David's Astronomy Pages
Notes - Session 1062 (2022-11-25)

 
Bullet Session Aims & Highlights
 - Observing Result
 - Night Summary Plot
 - Session Event Log
Bullet Operational Issues
  - Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (5),  Small Defects (4),  Continuous Improvement (10)
 
Bullet Investigation - Incorrect Scope 2 Offset leading to Incorrect/Missing Cam1 FOV on Guide Reference pictures
Bullet Images from 2022-11-25 >>        [ Local Files >> ]    
   

Session Aims & Highlights (2022-11-25)

Main aims

  1. 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann. Acquire further images of 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, as followup to images taken in last session (S1061) the previous night
    (News from SpaceWeather.Com: The British Astronomical Association (BAA) is reporting a new outburst of cryovolcanic comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann. On Nov. 22nd, amateur astronomer Patrick Wiggins watched 29P increase in brightness by more than 4 magnitudes--a sign that a major eruption was in progress. On Nov. 23rd, André Debackère used the Faulkes Telescope North in Hawaii to photograph the expanding shell of debris)
  2. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by sky conditions.
  3. AstroMain.  Check new AstroMain version (3.58.4) for any issues introduced by several recent changes, bug fixes and additions.

 Equipment & Software

Highlights

Notes:

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan
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Observing Result
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Dome & Scope Slewing Performance
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Slew/Centering Performance
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Guiding Performance
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Sky Conditions (Locate Frames)
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Night Sky Summary Plot
Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s)
Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)
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Actual Weather vs Pre-Session Weather Forecast
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Session Event Log
Time     Event Detail
17:04:10 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 17:04 & 06:01
17:07:18 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (17:07)
17:07:38   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.)
17:08:04   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -15°C)
17:08:06 Foc1FieldsUpdater Frozen Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen at around 17:08 in section 'Update Foc1Fields'
17:08:07 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2022-11-25 S01062, ImageSaveNum: 1062001)
17:12:48 User Intervention User Intervention to RestartCCDSoft and unlock Foc1FieldsUpdater & Session Setup
17:12:48   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action)
17:12:55   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled
17:12:58   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox.
17:13:39   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -15°C)
17:14:42   Services Started Observatory Services started
17:14:48 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode
17:14:51 Session Pending Session pending (2022-11-25)
17:14:53 Session Initiating Session initiating (2022-11-25)
17:14:55   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.34.1)
17:15:37   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 824)
17:15:50   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -15°C)
17:16:16   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6)
17:16:40 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome
17:17:25   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s)
17:17:55 Session Running Session running
17:17:57   Queue Started Observing Queue started (39 targets selected)
17:18:01     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 23, HIP 113729)
17:18:13       Dome Unparked Dome unparked
17:22:01   Queue Aborted Job Queue aborted
17:26:59 User Intervention User Intervention to Restart TCFS Service (precaution)
17:27:27       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S)
17:28:42   TCF-S Switched Off TCF-S Power has been switched off via UPB Powerbox.
17:28:57   TCF-S Switched On TCF-S Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox.
17:39:22       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
17:41:36       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide)
17:44:17       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1)
17:44:55 User Intervention User Intervention to RestartCCDSoft
17:44:55   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (user action)
17:44:59   SBIG Camera Reset SBIG Camera being power-cycled
17:45:42   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -20°C)
17:46:00 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 17:45 & 06:01
17:46:02 Observatory (AutoStart) Observatory placed in Auto-Start Mode
17:46:05 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (17:46)
17:46:24   Services Started Observatory Services started
17:46:28 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode
17:46:33 Session Pending Session pending (2022-11-25)
17:46:35 Session Initiating Session initiating (2022-11-25)
17:46:43   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 824)
17:46:59   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -15°C)
17:47:25   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6)
17:47:44 Session Running Session running
17:47:46   Queue Started Observing Queue started (39 targets selected)
17:47:49     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 22, HIP 108888)
17:52:07       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap)
17:54:15       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide)
17:55:58       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2)
17:56:15     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 22, HIP 108888)
17:56:17     Target Missed (1/39) Target's time slot was missed (1/39, AT2022xwk)
17:56:19     Target Started (2/39) Target started (2/39, C/2022 E3 (ZTF))
18:00:56       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S)
18:12:51     Target Completed Target completed (2/39, C/2022 E3 (ZTF))
18:12:55     Target Started (3/39) Target started (3/39, NGC 6701 w/AT2022nxe)
18:17:57       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
18:20:15       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3)
18:36:04     Target Completed Target completed (3/39, NGC 6701 w/AT2022nxe)
18:36:08     Target Started (4/39) Target started (4/39, GCVS SS Cyg)
18:39:31       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
18:41:41       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4)
18:45:48     Target Completed Target completed (4/39, GCVS SS Cyg)
18:45:53     Target Started (5/40) Target started (5/40, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, ToO)
18:50:38       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S)
19:09:04     Target Completed Target completed (5/40, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, ToO)
19:09:06     Target Missed (6/40) Target's time slot was missed (6/40, GCVS BL Lac)
19:09:08     Target Started (7/40) Target started (7/40, NGC 7501 w/SN2021wyw)
19:23:36     Target Completed Target partially completed (7/40, NGC 7501 w/SN2021wyw)
19:23:40     Target Started (8/40) Target started (8/40, M31 w/AT2022icc)
19:27:01       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S)
19:29:21     Target Aborted (8/40) Target aborted (8/40, M31 w/AT2022icc) due to Priority 1 ToO Target
19:29:25     Target Started (9/41) Target started (9/41, GCVS BL Lac, ToO)
19:32:28       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S)
19:34:43       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5)
19:38:36     Target Completed Target completed (9/41, GCVS BL Lac, ToO)
19:43:16     Target Started (10/41) Target started (10/41, NGC 157 w/SN2022jli)
19:49:21       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S)
19:58:56       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars)
20:04:01       SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to improved conditions
20:05:13     Target Completed Target completed (10/41, NGC 157 w/SN2022jli)
20:05:17     Target Started (11/41) Target started (11/41, Jupiter)
20:07:02       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars)
20:11:24     Target Completed Target completed (11/41, Jupiter)
20:11:26   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension
20:11:29 Session Suspended Session suspended
20:12:17   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s)
20:35:38     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (12/41, M33 w/ATNova M33 2022-11a?) due to cloud
20:57:38     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (13/41, AT2022snz (CV)) due to cloud
21:19:38     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (14/41, AT2022xhz) due to cloud
21:27:15 User Intervention User request to close and finish session
21:27:17   Queue Aborted Job Queue aborted
21:27:20 Session Closing Session closing
21:27:25   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 20:12, closing time 50s)
21:28:21   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 48s), Az: 90.0 deg
21:29:33   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 66s)
21:29:48   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.'
21:30:10   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch.
21:31:22   Services Stopped Night Services stopped
21:31:24 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files)
21:36:26 Session Finished Session Finished
 
