https://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/cw-slopes-and-plains/coonabarabran
http://www.skippysky.com.au/Compact/Australia/Compact_Oz_Coonabarabran.html
https://www.windy.com/-31.270/149.270?clouds,-31.801,149.271,8
https://www.accuweather.com/en/au/coonabarabran/12763/hourly-weather-forecast/12763
https://www.fishranger.com.au/current/weather/at/location/Siding+Spring+Observatory
Official from the observatory: https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/instruments/current/AAOmega/manual there is a Part II “prepare for observing” and part III “observing”. Part II described the files that we need to make ahead of time.
Informal notes of ‘what buttons to push on the night of here.
all Observers should be familiar with: https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/observing
Just for fun, here us the chirp noise the configurations make: http://aat-ops.anu.edu.au/jcameron/chirpy/
A number of things need to be sorted prior to observing. In particular, one needs to set up the plates that one gives to the instrument to start the observation. The process is non trivial and can take a while to complete. Part II of the observing manual describes the process of setting up the plates: https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/instruments/current/AAOmega/manual
However, to summarise the process of setting up the observing plates:
Making the configuration files for the Telescope:
There are two kinds of files:fld and config
Fld: field description files.
Science targets w/ priority rankings
*Sky positions
Need to actually be as blank as possible (might prove trickier in the LMC/SMC?)
Want 20-30 to be allocated, so might need 50-100 options per field.
Possible way to do this (annoying because somewhat manual):
Step 1; Using ds9 go to Analysis -> Image Server -> DSS. Input the coordinates of one of our fields (above) and put xsize and ysize of 2.1 degrees.
Step 2: Plot the Zaritsky catalog of sources on top using analysis -> catalog tool -> File -> Import -> tab Separated Value. Also overplot the circles for the 2 degree fields. Both a slightly truncated version of the Zaritsky catalog and the SMC region files can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1fQsmKtuz2mQAd-_MDsyg6bRWscPFXnAr
Question with this: does ds9 barf at the size of this catalog file?
Manually zoom in and place regions where there aren’t any Zaritsky sources.
Write out those regions.
Alternative: still use the dss images as above, but use photutils to mask out sources and find blank sky. (Bethany has code for this)
*guide stars:
Must be on the same astrometric system as science.
Ideally mag =12.5 - 13.0 is best. But want as small a range of magnitudes as possible.
Want 20-30 candidates well distributed across the field.
Notes:
Sources cannot be within 30” of each other
There are 392 fibers total
Recommend splitting object observations into at least 3 exposures.
Be careful with proper motion units
After the plate configurations have been set up, one will need to run the configuration software. The Configure software allows observers to prepare input files for the 2dF fibre positioner. One can download the configuration software from here: https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/software/configure. Note that even though it is suggested to run the configuration software on your computer prior to the observing night, one will also need to run it on the telescope's computers on the night of the run since that has the most up to date configuration information.
Below I will show screen captures of the configuration process:
**TO BE FILLED IN**
Important to NOTE: It takes about 40 minutes to reconfigure a field, but this is done in parallel with the ongoing observation.
The schedule can be found at https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/observing/schedules/aat
You can determine the swap over time using https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/aat-moon/moon.html or using JskyCalc.
You should discuss with the person who is taking over when the swap should occur and confirm this is ok.
Additional information on half nights can be found at https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/guidelines-observers-split-nights.
AAT console Polycom IP: 192.231.166.51
AAT console phone: 6842 6279
AAT observer’s desk: 6842 6276
AAT public address system (wait for the beep to end before speaking): 6842 6351
SSO emergency mobile: 0427 685 288
AAT VPN: aat-vpn.anu.edu.au
VNC desktop used for observing: aatxdb1.aao.gov.au, IP 10.88.80.26.
Note: IP addresses that start with 10 (e.g. 10.88.90.80) are only available within the AAT network.
aatlxe: 10.88.90.24
aatlxh: 10.88.90.25
Weather: http://aat-ops.anu.edu.au/AATdatabase/met.html
Robot viewer: http://10.88.90.80/view. We advise against running this from a browser that is started on aatlxy, as this seems to slow down the VNC connection.
There are four weather related phenomena that might restrict or degrade observing but in which observing can continue. Unless you have a program that is unaffected (e.g. many bright targets all over the sky) or the instrument you are using is incapable of observing in the specific degraded conditions (instruments can’t be changed mid-run), you should aim to have a back-up program ready to take advantage of this time.
Clouds: A weather allowance factor of 1.5 is built into all proposals to use the AAT, this accounts for time that is completely lost. However, it can also happen that there is thin cloud you can observe through. Brighter targets/fields are best for this.
Poor Seeing: The median nightly seeing at the AAT is 1.6 arcseconds, and 15 % of the time it is actually better than 1.1 arcseconds. However, around 15% of nights are worse than 2.5 arcseconds, and about 1.5% are worse than 4.0 arcseconds, rarely seeing has been known to be worse than 10 arcseconds. In such conditions you may need to observe brighter targets, or avoid targets with only very faint guide stars. Depending on the instrument you might also need to reconsider what is an appropriate aperture size.
