Who is supposed to do what.....

  • The "designated" observer

    • The designated observer is the person responsible for carrying out the observations on a given day, regardless of whether that person is actually the one driving the telescope. Normally, the designated observer also performs the data file conversion (FITS to IDL) and immediate data quality verification.

      Before observing
    1. Check the telescope schedule in the control room to verify the times of the observing blocks.
    2. Check the block allocation schedule
    3. Check that the declination and drift/pass designation are correct for this date in the current observing catalog found at /share/obs4/usr/a2010/a2010.cat.If there is any confusion, ask the designated scheduler.
    4. Create today's observing log file in /share/obs4/usr/a2010 as logYYMMDD, according to the block name, following the template /share/obs4/usr/a2010/log_template. While you observe, take good notes for which your colleagues will thank you.
      After observing
    1. Rename the cimalog in /share/obs4/usr/a2010 to a2010.cimalog.YYMMDD.
    2. Copy both the cimalogYYMMDD and the log file logYYMMDD to /share/a2010/obslogs/monYY.
    3. Following the instructions in the checklist, create the list of input files filesYYYYMMDD.txt in the /share/a2010/fitsfiles/monYY directory.
    4. Update the loglinks.htm file in ~a2010/public_html to point to the correct location of the observing log, the cimalog and the fitsfile list.
    5. Edit the a2010.cat file in /share/obs4/usr/a2010, inserting a "#" at the beginning of the line corresponding to the declination strip you just observed. (CIMA does not display lines with the # in column 1, so this will make it easier for the next observer.)
    6. If you have agreed to do the file conversion, do it following the checklist. This task should be coordinated with the designated file monitor who bears responsibility for the task even if he/she does not actually perform it. If this does not appear to work properly, notify Brian (bkent@astro.cornell.edu) and Riccardo (riccardo@astro.cornell.edu) immediately.
    7. If you have agreed to do it, verify the data quality; this normally means running CALIB1, CALIB2 and BPD on at least a subset of the data. If anything appears unusual, discuss it with someone!

  • The "designated" data file monitor   (Martha/Ann)

    • The designated data file monitor is the person responsible for verifying the existence of the raw fits files and their valid conversion to IDL .sav files. Most often, the observer will perform the conversion, but the data file monitor should verify this, and also verify that the files have been transferred to Ithaca by the designated archivist. The observer, data file monitor and archivist need to keep in close touch.

    1. Check that the observing log, the cimalog and the fitsfile list have been properly created by the designated observer and that they can be properly accessed via the link on the a2010 website. If there is any confusion, ask the designated observer.
    2. If the observer has not, copy the list of fitsfiles filesYYYYMMDD.txt from /share/a2010/fitsfiles/monYY to the directory where you will write the IDL files, /share/a2010N/data/MMDD, i.e.,
               > cp /share/a2010/fitsfiles/monYY/filesYYYYMMDD.txt /share/a2010A/fitsfiles/monYY
      and make sure there is enough disk space left to write the new IDL files.
    3. If the observer cannot, convert the files to IDL following the instructions in the checklist. If this does not appear to work properly, notify Brian (bkent@astro.cornell.edu) and Riccardo (riccardo@astro.cornell.edu) immediately.
    4. Check with the archivist to make sure that the files will be transferred to Cornell.


  • The "designated" scheduler   (Martha/Ann)

    • The designated scheduler is the person responsible for assigning the declination strip/pass to be observed on a given day.

      Before observing
    1. Check the telescope schedules as soon as they are posted. Update the block allocation schedule (using eggidl/gen/blocksched.pro) and post them to:
    2. Update the graphical schedules (*.fig) by identifying the drifts now included in the block allocation schedule in yellow/gold as appropriate, export to *jpg and post them to:

      After observing
    1. Copy the various log filesto the team website:
    2. Update the graphical schedules (*.fig) by identifying the drifts now included in the block allocation schedule in green as appropriate, export to *jpg and post them to:


  • The "designated" archivist   (Martha/Ann)

    • The designated archivist is the person responsible for transfering the raw IDL save files to disk storage at Cornell and making a backup copy there.

    1. Verify that with the designated data monitor that the files have been properly converted to IDL.
    2. Copy them (scp) to a disk area in Ithaca. Record the disk location.
    3. Make a backup on a removable disk and record the backup date.


    Last modified: Sun Jun 29 10:26:39 EDT 2008 by martha