David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 675 (2019-03-23)

Notes (S674)

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Notes (S676)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (1),  Continuous Improvement (0)
	Images from 2019-03-23  >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2019-03-23)

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 3.9.7  Astroguard 1.2.3,   AstroPlan 1.8.1

Highlights

• None.  

Lowlights

• Cloud Cover increased in second half of session and prevented acquisition of decent images.

Summary Plots & Logs

Observing Plan (2019-03-23, S675)

Observing Result (2019-03-23, S675)

Night Sky Summary Plot - 2019-03-23, S675 Top axis: Sky Brightness at Zenith (in ADU/s) Lefthand axis: Local Time (hh LT). Righthand axis: Sun Altitude (degs)

Session Event Log (2019-03-23, S675)

Time   Event Detail 21:19 Session Created Live Session Created (2019-03-23 S00675, ImageSaveNum: 675001) 21:21 Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 21:22 Services Started Observatory Services started 21:26   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -25°C) 21:26 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 21:26 Session Pending Session pending (2019-03-23) 21:26 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-03-23) 21:26   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan () 21:29   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-03-23 V1 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 310) 21:29   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -25°C) 21:29   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 21:30 Shutter Opened Shutter opened (opening time 45s) 21:30 Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 21:34 Equilibration Ended Dome Equilibration ended (4.0 mins total) 21:34 Session Running Session running 21:34   Queue Started Observing Queue started (18 targets selected) 21:34     Target Started (1/18) Target started (1/18, GCVS U Gem) 21:37   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:40   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 21:43     Target Completed Target completed (1/18, GCVS U Gem) 21:43     Target Started (2/18) Target started (2/18, GCVS SY Cnc) 21:45   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:49     Target Completed Target completed (2/18, GCVS SY Cnc) 21:49     Target Started (3/18) Target started (3/18, 46P/Wirtanen) 21:51   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:06     Target Completed Target completed (3/18, 46P/Wirtanen) 22:06     Target Started (4/18) Target started (4/18, NGC 3254 SN2019np) 22:08   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:10   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 22:22     Target Completed Target completed (4/18, NGC 3254 SN2019np) 22:22     Target Started (5/18) Target started (5/18, GCVS AM CVn) 22:24   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:27   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 22:30     Target Completed Target completed (5/18, GCVS AM CVn) 22:31     Target Started (6/18) Target started (6/18, GCVS RR Tau) 22:35   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:37   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 22:43     Target Completed Target completed (6/18, GCVS RR Tau) 22:43     Target Started (7/18) Target started (7/18, GCVS S Cyg) 22:47   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:50   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 23:00     Target Completed Target completed (7/18, GCVS S Cyg) 23:00     Target Started (8/18) Target started (8/18, GCVS U Her) 23:03   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:05   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 23:13     Target Completed Target completed (8/18, GCVS U Her) 23:13     Target Started (9/18) Target started (9/18, C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto)) 23:26     Target Completed Target completed (9/18, C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto)) 23:26     Target Started (10/18) Target started (10/18, GCVS DX Cnc) 23:28   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:33     Target Completed Target completed (10/18, GCVS DX Cnc) 23:33     Target Started (11/18) Target started (11/18, GCVS CN Leo) 23:35   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:42     Target Completed Target completed (11/18, GCVS CN Leo) 23:44     Target Started (12/18) Target started (12/18, GCVS R CrB) 23:47   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:48   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 23:51     Target Completed Target completed (12/18, GCVS R CrB) 23:52     Target Started (13/18) Target started (13/18, GCVS SS Her) 00:00     Target Started (14/18) Target started (14/18, GCVS AM Her) 00:02   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:05   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 00:10     Target Completed Target completed (14/18, GCVS AM Her) 00:10     Target Started (15/18) Target started (15/18, GCVS CY Lyr) 00:20     Target Started (16/18) Target started (16/18, GCVS CI Cyg) 00:22   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:24   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 00:28     Target Completed Target completed (16/18, GCVS CI Cyg) 00:28     Target Started (17/18) Target started (17/18, GCVS SS Cyg) 00:42     Target Started (18/18) Target started (18/18, GCVS SS Cyg) 00:42 Queue Completed Job Queue completed 00:42 Session Initiating Session initiating (2019-03-23) 00:42   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan () 00:46   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (2019-03-23 V2 BEST PLAN, Plan ID: 311) 00:47   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera Connected (set point -25°C) 00:47   Telescope Connected Telescope Connected (TheSky6) 00:47 Equilibration Started Dome Equilibration started 00:47 Equilibration