David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 862 (2021-02-24)

Notes (S861)

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Notes (S863)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (2),  Continuous Improvement (2)
	Images from 2021-02-24 >>     [ Local Files >> ]

Session Aims & Highlights (2021-02-24)

Main aims

1. AstroMain.  Test features and fixes added in AstroMain 3.37/3.37.1 software, and crucially test stability and absence of UI lockups
2. ObsCam. Conduct thrid live test of new AstroObsCam software for capturing webcam pictures of the telescope & interior of the observatory during operation including AstroAllSky-AstroObsCam communication and picture upload & display on current session webpage.
3. Targets. Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by conditions.

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  DeviceHub 6.5.1.0,  UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.5 SP1
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.9Dev3
   
• AstroMain 3.37.1,  AstroGuard 1.5,   AstroPlan 1.20.5, AstroShCap 1.3.10, AstroVOE 1.5.2, AstroSN 1.4.1,  AstroProtect 1.5
  (AstroWeather 1.11, AstroAllSky 3.9.2, AstroObsCam 1.4.5)

Highlights

• ObsCam. Third live test of new AstroObsCam software for capturing webcam pictures of the telescope & interior of the observatory during operation went very well.  

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)

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 16:28:28 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity starting between 18:22 & 05:18 18:22:50   AutoStart Waiting AutoStart waiting till earliest start time at 18:22 18:22:51   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to rain 01:24:19 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (01:24) 01:24:51 Session Created Live Session Created (2021-02-24 S00862, ImageSaveNum: 862001) 01:24:53   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 01:26:51   Services Started Observatory Services started 01:27:00 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 01:27:04 Session Pending Session pending (2021-02-24) 01:27:06 Session Initiating Session initiating (2021-02-24) 01:27:08   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.20.5) 01:28:12   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (, Plan ID: 599) 01:28:24 Program Resumed AstroMain UI resumed again at 01:28 after 6s 01:28:27   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -20°C) 01:28:33   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 01:28:43 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 01:29:29   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 46s) 01:30:04 Session Running Session running 01:30:06   Queue Started Observing Queue started (15 targets selected) 01:31:19       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:34:10       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 01:36:03       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 01:36:05       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 01:42:05     Target Started (1/15) Target started (1/15, AT2021dbp (CV)) 01:46:22       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:48:27       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 01:54:38     Target Completed Target completed (1/15, AT2021dbp (CV)) 01:54:40     Target Started (2/15) Target started (2/15, Nova Per 2020 (CV)) 01:58:21       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:00:22       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 02:08:45     Target Completed Target completed (2/15, Nova Per 2020 (CV)) 02:08:47     Target Started (3/15) Target started (3/15, UGC 3502 w/AT2021cwc) 02:12:02       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 02:29:15     Target Completed Target completed (3/15, UGC 3502 w/AT2021cwc) 02:30:40     Target Started (4/15) Target started (4/15, NGC 4631 w/AT2021biy) 02:35:29       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 02:52:51     Target Completed Target completed (4/15, NGC 4631 w/AT2021biy) 02:52:54     Target Started (5/15) Target started (5/15, C/2020 T2 (Palomar)) 02:55:53       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:58:07       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 03:11:30     Target Completed Target completed (5/15, C/2020 T2 (Palomar)) 03:11:33     Target Started (6/15) Target started (6/15, GCVS BL Lac) 03:15:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:17:22       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 03:21:09     Target Completed Target completed (6/15, GCVS BL Lac) 03:21:47     Target Started (7/15) Target started (7/15, AT2021dtd) 03:24:53       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:26:43       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 03:42:21     Target Completed Target completed (7/15, AT2021dtd) 03:43:39     Target Started (8/15) Target started (8/15, SN 2021xn) 03:47:24       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 04:05:09     Target Completed Target completed (8/15, SN 2021xn) 04:06:01     Target Started (9/15) Target started (9/15, UGC 6930 w/SN2020rcq) 04:09:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:12:05       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 04:22:44     Target Completed Target completed (9/15, UGC 6930 w/SN2020rcq) 04:23:23     Target Started (10/15) Target started (10/15, NGC 4227 w/SN2021biz) 04:27:00       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:29:02       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 04:44:58     Target Completed Target completed (10/15, NGC 4227 w/SN2021biz) 04:45:15     Target Started (11/15) Target started (11/15, GCVS AM CVn) 04:49:21       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:51:11       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 04:54:09     Target Completed Target completed (11/15, GCVS AM CVn) 04:54:48     Target Started (12/15) Target started (12/15, MCG +6-30-84 w/SN2021K) 04:58:45       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:00:40       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 05:16:31     Target Completed Target completed (12/15, MCG +6-30-84 w/SN2021K) 05:17:10     Target Started (13/15) Target started (13/15, GCVS R CrB) 05:20:25       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:22:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 05:25:03     Target Completed Target completed (13/15, GCVS R CrB) 05:25:51     Target Started (14/15) Target started (14/15, GCVS U Her) 05:29:00       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:30:39       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 05:38:15     Target Completed Target completed (14/15, GCVS U Her) 05:38:17     Target Started (15/15) Target started (15/15, HIP 87937) 05:41:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:43:42       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 05:46:04     Target Completed Target completed (15/15, HIP 87937) 05:46:07   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 05:46:08 Session Closing Session closing 05:47:03   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 05:47:37   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 26s), Az: 90.0 deg 05:48:12   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 30s) 05:48:42   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 05:49:30   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 05:49:32 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 05:50:09 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail 02:18:49 Dome Dome has been stationary for more than 10 mins 02:20:19 Dome Dome Movements have begun again (outage 11.5 mins) 02:30:20 Dome Dome has been stationary for more than 10 mins 02:30:45 Dome Dome Movements have begun again (outage 10.5 mins)

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Operational Issues (2021-02-24 S862)

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

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• Foc2 Focusing of TS80+178MC secondary scope wasn't performed.  Report file shows that Foc2 focusing was aborted after routine was unable to find any star in the SharpCap Image whilst performing Near Zenith Focusing using 'Focus Field 12'  (HIP 58470) ) Checking the image (Locate_02.fits) confirmed that there were no stars present. Foc1 focusing was performed ok and subsequent guiding using TS80+178MC operated ok.  It is assumed that TS80 scope's view of the sky was occuled by the roof.  Declination of focus field is evidently too high.  Star for Focus Field 12 changed to HIP 58514.   Star for Focus Field 13 also changed (to HIP 63666) in order to prevent the same issue.
  Done 2021-02-25 (Observatory / AstroMain Reference File ' FocusFields.txt')
   
• ObsCam Events numbers are unexpectedly increasing by two at a time rather than one (ie 2, 4, 6 etc) and files unexpectedly labelled as 'Intrusion' rather than 'Motion'.  Code is very new and still being developed.
  Fixed 2021-02-25 (AstroObsCam 1.5)

Continuous Improvement

• Mirror the ObsViewer (ObsPic) Cross-Section when the telescope lies west of Meridian. This is to make the image more consistent with the view seen by the ObsCam view of the telescope, which is a view looking south (with east on left & west on right)
  Done 2021-02-25 (AstroMain 3.37.2)
   
• Create a cropped version of ObsCam Picture showing just the telescope part of the picture for upload/display on Current/Latest Session and Observatory Status Web Pages. Pictures may also be useful for creating videos showing telescope slews.
  Done 2021-02-25 (AstroObsCam 1.5, AstroAllSky 1.9.3, Website)

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