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HET Phase II Instructions

Planning Your Phase II Program
HET Phase II Target Lists
FTP Submission Instructions

Phase II information for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope is collected and reviewed at NOAO before it is forwarded to the HET Observatory. All questions regarding instrumentation, the submission of Phase II information, data retrieval, etc., should be sent to NOAO at het@noao.edu and not to HET staff.

Your program has been allocated a specific number of hours of HET time. This allocation includes the overhead associated with your observations. In preparing your target lists, you should assume that ~10-15 minutes of overhead will be required per target or pointing. Thus, your program generally should not exceed the allocated number of hours when overhead is added. The number of allocated hours can be found on the "Proposal Status Report" that was sent to you.

If your program is one which includes many possible targets from which the HET observers should select a subset, be sure to prioritize the objects, if appropriate. The HET observers will be instructed to observe only the amount of time including overhead that has been allocated to your program.

In addition to the target list, your Phase 2 HET program should include an additional page of information describing the observations. This page should include any information that will assist the HET observers to carry out your program successfully. The HET observers will already have a complete copy of the proposal submitted to NOAO for the observing time. HET has provided a template form for producing a "program notes" page. The page can be filled in on the web and printed or saved as a text file to be included with your Phase II submission.

1. Blank column

2. Object Status:
   • A string that is either D (Done), H (Hold), or blank (active)
   • The PI should submit the targets as either active (blank) or on hold

3. Program Number:
   • For the program number, use "N", the semester name, a dash, and the four digit NOAO proposal ID number. For example, NOAO proposal N0999 in the 08A semester would use the code "N08A-0999".

4. Object Name:
   • remember to avoid spaces, for NGC 3379 use NGC3379 or NGC_3379
   • for MOS setups, follow with W or E for West or East track

5. Azimuth Restriction:
   • For tracks that should only be done at one specific AZ give an E or W
   • If no AZ restriction is required leave this field blank
   • This is primarily for MOS and moving targets

6. Right Ascension:
   • 12:05:36.1 (to 0.1 seconds of time)

7. Declination:
   • +33:29:08.7 (to arcsecond precision)

8. Equinox:
   • 2000

9. V Magnitude:
   • 18.2

10. Position Angle:
    • measured east from north in degrees
    • use par for parallactic or the default P.A. (do not use 0)
    • See the Position Angle Calculator for more about PA and Az restrictions.

11. Priority:
    • your priority will be that given to you by the TAC
    • you may distribute your objects over the priorities assigned by the TAC, or you may "oversubscribe" your top priority
    • when the TAC's assigned priority has been reached, all remaining targets will automatically receive lower priority

12. RA Priority Modifier:
    • This is an internal priority modifier that allows the RA to complete exposures that are only half done

13. Setup:
    • this should give the instrument and optical elements to be used in the observation
    • each instrument has its own setup:
      LRS configurations
      HRS configurations also see the HRS configuration checker
      MRS configurations
      
      
14. Maximum Seeing:
    • Expressed in arcseconds and denotes the image size (stack size) on the sky
    • See our image quality histograms

15. Sky Brightness:
    • A specific V band sky brightness magnitude
    • The night report will contain V band sky brightness measurements for most exposures
    • Do NOT leave blank
    • See our latest HET sky brightness data

16. Sky Transparency:
    • Use either P (photometric), S (spectroscopic), or N (not spectroscopic), do NOT leave blank
    • At the moment these correspond to roughly P=100-95%, S=95-90% and N=<50% transmission
    • 95-100% should be clear with low dust count
    • 50-95% should be loss of less than 1 magnitude in flux
    • This will be determined from the guider flux and the DIMM flux
    • For P and S exposure times will not be scaled
    • For N exposure times will be scaled to achieve the desired S/N but only the exposure time in the phaseII will be charged

17. Integration Time:
    • Total integration time in seconds
    • The total shutter open time per visit
    • Because this is exposure time per visit, please keep this number smaller than the track length at your declination (a good general rule is to keep it under 1 hour)

18. CRsplit:
    • number of sub-exposures in which to split the above integration time
    • this is crutial for longer (>20 minutes) integration times, so that the centering of the target in the slit can be checked
    • A CRsplit of 1 means no sub-exposures, ie. one single exposure
    • Example: an exposure time of 1800 with CRsplit 2 means two 900sec exposures