 
Session Alerts & Alarms
Time     Type       Name Detail
17:09:48 Red Alert Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen (last cycle at 17:08:06) in section 'Update Foc1Fields'
17:12:53 Green Alert Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater has resumed again (17: 12) after 0.0 mins
 
 

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Operational Issues (2022-11-25, S1062)

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Critical Issues

Major Issues

Minor Issues

Small Defects

Continuous Improvement

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Fig 1. Focus Anomaly at start of session (17:20)

Image

 

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Investigation - Incorrect Scope 2 Offset and Incorrect/Missing Cam1 FOV on Guide Reference pictures

Backgound
The primary and secondary scope alignment has previously been synced using an Orion X-Y Finder on the back of the secondary scope, and can be checked by examining Guide Reference JPG Pictures which show the plate-solved position of the FOV from LX200 primary scope drawn on to plate solved larger FOV from the secondary scope. 

The Scope 2 Pointing Offset from Scope 1 has consistently been < 1' in recent sessions.

Issue

Description

Analysis

Conclusion
Any combination of occasional data related conditions and a flaw in log in AstroMain code led to the situation where incorrect coordinates from Cam2 image was being given to the routine that calculates the offsets between the primary and secondary scope, and led to situation where Cam1 FOV was incorrectly position on the Guide Reference JPG picture or was missed of the picture all together.

Issue has been fixed in AstroMain 3.58.6 which is being used in live session S1064 (2022-11-28).

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