PH2 tutorial for SITELLE

Updated May 23, 2017


Abstract -- This document presents the detailed PH2 tutorial for SITELLE. Within PH2, help is available through a "Help" and a "Tutorial" button in the left menu. For any additional information on PH2, please contact the QSO Team by email using qsoteam -=at=- cfht.hawaii.edu.

For information about SITELLE, and how to optimize sky time, do not hesitate to contact Laurent Drissen (ldrissen@phy.ulaval.ca) or Thomas Martin (7homas.martin@gmail.com). Please copy the QSO Team.

SUMMARY OF BASICS

Users should have by now consulted the general documents Queued Service Observing at CFHT and General principles of Phase 2 (PH2). Reading those 2 documents should only take 15 minutes, so we recommend that users consult them at least once. A few highlights are repeated here:

WHAT'S NEW

The maximum duration of an observing block has been brought up to six hours to enable the observation of high resolution spectral cubes.

We recommend the use of Firefox or Safari, both of which can be set to allow Java to run (for using Aladin). Chrome (version 42 and above) has disabled the standard way in which browsers support plugins; PH2 will work, but not Aladin. PH2 does not work with either Microsoft Edge or IE under Windows 10.
To enable Java on Firefox or Safari, please see How do I enable Java in my web browser?.

TABLE OF CONTENT:




ACCESSING PH2

Access to PH2 is limited to users who have received telescope time in the QSO mode. Access to PH2 is done through this small window:

The User ID and Password are provided to new users by the QSO Team, by email. If you have used PH2 before but do not remember your information, please contact the QSO Team.

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NAVIGATING WITHIN PH2

The left frame of PH2 is the Navigation Menu. The user can easily go from one page to the other by just clicking on the appropriate button. The button corresponding to the form currently opened becomes white with blue fonts. It is highly recommended to navigate through PH2 with the menu buttons instead of the normal browser buttons. Activity in the different forms is monitored, so using the PH2 buttons ensures that all the data are saved before moving to another section of the tool.

The navigation buttons and their corresponding pages are described below.

Button
Corresponding Page
First page of PH2 (Login). User ID and Password required.
Program Selection Page, for multiple programs under the same User ID
Page describing the QSO program, the investigators (PI) and the TAC evaluation.
General Constraints and Information for the program. Depending on the answers, some options will be made available in the subsequent pages. Please use the box provided to add as many instructions as possible (priorities, acceptable extinction, if IQ can be pushed, exact requirement for photometric conditions, Moon distance or illumination constraints, etc.) Includes a section for the distribution of the data.
Page containing the table used to define all of the fixed targets used in the creation of the observation blocks

Page containing the table used to define all of the targets for which coordinates are changing with time (ephemeris). Only accessible if requested in Program Constraints page

Page used to define finding charts. Charts can be generated by Aladin in PH2, or prepared with a different tool and uploaded from a PI's computer.
Page used to define regions (stars) of interest, to measure the SNR for example .
Page containing the table used to define all of the instrument configuration (e.g. filters, exposure time) used in the creation of the observation blocks
Page containing the table used to define all of the sky constraints entering in the creation of the observation blocks.
Page allowing the creation of the observation blocks from the lists of targets, instrumental configurations and constraints defined in the previous pages.
Page allowing the creation of the observation groups from a list of observation blocks. The I-time used for the program is also calculated and compared to the time allocated by TAC. Time constraints and REEL can be accessed here, if requested.
Page allowing to upload a list of date constraints to schedule OGs. This page only appears if the corresponding option has been activated in the Prg Constraints menu
Page allowing to schedule an OG according to a start date, a period, and a tolerance. This page only appears if the corresponding option has been activated in the Prg Constraints menu
Page describing all the observations prepared with PH2 and stored in the database for a specific program.
Logging out of PH2 (needs confirmation).
Opens this document
This document! Detailed overview and general description of PH2 and how to use it.

