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LBT OSURC Member Observing

Phase 2 Observing Script Submission Form

OSU and Research Corporation (OSURC) partners use this form to submit their observing scripts to the queue management team at OSU for execution at the LBT.

Overview

Phase 2 Observing Program submission is a two-step process:
  1. Fill out the Project Registration Form to register your project. This form creates a project ID code for your program and creates a blank observing instructions (README) file template to fill in to include with your observing file submission. The blank README file is a plain ASCII Text file. When editing it please make sure you export it as plain text and not as RTF or another text-like format that cannot be read by our queue system.

  2. Create your observing files and submit them to the observing queue using this form.
If you have not yet filled out the Project Registration Form, please do so now (this is required of all projects, including continuing projects from previous observing runs).

Creating observing files with the OT

Please use the lastest public version of the LBT-provided OT (Observing Tool) to create LBC and LUCI observing scripts.

While you can create MODS scripts with the OT, it is not the preferred method for the OSURC queue. If you use the OT for MODS, you must the remember to remove the .txt extension from the script files exported from the master OT file and give all MODS scripts the correct file extensions (.acq, .obs, .cal) recognized by our queue system.

Also, if making multiple .acq files for MODS to track parallactic angle with the OT, you only need one .obs file if the science observing parameters are the same for all the .acq files.

Follow these steps when using the OT:

  1. Use the OT as prescribed to create the observing program

  2. When ready, export the observing files as individual scripts using the Generate Script function on the Observation panel. For MODS, the exported scripts will have default names like LBT-2017A-C2037_1.txt. These coded names unfortunately obfuscate useful info like the target name and function (acq, obs, cal, etc.)

    Rename exported script files to give them more immediately useful names, for example: 

        mv LBT-2017A-C2037_1.txt J0925.acq
    mv LBT-2017A-C2037_2.txt J0925.obs
    etc. For LUCI and LBC, please rename the XML scripts to give them more useful names, but keep the .xml file extension. For LBC you can use .ob, but we would prefer using .xml moving forward.

  3. Rename your OT XML package file by adding "_OT" suffix to the rootname, for example: 
        mv UM_XMD.xml UM_XMD_OT.xml
    and include the OT file with your submission.

    Having the master OT file for your program will help us fix any problems that emerge at the telescope, especially for LBC or LUCI programs. MODS scripts generated by the OT are human readable, but sometimes the OT can create invalid MODS scripts and we will need the OT to correct the issues.

  4. Pack up your exported scripts and the master OT file to submit along with your finders and program instructions file.

PEPSI Observing Programs UPDATED

PEPSI does not use scripts. Instead you provide two plain ASCII text files:
  1. A filled out programID.readme file (the template readme file created by the project registration form) with your program instructions for the observers (same as you would for any other instrument). This description must include a narrative list of your program priorities and any critical time or airmass constraints on your targets.
  2. A copy of the PEPSI coordinate (aka README) file you sent to LBTO and in the format described on the LBTO Science Operations webpage
    (PEPSI README files on LBTO SciOps)
If your PEPSI coordinate README file does conform to this format your submission will be rejected and you will have to reformat and resubmit your program to the OSURC queue. We use the second file of coordinates to parse and enter your targets into the queue.

If your target is in a crowded field, you must provide a finder chart to help the observers.

Web Upload Instructions

  1. Make sure you have filled out the Project Registration Form and are using the Project ID code assigned to your project and the template readme file for your instructions.

  2. Pack up your observing files into a single gzipped tar (tgz) archive file along with the filled out observing "readme" form you received from the Project Registration Form. Please do not send individual files.

    See this tar file (OSU_CSB.tgz - 1.1Mb) for an example of a proper submission tarball. Following this example will make everyone's life easier.

    Program files submitted without the standard README file correctly filled out will not be entered into the observing queue.