Skipped Dome Equilibration skipped by user 00:47 Session Running Session running 00:47   Queue Started Observing Queue started (22 targets selected) 00:47     Target Started (1/22) Target started (1/22, GCVS U Gem) 00:51   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:55     Target Completed Target completed (1/22, GCVS U Gem) 00:55     Target Started (2/22) Target started (2/22, GCVS DX Cnc) 00:58   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:04     Target Completed Target completed (2/22, GCVS DX Cnc) 01:04     Target Started (3/22) Target started (3/22, GCVS CN Leo) 01:08   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:15     Target Completed Target completed (3/22, GCVS CN Leo) 01:17     Target Started (4/22) Target started (4/22, GCVS SS Her) 01:20   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:24     Target Completed Target completed (4/22, GCVS SS Her) 01:25     Target Started (5/22) Target started (5/22, GCVS CI Cyg) 01:27   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:29   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 01:33     Target Completed Target completed (5/22, GCVS CI Cyg) 01:33     Target Started (6/22) Target started (6/22, GCVS S Cyg) 01:36   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:38   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 01:48     Target Completed Target completed (6/22, GCVS S Cyg) 01:48     Target Started (7/22) Target started (7/22, GCVS AM CVn) 01:52   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:54   Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 01:57     Target Completed Target completed (7/22, GCVS AM CVn) 01:57     Target Started (8/22) Target started (8/22, 46P/Wirtanen)  - CLOUD    from here 02:01   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:16     Target Completed Target completed (8/22, 46P/Wirtanen) 02:16     Target Started (9/22) Target started (9/22, GCVS SY Cnc) 02:19   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:23     Target Completed Target completed (9/22, GCVS SY Cnc) 02:23     Target Started (10/22) Target started (10/22, GCVS Z And) 02:27   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:31     Target Completed Target completed (10/22, GCVS Z And) 02:31     Target Started (11/22) Target started (11/22, GCVS U Her) 02:35   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:44     Target Completed Target completed (11/22, GCVS U Her) 02:44     Target Started (12/22) Target started (12/22, GCVS R CrB) 02:50     Target Started (13/22) Target started (13/22, GCVS FG Sge) 02:55   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:58     Target Completed Target completed (13/22, GCVS FG Sge) 02:58     Target Started (14/22) Target started (14/22, GCVS SS Cyg) 03:02   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:06     Target Completed Target completed (14/22, GCVS SS Cyg) 03:12     Target Started (15/22) Target started (15/22, GCVS HH And) 03:15   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:17     Target Completed Target completed (15/22, GCVS HH And) 03:19     Target Started (16/22) Target started (16/22, HIP 87937) 03:23   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:25     Target Completed Target completed (16/22, HIP 87937) 03:27     Target Started (17/22) Target started (17/22, GCVS AM Her) 03:30   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:36     Target Completed Target completed (17/22, GCVS AM Her) 03:37     Target Started (18/22) Target started (18/22, GCVS CY Lyr) 03:40   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:44     Target Completed Target completed (18/22, GCVS CY Lyr) 03:47     Target Started (19/22) Target started (19/22, 61 Cyg) 03:50   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:52     Target Completed Target completed (19/22, 61 Cyg) 03:54     Target Started (20/22) Target started (20/22, GCVS BL Lac) 03:57   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:01     Target Completed Target completed (20/22, GCVS BL Lac) 04:04     Target Started (21/22) Target started (21/22, GCVS EV Lac) 04:07   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:09     Target Completed Target completed (21/22, GCVS EV Lac) 04:12     Target Started (22/22) Target started (22/22, WDS GRB 34) 04:15   Focusing Started (Foc1) Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:17     Target Completed Target completed (22/22, WDS GRB 34) - CLOUD to here 04:17 Queue Completed Job Queue completed 04:17 Session Closing Session closing 04:18 Shutter Closed Shutter closed (closing time 50s) 04:18 Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 23s) 04:19 Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 53s) 05:32 Services Stopped Observatory Services stopped

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Operational Issues (2019-03-23, S675)

• Critical Issues (0)
  
• Major Issues (1)
• Minor Issues (1)
• Continuous Improvement (0)

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• Session / Imaging not being suspended when clouds rolled in. Target queue continued even though no. stars reduced to <5 and locate images failed to link during interval  at 12:30 -00:30 and again from 02:00 onwards. Resolved by the introduction of 'Suspend When Stars<20' (renamed now as 'Suspend when too few stars'
    Resolved 2020 Jan (AstroMain) 

Minor Issues

• SBIG camera power level suddenly increased from around 83% to 100%.
   Power level jumped at around 02:57 for little change into ambient temperature.  CCD Temperature remained at set point of -25°C until it eventually started to drift to -24.5°C.  Issue is now understood (2018-08-16), and is caused by a subtle interaction between the camera power level and a slight increase in ambient temparture (see Investigation - Camera Cooling, 2019-08-08) )
    Fixed Oct 2020 (AstroMain, 3.31.6)

Continuous Improvement

• None

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