David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 916 (2021-09-24)

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Notes (S917)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (2),  Minor Issues (6),  Small Defects (0),  Continuous Improvement (4)
	Images from 2021-09-24 >>          [ Local Files >> ]

Session Aims & Highlights (2021-09-24)

Main aims

1. Targets. Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by time & conditions.
2. AstroMain. Test fixes, improvements and new features in AstroMain 3.42.6.

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2 2.6.10,  DeviceHub 6.5.1.4,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.1.361, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.5 SP1
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.10
   
• AstroMain 3.42.6 ,  AstroPlan 1.24,  AstroShCap 1.3.2, AstroGuard 1.6.2,  AstroVOE 1.8,  AstroSN 1.6,  AstroProtect 1.6
  (AstroWeather 1.12.4, AstroAllSky 3.10.4, AstroObsCam 1.5.7)

Highlights

• Targets.  Images from a total of x targets were acquired through the session.   Sky clear, but moon light and only moderate seeing
•   AstroMain.  AstroMain observatory control worked well and their were software or hardware glitches at all. 100% operational success.
•  Seeing  Seeing was only moderate and sometimes rather poor

Notes:

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)

Actual Weather vs Pre-Session Weather Forecast

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 00:27:32 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 00:27 & 04:55 00:27:33   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to cloud 00:38:54 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (00:38) 00:39:24 Session Created Live Session Created (2021-09-24 S00916, ImageSaveNum: 916001) 00:39:26   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 00:41:08   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:41:15 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 00:41:19 Session Pending Session pending (2021-09-24) 00:41:21 Session Initiating Session initiating (2021-09-24) 00:41:23   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.24) 00:42:05   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (, Plan ID: 662) 00:42:28   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -10°C) 00:42:34   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 00:42:58 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 00:44:18   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 00:44:23 Session Running Session running 00:44:26   Queue Started Observing Queue started (22 targets selected) 00:44:29     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 0, HIP 106) 00:46:07       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:46:24   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (reducing clarity) 00:46:26 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Shutter) 00:46:28   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend is called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 00:46:30       Focusing Aborted Foc1 Focusing Aborted due to HardSuspend 00:46:32       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 00:46:50     Target Completed Target completed (Focus Field 0, HIP 106) 00:46:53   Queue Paused Queue pausing for Session Suspension 00:46:54 Session Suspended Session suspended 00:47:39   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 45s) 00:54:24 Session Resuming Session resuming 00:55:09   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 00:55:11 Session Running Session running 00:55:13   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 00:56:26     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 0, HIP 106) 00:57:36       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:00:00   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 01:00:05   SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to Improved Conditions 01:00:36       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 01:02:24       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 01:02:26       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 01:04:45       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3, wide) 01:06:38       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 01:06:58     Target Completed Target completed (Focus Field 0, HIP 106) 01:07:00     Target Started (1/22) Target started (1/22, NGC 6500 w/SN2021wuf) 01:12:40       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable To find a star (TCF-S) 01:14:51 Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Shutter) 01:14:53   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend is called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 01:16:46   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 01:16:53 Session Suspended Session suspended 01:17:41   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 48s) 01:17:56 Job Queue Frozen Job Queue appears to have frozen at around 01:14 - 01:17 01:32:27 Job Queue Frozen Job Queue appears to have frozen at around 01:31 - 01:32 02:56:00 User Intervention User intervention to restart observatory software (TheSky6/CCDSoft/JobQueue frozen) 03:00:57   Services Stopped Observatory Services stopped 03:01:06 Program Closed Program closed by User 03:07:08 Session Resumed Live Session Resumed (2021-09-24 S00916, ImageSaveNum: 916005) 03:07:35   Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 03:07:37   Obs.Overseer Started Obs.Overseer started 03:07:41   Services Started Observatory Services started 03:08:03 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 03:07 & 04:55 03:08:05 Observatory (AutoStart) Observatory placed in Auto-Start Mode 03:08:07 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (03:08) 03:08:26   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 03:10:08   Services Started Observatory Services started 03:10:15 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 03:10:18 Session Pending Session pending (2021-09-24) 03:10:20 Session Initiating Session initiating (2021-09-24) 03:10:27   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (, Plan ID: 662) 03:10:40   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -10°C) 03:10:46   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 03:11:09 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 03:11:55   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 03:11:57 Session Running Session running 03:11:59   Queue Started Observing Queue started (21 targets selected) 03:12:02     Target Missed (2/22) Target's time slot was missed (2/22, Vega) 03:12:04     Target Missed (3/22) Target's time slot was missed (3/22, GCVS RR Lyr) 03:12:06     Target Missed (4/22) Target's time slot was missed (4/22, Vega) 03:12:08     Target Missed (5/22) Target's time slot was missed (5/22, Nova Cas 2021) 03:12:10     Target Missed (6/22) Target's time slot was missed (6/22, NGC 6184 w/SN2021wkv) 03:12:12     Target Missed (7/22) Target's time slot was missed (7/22, GCVS RX And) 03:12:14     Target Missed (8/22) Target's time slot was missed (8/22, GCVS U And) 03:12:16     Target Missed (9/22) Target's time slot was missed (9/22, Vega) 03:12:18     Target Missed (10/22) Target's time slot was missed (10/22, UGC 1977 w/AT2021irz) 03:13:03     Target Started (11/22) Target started (11/22, Vega) 03:20:23       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:23:29       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed (failed QC check - Range) 03:25:07     Target Completed Target completed (11/22, Vega) 03:25:09     Target Missed (12/22) Target's time slot was missed (12/22, GCVS DY Per) 03:25:11     Target Started (13/22) Target started (13/22, GCVS SS Cyg) 03:44:48     Target Completed Target partially completed (13/22, GCVS SS Cyg) 03:44:50     Target Missed (14/22) Target's time slot was missed (14/22, GCVS BL Lac) 03:44:52     Target Started (15/22) Target started (15/22, GCVS Z And) 03:56:42     Target Completed Target partially completed (15/22, GCVS Z And) 03:56:44     Target Started (16/22) Target started (16/22, AT2021vqu) 04:15:24     Target Completed Target partially completed (16/22, AT2021vqu) 04:15:26     Target Started (17/22) Target started (17/22, NGC 514 w/SN2020uxz) 04:20:01       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:21:42       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 04:32:39     Target Completed Target completed (17/22, NGC 514 w/SN2020uxz) 04:32:42     Target Started (18/22) Target started (18/22, GCVS TT Ari) 04:36:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:38:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 04:44:53     Target Completed Target completed (18/22, GCVS TT Ari) 04:44:55     Target Started (19/22) Target started (19/22, Nova Per 2020) 04:48:02       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:49:43       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 04:59:58     Target Completed Target completed (19/22, Nova Per 2020) 05:00:00     Target Started (20/22) Target started (20/22, GCVS RR Tau) 05:16:25     Target Completed Target partially completed (20/22, GCVS RR Tau) 05:16:28     Target Started (21/22) Target started (21/22, 17P/Holmes) 05:33:31     Target Completed Target partially completed (21/22, 17P/Holmes) 05:33:33     Target Started (22/22) Target started (22/22, C/2019 L3 (ATLAS)) 05:52:48     Target Completed Target partially completed (22/22, C/2019 L3 (ATLAS)) 05:52:51   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 05:52:54 Session Closing Session closing 05:53:49   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 05:54:09   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 13s), Az: 90.0 deg 05:55:30   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 75s) 05:55:45   Telescope State Scope parked Turn scope off. (Handbox) 05:56:05   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 05:56:56   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 05:56:58 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 05:57:15 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail 01:27:58 Job Queue Job Queue appears to be frozen (last IamAlive message at 01:14) 01:42:29 Job Queue Job Queue appears to be frozen (last IamAlive message at 01:31)

