David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1237 (2024-08-31)

Notes (S1236)

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Notes (S1238)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (3),  Small Defects (0),  Continuous Improvement (0)
	- Figures (2)
	Images from 2024-08-31 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2024-08-31)

Main aims

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

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 6.6.1.1,  MeadeGeneric 1.3.9, UPB 1.5, ASCOM 6.6,   Pulsar Dome Firmware 1.51 & Driver 6.3.10
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.13, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 6.6 SP1
• [ DomeLink 1.0 / 1.1 - not used ]
   
• AstroMain 3.69.5,  AstroPlan 1.40.7,  AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.5   (any new items or versions in bold)
  AstroVOE 1.13.2,  AstroSN 1.11.1,  AstroProtect 1.7,  AstroMove 1.12.13    when did astroSN 1.10.4 go to 1.11 ?
  AstroWeather 1.25, AstroAllSky 3.20.4,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4 (not 1.11.5), AstroLaunch 1.11.3

Highlights

• Targets. 24/27 planned targets observations were completed, with 2 other targets partially completed. Final target in session failed due to cloud
• Dome. No issues opening/closing shutter during session. Dome closed and parked ok at end of session.
    ( a reported dome slew hold-up of 148s was found to be false).

Notes:

• Aurora Images/Video from night, 2024-08-31 >>
  North

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 20:31:39 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 20:56 & 04:11 20:31:43   AutoStart Waiting AutoStart waiting till earliest start time at 20:56 20:56:16   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to too few stars 21:29:45 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (21:29) 21:30:08   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 21:30:36   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 21:30:38 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2024-08-31 S01237, ImageSaveNum: 1237001) 21:30:43   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 21:32:43   Services Started Observatory Services started 21:32:50 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 21:32:52   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to too few stars 21:32:54 Session Pending Session pending (2024-08-31) 21:32:56 Session Initiating Session initiating (2024-08-31) 21:33:02   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -10°C) 21:33:08   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.40.7) 21:34:00   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 1012) 21:34:40   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 21:35:04 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 21:35:49   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 39s) 21:36:09 Session Running Session running 21:36:12   Queue Started Observing Queue started (27 targets selected) 21:36:16     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 19, HIP 93376) 21:36:29       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 21:39:39       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:42:25       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 21:44:40       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 21:44:41       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 21:46:33       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 21:48:16       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 21:48:33     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 19, HIP 93376) 21:49:36     Target Started (1/27) Target started (1/27, 13P/Olbers) 21:55:37       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - unable to find a star (TCF-S) 22:09:15     Target Completed Target completed (1/27, 13P/Olbers) 22:09:19     Target Started (2/27) Target started (2/27, LEDA 1846725 w/SN2024iss) 22:31:48     Target Completed Target completed (2/27, LEDA 1846725 w/SN2024iss) 22:31:52     Target Started (3/27) Target started (3/27, AT2024un (CV)) 22:35:14       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:37:42       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 22:43:53     Target Completed Target completed (3/27, AT2024un (CV)) 22:43:57     Target Started (4/27) Target started (4/27, GCVS BL Lac) 22:46:50       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:49:05       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 22:53:00     Target Completed Target completed (4/27, GCVS BL Lac) 22:53:04     Target Started (5/27) Target started (5/27, M31 w/Nova M31 AT2024ssq) 22:56:18       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 22:58:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 23:14:56     Target Completed Target completed (5/27, M31 w/Nova M31 AT2024ssq) 23:15:00     Target Started (6/27) Target started (6/27, AT2023tww (CV)) 23:18:05       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:20:41       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 23:26:36     Target Completed Target completed (6/27, AT2023tww (CV)) 23:26:40     Target Started (7/27) Target started (7/27, CGCG 082-009 w/SN2023ujr) 23:29:47       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:32:42       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 23:49:01     Target Completed Target completed (7/27, CGCG 082-009 w/SN2023ujr) 23:49:05     Target Started (8/27) Target started (8/27, Vega) 23:54:04     Target Completed Target completed (8/27, Vega) 23:55:51     Target Started (9/27) Target started (9/27, AT2021agdj (CV)) 23:58:39       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:01:09       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 00:07:02     Target Completed Target completed (9/27, AT2021agdj (CV)) 00:08:11     Target Started (10/27) Target started (10/27, AT2022vqv (CV)) 00:11:24       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:14:23       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 00:20:14     Target Completed Target completed (10/27, AT2022vqv (CV)) 00:20:31     Target Started (11/27) Target started (11/27, AT2024efg (CV)) 00:23:26       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:26:18       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 00:32:10     Target Completed Target completed (11/27, AT2024efg (CV)) 00:32:31     Target Started (12/27) Target started (12/27, AT2023xni (CV)) 00:35:18       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:37:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 00:43:39     Target Completed Target completed (12/27, AT2023xni (CV)) 00:44:31     Target Started (13/27) Target started (13/27, WDS GRB 34) 