Condensation: A combination of high humidity and low temperatures can cause condensation on the dome and/or telescope, especially if the wind is only light. If condensation builds up on the telescope observing has to stop, but the inside of the dome is air conditioned, so such instances are exceedingly rare. Condensation more easily builds up on the dome however. When this gets bad water can drip from the windscreen into the dome. In this situation, in order to protect the telescope and instrumentation the ZD allowed for observing is restricted: for the 2dF top end the limit is 40 deg, and for the other top ends it is 25 deg; the telescope must point lower in the sky than this. Single target programs are especially vulnerable to losing time in this circumstance and so you should have in mind alternate targets that will be away from the zenith.
High Wind: Nominally the wind speed limit at the AAT for safe operation is 90 km/h. This is rarely approached, however when it is observing might be restricted to azimuthal angles pointing away from the wind direction. The 2dF top end is more susceptible to high wind than other top ends. Try and have a back-up target or field in mind that is in the opposite hemisphere to your primary.
Fill in the visitor form. Then a AAT visitor computer account will be set up. --> Communication is the key to a successful observation so please fill out the Visitor Form to notify us of your intentions at least one week before your observing run.
Set up configuration plates.
Install VPN and VNC clients on your laptops. We recommend that you use Cisco’s AnyConnect Security Mobility Client and Real VNC’s VNC viewer.
Another option or VNC is: TigerVNC: http://tigervnc.bphinz.com/nightly/
If you are using the NBN, check that there are no scheduled maintenance activities that might affect your connection.
Remote observing from home is restricted to astronomers based in Australia. Requests to observe remotely from places outside Australia need SSO Director approval.
2dF observers should thoroughly familiarise themselves with the documentation available on the 2dF + AAOmega home page, which includes the 2dF Manual, Information for Observers, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions. 2dF is a very complex instrument! We have developed a "FAQ", available from the 2dF + AAOmega WWW page, and which we encourage observers to read. You should liaise with your support astronomer before your run if there is anything which is unclear. Because of the complexity of 2dF set-ups, it is essential you are ready to begin work by 4 hours before dark on the day of your run. For this reason 2dF observers must always arrive at the telescope on the day before. Many problems can be fixed if they are caught the day before observing starts!
Need to begin work by 4 hours before dark on the day of your run use this to check when sunset is: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@2170540.
We recommend that you use Cisco’s AnyConnect Security Mobility Client to connect to the AAT network using VPN. To do this
Point your browser to https://aat-vpn.anu.edu.au
Ignore the security warnings
Login with your AAT account details that you were given.
Follow the instructions to download the software for you operating system[1].
Once installed, bring up the application and enter aat-vpn.anu.edu.au, the AAT VPN address
Click on the settings button in the bottom corner and make sure that “Block connections to untrusted servers” is not ticked. You will only need to do this on first use – the setting will be remembered for subsequent connections.
You may see another security warning. Press unclick anyway.
[1] The VPN client is not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina. Please contact Chris Ramage if you need access to this client for this version of the mac OSX operating system.
Your observing data will be stored according to the particular instrument setup in use. Typically the instrument is run and data is stored on either aatlxx or aatlxy. These are available remotely via VPN. The Night assistant will provide details of which computer is in use.
ALL remote observes need to contact the AAT site staff by 3pm AEST (or 4pm daylight savings time) on the day of observing.
Make verbal contact (e.g. using zoom) with the afternoon shift technician before trying to access the instrument.
When using 2dF, screen real-estate is an important factor. At the very least, you should have two screens. This will enable you to see half of the four screens. One can then scroll to see the other half as required. Recall that 2dF windows can pop up in unexpected places.
If you have access to two computers it is recommended that you set Zoom up on a different machine to the one you use for controlling the instrument. This is because Zoom will be piped through the VPN otherwise, which will slow the connection somewhat.
Follow the following sequence.
Establish communication with the afternoon shift technician via zoom (the polycom is unlikely to be a realistic option if you are observing remotely from home). SSO staff will establish one zoom link per scheduled run. You will be informed of the details once the visitor form is submitted.
VPN into the AAT network: aat-vpn.anu.edu.au, using the account details you have been given. (If you later have trouble logging in, returning to this page and logging in again serves as a test of the validity of your credentials.)
VNC into aatxdb1.aao.gov.au, IP 10.88.80.26. If you do not know the password, the afternoon shift technician will give it to you.
Notes from Jielai that are informal and more of the ‘what buttons to push on the night of: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hn4YwuCGBytbKNn4AkkWb3Z5QPTJLtq4_e7mU8QUc3g/edit?usp=sharing
Close the VNC window. Under no circumstances, should you log out of aatlxx to aatlxy. The consequences could be grave.
Log out of the VPN session if you do not plan to run reductions on aatlxh, for example.
Even though your observing has been from home, we still need you to fill in a Run Report. Please report any unresolved difficulties with remote observing in addition to the other comments you might have. The Run Report is submitted via an online form located here: https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/observing/after-run
Data reduction pipeline: https://aat.anu.edu.au/science/software/2dfdr
**DETAILS OF STEPS TO COME**