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Operational Issues (2021-09-24, S916)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (2)
• Minor Issues (6)
• Small Defects (0)
• Continuous Improvement (4)

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Job queue froze whilst taking first 180s image of Target 1/22 (00:14 - 00:17).  The Obs.Overseer reported that 'Camera.TakeImage task In TakeImage/TakeImage is taking a Long time? (01:17)', and after 10 minutes reported that the Job Queue with alert 'Last IamAlive message was from TakeImage/TakeImage/Camera.TakeImage at 01:14'.   This corresponded with a time when session was performed a hard suspend. T he Obs.Overseer reported that the Obs.Monitor was frozen at 01:14 which seems related in someone. ObsViewer pictures also stop at this time. At 01:31:57 tracking was turned off by Job Manager or Obs.Overseer which may or may not have been successful. But 10 minutes later (01:42) Obs.Overseer gave the alert that Job Queue appears frozen with the alert 'Last IamAlive message was from SetTrackingOff/Continue/ at 01:31', When session was checked at 02:45 and it the froze job queue alerts were seen it was noted that CCDSoft was 'stuck' taking 180s exposure,   whilst TheSky6 has crashed with a dialog showing to either Close Program or Debug Program. After locking down to collect screen shots etc, action was taken to Park the telescope from Device Hub window. The new Virtual Handbox was used to show that Parking had completed and scope was ready to turn off. As Job queue was frozen AstroMain's  Power Off Scope facility wouldn't allow scope to be powered off, so it was powered off instead using from the Pegasus UPB Window.  Closing Observatory Services stalled at 'Stop/Disconnect Telescope' step, but closing the TheSky6 program then allowed the 'Stop/Disconnect Telescope' step to proceed. AstroMain and other Astronomy Software was restarted and the session resumed. It is presumed that there was a failure in TheSky6 which led to CCDSoft and Job Queue/Obs.Monitor to freeze. ObsCam pictures are unable to confirm whether Tracking turned off at 01:32 or not. It does show that Observatory Computer display turn off at 01:39, and then turn on again at 02:45. During this time the Scope is evidently stationary (ie Tracking Off) even though the Tracking field says it was Tracking, however this is can be explained because the Obs.Monitor was frozen and not in a position to allow fresh data to be sent on to the ObsCam program running on the AllSky/Weather Computer. Dome was already closed at 01:16 so there was no danger to the observatory or equipment.
  Issue explained and resolved in session 2021-09-24 (Session)
   
