David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 828 (2020-11-07)

Notes (S827)

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Notes (S829)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (2),  Continuous Improvement (7)
	Images from 2020-11-07 >>
	SiriL 0.99.6

Session Aims & Highlights (2020-11-07)

Main aims -

1. Cam1 Guiding. Test routines and settings for guiding using LX200/ST10 (main scope, north down images) whilst imaging with TS80/178MC (secondary scope)
2. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of deep sky targets
3. Bug fixes.  Check that bugs discovered in last session in AstroMain 3.31.2 have been fixed, and that recent new features are working ok

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  DeviceHub 4.5.0.1, UPB 1.5 
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.9
   
• AstroMain 3.32.4,  AstroGuard 1.4.6,   AstroPlan 1.17.2  AstroShCap 1.3.6, AstroVOE 1.5, AstroProtect 1.4.1
  (AstroWeather 1.10.13, AstroAllSky 3.6)

Highlights

•   Dome Parking.  Data was collected about a issue that has affected the last two session  whereby false alerts are being generated by the observatory control program (AstroMain) during observatory shutdown saying that Dome Parking had failed when the dome had in fact successfuly moved to its park position, allowing a fix to be made to Dome.SlewToAzimuth (90) routine.   Fix to be tested over the course of next few sessions to make sure that it resolved the issue.

Lowlights

•   Cloud. Conditons deteriorated very shortly after starting the session and session suspended itself until dawn due to cloud.
  Cloud prevented testing routines and settings associated with Cam1 guiding (guiding using LX200/ST10 (main scope, north down images) whilst imaging with TS80/178MC (secondary scope)

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan

Observing Result

Dome & Scope Slewing Performance

Slew/Centering Performance

Guiding Performance

Sky Conditions (Locate Frames)

Night Sky Summary Plot Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)

Pre-Session Weather Forecast (API data from darksky.net) Pre-Session Weather forecast showed a clear spell in middle of evening (cloud cover 0-23%) but clouding at 22:00 to 02:00 (cloud cover 54-78%) , becoming totally overcast from 02:00 onwards.  Minimum temperature 6 degC. Wind becoming strong onwards dawn with potential rain (heavy rain forecast from 08:00 onwards) In the event there was a clear spell from 18:00 to 20:10 but transparency and seeing were fairly poor, and sky was bright due to moonlight and cloud reflection. Cloud thickened at 21:45 and session suspended.   User intervention made to finish session at 23:30 due to  cloud and rain risk.