19. Visits:
    • number of visits to execute
    • the above integration time and CRsplit will be used for each visit

20. Done:
    • set to 0
    • the resident astronomers will keep track of the number of visits executed

21. Moving Target:
    • A boolean field Y or N whether the target is a moving target
    • Do NOT leave blank
    • Multiple sets of moving targets should use a group ID
    • Each moving target entry should also include a SYN Date
    • If required, a AZ entry can also be specified

22. SYN Frequency:
    • For synoptic targets the frequency of visits in days
    • Use string RAND#-# for synoptic targets with random visits wher the # is a number of days for a typical visit
    • RAND1-7 would let us know that the targets should have between 1 to 7 days for a typical visit
    • Leave blank for non-synoptic targets

23. SYN Dates:
    • For synoptic targets with visits required on or after specific UT dates
    • Format for dates should be sYYYYMMDD in UT dates, where s is either an = for only on this date, *gt; for on or after this date, or < for before or on this day.
    • Multiple specific dates should be separated by a comma with no space e.g. =20040412,=20040415. If your targets have different exposure times or Azimuth restrictions on these dates then you will have to make them separate entries.
    • Date ranges may be given by using two different formats: >20040412,<20040420 or >20040412-20040420.
    • Leave blank for non-synoptic targets

24. Group ID:
    • For programs that require multiple target visits
    • For all targets in a group give them a unique identifier, e.g. mygroup1
    • Leave blank for ungrouped observations

25. STND CALS:
    • A boolean string Y or N for whether standard calibration set is sufficient
    • If N , then the special calibrations must be listed in the Phase II submission form.
    • Special calibrations may be subject to time charge to the PI.
    • see Calibration Information

26. Flux STD:
    • Give the type of standard needed according to the HET flux standard priority list. e.g. 3 for level three or better flux standards.
    • If no Flux STD is required please enter N .
    • see Calibration Information

27. RV STD:
    • A boolean string Y or N whether a radial velocity standard is required.
    • see Calibration Information

28. Telluric STD:
    • A boolean string Y or N whether a telluric standard is required.
    • see Calibration Information

29. Sky Cals:
    • A boolean string Y or N whether a sky calibration is required.
    • see Calibration Information

30. Comments:
    • if there are spaces, enclose in double quotes
    • keep it short, simple, and organized
    • include restrictions on visits, special calibrations, e.g. flux standard, telluric standard, rv standard
    • for MOS setups, say whether this is the West or East track
    • for longer comments, include them in the program notes (see below)

Examples of Target Lists

Simple LRS observation of 1 visit with 2 900s exposures

-

-

PSU02-2-001

simple1

-

12:05:36.1

-01:29:20

1950.0

18.2

par

2.1

-

LRS_g2_10.0_GG385

2.4

21.0

S

1800

2

1

0

N

-

-

-

Y

Y

N

Y

easy_target

A very low priority target hoping to get S/N 10 under almost any conditions

-

-

PSU02-2-001

simple2

-

12:05:36.1

-01:29:20

1950.0

18.2

par

4.0

-

LRS_g2_1.0_GG385

4.0

18.0

N

900

1

1

0

N

-

-

-

Y

Y

N

N

S/N=10

A fast Moving target.

-	-	PSU02-2-001	movingtarget1	E	12:05:36.1	-01:29:20	1950.0	18.2	par	2.1	-	LRS_g2_1.0_GG385	2.4	21.0	S	1800	2	1	0	Y	-	=20020401	movingtarget1	Y	Y	N	Y	RAoff=1.1arc/sec,DECoff=-2.1arc/sec
-	-	PSU02-2-001	movingtarget1	W	12:15:36.1	-01:39:20	1950.0	18.2	par	2.1	-	LRS_g2_1.0_GG385	2.4	21.0	S	1800	2	1	0	Y	-	=20020401	movingtarget1	Y	Y	N	Y	RAoff=1.1arc/sec,DECoff=-2.1arc/sec
-	-	PSU02-2-001	movingtarget1	E	13:05:36.1	-02:29:20	1950.0	18.2	par	2.1	-	LRS_g2_1.0_GG385	2.4	21.0	S	1800	2	1	0	Y	-	=20020402	movingtarget1	Y	Y	N	Y	RAoff=1.1arc/sec,DECoff=-2.1arc/sec
-	-	PSU02-2-001	movingtarget1	W	13:15:36.1	-02:39:20	1950.0	18.2	par	2.1	-	LRS_g2_1.0_GG385	2.4	21.0	S	1800	2	1	0	Y	-	=20020402	movingtarget1	Y	Y	N	Y	RAoff=1.1arc/sec,DECoff=-2.1arc/sec

A synoptic target to be done with a randomized interval of 5-10 days.
The date is used to tell the next RA when the next visit is due.