• Job Queue waiting before centering and before main images to allow CCD Temperature to stabilise at -10°C.  Although temperature setpoint hadn't been changed CCD Monitor was raising flags that stopped the job queue and made it enter a wait state whilst waiting of CCD Temperatures to stabilise at -10°C even though Set Point was -10°C and CCD Temperature was -10°C +/- 0.2°C .  Multiple target were incomplete because of the issue and of lower quality as focusing was skipped due to insufficient time because of the wait periods.  CCD Cooling Power was around the bottom of the range.  It wasn't below the range for long enough to trigger a decrease in setpoint from -10°C to -15°C, but triggered the wait for stabilisation loop which has a certain minimum time (2 or 3 minutes ?) .   Noticing the problem the bottom value of Power range was reduced from 64% to 60%. This temporarily fixed the issue for the next 3 targets, but cooling power dropped later on to 60% +/- and the issue returned again.  As part of trying to resolve the problem the setpoint was manually decreased to -15°C using the Propose/Update button facility, but the CCD Cooler seemed to have problems dropping the CCD Temperature to below -14°C and set point was returned to -10°C.   Code was changed in the last few weeks but has surfaced until the temperature/cooling conditions brought the power cooling into region that exposed the issue.  Issue is a major one and must be fixed before next session as it causes the loss of science data. Bug (due to incorrect logic in CheckForStableCCDTemperature() routine) was fixed in AstroMain 3.42.7
  Fixed (2021-09-25) but monitor next session (AstroMain 3.42.7)

Minor Issues

• Running Focus Profile on Vega failed to produce a valid profile / focus measurement .  Profile taken with 0.11s focus frame exposures. Exposure as short as possible with ST-10XME camera. Bloomed star causes very high FWHM values (20-30") which don't respond significantly with changing focuser position.   AstroMain 3.42.6 code was specifically modified so that Vega is hard coded to limit focus exposures to 0.11s exposure.   Need to add special handling so that Focussing Vega (and other very bright stars) is either skipped or that the second brightest star is chosen instead.
  Fixed 2021-09-25 (AstroMain 3.42.7)
   
• OTA Tube Temperature and UPB Env Temp stopped being recorded at ~ 01:14 with curves flat lining on CCD Temperature chart. Overseer reported that Obs.Monitor had become frozen at ~ 01:14, shortly after guiding commenced.   Reason unknown but would have stopped OTA Tube Temperature and UPB Env Temp collection. May/may not be related to problem with TheSky6 / CCDSoft and Job Queue freezing about the same time.   Not spotted at time but resolved by restarting the Observatory Software including AstroMain to fix a wider problem.
  Resolved in-session 2021-09-24 (AstroMain / CCDSoft / TheSky6)
   
• The Session's Altitude Plan chart wasn't uploaded to Current Session Web Page on web site.  AstroPlan's WebUploader can be shown to upload Session.AltitudePlan.png ok. The problem is with AstroPlan/AstroMain not copying the AltitudePlan.2021-09-24.V1.png in the Charts folder to Session.AltitudePlan.png in the Live folder (from where it is automatically uploaded).   Problem lies with AstroMain, which doesn't have the code to copy the AltitudePlan
  Fixed 2021-09-25 (AstroMain 3.42.7)
   
• Locate Frames using Centre Using Brightest Star aren't being given a locate frame number for use on JPG pictures. Locate frames from Vega (which use CentreOnBrightestStar are method) aren't given a locate frame number, so that 1st, 2nd, 3rd locate frames all appear with title 'Vega - Locate 0' on JPG pictures  which then all have file names like  ..Vega.Loc0.jpg.   Code examination of code showed that iLocate wasn't been passed to LinkBrightestStar() routine and was then being sent on to SaveLocateImageToJpg() & ConvertFitsToJpg() routines. Fixed by passing the required extra parameter
  Fixed 2021-09-25 (AstroMain 3.42.7)
   
