David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1149 (2023-09-25)

Notes (S1148)

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Notes (S1150)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (1),  Minor Issues (0),  Small Defects (4),  Continuous Improvement (0)
	Images from 2023-09-25 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2023-09-25)

Main aims

1. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by sky conditions (especially wind)

 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  2.6.11dev4, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 6.6 SP1
   
• AstroMain 3.62.12, AstroPlan 1.38.3,   AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.2
  AstroVOE 1.13  AstroSN 1.10,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.12.4
  (AstroWeather 1.21.2, AstroAllSky 3.19.2,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4, AstroLaunch 1.10.9 (1.11.1 on Dev Computer)

Highlights

• Targets. 26/27 planned targets were completed.
•  Dome Slews. Seven dome slews were affected by significant hold-ups of up to 153s.
  (Hold Up Stats: 7/29 slews affected, 24%, 7.8 minutes total hold-up time). 

Notes:

• Aurora recorded from the Observatory on night 2023-09-25 / 2023-09-26 . Under Construction.
   (see Aurora Images/Video from 2023-09-25)
  
  

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 20:34:00 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 20:33 & 04:56 20:34:01 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (20:34) 20:34:30   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 20:34:44 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2023-09-25 S01149, ImageSaveNum: 1149001) 20:35:10   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 20:36:53   Services Started Observatory Services started 20:37:00 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 20:37:02 Session Pending Session pending (2023-09-25) 20:37:04 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-09-25) 20:37:06   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.38.3) 20:38:21   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 923) 20:38:42   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -10°C) 20:38:43 Foc1FieldsUpdater Frozen Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen at around 20:38 in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 20:39:18   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 20:39:36 TempMonitor Frozen TempMonitor appears to be frozen at around 20:39 in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 20:39:43 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 20:40:28 Obs.Manager Obs.Manager is frozen in 'Equilibrating' (last cycle was at 20:40:28) 20:40:28   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 20:40:29 Session Running Session running 20:42:32   Make Observatory Safe Obs.Overseer intervened to Make Observatory Safe 20:53:50   Services Stopped Observatory Services stopped 20:53:51 Session Closed Session closed by User 20:53:55 Program Closed Program closed by User 20:57:10 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 20:57 & 04:56 20:57:41 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (20:57) 20:58:01   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 20:58:14 Session Resumed Session Resumed (Live, 2023-09-25 S01149, ImageSaveNum: 1149001) 20:58:58   Services Started Observatory Services started 20:59:05 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 20:59:06 Session Pending Session pending (2023-09-25) 20:59:08 Session Initiating Session initiating (2023-09-25) 20:59:12   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 923) 20:59:36   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (set point -10°C) 21:00:13   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 21:00:37 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 21:01:22   Dome Opened Dome opened (opening time 45s) 21:01:23 Session Running Session running 21:01:25   Queue Started Observing Queue started (27 targets selected) 21:01:29     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 22, HIP 108888) 21:01:44       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 21:04:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:06:23       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 21:08:16       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 21:08:19       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 21:10:28       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 21:12:11       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 21:12:28     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 22, HIP 108888) 21:12:33     Target Started (1/27) Target started (1/27, NGC 7385) 21:15:27       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:17:43       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 21:17:59     Target Failed (1/27) Target failed due to (1/27, NGC 7385) 21:18:03     Target Started (2/27) Target started (2/27, C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)) 21:20:56       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 21:27:22     Target Completed Target completed (2/27, C/2022 A2 (PANSTARRS)) 21:28:14     Target Started (3/27) Target started (3/27, NGC 1272 w/AT2023seo) 21:31:18       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:33:45       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 21:49:35     Target Completed Target completed (3/27, NGC 1272 w/AT2023seo) 21:50:34     Target Started (4/27) Target started (4/27, GCVS HH And) 21:53:16       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:55:18       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 21:57:20     Target Completed Target completed (4/27, GCVS HH And) 21:59:01     Target Started (5/27) Target started (5/27, AT2023rao (CV)) 22:01:59       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:04:11       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 22:20:00     Target Completed Target completed (5/27, AT2023rao (CV)) 22:21:21     Target Started (6/27) Target started (6/27, AT2022yeu (CV)) 22:23:53       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:25:41       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 22:41:30     Target Completed Target completed (6/27, AT2022yeu (CV)) 22:43:41     Target Started (7/27) Target started (7/27, AT2023htu) 22:44:04       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 22:46:43       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:48:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 23:04:22     Target Completed Target completed (7/27, AT2023htu) 23:05:41     Target Started (8/27) Target started (8/27, LEDA 1488100 w/SN2023olz) 23:08:40       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 23:24:55     Target Completed Target completed (8/27, LEDA 1488100 w/SN2023olz) 23:28:01     Target Started (9/27) Target started (9/27, NGC 1086 w/SN2023rix) 23:30:51       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:33:00       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 23:49:14     Target Completed Target completed (9/27, NGC 1086 w/SN2023rix) 23:50:21     Target Started (10/27) Target started (10/27, AT2023rbs) 23:53:00       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:55:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 00:11:08     Target Completed Target completed (10/27, AT2023rbs) 00:12:21     Target Started (11/27) Target started (11/27, M31 w/AT2023gvz) 00:14:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:16:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 00:32:13     Target Completed Target