David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 669 (2019-02-26)

Notes (S668)

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Notes (S670)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (7),  Continuous Improvement (1)
	Images from 2019-02-26  >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2019-02-26)

Main aims

1. Exoplanet Transits - Attempt detection of the transit of exoplanet HAT-P-12 b
2. Software & Systems  - Check stability of software and presence of any side effects following ongoing enhancements to AstroMain and associated support programs.

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
•  80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
•  CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  POTH Hub
•  Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
   
•  AstroMain 3.9.5  AstroPlan 1.8.1

Highlights

• Azmiuth Checking shown to be now working corrrectly,  stopping a slew to target 6 (GCVS TV Cas) at 358.8°.

Lowlights

• Poor sky conditions

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan (2019-02-26, S669)

Observing Result (2019-02-26, S669)

Night Sky Summary Plot - 2019-02-26, S669 Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)

Session Event Log (2019-02-26, S669)

Time   Event Detail 17:58 Session Created Live Session Created (2019-02-26 S00669, ImageSaveNum: 669001) 18:01 Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 18:01 Services Started Observatory Services started 18:01 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 18:01 Session Pending Session pending (2019-02-26) 18:02 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-02-26) 18:02   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan () 18:05   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-02-26 V1 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 295) 18:05   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -20°C) 18:05   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 18:46 Shutter Opened Shutter opened (opening time 45s) 18:46 Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 18:54 Equilibration Ended Dome Equilibration ended (7.3 mins total) 18:54 Session Running Session running 18:54   Queue Started Observing Queue started (30 targets selected) 18:54     Target Started (1/30) Target started (1/30, NGC 2215) 18:57   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:00   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 19:05     Target Completed Target completed (1/30, NGC 2215) 19:05     Target Started (2/30) Target started (2/30, NGC 2232) 19:07   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:09   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 19:13     Target Completed Target completed (2/30, NGC 2232) 19:14     Target Started (3/30) Target started (3/30, NGC 2311) 19:15   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:18   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 19:25     Target Completed Target completed (3/30, NGC 2311) 19:25     Target Started (4/30) Target started (4/30, GCVS NV Ori) 19:27   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:30   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 19:33     Target Completed Target completed (4/30, GCVS NV Ori) 19:33     Target Started (5/30) Target started (5/30, GCVS CN Ori) 19:35   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:38   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 19:41     Target Completed Target completed (5/30, GCVS CN Ori) 19:41     Target Started (6/30) Target started (6/30, NGC 2185) 19:43   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:52     Target Completed Target completed (6/30, NGC 2185) 19:53     Target Started (7/30) Target started (7/30, NGC 2343) 19:55   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:58   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 20:02     Target Completed Target completed (7/30, NGC 2343) 20:03     Target Started (8/30) Target started (8/30, NGC 2539) 20:06   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:08   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 20:13     Target Completed Target completed (8/30, NGC 2539) 20:14     Target Started (9/30) Target started (9/30, NGC 2438) 20:17   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:19   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 20:28     Target Completed Target completed (9/30, NGC 2438) 20:28     Target Started (10/30) Target started (10/30, NGC 2440) 20:32   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:34   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 20:43     Target Completed Target completed (10/30, NGC 2440) 20:43     Target Started (11/30) Target started (11/30, NGC 2286) 20:45   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:47   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 20:52     Target Completed Target completed (11/30, NGC 2286) 20:52     Target Started (12/30) Target started (12/30, GCVS FO Ori) 20:53   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:55   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 20:59     Target Completed Target completed (12/30, GCVS FO Ori) 21:00     Target Started (13/30) Target started (13/30, NGC 2422) 21:03   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:06   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 21:13     Target Completed Target completed (13/30, NGC 2422) 21:13     Target Started (14/31) Target started (14/31, NGC 3432) 21:17   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:19   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 21:29     Target Completed Target completed (14/31, NGC 3432) 21:29     Target Missed (15/31) Target Missed (15/31, GCVS U Gem) 21:29     Target Started (16/31) Target started (16/31, GCVS DX Cnc) 21:36     Target Completed Target completed (16/31, GCVS DX Cnc) 21:36     Target Started (17/32) Target started (17/32, C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto)) 21:38   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:42   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 21:51     Target Completed Target completed (17/32, C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto)) 21:51     Target Missed (18/32) Target Missed (18/32, GCVS RR Tau) 21:52     Target Started (19/32) Target started (19/32, GCVS U Mon) 21:58     Target Completed Target partially completed (19/32, GCVS U Mon) 21:58     Target Started (20/32) Target started (20/32, GCVS SY Cnc) 22:04     Target Completed Target completed (20/32, GCVS SY Cnc) 22:04     Target Started (21/32) Target started (21/32, GCVS SU Tau) 22:07   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:09   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 15) 22:14     Target Completed Target completed (21/32, GCVS SU Tau) 22:14     Target Started (22/32) Target started (22/32, NGC 2353) 22:17   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:19   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 16) 22:25     Target Completed Target completed (22/32, NGC 2353) 22:25     Target Started (23/32) Target started (23/32, NGC 2479) 22:26   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:33     Target Completed Target completed (23/32, NGC 2479) 22:34     