David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 868 (2021-03-11)

Notes (S867)

Notes Main

Home Page

Notes (S869)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (3),  Continuous Improvement (4)
	Images from 2021-03-11 >>     [ Local Files >> ]

Session Aims & Highlights (2021-03-05)

Main aims

1. AstroMain.  Continue to AstroMain 3.38/3.38.2 for stability and presence/absence of UI lockups following major refactoring
2. Targets. Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by conditions

Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, PHD2,  DeviceHub 6.5.1.0,  UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.5 SP1
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.9Dev3
   
• AstroMain 3.38.2,  AstroGuard 1.6,   AstroPlan 1.21.2, AstroShCap 1.3.11, AstroVOE 1.7, AstroSN 1.5,  AstroProtect 1.6
  (AstroWeather 1.11, AstroAllSky 3.10.2, AstroObsCam 1.5)

Highlights

• AstroMain 3.38.2  No UI lockups confirming that earlier problem with locks had been fixed by the major refactoring that has taken place in AstroMain 3.8, and hasn't been reintroduced in 3.38.1/3.38.2
• ObsMonitoring.  Fixes to prevent 2-5s hang-ups in ObsMonior loop when Focuser1 is moving are confirmed as successful.  Occassional hangs up of 0.5 - 3s  during CCD taks and Foc1 Fields tasks have been identified.

Lowlights

•   Wind & High Clouds.   Winds and high clouds combined to produce very poor conditions for imaging and guiding during first part of session.

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan

Observing Result

Dome & Scope Slewing Performance

Slew/Centering Performance

Guiding Performance

Sky Conditions (Locate Frames)

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 (API data from darksky.net)