completed (11/27, M31 w/AT2023gvz) 00:34:41     Target Started (12/27) Target started (12/27, GCVS TT Ari) 00:37:26       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:39:36       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 00:46:15     Target Completed Target completed (12/27, GCVS TT Ari) 00:47:37     Target Started (13/27) Target started (13/27, AT2023cuy (CV)) 00:50:22       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:52:00       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 00:57:46     Target Completed Target completed (13/27, AT2023cuy (CV)) 00:59:37     Target Started (14/27) Target started (14/27, UGC 4992 w/AT2023rpu) 01:03:27       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 01:19:40     Target Completed Target completed (14/27, UGC 4992 w/AT2023rpu) 01:21:37     Target Started (15/27) Target started (15/27, AT2023rfq) 01:25:06       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:26:59       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 01:42:47     Target Completed Target completed (15/27, AT2023rfq) 01:43:37     Target Started (16/27) Target started (16/27, UGC 11858 w/SN2023rjj) 01:46:15       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:48:11       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 15) 02:03:59     Target Completed Target completed (16/27, UGC 11858 w/SN2023rjj) 02:05:57     Target Started (17/27) Target started (17/27, IC 458 w/SN2023rgp) 02:08:40     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 353.7, 38.6, 39.2° (Total delay 40s) 02:10:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:12:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 16) 02:29:00     Target Completed Target completed (17/27, IC 458 w/SN2023rgp) 02:29:04     Target Started (18/27) Target started (18/27, AT2023tjz) 02:29:32       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 02:31:55       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:33:58       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 17) 02:49:45     Target Completed Target completed (18/27, AT2023tjz) 02:50:17     Target Started (19/27) Target started (19/27, AT2023pfd) 02:53:21     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 123.3, 154.8, 155.1, 157.4, 218.5° (Total delay 63s) 02:55:29       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:57:20       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 18) 03:13:08     Target Completed Target completed (19/27, AT2023pfd) 03:13:12     Target Started (20/27) Target started (20/27, AT2023rud) 03:16:25       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:18:11       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 19) 03:33:58     Target Completed Target completed (20/27, AT2023rud) 03:34:37     Target Started (21/27) Target started (21/27, AT2022xhz) 03:35:58     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 269.2, 268.6° (Total delay 46s) 03:38:06       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 03:54:05     Target Completed Target completed (21/27, AT2022xhz) 03:56:57     Target Started (22/27) Target started (22/27, GCVS BL Lac) 03:59:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:01:39       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 20) 04:05:31     Target Completed Target completed (22/27, GCVS BL Lac) 04:07:15     Target Started (23/27) Target started (23/27, NGC 205 w/AT2023sqw) 04:08:33     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 269.3, 268.5° (Total delay 37s) 04:10:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:11:51       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed (failed QC check - Ambiguous) 04:27:46     Target Completed Target completed (23/27, NGC 205 w/AT2023sqw) 04:29:35     Target Started (24/27) Target started (24/27, NGC 2326 w/SN2023pgb) 04:33:41     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 247.8, 223.6, 222.6, 179.0, 178.6, 177.4° (Total delay 153s) 04:35:34       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 04:35:58       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:37:16       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed (failed QC check - Quadratic) 04:53:38     Target Completed Target completed (24/27, NGC 2326 w/SN2023pgb) 04:53:42     Target Started (25/27) Target started (25/27, AT2023tdi) 04:55:17     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 68.0, 61.3° (Total delay 57s) 04:58:12       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-S) 05:14:05     Target Completed Target completed (25/27, AT2023tdi) 05:14:09     Target Started (26/27) Target started (26/27, GCVS DX Cnc) 05:14:44       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 05:17:06       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 05:22:05     Target Completed Target completed (26/27, GCVS DX Cnc) 05:25:08     Target Started (27/27) Target started (27/27, GCVS RZ LMi) 05:25:34       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 05:26:04     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 98.2, 89.7° (Total delay 30s) 05:28:58       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:30:13       Focusing Failed Foc1 focusing failed (failed QC check - Ambiguous) 05:35:27     Target Completed Target completed (27/27, GCVS RZ LMi) 05:35:30   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 05:35:35 Session Closing Session closing 05:36:30   Dome Closed Dome closed (closing time 50s) 05:36:48   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 10s), Az: 90.1 deg 05:38:06   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 75s) 05:38:21   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 05:39:02   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 05:40:27   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 05:40:30 Session Housekeeping Session Housekeeping started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 05:40:55 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 20:37:02 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (48.39 GB) is less than 50 GB 20:40:27 Red Alert Foc1Fields Updater Foc1FieldsUpdater appears to be frozen (last cycle at 20:38:43) in section 'Update Foc1Fields' 20:42:07 Red Alert TempMonitor TempMonitor appears to be frozen (last cycle at 20:39:36) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data' 20:42:32 Red Alert Obs.Manager Obs.Manager is frozen in 'Equilibrating' (last cycle at 20:40:28) 20:59:06 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (49.47 GB) is less than 50 GB 22:21:27 Yellow Alert Anomalous Dome Slew Dome slew resumed at Az 144.2° (T+1.4s) 02:08:40 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 353.7, 38.6, 39.2° (Total delay 40s) 02:53:21 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 123.3, 154.8, 155.1, 157.4, 218.5° (Total delay 63s) 03:35:58 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 269.2, 268.6° (Total delay 46s) 04:08:33 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 269.3, 268.5° (Total delay 37s) 04:33:41 Red Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 247.8, 223.6, 222.6, 179.0, 178.6, 177.4° (Total delay 153s) 04:33:50 Yellow Alert Dome Discrepency Difference between Dome Az and Telescope Az is > 8 deg (NGC 2326) 04:33:52 Yellow Alert Dome Discrepency Difference between Dome Az and Slave Az is > 1 deg (NGC 2326) 04:55:17 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 68.0, 61.3° (Total delay 57s) 05:26:04 Yellow Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 98.2, 89.7° (Total delay 30s) 05:40:50 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (47.62 GB) is less than 50 GB

