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Coordinates for Kitt Peak (1Dec93) (from KPNO, NOAO Newsletter No. 36, 1 December 1993) The days of hunting around using the acquisition TV for a barely- visible object are mercifully behind us. Thanks to improved encoders, more sophisticated pointing software, and regular pointing maps, the typical Kitt Peak telescope has RMS pointing errors of a few arcseconds around the sky. Thus we strongly encourage observers to come to the mountain equally well prepared, particularly for spectroscopic applications. (The object you want to observe should be the one that lands directly in the middle of the slit!) As outlined in previous newsletters, we have a number of ways to help you achieve this. The NOAO/Tucson facilities include a two-axis Grant machine and glass and film copies of the POSS and ESO sky surveys (along with software to make use of this material); local IRAF software that allows precise positions to be extracted from CCD frames using the HST guide-star catalog as a reference; and we have negotiated with STScI to provide digitized images of the sky survey plates that come complete with their own astrometric calibration. The latter had been provided only for Hydra users, but thanks to a recent renegotiation we are now able to provide scans to all observers with time on Kitt Peak or CTIO telescopes. These STScI extractions can be obtained from the two surveys that were used to generate the HST Guide Star Catalog: the southern SRC J survey and the Palomar "quick V survey." In addition, extractions can also be obtained from the original POSS E plates. Proper-motion may be a significant consideration in the latter, however. Requests for these extractions should be sent to Tod Lauer at NOAO (e-mail to tlauer@noao.edu) specifying the field center coordinates and equinox, the field size (limited to 1 degree per side), and the choice of plate material. At this time we are glad to accept requests from observers awarded time in the upcoming Spring 1994 semester with a deadline of 15 January. The requested images should be available via anonymous ftp by 1 February. Phil Massey, Tod Lauer, Taft Armandroff
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