  3. Name your tar file the same as your program name (e.g., OSU_Monitor.tgz, UM_CHAOS.tgz, etc.).

  4. Fill in the blanks below with your name, email address, and select your partner institution from the menu.

  5. Enter your project ID assigned by the Project Registration Form.

  6. Complete the submission checklist.

  7. Enter the name of the file to upload (using the Browse button is best).

  8. Hit the Upload button.

  9. The processor will send an email to the OSU observing team that your observing files have been delivered. If you don't receive an acknowledgment within 24 hours, please contact Rick Pogge at OSU.

Notes

If your file upload is interrupted, you can resend your data without having to rename it. The upload processor will rename any existing files with the same name to add the .BAK extension, but it will only do this once! (i.e., it does not backup the .BAK files).

If you have problems, please contact Rick Pogge or Chris Kochanek at OSU.

Observing Program Submission Form

Please fill in the form below and follow the pre-submission checklist to upload your observing program files.

Submitter and Project Information

Your Name:

Email Address:

Member Institution:

Project ID:
This does not include your institution name, thus you enter "Monitor", not "OSU_Monitor", etc.)

Submission Checklist

Before you submit your observing program files, please double check that you have
  1. Followed the standard naming convention for all of your program files.
  2. Included all necessary calibration scripts
  3. Included clear and usable finding charts (as needed)
  4. Included Hour Angle ranges for each target in the README file.
  5. If you used the OT to generate scripts, include the master OT xml file in your tar file.
If you cannot answer all of the checklist questions affirmatively, please do not submit your program files. Please fix any problems or omissions and then submit your files.

File Name Convention:

We require that all observing scripts follow a particular file name convention to assist in executing your program:

  1. README File: with program instructions Must have a name like OSU_Monitor.readme for project Monitor from institution OSU.
  2. Observing Scripts: The script filenames must include the target name and use file extensions and suffixes suggestive of the script's function, as described below.
    For PEPSI substitute the target coordinate file in the correct PEPSI format that you uploaded to LBTO in lieu of observing scripts.
  3. Target Names: Must be short (<20 characters), clear, and avoid non-alphanumeric characters (plus, minus, hyphen, underscore...). They do not need to include (and should not include) the institution or project names.
  4. Valid Script Names (by instrument):
    LBC: target.ob, program_OT.xml
    LUCI: target_img.xml (imaging), target.xml (spectroscopic acquisition and science), program_OT.xml
    MODS: target.img (imaging), target.acq (acquisiton), target.obs (spectroscopy), target.cal (multi-object mask calibrations). If you used the OT, include the program_OT.xml file.

Calibration Scripts:

  1. LBC: focus/centering scripts are required. Photometric calibrations are not generally done by the observers. If you want photometric calibrations, you must include the necessary scripts and their costs are counted towards the overall cost of your program
  2. LUCI: include all necessary flat, arc and telluric scripts for your targets. Dark scripts are automatically generated.
  3. MODS: include all necessary flat and comparison lamp scripts for multi-object masks. Calibrations for facility long-slits and biases are included in the common calibration plan. Spectroscopic standard stars are observed as part of the common calibration program. Additional standard stars are generally unnecessary, and if included, will count towards the overall cost of your program.
  4. PEPSI: does not require calibration scripts but answer Yes to this question.

Target Finding Charts:

Please make sure your target finding charts satisfy the following criteria:

  1. Format: Finding charts must be either JPG, PNG, or PDF files.
  2. Scale: All finding charts must clearly indicate the angular scale.
  3. Orientation: All finding charts must clearly indicate the orientation of the field and the expected orientation of the instrument on the field.
  4. Clarity: Is it reasonable to expect someone who has never looked at this object before to correctly identify the target while sleep-deprived at high-altitude?

Target Hour Angle Range:

The README file must specify the desired Hour Angle ranges for each target.

Observing Program Upload

Please upload your observing program files as a gzipped tar (tgz) file.
The maximum allowed file size is 10Mb!

Updated: 2025 April 3 [rwp/osu]