• Observing Plan placed Calibration star Vega before and after UGC 1977 w/AT 2021irz even though the target wasn't designated to collect calibration data. Time lines on the AltitudePlan chart show that Start Times became messed up around this time such that after calibration target (Vega) overlapped in time with the following target DY Per which was consequently missed (as start time/time slot were missed). It is hypothesized that a CollectCalibration flag initially set for the RR Lyr target wasn't reset when the slot in the plan became occupied by UGC 1977.  AstroPlan log file shows that the Best Plan Genome selected and sent to Plan Form for saving as the final plan had RR Lyr  as 2nd target which was translated as "Vega, RR Lyr, Vega" in the final plan with UGC 1977 as the 7th target which was incorrectly translated as "Vega, UGC 1977, Vega" . Problem identified tin ReplacePlanPoint() routine (which is called from MutatePlan() and RepairPlan() routines) where an Observation is set to a new iTS target using old code which doesn't refer to CollectCalibration, iTs_Before, iTs_After which means the Observation keeps hold of the values it previously had (presumably from a second instance of RR Lyr).   Code fixed in AstroPlan 1.25.1 by setting the required Observation to a new iTs target using a call to he InsertObservationIntoPlan() routine which uses the recently added code that supports CollectCalibration, instead of the old code.
  Fixed 2021-09-25  (AstroPlan 1.25.1)
   
• The initial pre-observing AltitudePlan show Altitude 0 for the last 4 targets in the plan.  Although invalid in AltitudePlan created from Schedular the targets appear with correct altitudes when the AltitudePlan is remade post session. The problem had been seen in early builds of the AstroPlan 1.24.4/1.25 versions with test plans created on the Development Computer, so it seems to be a real/repeatable issue.   Examining the problem in more detail it is seen that not only do the last 2 to 4 targets have Alt 0 in the Plans results from AddTargetsFromSchedule() but the altitudes reached by other targets are different depending on the method by which the plan is filled.   When AltitudePlan is produced by user clicking on 'Alt Chart' button for a Plan that was selected by the user from Plans List (which sets nProfile2 = 0 )  )  the BuildAltitudeProfiles() is  called by AltitudePlan.DrawChart(). This calculates a fresh Az/Alt profile for each target (observation) in the Plan, putting the results in the Profile2() array.  Bug identified to be in SaveFinalPlan where population of Profile2 array doesn't account for any added Calibration Targets (ie Vega), so the Profile(2) is either 2 or 4 short of the required number (and explains why some targets are drawn on the wrong Altitude Profile trace and why the last 2-4 targets access an Altitude still having the array initialised value of 0.0.   SaveFinalPlan code corrected so that Profile2 does account for Calibration Targets.  
  Fixed 2021-09-25  (AstroPlan 1.25.1)

Small Defects

• None

Continuous Improvement

• Focus Profile results for Foc2 focusing (Cam2) should report the star name when focusing on a 'Focus Field xx' field.  Code can be taken from Foc1 focusing which has recently been updated to report the star name.  Foc1 reporting shows a slight  where a extra ReportComment line ' Ok   Focus Field 0' is also reported (old code line probably not removed ). This needs fixing at same time.
  Done 2021-09-25 (AstroMain 3.42.7)
   
• Query . CCD Cooling below Ambient was lower than expected.  Cooling should have been able to achieve a CCD Temperature of -15°C but could only achieve -14°C. Was the CCD Fan spinning  ? .    Camera's fan was examined 2021-09-25 and found to be working ok.
  Checked & Closed 2021-09-25 (Observatory/SBIG Camera)
   
• Record name of Obs.Monitor section to help diagnostics in the event that Obs.Monitor freezes. If the Obs.Monitor freeze,  the Obs. Overseer spots this and issues a log message like 'Obs.Monitor is Frozen (192s)'. This doesn't help narrow down the particular section that the obs.monitor loop has become stuck in.   To improve this the RunObservatoryMonitoring()routine has been modified in AstroMain 3.42.7 with the addition of code lines like 'gObsMonitorSection = "Monitor Power" ' at the start of each section, and the OverseerLoop() routine has been modified to report gObsMonitorSection in the event that Obs.Monitor is detected as Pending or Frozen.
  Done 2021-09-26 (AstroMain 3.42.7)
   
• When taking a live S Filter Main image perform an auto spectra extraction and display as a JPG graph and image for quicklook viewing.  For S filter images the spectra of target star is rotated and cropped to a 500 x 70 recentangle. Currently this is still just a FIT file and the JPG Tab picture is not automatically created as yet.  Slitless spectra is however automatically extracted from FIT, calibrated using zero order star position and a provided dispersion value, and the corrected using a provided reference Instrumental Response curve. This chart is automatically uploaded to website and presented side-by-side with picture of raw S Filter image.  
   Done 2021-10-12 (AstroMain 3.44, AstroPlan 1.25 & WebSite)

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