OSU College of Arts and Sciences Department of Astronomy

modsTools
MODS Observing Script Preparation Toolkit
Version 1.3p1 [2013 Apr 11]

Contents:

Introduction

modsTools is a suite of programs for creating MODS target acquisition and observing script templates. They are implemented in standard Perl 5, and work on Linux and Mac systems (see below).

See the

MODS Observing Scripts manual [2M PDF]
for the details of the MODS observing script interface, and examples of how to use the modsTools programs.

Also please read the Release Notes for this version to see what has changed from previous versions.

modsTools Programs

The core programs are:
modsProject - Start a new MODS Observing Project Folder
mkMODSAcq - Make a MODS Target Acquisition (.acq) Script
mkMODSObs - Make a MODS Observing (.obs) Script
mkMODSImg - Make a MODS Imaging (.img) Script
mms2obs - Make Acquisition, Observing, and Calibration Scripts from an MODS Mask Specification (.mms) File

modsProject - Start a new MODS Observing Project Folder

Usage: modsProject [options] propID

Options: 

   -p [partner]  LBT project partner (alias --partner)
   -V             Show version information (alias --version)
   -h             Show usage/help information (alias --help)

Creates a new MODS observing project folder named propID in the current directory, and asks questions to create the .modsProject file used by MODS observing planning and script generation tools.

Example: 

   modsProject -p OSURC UM_Abund
Creates a new MODS Project folder named UM_Abund/ in the current working directory, and writes a .modsProject file with PARTNER set to OSURC. It will prompt the user for the PI name(s).

See Also: mkMODSAcq, mkMODSObs, mms2obs

mkMODSAcq - Make a MODS Target Acquisition (.acq) Script

Usage: mkMODSAcq [options] rootName

Options: 

  -o objName     Object name (put in 's if spaces in objName)
  -c 'RA Dec'    Object RA/Dec coordinates, hh:mm:ss +dd:mm:ss, in 's
  -p PA          Position Angle in degrees North thru East (default: 0)
  -g 'RA Dec'    Guide Star RA/Dec coords, hh:mm:ss +dd:mm:ss, in 's
  -m obsMode     Observing mode (imaging, longslit, or mos)
  -a [Red|Blue]  Acquistion image camera (default: Red)
  -f filterID    Channel filter to use (default depends on -a)
  -r ccdROI      Acquisition image region of interest (defaults below)
  -e [sec]       Acquisition image exposure time in seconds (default: 60s)
  -s slitID      Slit mask to use (required for -m longslit or mos)
  -l width       Long-Slit width in arcsec for -m longslit
  --agw filtID   Select a non-default AGw guide camera filter (default: Clear)
  -V             Show version information (alias --version)
  -h             Show usage/help information (alias --help)
Defaults:
Red Camera, 60s r_sdss filter, -a Blue: 60s g_sdss
Clear AGw guide camera filter
Imaging and MOS acquisition images are 3Kx3K ROI (full field)
Long-slit acquisition images are 1Kx1K ROI (central 2-arcmin)

Creates a MODS target acquisition (.acq) script named rootName.acq

If a .modsProject file created by modsProject exists, it uses that to set the PARTNER info for the archive, otherwise suitable placeholders are used.

For making .acq files for MOS masks, see the mms2obs program.

Example: 

   mkMODSAcq n1234f2 -o 'NGC1234 Field 2' -c '12:13:14.5 -22:33:44' -p 30 -m longslit -l 0.8
Makes n1234f2.acq, a PA=30 0.8-arcsec long-slit acquisition, guide star still to be selected. The acquisition images will use the default configuration: red camera, 60s, r_sdss filter and 1Kx1K readout (central 2' of the slit).

See Also: mkMODSObs, modsProject, mms2obs

mkMODSObs - Make a MODS Observing (.obs) Script

Usage: mkMODSObs [options] rootname

Options: 

  -o objName      Object name, long names in 's (alias --object)
  -m mode config  instrument mode {dual|blue|red} and channel config
                     {imaging,grating,prism} to use (alias --dual)
  -s maskID       Slit mask to use (alias --slit)
  -l wid          Use long-slit mask of width 'wid' (alias --ls)
  -e [sec]        Base exposure time in seconds (alias --exptime)
  -n [#imgs]      Number of images to acquire (alias --nimgs)
  -f [filterID]   Filter to use (single channel, alias --filter)
  -bfilter [ID]   Blue-channel filter to use
  -rfilter [ID]   Red-channel filter to use
  -V              Show version information (alias --version)
  -h              Show usage/help information (alias --help)

Creates a new MODS observing (rootname.obs) script template. The template may be edited to fill in details no provided on the command line.

If a .modsProject file created by modsProject exists, it will use its contents to set defaults for the current observing project, otherwise suitable placeholders will be used for default entries.