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PROGRAM SELECTION

This page allows the selection of your program for your session:

This page can be opened at all time; it is possible to work on several programs at the same time without having to log out from PH2. The programs are first sorted out according to the semester (pull-down menu) and then are identified by the runID, instrument, and title. Be careful: always make sure that you are editing the right program! For your convenience, the runID is shown on all the PH2 forms. Note: Following recommendations by the Time Allocation Committee, it is possible that a program was split into different programs with some specific I-time and grade/rank. If it's the case, the program with the higher ranking will keep the same runID as assigned during Phase 1 but the other programs will be assigned a different runID by the QSO Team. You must first select a program and click on the "Proceed" button before being able to navigate through the other pages of PH2.

Button
Function
Open the help files to the current page.
Save the content of the current page in the QSO database and open the next form.

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PROGRAM DETAILS

This page presents information regarding the program, the investigators, and the TAC evaluation:

Button
Function
Open the quick help files to the current page.
Cancel all the modifications done to the current page and reload data stored in the database.
Save all the modifications done to the current page in the database and reload current page.
Save the content of the current page in the QSO database and open the next form.

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PROGRAM CONSTRAINTS

This page requests some important information regarding your QSO program. Depending of some of the answers you provide here, options will become available in the subsequent pages of PH2. This page is divided into several sections:


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FIXED TARGETS

This is the first step toward the creation of the observation blocks, and where the user defines the fixed targets of the program and their precise pointing coordinates. The target table includes the target name, coordinates, and a pointing offset. A few buttons allow the addition, duplication, selection or deletion of entries. The maximum number of rows displayed at once is five. The "Next Page" and "Previous Page" buttons can be used to navigate between the different pages. The blue hyperlinks FT# represent the first row of each individual pages and can also be used for moving quickly from a page to another.

Compared to the other 3 instruments, Sitelle has stricter coordinates limitations. The coordinates limitations are:

  1. mechanical (risks of collision between the telescope structure and the instrument)
  2. related to the stability of the instrument and to the ability of the instrument to make accurate measurements (performance is guaranteed up to a zenith angle of 45 degrees)
Therefore, the DEC must be between -30 degrees and +63.0 degrees, and the airmass smaller than 1.51.

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EPHEMERIS

Note that non-sidereal guiding has never been attempted with Sitelle, and that possible rates would be at maximum of the order of one arcsec per minute or smaller. Therefore, this option is currently not offered officially. If however your program really need non-sidereal guiding, please contact the QSO team.

This form is used to define targets for which coordinates change with time. The form is only accessible if requested in the Program Constraints section, and the targets must move slowly enough that sidereal guiding can be used.

  1. At least 3 sets of RA and Dec coordinate pairs must be entered, enough to cover the potential time of observation. The times are in UT.
  2. It is assumed that the moving target moves slowly and that it will be observed with sidereal rates. The set of coordinates closest to the observing time will be sent to the telescope.

The general idea behind the ephemeris form is very simple: define a series of coordinates for a specific time for a given target. The top of the form, illustrated below, allows the user to first give a name to a target:

For instance, in the pull-down menu on the left, you can select "New". In the central window, you can then give a name to your target. When you click on "Update", the table in the middle frame window is then created and your target receives a label "ET#" (for "ephemeris target").

The table below shows the entry fields for the ephemeris of the target specified:

Each row in the table is an ephemeris labeled "E#" and includes the UTC Date (HST=UTC-10, and the beginning of a night in Hawaii is ~ 05:00:00 UT) and the coordinates of the target for this date (in J2000.0). As many ephemeris as wanted can be entered for a target and as many targets as wanted can be entered for a program. After defining all of the ephemeris for the target, we recommend that you save it immediately before starting defining the ephemeris for the next target (if needed). When saved, the ET will appeared in the list of targets used for defining the observation blocks (below).

Since entering a large number of ephemeris can be cumbersome the Astrores format template can be used at the bottom of the page to upload ephemeris for a given target (that is, one upload per target is necessary). To do so, apply first the procedure described above (create a new target name and click on update), since the name of the target cannot be defined from the Astrores template. Below there is a Astrores template (XML) that can copied on your local machine and then used to upload ephemeris to the table in the middle frame. (You can also create your own template on your local machine by first defining a target and click on "download".). It is important that the format is respected. You can then prepare the ephemeris for the target as seen in the lower part of the template and save the template under a specific name. When saved on your local machine, you can then upload it by specifying the path. Check that everything is fine and then save the ephemeris table for that target. Repeat if necessary!