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 19:51:45 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity starting between 19:51 & 05:36 19:51:49   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to cloud 19:52:19 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (19:52) 19:53:02   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -20°C) 19:53:04 Session Created Live Session Created (2020-11-07 S00828, ImageSaveNum: 828001) 19:53:06   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 19:54:58   Services Started Observatory Services started 19:55:07 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 19:55:10 Session Pending Session pending (2020-11-07) 19:55:12 Session Initiating Session initiating (2020-11-07) 19:55:14   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.17.2) 19:55:40   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2020-11-07 V1 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 563) 19:55:43   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -15°C) 19:55:48   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 19:55:58 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 19:57:55   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 19:58:10 Session Running Session running 19:58:11   Queue Started Observing Queue started (33 targets selected) 19:59:25       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:02:58       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 20:05:33       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 20:05:35       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 20:08:19       Focusing Failed Foc2 Focusing Failed - failed QC check (Range) 20:10:10     Target Started (1/33) Target started (1/33, GCVS SS Cyg) 20:13:57       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:17:03       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 20:20:40     Target Completed Target completed (1/33, GCVS SS Cyg) 20:25:21     Target Started (2/33) Target started (2/33, GCVS HH And) 20:28:24       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:31:13       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 20:33:32     Target Completed Target completed (2/33, GCVS HH And) 20:33:34     Target Started (3/33) Target started (3/33, GCVS BL Lac) 20:36:35       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:39:13       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 20:42:55     Target Completed Target completed (3/33, GCVS BL Lac) 20:43:54     Target Started (4/33) Target started (4/33, NGC 514) 20:46:29       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:48:06 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Shutter) 20:48:08   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend is called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 20:48:09       Focusing Failed Foc1 Focusing Failed - star lost 20:48:11     Target Aborted (4/33) Target aborted (4/33, NGC 514) due to cloud 20:48:13   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 20:48:15 Session Suspended Session suspended 20:49:01   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 45s) 20:58:16   Camera1 SetPoint -20°C SBIG Camera Set Point Temperature Updated (new set point -20°C) 20:59:16     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (4/33, NGC 514) due to cloud 21:20:38     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (5/33, UGCA 25) due to other condition 21:29:01 Session Resuming Session resuming 21:29:46   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 21:29:48 Session Running Session running 21:29:51   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 21:30:44       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:33:43       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 21:33:45       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 21:36:29       Focusing Failed Foc2 Focusing Failed - failed QC check (Range) 21:36:37     Target Started (6/33) Target started (6/33, GCVS U And) 21:37:51   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 21:42:40     Target Completed Target partially completed (6/33, GCVS U And) 21:42:42   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 21:42:44 Session Suspended Session suspended 21:43:31   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 21:46:18     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (7/33, GCVS Z And) due to other condition 21:51:21 Session Resuming Session resuming 21:52:06   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 21:52:08 Session Running Session running 21:52:10   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 21:52:55       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:55:31       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 21:55:33       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 21:58:14       Focusing Failed Foc2 Focusing Failed - failed QC check (Range) 21:58:23     Target Started (8/33) Target started (8/33, WDS GRB 34) 22:01:21 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Shutter) 22:01:23   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend is called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 22:01:25     Target Aborted (8/33) Target aborted (8/33, WDS GRB 34) due to cloud 22:01:27   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 22:01:29 Session Suspended Session suspended 22:02:16   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 22:14:10     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (9/33, NGC 3266) due to cloud 22:32:32     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (10/33, UGC 6930) due to cloud 22:53:54     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (11/33, NGC 4290) due to cloud 23:16:16     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (12/33, UGC 5459) due to cloud 23:21:32   Camera1 SetPoint -15°C SBIG Camera Set Point Temperature Updated (new set point -15°C) 23:38:16     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (13/33, GCVS CM Tau) due to cloud 00:05:39   Queue Aborted Job Queue aborted 00:05:54   Services Stopped Observatory Services stopped 00:06:15 Program Closed Program closed by User 00:06:17 Program Closed Program closed by User 00:08:37 Session Resumed Live Session Resumed (2020-11-07 S00828, ImageSaveNum: 828034) 00:08:47   Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 00:08:49   Obs.Overseer Started Obs.Overseer started 00:08:53   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:09:00   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -15°C) 00:10:01   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:10:53   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 00:11:21 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 00:11:22 Session Pending Session pending (2020-11-07) 00:11:24 Session Initiating Session initiating (2020-11-07) 00:11:26   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2020-11-07 V1 ACTIVE PLAN S828, Plan ID: 563) 00:11:27   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -15°C) 00:11:31   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 00:11:42 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 00:11:44 Wait On Weather Waiting For acceptable conditions 00:11:46 Session Suspended Session suspended 00:11:48   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closure time is unknown) 00:11:50   Queue Started Observing Queue started (20 targets selected) 00:17:57     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (14/33, NGC 2158) due to cloud 00:30:38     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (15/33, Nova AT2020bfc) due to cloud 00:39:33     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (16/33, GCVS RX And) due to cloud 00:48:09     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (17/33, GCVS GK Per) due to cloud 01:07:46     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (18/33, UGCA 92) due to cloud 01:30:08     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (19/33, UGCA 105) due to cloud 01:52:31     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (20/33, NGC 1637) due to cloud 02:04:56     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (21/33, GCVS SU Tau) due to cloud 02:14:17     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (22/33, GCVS CN Ori) due to cloud 02:33:59     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (23/33, UGCA 102) due to cloud 02:56:21     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (24/33, UGCA 104) due to cloud 03:18:43     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (25/33, NGC 1843) due to cloud 03:41:09     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (26/33, Scholz's Star) due to cloud 04:02:31     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (27/33, NGC 2377) due to cloud 04:24:53     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (28/33, NGC 2782) due to cloud 04:47:16     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (29/33, UGCA 154) due to cloud 05:00:33     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (30/33, GCVS RZ LMi) due to cloud 05:21:25     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (31/33, NGC 4244) due to cloud 05:43:47     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (32/33, UGC 7321) due to cloud 06:11:04     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (33/33, M85) due to cloud 06:11:09   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 06:11:14 Session Closing Session closing 06:11:19   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closure time is unknown) 06:12:29   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 61s), Az: 90.1 deg 06:13:15   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 38s) 06:13:45   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Powerbox. 06:14:36   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 06:14:38 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 06:14:45 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail -- No Alerts                --

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Operational Issues (2020-11-07 S828)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (1)
• Minor Issues (2)
• Continuous Improvement (7)

