David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 693 (2019-09-12)

Notes (S692)

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Notes (S694)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (2),  Minor Issues (3),  Continuous Improvement (2)
	Images from 2019-09-12  >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2019-09-12)

Main aims

1. Mixed Targets - Image selection of targets including Variable Stars, Comets and Deep Sky Targets
2. Software & Systems  - Check stability of software and presence of any side effects following ongoing enhancements to AstroMain and associated support programs.

 
Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
•  80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
•  CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  POTH Hub
•  Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
   
•  AstroMain 3.11.2,  Astroguard 1.2.4,   AstroPlan 1.10.1,  AstroVOE 1.3.1, UPB 1.4.16  (AstroWeather 1.7.8, AstroAllSky 3.4.7 )

Highlights

• Clear skies. X targets acquired .

Lowlights

• An AstroMain program crash caused the loss of 1 hour of good observing time (4 targets lost in this time).
• Coding error in new version of AstroMain (3.10.1) caused the Observatory Manager to fail to extend the session after reaching end of first (V1) scheduled plan. 3 hours of good observing time was lost.

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan

Observing Result

Night Sky Summary Plot Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)

Pre-Session Weather Forecast (AstroWeather 1.7.8) Cloudy for most of night with skies potentially clearing at 03:00,  low probability of any significant rain (As it turned out the evolving forecast through the late evening extended the cloud further and further through the night, and indeed it was cloudy for the the whole night, only clearing at around 06:30 after the sun has risen. A few spots of rain occurred at around 00:45 and 02:40)

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 20:10:21 Session Created Live Session Created (2019-09-12 S00693, ImageSaveNum: 693001) 20:11:46   Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 20:11:53   Services Started Observatory Services started 20:12:34 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 20:12:39 Session Pending Session pending (2019-09-12) 20:12:41 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-09-12) 20:12:43   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan () 20:16:14   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-09-12 V1 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 336) 20:16:31   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -10°C) 20:16:34   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 20:16:43 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 20:46:01   Shutter Opened Shutter opened (opening time 44s) 20:46:04   Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 20:53:17   Equilibration Ended Dome Equilibration ended (7.3 mins total) 20:53:19 Session Running Session running 20:53:21   Queue Started Observing Queue started (24 targets selected) 20:53:23     Target Started (1/24) Target started (1/24, GCVS AM Her) 20:55:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:58:24       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 21:03:41     Target Completed Target completed (1/24, GCVS AM Her) 21:03:43     Target Started (2/24) Target started (2/24, GCVS CI Cyg) 21:05:32       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:07:43       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 21:11:28     Target Completed Target completed (2/24, GCVS CI Cyg) 21:11:31     Target Started (3/24) Target started (3/24, GCVS FG Sge) 21:12:59       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:15:00       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 21:17:30     Target Completed Target completed (3/24, GCVS FG Sge) 21:17:32     Target Started (4/24) Target started (4/24, GCVS SS Her) 21:19:55       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:22:25       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 21:25:38     Target Completed Target completed (4/24, GCVS SS Her) 21:25:40     Target Started (5/24) Target started (5/24, NGC 6645) 21:28:00       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:30:18       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 21:35:11     Target Completed Target completed (5/24, NGC 6645) 21:35:13     Target Started (6/24) Target started (6/24, GCVS CY Lyr) 21:37:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:12:08 Session Resumed Live Session Resumed (2019-09-12 S00693, ImageSaveNum: 693046) 22:12:46   Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 22:12:54   Services Started Observatory Services started 22:13:23 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 22:13:24 Session Pending Session pending (2019-09-12) 22:13:27 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-09-12) 22:13:29   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-09-12 V1 ACTIVE PLAN S693, Plan ID: 336) 22:13:38   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -15°C) 22:13:40   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 22:13:52 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 22:13:55   Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 22:13:57   Equilibration Skipped Dome Equilibration skipped by user 22:13:59 Session Running Session running 22:14:01   Queue Started Observing Queue started (18 targets selected) 22:14:03     Target Missed (7/24) Target's time slot was missed (7/24, 61 Cyg) 22:14:05     Target Missed (8/24) Target's time slot was missed (8/24, 68P/Klemola) 22:14:07     Target Missed (9/24) Target's time slot was missed (9/24, GCVS R CrB) 22:14:09     Target Started (10/24) Target started (10/24, GCVS U Her) 22:16:18       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:18:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 22:26:34     Target Completed Target completed (10/24, GCVS U Her) 22:26:36     Target Started (11/24) Target started (11/24, GCVS S Cyg) 22:29:25       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:31:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 22:41:48     Target Completed Target completed (11/24, GCVS S Cyg) 22:41:50     Target Started (12/24) Target started (12/24, GCVS BL Lac) 22:44:32       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:46:37       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 22:50:27     Target Completed Target completed (12/24, GCVS BL Lac) 22:50:29     Target Started (13/24) Target started (13/24, GCVS SS Cyg) 22:52:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:54:54       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 22:58:36     Target Completed Target completed (13/24, GCVS SS Cyg) 23:01:43     Target Started (14/24) Target started (14/24, GCVS RX And) 23:03:45       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:05:56       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 23:08:34     Target Completed Target completed (14/24, GCVS RX And) 23:09:14     Target Started (15/24) Target started (15/24, C/2018 W2 (Africano)) 23:11:16       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:13:21       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 23:22:05     Target Completed Target completed (15/24, C/2018 W2 (Africano)) 23:22:58     Target Started (16/24) Target started (16/24, GCVS TT Ari) 23:25:12       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:27:37       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 23:34:28     Target Completed Target completed (16/24, GCVS TT Ari) 23:34:30     Target Started (17/24) Target started (17/24, GCVS GK Per) 23:36:36       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:38:53       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 23:41:52     Target Completed Target completed (17/24, GCVS GK Per) 23:42:15     Target Started (18/24) Target started (18/24, GCVS BL Lac) 23:44:35       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:46:35       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 15) 23:50:42     Target Completed Target completed (18/24, GCVS BL Lac) 23:52:03     Target Started (19/24) Target started (19/24, GCVS EV Lac) 23:54:14       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:56:33       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 16) 23:58:51     Target Completed Target completed (19/24, GCVS EV Lac) 00:00:03     Target Started (20/24) Target started (20/24, GCVS Z And) 00:02:48       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:04:56       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 17) 00:08:44     Target Completed Target completed (20/24, GCVS Z And) 00:08:46     Target Started (21/24) Target started (21/24, HIP 87937) 00:12:11       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:14:29       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 18) 00:16:55     Target Completed Target completed (21/24, HIP 87937) 00:16:58     Target Started (22/24) Target started (22/24, GCVS ER UMa) 00:19:51       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:23:54     Target Completed Target completed (22/24, GCVS ER UMa) 00:25:42     Target Started (23/24) Target started (23/24, GCVS DY Per) 00:27:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:29:30       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 19) 00:34:18     Target Completed Target completed (23/24, GCVS DY Per) 00:35:00     Target Started (24/24) Target started (24/24, GCVS U And) 00:37:12       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:39:11       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 20) 00:49:31     Target Completed Target completed (24/24, GCVS U And) 00:49:34   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 00:49:36 Session Closing Session closing 00:50:24   Shutter Closed Shutter closed (closing time 45s) 00:50:38   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 14s) 00:51:21   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 39s) 00:52:12 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 00:52:56 Session Finished Session Finished