<?xml version = "1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE ASTRO SYSTEM "http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/xml/astrores.dtd">
<ASTRO ID="v0.8" xmlns:ASTRO="http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/doc/astrores.htx">
<TABLE ID="Table">
<NAME>Ephemeris</NAME>
<title>Ephemeris for CFHT QSO</title>
<!-- Definition of each field -->
<FIELD name="DATE_UTC" datatype="A" width="19" format="YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss">
<DESCRIPTION>UTC Date</DESCRIPTION>
</FIELD> 
<FIELD name="RA_J2000" datatype="A" width="11" unit="h" format="RAh:RAm:RAs">
<DESCRIPTION>Right ascension of target</DESCRIPTION>
</FIELD>
<FIELD name="DEC_J2000" datatype="A" width="11" unit="deg" format="DEd:DEm:DEs">
<DESCRIPTION>Declination of target</DESCRIPTION>
</FIELD>
<!-- Data table -->
<DATA><CSV headlines="4" colsep="|">
<![CDATA[
DATE_UTC           |RA_J2000   |DEC_J2000  |
YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss|hh:mm:ss.ss|+dd:mm:ss.s|
1234567890123456789|12345678901|12345678901|
-------------------|-----------|-----------|
2003-06-04 06:30:00|09:34:00.00|+16:38:00.0|
2003-06-05 06:30:00|09:35:15.00|+16:31:50.0|
2003-06-06 06:30:00|09:36:33.00|+16:25:40.0|
]]></CSV></DATA>
</TABLE>
</ASTRO>

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FINDING CHARTS

Finding charts can be uploaded, especially if they can help the observer recognize the field. After selecting the Fixed Target with the pull-down menu at left, click on the Choose File button to select the appropriate JPG file. The Upload button is used to fetch the file and create a FC entry in the panel underneath. A comment can be entered for each Finding Chart, with any information useful for the observer.

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MEASURE REGION

Stars can be tagged on a chart and their coordinates entered in PH2 by using this PH2 functionality. Use the HR button to get a high resolution Aladin image, then the Aladin "tag" button (with the letter A and the '+' sign) to tag the desired stars; those tagged stars have a pink circle and a small blue cross. By clicking on the PH2 button "Grab", the coordinates of the tagged stars will be imported in PH2.


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INSTRUMENT CONFIGURATION

This is the second mandatory step in the creation of the observing blocks, used to define all the instrumental configurations necessary for the program. The same configuration can be used several times with different targets. The main section of the page is a table with different options under pull-down menus or editable entry fields.

The top frame can be used to help in the preparation of these configurations by offering the following elements:

The middle frame of the configuration page consists in a table and buttons to manipulate the entry fields:

Filter name Central wavelength (nm) Bandwidth (nm)
SN1 375 30
SN2 497 36
SN3 668 34
C1 436 106
C2 593.6 63

The following table shows the available buttons:

Button Function
Add N rows to the table.
Duplicate the selected rows N times.
Delete the selected rows. A confirmation window is displayed.
Select all the rows in the table. Clicking again on it deselect all the rows.
Check the entries for errors. The errors found are displayed in a separate window and are indicated by a red frame in the table. An automatic check is done also when the form is saved or when the "proceed" button is activated.
Display the next rows of the table.
Display the previous rows of the table.
Cancel all the modifications done to the current page and reload data stored in the database.
Save all the modifications done to the current page in the database and reload current page. Regular saving of the current form is recommended!
Save the content of the current page in the QSO database and open the next form.

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CONSTRAINTS

This page presents the table designed for defining the sky constraints under which the observations should be undertaken. The top frame displays information about the targets and instrument configurations defined previously:

The middle frame presents the table for the constraints:

The constraint on the band image quality is the strongest criterion for the selection of a program to be undertaken. The QSO Team will try to respect the constraint on the image quality at all time for your observations. Our goal is to never exceed the upper limit defined by your constraint by more than 15%, and at most 20%. Evidently, the image quality varies through a band to another.

The reference band for the QSO project is the r-band, that is that during the observations, the image quality will always be translated to this band.

