David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1086 (2023-01-13)

Notes (S1085)

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Notes (S1087)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (2),  Small Defects (2),  Continuous Improvement (4)
	Images from 2023-01-13 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2023-01-13)

Main aims

1. GW Ori.  Acquire baseline images of GW Ori (a T-Tau type variable), ahead of a later photometric study.
2. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by sky conditions.
3. AstroMain. Check new version of AstroMain for any issues introduced by recent bug fixes and small improvements.

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• CCDApp2, TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.1.1,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.5.414, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.11dev2, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 6.6 SP1
   
• AstroMain 3.60.7, AstroPlan 1.35.9,   AstroShCap 1.3.12, AstroGuard 1.10.2
  AstroVOE 1.12.2  AstroSN 1.8.7,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.9.8
  (AstroWeather 1.19.6, AstroAllSky 3.17.2,  AstroObsCam 1.11.2, AstroLaunch 1.10.5

Highlights

• Targets. 14 out of 29 planned targets were completed before forecast cloud & rain developed . One ToO target (GW Ori) was also completed, which displaced one of the planned targets. Imagesets from 3 of the 14 acquired targets were later rejected due to cloud.
• Dome Slews. 35% of dome slews were affected by holdups with two of the slews having holdups of 125 and 115s respectively (6/17 slews affected, 35%, 7.9 minutes total hold-up time).
• AllSky Camera. Inside of AllSky Camera hemisphere has dewed up again.

Notes:

• Aurora recorded from the Observatory  (see Aurora Images/Video from 2023-01-13  )
  

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)

