y 9 mods2slitimg.fits mods2fieldimg.fits
          • should put target at Y~590 on 1Kx1K mods2r image
      • MOS alignment:
        • modsAlign modsmaskimg.fits modsfieldimg.fits maskfile.mms
  • Observation:
    • execBinoMODS mymods1.obs.txt [mymods2.obs.txt]
      • will launch two terminal windows and run execMODS –mods1 mymods1.obs.txt in one and, in the other, execMODS –mods2 mymods1.obs.txt (or mymods2.obs.txt in case two scripts are given on the command line).
    • execBinoMODS is used for all spectroscopic observation, imaging and calibration scripts.
  • Calibrations:

    • Must be taken at zenith and with the dome dark (comparison lamp spectra are OK to do when there is light, though).
    • If needed, a set of pre-generated calibration scripts is in /lbt/lbto/mods/modsCalibs_OT.
  • End of Night: put mods to sleep
    • modsSleep bino (or modsSleep 1 or modsSleep 2)