Image Quality (IQ) R Band
Frequency (%)
IQ < 0.55"
5
0.55" < IQ 0.65"
25
0.65" < IQ 0.80"
30
0.80" < IQ 1.0"
25
1.0" < IQ 1.2"
15
IQ > 1.2"
5

These tables show the following:

Only 3 general qualitative sky brightness can be indicated (dark, grey, bright). During the observations, the sky background will be constantly measured by the IRIS software, and converted to these qualitative values. In gray time (i.e. Moon Illumination 0-50%), and bright time (i.e. Moon Illumination > 50%), the QSO Team will always try to observe at at least 45 degrees away from the Moon. However, it might not always be possible to do that due to scheduling constraints. We strongly suggest to include some comments in the "Program Constraints" page on this issue, for instance, if you think that we could get a bit more Moon without compromising the quality of science of your project. Note that the moon is much more an issue for blue filters (e.g. SN1, C1) than for red ones Please check with the ETC the influence of the moon on the expected SNR of your observations.

Here is a table of all available buttons:

Button
Function
Add N rows to the table.
Duplicate the selected rows N times.
Delete the selected rows. A confirmation window is displayed.
Select all the rows in the table. Clicking again on it deselect all the rows.
Check the entries for errors. The errors found are displayed in a separate window and are indicated by a red frame in the table. An automatic check is done also when the form is saved or when the "proceed" button is activated.
Display the next rows of the table.
Display the previous rows of the table.
Cancel all the modifications done to the current page and reload data stored in the database.
Save all the modifications done to the current page in the database and reload current page. Regular saving of the current form is recommended!
Save the content of the current page in the QSO database and open the next form.

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OBSERVATION BLOCKS

This is it! This page allows the user to link all the previously defined entities within observation blocks (OB). The main page is divided into two main frames:


The number of rows displayed at once is only a few. The "Next Page", "Previous Page" buttons can be used to navigate between the different pages. The blue links OB# represent the first row of each individual pages and can also be used for moving quickly from a page to another.

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OBSERVATION GROUPS

This page presents the last step in the preparation of your observations: the creation of the observation groups (OG). The OGs will be the entities scheduled at the telescope so this step is necessary, even if you have previously defined all the observation blocks. The OG page is presented below:

Observation Groups: Options

There are three important options available for the Observation Groups, useful to precise specific observations. These options are first presented in the "Program Constraints" section and appear only in the OG form if requested.

  1. Monitoring Parameters: Parameters for the monitoring OGs. This window appears only if you have indicated that your program requires monitoring. You can enter a period in hours, days or weeks. To enter the parameters, first select the unit and then fill up its value. The number of iterations corresponds to the numbers of times that this OG should be done at the interval of the period. The minimum number of iterations corresponds to the acceptable minimum number of observations to reach the science goals. We will reach for the total number of iterations but only OGs that have met the minimum number of iterations will be considered valid.
  2. Relational Execution Link (REEL): For certain programs, it is important that the observations take place within a specific sequence of events. For instance, if OG1 is executed, only then OG2 should be done within a certain timescale. It is possible to manage this kind of sequence at a higher level on a small scale (that is, during the preparation of the queues) but on a larger scale, it is much more preferable to have these options "hard coded" in the database. To cover such possibilities, we have developed the concept of the REEL: basically, it is possible to create a causal link between observation groups. This can be done in the last window on the right, if you have selected the REEL option in the "Program Constraints" section. Essentially, a REEL means this: "After the execution of the reference OG, the linked OG should be done within a certain delay." You can then link several OGs, if needed. For instance, OG3 to OG2 to OG1, etc. The links created appear in the OG table.

    IMPORTANT: The REEL option should be used ONLY when appropriate. If the observations cannot be done within the window defined by the (delay +/- delay) (due to bad weather or technical problems), the completion of the chain will not be done. Also, the logic involved in defining the REELs in PH2 is complicated. It is preferable to define first all the OGs, save them, and then create the links. This can be done using the "modif OGs" button: after defining all the OGs, you can create the REEL link by selecting the OG from its label, entering the REEL parameters, click in the "select" box on the row, click on the "modif OGs" button and save. Deleting OGs which have REELs will not be permitted.