Target Started (24/32) Target started (24/32, NGC 2509) 22:35   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:42     Target Completed Target completed (24/32, NGC 2509) 22:46     Target Started (25/32) Target started (25/32, GCVS CN Leo) 22:49   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:56     Target Completed Target completed (25/32, GCVS CN Leo) 22:58     Target Started (26/32) Target started (26/32, D100) 23:01   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:04     Target Completed Target partially completed (26/32, D100) 23:12   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:15   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 17) 23:15   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:18   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 18) 23:19 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 23:19 Session Pending Session pending (2019-02-26) 23:19 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-02-26) 23:19   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan () 23:22   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-02-26 V2 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 296) 23:23   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -25°C) 23:23   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 23:23 Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 23:23 Equilibration Skipped Dome Equilibration skipped by user 23:23 Session Running Session running 23:23   Queue Started Observing Queue started (23 targets selected) 23:23     Target Started (1/23) Target started (1/23, GCVS CN Leo) 23:28 Session Resumed Live Session Resumed (2019-02-26 S00669, ImageSaveNum: 669260) 23:28 Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 23:28 Services Started Observatory Services started 23:28 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 23:28 Session Pending Session pending (2019-02-26) 23:28 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-02-26) 23:28   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-02-26 V2 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 296) 23:29   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -25°C) 23:29   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 23:29 Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 23:29 Equilibration Skipped Dome Equilibration skipped by user 23:29 Session Running Session running 23:29   Queue Started Observing Queue started (23 targets selected) 23:29     Target Started (1/23) Target started (1/23, GCVS CN Leo) 23:35     Target Aborted (1/23) Target aborted (1/23, GCVS CN Leo) due to other condition 23:35     Target Started (2/24) Target started (2/24, HAT-P-12) 03:53     Target Completed Target completed (2/24, HAT-P-12) 03:54 Queue Completed Job Queue completed 03:54 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-02-26) 03:54   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan () 03:54   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-02-26 V3 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 297) 03:54   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -25°C) 03:54   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 03:54 Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 03:54 Equilibration Skipped Dome Equilibration skipped by user 03:54 Session Running Session running 03:54   Queue Started Observing Queue started (12 targets selected) 03:56     Target Started (1/12) Target started (1/12, GCVS R CrB) 03:59   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:01   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 19) 04:04     Target Completed Target completed (1/12, GCVS R CrB) 04:04     Target Started (2/12) Target started (2/12, GCVS AM Her) 04:10   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:15     Target Completed Target completed (2/12, GCVS AM Her) 04:15     Target Started (3/12) Target started (3/12, GCVS S Cyg) 04:18   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:28     Target Completed Target completed (3/12, GCVS S Cyg) 04:29     Target Started (4/12) Target started (4/12, GCVS V Sge) 04:31   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:39     Target Completed Target completed (4/12, GCVS V Sge) 04:39     Target Started (5/12) Target started (5/12, GCVS U Her) 04:43   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:46   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 20) 04:53     Target Completed Target completed (5/12, GCVS U Her) 04:53     Target Started (6/12) Target started (6/12, GCVS SS Her) 04:57   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:01   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 21) 05:03     Target Completed Target partially completed (6/12, GCVS SS Her) 05:03     Target Started (7/12) Target started (7/12, HIP 87937) 05:06   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:08   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 22) 05:11     Target Completed Target completed (7/12, HIP 87937) 05:11     Target Started (8/12) Target started (8/12, GCVS CY Lyr) 05:13   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:16   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 23) 05:19     Target Completed Target completed (8/12, GCVS CY Lyr) 05:19     Target Started (9/12) Target started (9/12, GCVS CI Cyg) 05:22   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:25   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 24) 05:28     Target Completed Target completed (9/12, GCVS CI Cyg) 05:28     Target Started (10/12) Target started (10/12, 61 Cyg) 05:33     Target Completed Target completed (10/12, 61 Cyg) 05:33     Target Started (11/12) Target started (11/12, GCVS SS Cyg) 05:36   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:39     Target Completed Target completed (11/12, GCVS SS Cyg) 05:45     Target Started (12/12) Target started (12/12, GCVS HH And) 05:49   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:52   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 25) 05:53     Target Completed Target completed (12/12, GCVS HH And) 05:53 Queue Completed Job Queue completed 05:53 Session Closing Session closing 05:54 Shutter Closed Shutter closed (closing time 50s) 05:55 Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 23s) 05:55 Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 51s) 05:59 Session Finished Session Finished

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Operational Issues (2019-02-26, S669)

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

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Long Duration Target began imaging without starting autoguider.  HAT-P-12 began a 3h 50m, 420 x 30s observation without starting PHD2 autoguiding.  In the event autoguiding was started by the user, however autoguiding results weren't displayed in AstroMain.  Need to investigate why autoguiding didn't commence.  Need to investigate why "GuideMonitorStats" didn't recognise that autoguiding had started
  Resolved 2019-02-28.  Problem is due to the absence of a connection between AstroMain & PHD2 that followed an earlier incident which saw a forced termination of AstroMain when it stoppped responding and a subsequent failure to correctly reconnect to PHD2 when it was restarted. 
  
