Binocular Planner

The Binocular Planner is a new feature in the OT release 2026B that allows users to more efficiently plan their observations, especially those using mixed-mode observations.

Launching the Binocular Planner

To launch the binocular planner use the Bino Planner item in the Main Toolbar.

Vizualising Observations with the Binocular Planner

After launching the Binocular Planner you will see a list of the observations in the selected Group/Folder. The observations are separated by telescope side, and initially all observations will be listed under Ready Observations.
Only Planned Observations will be displayed in the timeline at the bottom of the planner window.

To move an observation between Ready and Planned: (a) Double click on the observation you would like to move, or (b) drag and drop the observation you would like to move. Note that you can select multiple observations using Shift+click or Cmnd/Ctrl+click. All selected observations will be moved together when dragging and dropping between Ready and Planned observations. Additionally, you can click ‘Sequencing’ at the top, and select ‘Plan Everything to move all observations to the ‘Planned’ display, or ‘Ready Everything’ to move all observations to the ‘Ready’ display.

Planned Observations will be displayed below the list of observations. Average overheads are included for each instrument and observing mode.

Overheads for new target presets and operator interaction (e.g. mask alignment, AO setup) are shown with white backgrounds. Science exposures and associated overheads (e.g. detector readout, offsets) are shown with a grey background. In the event these grey blocks contain more information than they can display, hovering your cursor over these grey blocks will fully display this information. Re-sizing the planner window will also remedy this.

Exposures used for setup (e.g. alignment, confirmation images) are shown with a cyan background. Down time on a given side will be shown with a yellow background. The total time for the planned observations is indicated on the bottom of each side.

The display in the top right depicts the co-pointing limit of the telescope. This is especially useful for observations that involve dithering the telescope. Each dither of each side is represented as a cross-hair in this display. Positive X dithers are to the left and positive Y dithers are down. Legal dithers will appear as green cross-hairs within the circle, while illegal ones will appear as red cross-hairs outside of the circle.