Actual Weather vs Pre-Session Weather Forecast

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 19:01:55 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 19:01 & 06:25 19:03:05 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (19:03) 19:03:25   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 19:03:39 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2023-01-13 S01086, ImageSaveNum: 1086001) 19:04:05   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 19:05:48   Services Started Observatory Services started 19:05:55 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 19:05:58 Session Pending Session pending (2023-01-13) 19:06:00 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-01-13) 19:06:02   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.35.9) 19:06:55   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 857) 19:07:15   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -25°C) 19:07:52   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 19:08:16 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 19:09:02   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 19:09:04 Session Running Session running 19:09:06   Queue Started Observing Queue started (29 targets selected) 19:09:08     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 2, HIP 9508) 19:09:20       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 19:13:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:16:37       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 19:18:32       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 19:18:34       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 19:20:42       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 19:22:27       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 19:22:44     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 2, HIP 9508) 19:22:49     Target Started (1/29) Target started (1/29, Jupiter) 19:28:17     Target Completed Target completed (1/29, Jupiter) 19:32:49 Obs.Monitor Frozen Obs.Monitor appears to be frozen at around 19:32 in section 'Refresh Dome Picture/Label Dome Azimuth' 19:35:28     Target Started (2/29) Target started (2/29, IC 1756 w/SN2023Q) 19:36:31     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 221.3, 220.4° (Total delay 37s) 19:39:19       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 19:55:28     Target Completed Target completed (2/29, IC 1756 w/SN2023Q) 19:57:48     Target Started (3/29) Target started (3/29, IC 1874 w/AT2023fu) 20:00:23       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:02:49       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 20:19:07     Target Completed Target completed (3/29, IC 1874 w/AT2023fu) 20:20:08     Target Started (4/29) Target started (4/29, UGC 3044 w/SN2023cf) 20:21:32     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 177.3° (Delay 52s) 20:23:38       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:26:10       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 20:42:21     Target Completed Target completed (4/29, UGC 3044 w/SN2023cf) 20:42:25     Target Started (5/30) Target started (5/30, GCVS GW Ori, ToO) 20:45:53       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:48:17       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 21:01:45     Target Completed Target completed (5/30, GCVS GW Ori, ToO) 21:01:47     Target Missed (6/30) Target's time slot was missed (6/30, NGC 7769 w/SN2022aedu) 21:04:48     Target Started (7/30) Target started (7/30, IC 1705 w/SN2023fa) 21:08:00       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 21:08:40       SoftSuspend Cancelled Soft Suspend is cancelled due to improved conditions 21:09:58       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 21:26:13     Target Completed Target completed (7/30, IC 1705 w/SN2023fa) 21:27:08     Target Started (8/30) Target started (8/30, GCVS BL Lac) 21:30:11       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:32:22       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 21:36:15     Target Completed Target completed (8/30, GCVS BL Lac) 21:37:26     Target Started (9/30) Target started (9/30, M31 w/Nova M31 2022-12a?) 21:38:35     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 290.9° (Delay 45s) 21:40:55       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:42:52       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 21:58:39     Target Completed Target completed (9/30, M31 w/Nova M31 2022-12a?) 21:59:46     Target Started (10/30) Target started (10/30, NGC 1363 w/SN2022ackv) 22:02:43     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 268.2, 267.5, 246.8, 223.1, 222.6, 221.5° (Total delay 125s) 22:22:56     Target Completed Target completed (10/30, NGC 1363 w/SN2022ackv) 22:23:00     Target Started (11/30) Target started (11/30, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) 22:24:37     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 177.1, 176.8° (Total delay 62s) 22:26:33       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:28:59       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 22:39:08     Target Completed Target completed (11/30, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) 22:39:12     Target Started (12/30) Target started (12/30, AT2022ddt (CV)) 22:42:04       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:44:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 22:50:18     Target Completed Target completed (12/30, AT2022ddt (CV)) 22:51:10     Target Started (13/30) Target started (13/30, UGC 8046 w/SN2022zxr) 22:54:25     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 156.4, 88.2, 87.5, 66.4° (Total delay 115s) 22:56:54       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 23:13:22     Target Completed Target completed (13/30, UGC 8046 w/SN2022zxr) 23:13:26     Target Started (14/30) Target started (14/30, NGC 3705 w/SN2022xxf) 23:17:33       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:20:06       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 23:36:04     Target Completed Target completed (14/30, NGC 3705 w/SN2022xxf) 23:36:08     Target Started (15/30) Target started (15/30, UGC 2926 w/SN2022acyd) 23:39:53       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 23:56:16     Target Completed Target completed (15/30, UGC 2926 w/SN2022acyd) 23:58:10     Target Started (16/30) Target started (16/30, M33 w/Nova M33 2022-11a?) 00:02:13       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 00:09:56       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend is called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 00:18:33     Target Completed Target completed (16/30, M33 w/Nova M33 2022-11a?) 00:18:35   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 00:18:38 Session Suspending Session suspending 00:19:27   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 00:19:30 Session Suspended Session suspended 00:20:48 User Intervention User request to close and finish session 00:20:50   Queue Aborted Job Queue aborted 00:20:53 Session Closing Session closing 00:20:58   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 00:19, closing time 50s) 00:22:35   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 89s), Az: 90.0 deg 00:23:59   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 81s) 00:24:14   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 00:24:36   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 00:26:00   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 00:26:03 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 00:26:18 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 19:33:21 Red Alert Obs.Monitor Obs.Monitor appears to be frozen in section 'Refresh Dome Picture/Label Dome Azimuth' (last cycle at 19:32:49) 19:34:21 Green Alert Obs.Monitor Obs.Monitor has resumed again (19:34) after 1.5 mins 19:36:31 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 221.3, 220.4° (Total delay 37s) 20:21:32 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 177.3° (Delay 52s) 21:38:35 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 290.9° (Delay 45s) 22:02:43 Red Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 268.2, 267.5, 246.8, 223.1, 222.6, 221.5° (Total delay 125s) 22:24:38 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 177.1, 176.8° (Total delay 62s) 22:54:25 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 156.4, 88.2, 87.5, 66.4° (Total delay 115s)