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 19:16:41 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity starting between 19:16 & 04:38 19:16:42 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (19:16) 19:17:14 Session Created Live Session Created (2021-03-11 S00868, ImageSaveNum: 868001) 19:17:16   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 19:19:15   Services Started Observatory Services started 19:19:24 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 19:19:27 Session Pending Session pending (2021-03-11) 19:19:29 Session Initiating Session initiating (2021-03-11) 19:19:31   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.21.2) 19:20:54   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (, Plan ID: 606) 19:21:09   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -20°C) 19:21:15   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 19:21:26 Session Equilibration Session ready for dome & camera equilibration 19:22:12   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 19:22:28   Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 19:27:28   Equilibration Ended Dome Equilibration ended (5.0 mins total) 19:27:30 Session Running Session running 19:27:32   Queue Started Observing Queue started (32 targets selected) 19:28:37       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:31:32       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 19:33:51       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 19:33:56       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 19:36:22       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 19:38:16       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 19:38:33       Focusing Checked Foc2 Focusing Check Succeeded 19:39:28     Target Started (1/32) Target started (1/32, UGC 2505 w/SN2021bge) 19:49:08       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 20:03:28     Target Completed Target partially completed (1/32, UGC 2505 w/SN2021bge) 20:03:31     Target Started (2/32) Target started (2/32, Nova Per 2020 (CV)) 20:07:01       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 20:16:26     Target Completed Target completed (2/32, Nova Per 2020 (CV)) 20:21:26     Target Started (3/32) Target started (3/32, NGC 304 w/SN2021dnn) 20:40:16     Target Completed Target partially completed (3/32, NGC 304 w/SN2021dnn) 20:40:19     Target Started (4/32) Target started (4/32, UGC 1436 w/SN2021nv) 20:48:31       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 21:02:39     Target Completed Target partially completed (4/32, UGC 1436 w/SN2021nv) 21:02:41     Target Started (5/32) Target started (5/32, AT2021dbp (CV)) 21:06:12       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 21:13:34     Target Completed Target completed (5/32, AT2021dbp (CV)) 21:13:37     Target Started (6/32) Target started (6/32, SN 2021xn) 21:17:41       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 21:34:57     Target Completed Target completed (6/32, SN 2021xn) 21:34:59     Target Started (7/32) Target started (7/32, AT2021ckv) 21:39:08       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 21:56:36     Target Completed Target completed (7/32, AT2021ckv) 21:56:38     Target Started (8/32) Target started (8/32, Scholz's Star) 22:00:51       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 22:17:36     Target Completed Target completed (8/32, Scholz's Star) 22:17:57     Target Started (9/32) Target started (9/32, GCVS DX Cnc) 22:21:37       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 22:27:43     Target Completed Target completed (9/32, GCVS DX Cnc) 22:28:39     Target Started (10/32) Target started (10/32, GCVS RZ LMi) 22:31:59       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:33:56       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 22:38:59     Target Completed Target completed (10/32, GCVS RZ LMi) 22:40:27     Target Started (11/32) Target started (11/32, NGC 3254) 22:41:09   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 22:43:44   SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to Improved Conditions 22:44:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:47:04       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed - star lost 22:47:14   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 23:01:20   SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to Improved Conditions 23:02:52     Target Completed Target completed (11/32, NGC 3254) 23:02:54     Target Started (12/32) Target started (12/32, UGC 5829 w/LBV2021blu) 23:06:02       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 23:06:25   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 23:07:35   SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to Improved Conditions 23:20:51   SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 23:23:26     Target Completed Target completed (12/32, UGC 5829 w/LBV2021blu) 23:23:28   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 23:23:31 Session Suspended Session suspended 23:24:21   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 23:35:33     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (13/32, AT2021bxp (CV)) due to wind 23:55:55     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (14/32, UGC 5760 w/SN2020zoq) due to wind 00:07:49     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (15/32, GCVS SY Cnc) due to cloud 00:18:00     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (16/32, LAMOST-HVS1) due to wind 00:33:42     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (17/32, UGC 6930 w/SN2020rcq) due to wind 00:44:30     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (18/32, GCVS AM CVn) due to wind 01:04:07     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (19/32, NGC 4227 w/SN2021biz) due to cloud 01:26:29     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (20/32, UGCA 281) due to wind 01:48:51     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (21/32, UGC 7774) due to wind 02:10:43     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (22/32, UGC 3502 w/AT2021cwc) due to wind 02:32:35     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (23/32, NGC 4631 w/AT2021biy) due to wind 02:53:47     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (24/32, C/2020 T2 (Palomar)) due to cloud 03:13:24     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (25/32, IC 992 w/SN2021dwg) due to wind 03:25:42     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (26/32, GCVS BL Lac) due to wind 03:29:01 Session Resuming Session resuming 03:29:46   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 03:29:48 Session Running Session running 03:29:50     Target Started (27/32) Target started (27/32, AT2021dtd) 03:29:52   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 03:33:55       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:35:51       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 03:51:56     Target Completed Target completed (27/32, AT2021dtd) 03:51:58     Target Started (28/32) Target started (28/32, LEDA 1634284 w/SN2021bkw) 03:56:36       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 04:14:17     Target Completed Target completed (28/32, LEDA 1634284 w/SN2021bkw) 04:14:19     Target Started (29/32) Target started (29/32, GCVS U Her) 04:18:55       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:20:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 04:27:58     Target Completed Target completed (29/32, GCVS U Her) 04:28:00     Target Started (30/32) Target started (30/32, GCVS CY Lyr) 04:36:05     Target Completed Target partially completed (30/32, GCVS CY Lyr) 04:36:08     Target Started (31/32) Target started (31/32, HIP 87937) 04:39:37       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:41:25       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed - failed QC check (Ambiguous) 04:43:46     Target Completed Target completed (31/32, HIP 87937) 04:43:48     Target Started (32/32) Target started (32/32, CGCG 056-009 w/SN2021apf) 04:46:46       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:48:36       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 05:04:14     Target Completed Target completed (32/32, CGCG 056-009 w/SN2021apf) 05:04:17   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 05:04:19 Session Closing Session closing 05:05:14   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 05:05:51   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 29s), Az: 90.0 deg 05:06:27   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 30s) 05:06:57   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 05:07:52   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 05:07:54 Session Housekeeping Housekeeping Started (Cleanup FITS, Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 05:08:12 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts

Time     Alert Detail -- No Alerts                --

Back to Top

Operational Issues (2021-03-11 S868)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (3)
• Continuous Improvement (4)

[ Prev | Next ]

Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• CCD and Foc1 Fields sections of Obs.Monitor experience occasional hangups of 1 - 3s. The Hangs-ups typically come when Focuser1 section is also taking 500-600ms.   Hang-ups of CCD and Foc1 Fields also seem to came at the same time.    Hangups are only present when session is running / and images are being taken.  No hangups of CCD & Foc1 Fields sections occured when the session was suspended between 23:24 and 03:29.   UpdateFoc1Fields() routine accesses  Camera.FilterIndexZeroBased twice each time it's called,  so the association between hang-ups of the Foc1 Fields and CCD Sections is explainable.   Examining timings shows that CCD object becomes locked/unaccessible when it is downloading an image.     This time is predictable based on when Camera.TakeImage is called and the delay and exposure time used.   These hang-ups could potentially be fixed by using asynchronous camera ops but this requires very careful implementation, therefore the issue will be fixed in the shorterm by using a flag and time point  (bCamera1TakingImage and Camera1ExpectedStartDownloadTime )  to indicate when the Camera is / isn't available. Add a txtCam1TimeAllowance field  (VM.Cam1TimeAllowance) with default value of 5.0s so that Camera isn't accessed during last 5s of taking an image when CCDSoft employs very fast refreshing of its Camera Status field which seemingly blocks other processes trying to access the CCDSoft.Camera object
  Fixed 2021-03-12 (AstroMain 3.38.3)
   
• 1 or 2 targets per Observing Plan aren't being posted on Az/Alt Plan Chart. It is presumed that this is due to exceptions associated with accessing Az/Alt. Exception trapping was added in AstroPlan 1.21.1 (2021-03-06) as a fatal exception occurred in S867 when an Az value of NaN (returned from GetAzmiuth) tried to be used for Az/Alt plotting.  Fixed bug in ConvertRaDecToAzAlt() routine  (degree values where being divided by 57.2938, rather than 180/PI() = ~ 57.29577951 when converting to radians which was causing the ACos value to lie slightly less than -1 or slightly more than +1 which then produced a NaN result in the statement  'Az = radToDeg(Math.Acos(CosA))'  )
  Fixed 2021-03-13 (AstroPlan 1.21.3)
   
• Several targets suffering from very poor guiding due to cloud.  Attempts to guide under very poor conditions (cloud/wind)  probably make the image results even poorer than they would otherwise be.   The need for smarter Autoguiding has been raised before. Closed after review 2022-04-26.
  Closed after review 2022-04-26  (AstroMain)

Continuous Improvement

• Text introduction at beginning of slewing section on Web Page to be improved.   Text refers to table below and doesn't mention Plan and Actual Scope Slew Plots.
  Fixed 2021-03-12  (Website)
   
• Add black border around each Guiding Perforrmance chart on website.  This should be fairly straightfoward to add..
  Fixed 2021-03-12  (Website)
   
• Add Up/Down buttons to 'Too Few Stars'. This is to make it easier to edit the field without risk of inappropriate value being assigned to VM.TooFewStars variable which can come from editing the field by text editing.   Implemented using NumericUpDown control.   Also added Up/Down control to RainTrim field.
  Done 2021-03-12 (AstroMain 3.38.3)
   
• On nights when wind speeds are forecast to be relatively high consider biasing Observing Plan towards targets that are 180 deg opposite to the dominant wind direction in order to protect the scope from the wind and reduce the number of wasted images. Wind affected session S926D (2021-10-20) and such as feature would have been very useful (Wind Speed 25 mph from NW and poor imaging/guiding for targets in NW-W sky).  Requires several things to be in place :
  - AstroWeather 1.14.2 modified pass back wind direction (at peak wind) to AstroAllSky (2021-11-08)
  - AstroAllSky 3.13.4 modified to pass wind direction on to AstroMain (2021-11-08)
  - AstroMain(3.46.1) modified to receive wind direction data   (2021-11-08)
  - AstroMain to decide if observing should discreminate targets based on wind direction
  - AstroMain to pass WindBasedDiscrimination flag and wind direction to AstroPlan
  - AstroPlan to read WindBasedDiscrimination flag and wind direction and if flag raised to disciminate against unfavourably placed targets.
  This has been resolved early in 2022, by not including targets in observing plan that require scope to face into a strong wind. Closed after review 2022-04-26
  Done, Closed 2022-04-26  (AstroMain/AstroPlan)

[ Prev | Next ]

Back to Top