To make .obs file templates for MOS masks, see the mms2obs program.

Example: 

   mkMODSObs n1234f2 -o 'NGC1234 Field 2' -m dual grating -l 0.8 -e 600 -n 3
Makes n1234f2.obs to take 3x600s dual grating spectra through the 0.8-arcsec long-slit (LS5x60x0.8) mask.

See Also: mkMODSAcq, mms2obs, modsProject

mkMODSImg - Make a MODS Imaging (.img) Script

Usage: mkMODSImg [options] rootname

Options: 

  -o objName     Object name (put in 's if spaces in objName)
  -c 'RA Dec'    Object RA/Dec coordinates, hh:mm:ss +dd:mm:ss, in 's
  -p PA          Position Angle in degrees North thru East (default: 0)
  -g 'RA Dec'    Guide Star RA/Dec coords, hh:mm:ss +dd:mm:ss, in 's
  -m instMode    Instrument mode (dual, blue, or red, default: dual)
  -e [sec]       Unit exposure time in seconds (default: 60s)
  -n nimgs       Number of images to acquire (default: 1)
  -r ccdROI      Acquisition image region of interest (default: 3Kx3K)
  -f filterID    Filter for -m blue or -m red
  --bfilter ID   Blue camera filter for -m dual
  --rfilter ID   Red camera filter for -m dual
  -V             Show version information (alias --version)
  -h             Show usage/help information (alias --help)

Creates a new MODS imaging script template file named rootname.img. This template may be edited to fill in details no provided on the command line. Imaging scripts are a hybrid of .acq and .obs scripts, combining the telescope preset and data-acquisition commands, as with imaging there is no need to precision align the target with a slit mask. Also, the Clear AGw guide camera filter is always used.

If a .modsProject file created by modsProject exists, it will use its contents to set defaults for the current observing project, otherwise suitable placeholders will be used for default entries.

Example: 

   mkMODSImg n1234f2 -o 'NGC1234 Field 2' -c '12:13:14.5 -22:33:44' -p 30 -m red
Makes n1234f2.img, red-only imaging observation, PA=30, placeholder for a guide-star selection, and standard template Exec: block placeholders.

See Also: mkMODSObs, mkMODSAcq modsProject, mms2obs

mms2obs - Make MOS Acquisition, Observing, and Calibration scripts from a MODS Mask Specification (.mms) File

Usage: mms2obs [options] maskFile

Options: 

  -o objName     Object Name, long names in 's (alias --object)
  -c [Red|Blue]  Camera for acquisition (default: Red, alias --camera)
  -f [filterID]  Channel filter to use (alias --filter)
  -t [sec]       Acquisition exposure time (default: 60s, alias --acqtime)
  -m mode disp   Instrument mode (dual|blue|red) and dispserer
                  disp=(grating|prism) for the science observations
  -e expTime     Base science exposure time in sec (alias --exptime)
  -n numExp      Number of science exposures (alias --numexp or --nimgs)
                  total exposure time = numExp*expTime
  --agw filtID   Select a non-default AGw guide camera filter (default: Clear)
  --nocal        Do not generate the calibration (.cal) script
  -V             Show version information (alias --version)
  -h             Show usage/help information (alias --help)
Defaults:
.acq files: Red Camera, 60s r_sdss filter image, Clear AGw filter
.obs files: none

Opens and reads data from a MODS Mask Specification file named maskFile.mms and creates a template MODS target acquisition (.acq) script named maskFile.acq, a template observation (.obs) script named maskFile.obs, and calibration (.cal) script for acquiring flat-field lamp and wavelength comparison lamp spectra through this MOS mask.

If a .modsProject file created by modsProject exists, it will use its contents to set defaults for the current observing project, otherwise suitable placeholders will be used for default entries.

Example: 

   mms2obs bootes -o 'Bootes Field A' -c red -f r_sdss -t 60 -m dual grating -e 1200 -n 3
Reads MMS file bootes.mms and creates bootes.acq, bootes.obs, and bootes.cal to acquire and take 3x1200s exposures of an MOS field, using the red camera and r_sdss filter with a 60sec exposure for the acquisition and mask alignment images. It gets the target and guide star coordinates, slitmask ID, and other information from the bootes.mms MODS mask specification file. The bootes.cal script will take flat-field and comparison-lamp spectra for the bootes.mms mask.

See Also: mkMODSAcq, mkMODSObs, modsProject

Download modsTools

Current Version: v1.3p1 - 2013 Apr 11
Download modsTools...

Notes:
README file
Release Notes
Installation Instructions

System Requirements:
Linux (CentOS 5, CentOS 6, FC3++, RHE9++)
Mac OS X (10.6 Snow Leopard or 10.8 Mountain Lion)
Perl 5.6 or later
Updated: 2013 Apr 11 [rwp/osu]