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Operational Issues (2023-01-13, S1086)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (1)
• Minor Issues (2)
• Small Defects (2)
• Continuous Improvement (4)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• AllSky Camera Imaging didn't stop in morning at SunAlt -2° but carried on till after sun had rose (Two days later, 2023-01-15). After noticing on the morning of 2023-01-16 (night date 2023-01-15) that the 'final' morning allsky picture was showing the sky entirely over-exposed a remote connection to the AllSky/Weather Computer was opened which indicated that the Oculus AllSky Camera was still taking 30s exposures under the direction of the AstroAllSky program which was still operating in night mode. By this time (10:08) the sun has risen to altitude of +7.2°. The AstoAllSky Program was closed by the user and then restarted at which point the program began in daytime mode using correct Sun Alt values . Investigating image annotation showed that the reported Sun Alt was -27.7°, and that it had been evidently stuck on this value since 19:32 the previous evening. There were no anomolous report or log messages at this time.  The log file confirm that the working Sun Alt was stuck on -27.67°.   Star labelling was evidently still working ok during clear sky interval around 03:00 and the product of AllSky products was normal apart from Sun Alt labelling on NightSummary Plot stopping from Sun Alt -26° and the Model Sky ADU becoming stuck on value 21. Session's 'NightIndex.dat' file shows SunAz/Alt becoming struck in image at 19:32:56 onwards.   Overexposure of the Camera CCD wouldn't been good for the chip (and a 30s exposure, 2s gap cycle is worse than a 0.12s exposure, 32s gap cycle). Is there any permanent damage to the camera's CCD due to prolonged exposure to daylight ? [ No - Camera is taking pictures ok the following evening ].  Why had Sun Alt value become stuck ? [ Most-likely TheSky's 'Stop Time Skip' . button was accidently clicked whilst using Computer to test AstroWeather's use of OpenWeather as datasource for the Weather Forecast, alternatively there was a problem with TheSky6  ]. Why weren't image exposure times ramped down to the minimum exposure of 0.12s when sky brightness increased ? [  ] . What was there no back up-protection in place to end the night mode ? (prehaps ending the program with an error message requesting user input) .   In looking for a back end to the night imaging it is noted  that when the program's night mode ends at -2° Sun Alt and imaging stops the Dark ADU of the final image (the ADU count in the hidden / covered corners of the CCD) is typically at around 2000.  However during this morning's issue the Dark ADU rose to 10000 (by 07:53, Sun Alt ) and reaching around 60000+ a 09:47 (Sun Alt +6°).   In AstroAllSky 'sunalt' is obtained via a call to GetSunMoonInfo() where SunAlt is obtained from ObjectInfo.Property(skObjInfoProp_ALT) following code line  ObjectInfo = TheSky6.Chart.Find("Sun").  Protection from this issue has been added to AstroAllSky 3.17.3 that calls  UseComputerClock() ahead of each call to GetSunMoonInfo() in AllSkyTakeFrames() loops so that SunAlt is always correct during live operations.
  Fix attempted  2023-01-16 (AstroAllSky 3.17.3) 

Minor Issues

• AstroWeather crashing when trying to use 'OpenWeather' datasource for Weather Forecast (Two days later, 2023-01-15). Calls to DarkSky.Net API will stop at the end of March 2023 associated with the previous takeover of the company by Apple. With this in mind code to access an alternative datasource (OpenWeather) has previously been built into AstroWeather for when the weather forecast data source needs to be switched over from DarkSky.Net to a new one.  Attempts to build an alternative using Apples's WeatherKit have failed.  Neither alternative fully meets the ability of teh DarakSky.Net but a replacement that meets 90% of requirement is liveable. Using OpenWeather worked previously so its unclear why its not working now.  Running Test Forecast in  AstroWeather in Visual Studio's Debugger produces a "System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: 'Length cannot be less than zero." in code line  [ field = S.Substring(iStart, iEnd - iStart) ] in OpenWeather.GetJsonString (block,keyword) where keyword="snow" and block =
  """dt"":1674043200,""sunrise"":1674030815,""sunset"":1674057758,""moonrise"":1674019980,""moonset"":1674042540,""moon_phase"":0.87,""temp"":{""day"":3.24,""min"":2.2,""max"":4.21,""night"":2.35,""eve"":3.3,""morn"":2.22},""feels_like"":{""day"":-3.76,""night"":-4.02,""eve"":-3.02,""morn"":-4 ,""pressure"":991,""humidity"":86,""dew_point"":1,""wind_speed"":17.48,""wind_deg"":327,""wind_gust"":27.11,""weather"":[{""id"":601,""main"":""Snow"",""description"":""snow"",""icon"":""13d""}],""clouds"":78,""pop"":1,""snow"":9.74,""uvi"":0.09"
  and S ="""snow"",""icon"":""13d""}],""clouds"":78,""pop"":1,""snow"":9.74,""uvi"":0.09",  iStart = 14 and iEnd = 6, such that iEnd-iStart < 1 and therefore produces the exception. Problem might be due to trying to serach for "snow" and that it occures more than once in the block.  Try Catch End Try block has been placed around the relevent code in AstroWeather 1.19.8 that now catches the error. The only problem (new or old ?) is that particular hour with store doesn't show a snow icon.
  Fixed 2023-01-16 (AstroWeather 1.19.8) 
   