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Critical Issues

•  None

Major Issues

• PHD2 program crashed with an unhandled Access Violation exception in ASICamera2.dll when starting to guide for Target 1/33 (SS Cyg). A recently added backdoor routine 'Restart PHD2 Service was used to restore PHD2 with minimal impact to operations, but only because the problem was noticed during remote monitoring of the session.  How could the issue have been identified / resolved by the Obs.Manager during autonomous operations ?  Checking SharpCap showed that it was still using the ZWO ASI178MC camera - still taking 150x150 focus frames that was being used for earlier Foc2 Focusing.   Foc2 Focusing code needs to be checked to understand why there was no command given to Close the camera at the end of Foc2 focusing. This might be related to unexpected situation where none of the Sharpcap focus frames were found by the AstroMain Foc2 focusing   Start PHD2 Guiding should probably double check that the camera has been released by SharpCap before attempting to access the camera.  Code shows AstroMain sends a Disconnect Camera request  but there was no response sent back.  There was another attempt to perform Foc2 Focus Profile at 21:55, and again there was no response to the Disconnect Camera request and Image Previewing continued.
    Fix attempted 2020-11-08 (AstroShCap 1.3.7)

Minor Issues

• Foc2 Autofocusing Failed with messages 'Unable to find SharpCap images'.  This is area undergoing active development at the moment to incorporate ShCap Event signalling.   Examining ShCap logs shows that Events were being generated with the Event name 'TaskProgress' when they should have had the Event name  'FocusFrameCompleted'.  The 'Steps' parameter was also noted to be incorrectly coded as "Steps:"9302",  when it be should be getting coded as "Steps":9302,
  Fixed 2020-11-08 (AstroShCap 1.3.7 and AstroMain 3.32.5)
   
• Target 5/33 (UGCA 25) was marked as 'Cancelled due to other condition' .  Reporting should provide a specific reason rather than refer to the catch-all term 'other condition'.
  To be fixed (AstroMain)

Continuous Improvement

• Add Cooler Power '(59%)'  to the log message 'Cooler Power is within normal window again'  
  Done 2020-11-08 (AstroMain 3.32.5)
   
• Upload multiple SkyConditions Charts to Website .  At the moment only the last chart is uploaded to website as 'Session.SkyConditionsTab.png', this generally works well, but in last night's session all the useful data was in the first chart, which was overwritten by an essentially blank second chart when AstroMain was stopped to install a new version in mid-session and the remainder of the night the session was suspended with no imaging / no sky data. New charts to be named Session.SkyConditionsTab01.png, Session.SkyConditionsTab02.png etc
  Done 2020-11-08 (AstroMain 3.32.5, AstroPlan 1.17.3, WebSite)
   
• The task 'Paused_ForSessionSuspension' is too long to fit in its log file column.  Task renamed a 'Paused ForSuspension' 
  Done 2020-11-08 (AstroMain 3.32.5)
   
• Smooth out the dew heater power values supplied to Dew Heaters. The GetSmartDewControl() routines works well at maintaining the OTA tenperature above dew point but the power values are rather spikey and might possibly give rise to unwanted thermal eddies.   Output values to be smoothed by taking a Power value that is the average value from the last 15 mins of raw spikey power values. Monitoring showed the new method had unwanted sideeffect that saw the Tube Temperature osscilating between being too high & too low on a 15-30 minute time scale.  The algorithm was tweaked to maintain a smoother dew control.
  Done 2020-11-08 (AstroMain 3.32.5)
   
• Take Images of Tabby's Star (also known as Boyajian's Star and WTF Star, and designated KIC 8462852 in Cygnus, 1,470 light-years away.  Star shows large irregular dimmings.   Star added to Target's Database 2020-11-25. Images for star were collected on 3 nights between 2020-11-25 and 2020-12-02 (Sessions S833, S836, S837)
  Done 2020-11-28 (Session/ Database)
   
• Examine if it is feasible to perform an immediate image link on 178MC Focus Frame reference image (5s) with intention of using the results to draw onto the JPG picture a rectangle representing the ST10 FOV, along with the target (coloured cross), white cross (ST10 FOV center) .
  Done 2021-02-01 (AstroMain 3.32.9)
   
• Why are some PHD2 Events being sent to log file, eg. 'Guiding Stopped' ,  'LoopingExposuresStopped'.  This is by design, all guiding related events during Start Guide process are logged. Closed after review 2022-07-27.
  Closed after review 2022-07-27 (AstroMain)

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SiriL (0.99.6)

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