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Operational Issues (2023-09-25, S1149)

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

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• AstroMain's ObsManager froze shortly after the session began running (20:42). After Autostart had executed and the session had entered the 'Running' state the ObsOverseer reported a two warnings "Warning Obs.Manager is pending in 'Equilibrating' (last cycle at 20:40:28)" and "TempMonitor is frozen (20:42) in section 'Get CcdTemp Data'".  The ObsOverseer  then raised a red alert with the message "Obs.Manager is frozen in 'Equilibrating' (last cycle at 20:40:28)" and took the action of calling the "Make Observatory Safe" routine.  Resolved in-session by user intervention to execute a "Restart CCDSoft" (including SBIG camera restart) and then restarting AstroMain to begin the session again.  Although AstroMain/ObsOverseer performed according to Design the issue is ranked as a Major Issue as without User Intervention the session would have ended without any imaging/observations for the night.    Issue was subject following S1159 Session in early Nov 2023  (see Investigation - ObsManager freezing just after entering 'Session Running (2023-11-02) ) which determined that Obs.Manager was freezing in the SetState_Running() routine at the code line:   ReportComment(LPad10("Ok") + Camera.AutoSavePath), when the CCDSoft.Camera was in a frozen/non-responsive state.  Fixed by changes made to AstroMain 3.63.5 so that SetState_Running no longer directly accesses CCDSoft.Camera, so that the Obs.Manager is no longer prone to freezing , but instead accesses locally stored recent values (obtained by CCDMonitor ). These are accessed using the properties of new CCDCamera object with names matching those of the CCDSoft.Camera (e.g.CCDCamera.AutoSavePath).  Additional improvements made in AstroMain 3.64 & 3.64.1 around 2023-11-05.
  Fixed 2023-11-01 (Session, AstroMain 3.63.5) 

