Observing with ESPaDOnS in Queued Service Observing
(QSO) Mode
| ESPaDOnS webpage | |
| News | ESPaDOnS in Classical Observing Mode |
| Characteristics and Performances | Other relevant documents |
Observing with ESPaDOnS in Queued Service Observing
(QSO) Mode
Since Semester 2008A, ESPaDOnS observations are carried in Queued Service Observations mode only.
In QSO mode, PIs who have had their proposal accepted by the TAC fill in PH2 all their observing information before the beginning of the semester: target coordinates, Observing Mode (spectroscopy or polarimetry), length of each observation, airmass or Image Quality constraints, etc.
During an ESPaDOnS QSO run, the Queue Coordinator prepares possible queues (scenarios) for the coming night, taking into account the ranking of the various programs, the RA of the targets, etc. At night, trained Service Observers carry out the observations depending on the sky conditions (Image Quality, clouds, Moon, etc.). All the exposures taken are first evaluated by the Service Observer at night, and a final evaluation is done the next morning by the Queue Coordinator.
The instrument configuration, spectrograph focus, telescope focus, guider setup, and all the necessary calibrations (biases, comparison lamp exposures, flat field exposures, Fabry-Perot exposures) are executed by the Service Observer. Data reduction is performed by CFHT's reduction pipeline Upena, which is based on Donati's reduction package Libre-ESpRIT.
Detailed instructions for Phase 1 Proposal Submission (POOPSY) are available here. PIs who are writing proposals MUST read this document, which explains QSO observations, the types of QSO programs accepted, the Image Quality bands, technical details needed in the proposal, etc. The document also explains which calibrations are provided by CFHT, how the accepted programs are ranked, how data are evaluated and distributed, etc.
Additional and complimentary information is presented in this page.
ESPaDOnS is an instrument that has 3 Observing Modes, all offered in QSO mode:
There are also 3 CCD readout modes offered in QSO mode, with different gains, readout noises, and readout times. The XSlow mode is not offered in QSO mode.
Each exposure covers 40 orders from 3700Å to 10500Å (with 3 very small gaps: 9224-9234Å, 9608-9636Å, 10026-10074Å).
Exposure times which saturate the detectors are listed on the Saturation page.
Exposure
Time Calculator on the OMP site.
Data reduction