• Weather Forecast chart produced using AstroWeather with 'OpenWeather' datasource appears to not be showing rain amounts and snow amounts are incorrect.  Calls to DarkSky.Net API will stop at the end of March 2023 associated with the previous takeover of the company by Apple. With this in mind code to access an alternative datasource (OpenWeather) has previously been built into AstroWeather for when the weather forecast data source needs to be switched over from DarkSky.Net to a new one.  Testing OpenWeather source produces a weather forecast in which rain amounts (in mm) are being shown.  Hourly preciptation probabilities are shown ok and snow amounts (in cm) are shown ok, but not rain amounts.   Examination of data blocks returned from OpenWeather shows 'pop' (probability of precipitation) values greater than 0.01 (eg 0.20 or 0.48) for several of hours within the forecast but where the corresponding hour blocks is without either a rain or snow keyword, and therefore there are no rain or snow volumes, and therefore precip_intensity is assigned to be 0.0. At the time There is one hour with Rain Volume of 0.1 but it lies outside of the chart's forecast window (next 24 hours).  Although a bar is shown for snow amount, it is labelled 0.00 (cm),  this is because the weather chart uses precipAccumulation which DarkSky.Net uses but OpenWeather does not.   Fixed in AstroWeather 1.19.8.
  Fixed 2023-01-16 (AstroWeather 1.19.8) 

Small Defects

• Failed Target's red circle for 18 (IC 2005 w/SN) was overposted on Completed Target's green circle for 17 M33 w/AT on AstroMain's AzAltResultChart.. This is a problem that has been reported before. Fixed in AstroMain 3.60.8 (gTargetAz & gTargetAlt set to vcNull immediately upon starting a new target in ExecuteQueue routine,  ensuring that values from previous target can't be used. Also set to null upon starting an AdHoc Target).
  Fixed 2023-01-14 (AstroMain 3.60.8)  
   
• AstroPlan's Schedular created a plan for the session in which a long duration target (HAT-P-3) was inserted that extended to 30 minutes past sunrise. A non-booked Exoplanet Transit observation run for HAT-P-3 (duration 4h 13m) was inserted with time slot from 04:55 to 09:08  when SunAlt -12deg was at 07:01 and sunrise was at 08:38 created. HAT-P-4 was set to lowest priority and it was a surprise that it was included in the plan. Regardless of the fact that it was likely outside of a Transit event, this was an inappropriate timeslot to schedule the observation and should have been caught.  As it turned out the sky clouded over after midnight and the target wasn't attempted. It would have been interesting to check and confirm that AstroMain's ObsManager would have intervened to abort the target well before sunrise.   GetObservationFitness2()  function modified in AstroPlan 1.35.10 so that  candidate observations that won't finish before Schedule.NightEndTime + 10mins will be invalidated (i.e. Fitness set to 0).
  Fixed 2023-01-14 (AstroPlan 1.35.10)  

• Add Wind Direction Indicator to ToO AzAlt Chart.  Investigating showed than SubmitToO Form was already showing Wind Indicator for the current time.  In AstroPlan 1.35.10 the entry point for adding Wind Direction Indicator is moved into a new AddWindIndicator() routine and is called for T+0h, T+2h & T+4h. (ie 3 wind points covering next 4 hours)
  Done 2023-01-14 (AstroPlan 1.35.10)  
   
• Add 'Copy Coords' button to AstroPlan's Target Form.  Added to AstroPlan 1.35.10 based on 'Copy Coords' button routine from AstroMains's ImageSets/Target tab.
  Done 2023-01-14 (AstroPlan 1.35.10)  
   
• Add a launch 'Aladin' button to AstroLaunch Support Tab.  Added to AstroPlan 1.35.10 based on 'Aladin' button routine from AstroMains's ImageSets tab.
  Done 2023-01-14 (AstroLaunch 1.10.6)  
   
• Set up Booked Observation of RR Lyr type star AT 2022evv.  Submit a 3 hour time-lapse observation run. Target AT2022evv created in 'New Variables' program 180 x 60s (V).  Offsets W -0.9', N -3.3' specified in order to place  the mag 5 star HIP 76041 outside of FOV.
  Magnitude: 4.98
  In Progress 2023-01-14 (Targets Database)  

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