UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA OBSERVATORIES / LICK OBSERVATORY


LGS Target Lists

Preparing LGS target lists for US Space Command and processing the results involves many steps.
  1. A few weeks before an AO run, email the observer a notice about the LGS target list. Sample email is below:
    Dear Dr. Metchev,
    
    You are scheduled for LGS AO nights on Dec 21-23.  I need to have your
    LGS target list by Dec 14th so I can process it and send it to US
    Space Command.  Please refer to
    http://mtham.ucolick.org/techdocs/instruments/ShaneAO/prep/
    for details about the target list (which should include not only your
    science targets, but also PSF stars and 10th mag alignment stars near
    each science target) and other issues related to AO (both NGS and LGS)
    observing.
    
    Contact me if you have any questions about what should be included
    in the target list or other AO issues.
    
    Elinor
    
  2. The observer should email a target list in the following format. (Note: Keck format target lists are also accepted, but that format is not discussed here). The TargetName should have no spaces and the RA and Dec may be space or colon separated. Any target that does not include the lgs=1 key will not be cleared. Note that only one of the guide star-science target pair needs to be cleared (typically in Keck style lists only the science target is cleared and the TT star(s) are not, Lick lists will often have everything cleared).
    TargetName  RA  Dec  Epoch lgs=1
    
    for example:
    
    PKS0736+01 07:36:42.51 01:44:00.24 1950 lgs=1
    M10 16 57 06.0 -04 06 00 2000 lgs=1
    
  3. We take the observer provided target list and add the following header info. It is ok for most fields to be bogus, e.g. ?? for an unknown phone number or program, but the Date must be the PST date that the lasing will occur. The file can be named anything, but I use the following convention - LGStargetlist_YYYYMonDD.txt, e.g. LGStargetlist_2008Jan19.txt, where YYYYMonDD is the PST date of lasing. You should put the file on shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/targetLists/ (you don't have to do this, but it keeps everything organized for everyone if you do).
    Observer's name:        Gates
    Observer's email:       egates@ucolick.org
    Observer's phone:       9-5910
    Program name:   Active Galaxies
    Date for which list applies:  19 January 2014
    
    Comments:
      
    Target list:
    
    
    There is now a program to help parse target lists and process them on shanevnc: /usr/local/lick/bin/targetListParse.tcl. This will prompt for the necessary information and allow you to Browse... for the file. You must also specify whether it is a Keck or Lick formatted list.

  4. Space command requires files to be in PRM format. The PRM program is currently on shanevnc in /usr/local/lick/bin/.
    Syntax: PRM targetlist

    For example:
    PRM LGStargetlist_2014Jan19.txt

    PRM creates three (or more, if more than 400 targets) output files, that will be on shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/PRM/. These files are

    1. PRM_Lick_589nm_15W_13kHz_DDMmmYYYYFORJDay_ddd_AZEL
      where DDMmmYYYY is the UT lasing date, e.g. 01Dec2014, and
      ddd is the julian date of lasing.
    2. PRM_Lick_589nm_15W_13kHz_DDMmmYYYYFORJDay_ddd_RADEC
      where DDMmmYYYY is the UT lasing date, e.g. 01Dec2014, and
      ddd is the julian date of lasing.
    3. YYYYmmmDDUT.txt where YYYYmmmDD is the UT date of lasing, e.g. 2014Dec01UT.txt.

  5. Upload the PRM files to space-track.org
    1. Log in as mh-laser@ucolick.org
    2. Click on Files - Upload
    3. Choose the Lick/PRM/ directory
    4. Select PRM files to upload.
    If necessary due to problems, email the PRM files to space command at JSpOCSSAOps@vandenberg.af.mil and UDG_614AOCDet1_SSAOPS@us.af.mil. Copy mh-laser@ucolick.org as well on the emails. The target list should be emailed to space command at least three days in advance of the lasing date. (FYI, if you need to phone space command, the number is 805-605-6546)

    Sample Email message:

    Dear SBM,
    
    Attached are PRM files for Lick Observatory Laser activities for UT
    2014 July 20-23 (J-Days 202-205).
    
    Please email clearances to mh-laser@ucolick.org.
    
    If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
    
    Thank you,
    
    Elinor Gates
    408-238-9610
    egates@ucolick.org
    
  6. On the day of lasing, space command will email the PAM files to mh-laser@ucolick.org. Please save these files to shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/PAM/ and optionally give them descriptive names (e.g. 2014jday168azel.txt and 2014jday168radec.txt). Note: Both Julian date and UT date are listed in the PAM file from space command in case you aren't sure what date the files are for.

    If you get back more than one PAM RADEC file, you will want to concatenate them into a single file using a command like the following:
    cat PAM-RADEC.txt PAM-RADEC2.txt > PAMJDay168.txt
    This creates a single file for the lsmParse program (see below) to process.

  7. There are three processing programs to deal with the laser clearances and create the files for the Laser Shutdown Monitor (lsm). These programs are on shanevnc in /usr/local/lick/bin/.
    1. lsmParse takes each PAM file and creates the lsm files.
      Syntax: lsmParse PAMfile
      Example: lsmParse 2014jday168azel.txt
      Example: lsmParse 2014jday168radec.txt
    2. lsmCheck.tcl checks to make sure that every requested target was cleared (and lists targets cleared, but not requested).
      Syntax: lsmCheck lsmUTDate
      Example: lsmCheck 2014Jan20UT
    3. lsmNames.tcl takes the lsm files and renames them according to the target names provided by the observer in the LGStargetlist file.
      Syntax: lsmNames lsmUTDate
      Example: lsmNames 2014Jan20UT
    Note: lsm files are on shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/lsm/ in a date named subdirectory.

  8. At the time of lasing, start the Laser Shutdown Monitor (on shanevnc, /usr/local/lick/lgs/bin/LSM.tcl) and make sure the lsm file for the proper target is loaded. LSM.tcl looks at the type of target (AzEl or RADec) and its coordinates, and makes sure the telescope is pointed at the right spot and the tracking state is correct for the mode. If not, lasing will be disabled (via the POCLASER keyword).

  9. If new PAM files are sent after you have processed the previous ones, you must go to /u/user/observers/lgs/lsm/ and into the appropriate date subdirectory and remove all the .lsm files before processing the new PAM laser shutdowns as above.

  10. If there are additional blanket shutdowns from space command, refer to shanevnc:/u/user/observers/lgs/extraShutdowns/README for instructions.

Last modified: Mon Mar 27 14:20:07 PDT 2023