  Having started PHD2 guiding manually then once the HAT-P-12 target was completed,  no command to stop autoguiding could be passed to PHD2 (because PHD2 server was not connected ), which meant that autoguiding carried on running for the rest of session,  ruining many of the following images when non-appropriate pulse movements were commanded by PHD2.
  >> Consider setting PHD2 to automatically stop autoguiding when it detects a slew is taking place.  
  (There was a reason why option this was turned off however, so there may be unwelcome consequence)

Minor Issues

• Session Closing after Plan EndTime is passed. A probable problem was pre-empted when it was realised that an attempted observation of a 2.2 hour exoplanet transit might be terminated earlier and the observatory close down if the target was inserted as a ToO towards the end of the then active plan  (V1), which had a Plan EndTime that was before the Exoplanet transit would have completed.  A quick look at the Obs.Manager code showed it was designed to deliberately  terminate the session if it passed the plan's scheduled end time.  This is fine when a plan covers the whole night (original expectation), but not ok for a plan that only covers part of the night.  There are other and probably better means of protecting the observatory, so code can be safely removed.   To workaround the issue in this session a new plan was created (V2) and the exoplanet target inserted into the new plan which allow the whole transit period to be covered by observations.   Old code to terminate at the end of plan time was removed, new code to move to Closing State upon reaching  Sun -6 deg  (Civil Twilight)  was added.  Later-on a code line were found in the 'InsertToO' routine which shows that the PlanEndTime is increased by the duration of the inserted ToO, and hence the Session would not have closed prematurely.
    Fixed 2019-02-27 (AstroMain 3.9.6). 
   
• Forecast Rain data not showing on the AstroMain/Obs.Manager tab.  Two or three time in last 48 hours forecast rain data stops being displayed in data fields on the Manager tab (Laptop9) .  Restarting AstroAllSky on the Allsky Computer seem to fix the problem (temporarily) . Forecast rain data is also missing from Manager tab (Laptop10) at the same time. Data is being downloaded ok by the AstroWeather program (Laptop7), and being displayed ok on the Scorecard picture generated by AstroAllSky (Laptop7)
    Fixed 2019-02-27 (AstroAllSky 3.3.9,  bug in Nearest Rain param which included a comma that confused comma deliminated parsing of the Synopsis string in AstroGuard and AstroMain program ) .
   
• Scorecard Data not showing in AstroGuard.  It is possible that problem was caused by an exception relating to the bug in NearestStorm param sent out by AstroAllSky as part of the synopsis string sent via TCP/IP. (see above issue)
    Probably resolved but monitor situation.
   
• Frames again failing to link, with message "Revised Pointing Error 1,416.3 mins"
    Fixed 2019-02-27 (AstroMain 3.9.6)
   
• Problems transfering Session files from Observatory Computer (LAPTOP9) using  AstroMove.  AstroMove stops responding.  FIles transfer ok from Laptop7.  Files able to copied ok from Laptop9 using window drag and drop.
  Resolved (2019-08-05) by re-installing latest version of AstroMove (1.2.6) 
   
• Images taken with Xo filter are still reported with (X) filter rather (Xo) filter in report log
    Fixed 2019-02-27 (AstroMain 3.9.6)
  
  
• AstroVOE occasionally losing connection with GCN Server.  AstroVOE lost connection with GCN Server at 18:37 which meant that GRB Alerts were not available during the session. This continued until the lost connection happened to be noticed by looking at the last IamAlive Message time and the Client restarted.  Need to have the Client routine notice that the connection to server has been lost (triggered by a Last IamAlive Message that is older than 3 mins) and then automatically reconnect.
    Fixed 2019-03-03 (AstroVOE 1.3.1)

Continuous Improvement

• Reschedule NGC 2232 as a Mosaic in order to cover full extent of this open cluster.   Review in Sept 2020 shows that the target has still not been re-acquired - this was due to target having a 'Completed' status.  Target was reassigned as 'Reschedule' and set up as a 4x4 Mosaic including adjacent M35 open cluster. Mosaic eventually acquired in session S823 (2020-10-28)
  Done 2020-10-28 (Session S823)

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