00:47:12       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:49:28       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 00:51:50     Target Completed Target completed (13/27, WDS GRB 34) 00:52:58     Target Started (14/27) Target started (14/27, GCVS SS Cyg) 00:55:58       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:58:13       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 01:02:33     Target Completed Target completed (14/27, GCVS SS Cyg) 01:10:44     Target Started (15/27) Target started (15/27, 61 Cyg) 01:13:35       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:15:50       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 01:17:29     Target Completed Target completed (15/27, 61 Cyg) 01:18:00     Target Started (16/27) Target started (16/27, AT2023abtv (CV)) 01:21:06       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:23:46       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 15) 01:29:37     Target Completed Target completed (16/27, AT2023abtv (CV)) 01:30:20     Target Started (17/27) Target started (17/27, AT2023abqc (CV)) 01:33:09       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:35:38       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 16) 01:41:30     Target Completed Target completed (17/27, AT2023abqc (CV)) 01:42:20     Target Started (18/27) Target started (18/27, AT2024brc) 01:44:59       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:47:25       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 17) 02:03:18     Target Completed Target completed (18/27, AT2024brc) 02:04:20     Target Started (19/27) Target started (19/27, MCG -1-60-15 w/SN2022wsr) 02:07:17       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:10:01       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 18) 02:26:32     Target Completed Target completed (19/27, MCG -1-60-15 w/SN2022wsr) 02:26:37     Target Started (20/27) Target started (20/27, GCVS RX And) 02:29:25       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:32:01       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 19) 02:35:10     Target Completed Target completed (20/27, GCVS RX And) 02:36:00     Target Started (21/27) Target started (21/27, AT2023cz (CV)) 02:40:10     Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 152.6° (Delay 149s) 02:43:18       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:45:28       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 20) 02:51:19     Target Completed Target completed (21/27, AT2023cz (CV)) 02:51:23     Target Started (22/27) Target started (22/27, GCVS X TRI) 02:54:06       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:56:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 21) 03:04:21     Target Completed Target completed (22/27, GCVS X TRI) 03:04:25     Target Started (23/27) Target started (23/27, SN 2023sfl) 03:07:18       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:10:17       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 22) 03:26:08     Target Completed Target completed (23/27, SN 2023sfl) 03:26:12     Target Started (24/27) Target started (24/27, AT2024emm (CV)) 03:28:44       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:31:32       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 23) 03:37:23     Target Completed Target completed (24/27, AT2024emm (CV)) 03:37:27     Target Started (25/27) Target started (25/27, M33 w/AT2023nou) 03:38:53   ScopeMonitor Frozen ScopeMonitor appears to be frozen at around 03:38 03:40:42   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend called due to TheSky6 failure 03:42:43 Session Suspending Session suspending 03:43:33   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 42s) 03:43:35 Session Suspended Session suspended 03:43:46     Target Aborted (25/27) Target aborted (25/27, M33 w/AT2023nou) due to Obs.Manager Request 03:43:49   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 03:45:38 Session Resuming Session resuming 03:46:23   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 40s) 03:46:25 Session Running Session running 03:46:27   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 03:46:30     Target Started (25/27) Target started (25/27, M33 w/AT2023nou) 04:01:02     Target Completed Target partially completed (25/27, M33 w/AT2023nou) 04:01:06     Target Started (26/27) Target started (26/27, NGC 3206 w/SN2024bch) 04:05:20       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-S) 04:16:23   Critical Cloud Alert Critical Cloud Alert (Obs.Manager will close the Dome) 04:16:25   HardSuspend Called Hard Suspend called due to Critical Conditions (cloud) 04:16:27     Target Aborted (26/27) Target aborted (26/27, NGC 3206 w/SN2024bch) due to cloud 04:16:29   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 04:16:31 Session Suspending Session suspending 04:17:18   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 43s) 04:17:20 Session Suspended Session suspended 04:17:51     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (26/27, NGC 3206 w/SN2024bch) due to cloud 04:41:53     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (27/27, GCVS DX Cnc) due to cloud 04:41:57   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 04:42:01 Session Closing Session closing 04:42:06   Dome Closed Dome already closed (closed at 04:17, closing time 50s, zigbee 43s) 04:42:43   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 29s), Az: 90.0 deg 04:44:15   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 87s total) 04:44:30   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 04:44:53   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 04:46:19   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 04:46:21 Session Finishing Session Finishing started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 04:46:49     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 88.0 to 92.0°, Step 0.2°, Narrow) 04:47:51     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 90.6°) 04:47:57     Dome Dome has been synced at park position (Az 90.0°, Adjustment: -0.6°) 04:47:59   Dome Parked Dome parked 04:48:07   Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (39mA) 04:48:09 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 02:38:40 Yellow Alert Anomalous Dome Slew Dome slew resumed at Az 152.6° (T+154.4s) 02:40:10 Red Alert Dome Slew Dome slew held up at Az. 152.6° (Delay 149s) 03:40:38 Red Alert ScopeMonitor ScopeMonitor appears to be frozen (last cycle at 03:38:53) 03:40:43 Red Alert TheSky6 Alert TheSky6 isn't running or isn't working correctly 03:43:48 Green Clear ScopeMonitor ScopeMonitor has resumed again (03:43) after 0.0 mins 04:48:07 Green Clear Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (39mA)