Minor Issues

• None

Small Defects

• AstroMain/Analysis encountered unhandled fatal exception whilst getting 'Title' or 'Title2' (rate of motion) for Comet 'C/2023 P1 Nishimura' (Post-Session Analysis). Whilst analysing image set for C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) from S1138 session, Title2 button was clicked on to get the ra/dec rate of motion. Issue might be occuring because the object 'C/2023 P1 (Nishimura)' is not found in TheSky6 (on Development Computer).  Relevant routines modified in AstroMain 3.62.13 to catch exceptions associated with codeline 'ObjectInfo = Chart.Find(TargetName)'.   Comets.cmt from Observatory Computer (which contains C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) ) copied onto the Development Computer in order to complete analysis of images.
  Fixed 2023-09-26 (AstroMain 3.62.13, Development Computer)
   
• Comets duplicated in TheSky6 after importing latest version of comets.cmt file .  After downloading latest 'comets.cmt' file the existing comets in TheSky6 were removed and 'new' comets imported into TheSky6 from the 'comets.cmt' file.  Initial problem was that during the import a message appears saying that the number of comets exceed 1000 and the last 961 comets will be ignored.   Comets are noted to be duplicated when displayed / labelled in TheSky's virtual sky. Some comets are noted to be present 4 or 5 times. Examining the downloaded comets.cmt file (263 KB) confirms the presence of duplicated comets. The comets.cmt file on Observatory Computer (downloaded 2023-09-18) is only 134 KB in size my comparison.  Resolved in first instance by replacing comets.cmt file with the one from Observatory Computer and re-importing comets. Finally resolved 2023-09-27 by re-downloading comets.cmt file (144 KB) and re-importing the Comets (this imported 1000 comets which is the limit in TheSky6, leaving final 73 comets which were ignored).
  Resolved 2023-09-27 (TheSky6, Comets.cmt file)
   
• Target 1/27 (NGC 7385) failed but no reason is reported or saved to database (21:17). Target 1/27 (NGC 7385) initially proceeded albeit with a warning "Planned start time was missed. Some frames will probably be cancelled".  Target was centered ok and a focus profile was successfully acquired. Each of the 5 x 180s main frames was reported as "Image cancelled to prevent observation from overrunning it's time slot", meaning that no images were acquired. At end of target execution there is the report line "Target Result (1/27):   Fail     Target failed (Due to )".    Review needs to decide how the result should be reported in this situation.
  To fix 2023-09-26+ (AstroMain 3.62.13)
   
• Target 1/27 (NGC 7385) was behind planned start time and shouldn't have performed Foc1 Focusing (21:15). Target 1/27 (NGC 7385) with Planned Duration of 22.3 minutes, had a Planned Start Time at 20:58 but didn't commence until 21:12 (14 minutes after its planned start) leaving only 6 minutes left to acquire any images.  Foc1 focusing was conducted which used up 2.2 minutes, and no time was left to acquire any images, not even one. Since Near Zenith Foc1 Focusing had already been successfully performed Foc1 Focusing for the target should have been cancelled in the interest of time and priority.  Given this issue is defined some 2 months after the session itself the latest version of AstroMain (3.64.8) should be checked to see if this issue is still be a live issue.
  To fix 2023-11-20+ (AstroMain 3.64.8+)

Continuous Improvement

• None

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