  3. Time Constraints: For certain programs, some observations must be done during a specific time range. These entry fields, available in the OG table, allow the user to define such a constraint by specifying a period for which the observations should be undertaken. These fields are optional and will appear only if required in the "Program Constraints" page. It must also be understood that these constraints are very severe: if for a reason or another (e.g. bad weather or conditions not meeting the sky constraints) the observations cannot be done during the period required, these observations will not be tempted again and will be taken out of the queue. Time constraints are not compatible with REELs, for example if an OG is to be done after another one is validated, that OG cannot have time constraints as well.

Here is a table of the available buttons:

Button
Function
Create one observation group (it can be of types 1OB, MOB, or SOB).
Transform all the observation blocks defined in the previous form into observation groups. The recommended approach!
Modifying an existing observation group. After selecting one or several OGs in the table ("select" column), the OGs will be modified according to the parameters redefined by the top lists after clicking the "modif OG(s)" button. So, it is now possible to change an OG without having to delete it first from the table! Important: You must make sure that the total I-time allocated for your program has not been exceeded after modifying the OG(s).
Select all the rows in the table. Clicking again on it deselect all the rows.
Delete the selected rows. A confirmation window is displayed.
Check the entries for errors. The errors found are displayed in a separate window and are indicated by a red frame in the table. An automatic check is done also when the form is saved or when the "proceed" button is activated.
Display the next rows of the table.
Display the previous rows of the table.
Cancel all the modifications done to the current page and reload data stored in the database.
Save all the modifications done to the current page in the database and reload current page. Regular saving of the current form is recommended!
Save the content of the current page in the QSO database and open the next form.

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OG SCHEDULER

For certain programs, observations can be done at specific but multiple times during a semester. For instance, if the observations have to be done during a specific transit of a binary system, several dates and times might be possible. These dates and times can now be defined precisely with a new tool, the OG scheduler, developed specifically for this purpose. The tool produces a series of possible dates and times for which one or several OGs should be executed. The OG scheduler is optional and should be used only for those few programs which really require this tool.

A note on Time Constraints

Before explaining how to use the OG scheduler, it is important to provide a clear distinction between the different possibilities offered by PH2 on how to define time constraints. There are 3 distinct possibilities, two of them already introduced in the previous section on the OG form.

  1. Time Constraint Window: When requested in the program constraints page, it is possible to define time windows during which a OG should be done. This is the type of possible time constraint defined in the OG form. The OG will only be done within that time window.
  2. Monitoring: A specific OG might be done several times during the course of a semester, for monitoring a specific target. The monitoring is defined by a number of iterations and a period. The monitoring OG can be done within a time window, if desired.
  3. OG Scheduling: Several specific dates and times for a given OG can be needed, not just a window. OG scheduling refer to the possibility to define several dates and times for which an OG can be done. In other words, "an OG can be done at this date and time, or that one, or that one, etc...". Even a monitoring OG can be scheduled that way. In that case, it would mean "start this monitoring OG at one of these specific dates and times, then continue the monitoring of target according to the iterations and monitoring parameters (period)".

It is very easy to define a series of dates and times for which a OG could be done. NOTE: All dates and times specified within PH2 OG Scheduler are in HST. The top frame of the OG Scheduler looks like this:

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UPLOAD SCHEDULE

This PH2 functionality only appears if the appropriate option is selected in the Program Constraints page:

The Upload Schedule functionality is useful for events that happen on specific dates and times, but not necessarily regularly. For regular (periodic) events, the OG scheduler can be used. For non-regular events, such as transits, the Upload Schedule allows the necessary flexibility in the choice of dates and times.

A list of dates and times can be edited as a plain ascii file, and then uploaded in PH2. The formatting is very precise; after the upload is complete, the content will be displayed in a table. Users must check the values that are displayed.

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SUMMARY

This page opens a complete summary of what is currently the Phase 2 status of the program. As showed below, the summary can be sent by e-mail to several destinations as a HTML attachment (to be compatible with people not using a browser for their mail system), by clicking on the "Send this page to" button. The summary can also be printed using the "Print" button of the browser used for PH2.

We strongly suggest that you keep the summary (printed or electronic) of the final version of the program submitted during the Phase 2. It will be useful to you for monitoring the progress of your program with the night reports and for any necessary communication between you and the QSO Team regarding the observations.

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LOGOUT

To exit PH2, you must confirm it by clicking on the "Logout" button in the window below. If you do not want to do so, select another page with the navigation buttons on the left frame.