-

-

PSU02-2-001

simple1

-

12:05:36.1

-01:29:20

1950.0

18.2

par

2.1

-

LRS_g2_10.0_GG385

2.4

21.0

S

1800

2

1

0

N

-

RAND5-10

>20020707

Y

Y

N

Y

easy_target

A TOO target that has not yet been activated.

-

H

PSU02-2-002

Chandra2

-

12:05:36.1

-01:29:20

2000.0

20.2

par

2.1

-

LRS_g2_10.0_GG385

2.4

21.0

S

1800

2

1

0

N

-

-

-

Y

Y

N

N

TOO_target_wait_for_activation

A target with special calibrations to be charged to the PI.

-

-

PSU02-2-001

careful1

-

12:05:36.1

-01:29:20

1998.0

18.2

par

2.1

-

LRS_g2_10.0_GG385

2.4

21.0

S

600

1

10

0

N

-

-

-

N

N

N

N

CALS_directly_AFTER,SEE_NOTES

Two targets to be observed on the same night.

-	-	PSU02-2-004	object1	-	11:05:36.1	-05:29:20	1950.0	19.2	par	2.1	-	LRS_g2_10.0_GG385	2.4	21.0	S	800	2	1	0	N	-	-	mygroup1	Y	Y	N	Y	also_get_object2_samenight
-	-	PSU02-2-004	object2	-	12:05:36.1	-01:29:20	1950.0	18.2	par	2.1	-	LRS_g2_10.0_GG385	2.4	21.0	S	1800	2	1	0	N	-	-	mygroup1	Y	Y	N	Y	also_get_object1_samenight

A typical planet search program: 2 different instrument configurations for 1 visit and more followup visits and special cals.

-	-	PSU02-2-001	target1	-	12:05:36.1	-01:29:20	1950.0	8.2	par	2.1	-	HRS_60k_central_316g5936_3as_0sky_IS0_GC0_2x1	2.4	21.0	S	900	1	1	0	N	-	-	target1visit1	N	N	Y	N	visit_1,SEE_NOTES_ON_CALS
-	-	PSU02-2-001	target1	-	12:05:36.1	-01:29:20	1950.0	8.2	par	2.1	-	HRS_60k_central_316g5936_3as_0sky_IS0_GC0_2x1	2.4	21.0	S	900	1	1	0	N	-	-	target1visit1	N	N	Y	N	visit_1,SEE_NOTES_ON_CALS
-	-	PSU02-2-001	target1	-	12:05:36.1	-01:29:20	1950.0	8.2	par	2.1	-	HRS_60k_central_316g5936_3as_0sky_IS0_GC0_2x1	2.4	21.0	S	900	1	4	0	N	-	-	-	N	N	Y	N	visits_2-4,SEE_NOTES_ON_CALS

Completed phase II target files can be uploaded to NOAO by anonymous FTP according to the instructions below, or sent by email to "het@noao.edu". Phase II materials for Public Access programs should not be sent directly to HET, but must be forwarded by NOAO.

A CGI script to help prepare target lists in the correct format is is available at http://www.noao.edu/cgi-bin/het/targets. Use of this page is optional -- some investigators may prefer to use a standard text editor.

Please note that this is not a submission form and nothing is stored on NOAO's server, so be sure to save your work often with "View Output" followed by using the "Save" option in your web browser.

Finding Charts

Some useful pages for creating finding charts can be found at http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (image tools) and http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/mce/het/het_charts.html (contains HET-specific info).

Charts may be sent to NOAO by any of the following methods:

• by FTPing Postscript files, or a tar or zip file containing several Postscript files, to the server at NOAO. Note that in this case any labeling text must be included within the PS files. FTP instructions can be found below.
• by faxing a copy of each chart to NOAO at (520) 318-8360. Please include a cover sheet marked with "Attn: David Bell".
• by mailing hardcopy printouts to:
  
  
  David Bell
  NOAO
  950 N. Cherry St.
  Tucson, AZ 85719

After successfully transferring your files, please send a message to het@noao.edu to let us know they're ready for pickup/review.

NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Last updated: Jun 6 2006

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