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Operational Issues (2019-09-12, S693)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (2)
  
• Minor Issues (3)
• Continuous Improvement (2)

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• AstroMain program crash at 21:38:14. This caused the loss of hour of good observing time (4 targets lost in this time) until the issue was recognised and the observatory software restarted from scratch, in parking/unparking of scope. Difficult to determine the cause of the crash. It occurred whilst performing the 4 point of automated focus run for Target 6/24 (GCVS CY Lyr) . An attempt was made to debug the failure in Visual Studio 2017 but the program code on the observatory computer was from a much older version. Log and report files don't indicate any problem leading up to the crash.
Closed. (unable to diagnose/fix based on information available).
(Note: A CI item has been added to make the current AdvMain software code always available to enable better diagnosis of this or other similar problems in the future)
 
• IPad was unable to connect to the Observatory Computer (laptop 9) using VNC. This was needed in order to conveniently intervene and manually extend the observatory session after it had finished prematurely. An error was given ‘Either VNC server is not running or it is using an incompatible protocol version’. 3 hours of observing time was lost.   Attempts to connect over VNC also failed in the morning. Connection also failed from a second iPad. However a VNC connection to obs computer connection (running v 1.2.2.1, jun 14, 2018 version of ultra VNC) from the development computer (running v. 1.2.2.4b, Mar 30, 2019) was possible. iPad running VNC Viewer 3.8.0.  A VNC Connection to laptop7 (also running v 1.2.2.1, jun 14, 2018 version of ultra VNC) was possible, suggesting an issue with the Observatory Computer
  Resolved 2019-09-16 (Fixed by restarting the observatory computer)

Minor Issues

• Observatory Manager failed to extend the session after reaching end of first (V1) scheduled plan. This happened with the ‘continue with new plan’ option checked (confirmed as such in the morning with screen shot). 3 hours of good observing time was lost. The issue was due to a single line coding error (if sunset > -15 instead of < -15) in new version of AstroMain which was built ironically to allow the program to extend the session as many times as needed to reach dawn.
  Fixed 2019-09-16 (AstroMain 3.11.3)
   
• New feature in AstroAllSky, designed to immediately upload latest allsky image when scope position/target changes, didn’t work.
  Pictures were queued ok, but a new batch upload task wasn’t started.
  Fixed 2019-09-16 (AstroAllSky 3.4.8)
   
• AstroVOE again produced the cannot calculate altitude for a GRB alert. Previously it had been concluded that this was due to TheSky6 program being non active/stalled but that doesn’t seem likely in this case as there were no system issues at the time.
  Resolved 2019-09-22

Continuous Improvement

• Modify AstroMove such that when it uploads a new version of AstroMain executable to the observatory computer it also uploads the program source directory. Need to create a share to VS2017 Projects on observatory computer. .
  Resolved 2019-09-24 (AstroMove 1.3.6)
   
• Create, upload and utilise a ‘last session’ night summary.
  Done 2019-09-18

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