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Operational Issues (2024-08-31 S1237)

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

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• Dome Slew reported as being held up for 148s at Az 152.6° (02:36, telescope slew). During dome slew to Target 21/27 (AT2023cze) from 149.0° to 153.6° the dome was reported to have held up for 148s at Az 152.6°. AstroMain' session log indicates that the dome slew finished at T+156.5s (at 02:38:42).  DomePath records are shown in Fig 1.  The Pulsar Dome Log records SlewToAzimuth 152.557 (152.6) at 02:36:07 and indicates that the Dome reached the Target Az, 152.6°, at 02:36:11, which is consistent with the DomePath record showing Slewing 0 / Azimuth 152.6 (at T+5.2).   However is seems that the Dome began slewing again in response to continued Scope movement of Scope Tracking, and the time gap was picked up as the apparent Dome Slew holdup.   The ObsOverseer raised a warning "Warning Telescope.Slew task in SlewToTargetRaDec/Slewing is taking a long time? (02:39) " (02:39:05).   Logs suggest that the Telescope may have had problems either with its physical slewing or in the communication of the scope position/slew status and its logging.  The call Telescope.SlewToRaDec was made at 02:36:06 (This is T0). The logging of Telescope slew position appeared to stall at T+19.9s (for 50s), T+98s (for 28s),  T+128s (for 17s), T+146s (for 22s). The last Scope records occurs at T+170s (02:38:56) with scope at Az 150.48°.  At T+240s (02:40:08) the slew was aborted with the log message "Slew Monitoring loop has timed out after 4 minutes".     ScopePath records are shown in Fig 2. The MeadeGeneric log doesn't show a "Timed out waiting for received data" error during this time period (such an error only happened much later when scope had been parked).  The Locate 1 frame for AT2023cze had a pointing error of 46.12' which is anomalous high, supporting the possibility that there was something wrong (some minor glitch) with the telescope slew to AT 2023cze.  Meade Generic logs suggest that Telescope Coord requests and results where going to/from telescope thoughout the time. It seem most-likely that the Telescope slew was essentially completed at T+19.9s (02:36:26), but didn't reset Slewing flag back to 0.  Iit is concluded that the Dome didn't actually have a physical hold-up, but there does seem to have been some glicth associated with the telescope slew. Issuse closed after review since analysis has been taken as far as it can, the source of problem is unclear & no action is identified.
  Closed after review 2024-08-30 (Session, TheSky6, AstroMain, LX200)
   
• Session interrupted by a session suspension when Image Link operation in CCDSoft/TheSky6 took an unusually long time (03:40).  TheSky6 appeared to 'hang' and AstroMain's scope monitor froze. The ScopeMonitor was identified to be frozen and a red alert raised at 03:40:38, after the Monitor had been frozen since it's last completed cycle at 03:38:53.  This was during Image Linking of Locate 2 frame (#01237205 ) for Target 25/27 (M33 w/AT2023nou) , and the following warning was reported "TheSky6 isn't running or isn't working correctly ". ObsManager intervened and raised a bHardSuspend flag (03:40:42 ) in order to suspend the session.  ObsOverseer warned that "a task in ImageAndLink/LinkImage is taking a long time?" (03:41:28).   After a prescribed amount of waiting ObsManager gave the following warning "Timed out waiting for JobQueue to raise bSuspendOk" (03:42:43 ) and set session state to Suspending. This  indicates that JobExecution was held up (almost certainly held up waiting for TheSky6 to complete the ImageLink action). After closing the dome and whilst Session State was suspended  the Image Linking operation eventually completed with the success message "Ok    Solved in 293.5s  (Stars 11, Scale 1.408, Angle 179.9°) " (03:43:46 ). At the same time the Scope Monitor was recorded as having resumed (03:43:46).  The issue was investigated later (Investigation - Job Queue freezing whilst performing a Locate Frame Image Link, leading to Session Suspension, 2024-09-12) and tracing identfied that the freeze isn't triggered directly by the 'InsertWCS' call (Image Linking) but is triggered instead by following GetObjectRaDec() , .dObjectRa, .dObjectDec calls which access the result of the Image Linking.  The insertion of short (500ms) delays between calls to TheSky6 from AstroMain's ImageLinking routines, added to AstroMain 3.69.8 (2024-09-16) was eventually deemed to have fixed the issue, after seeing no further incidents of the problem during the following 4 sessions S1245-S1248A  (2024-09-16 to 2024-09-28).
  Fixed 2024-09-16 (AstroMain 3.69.8, TheSky6)
   
• VR Images from RX And took a very long to image link (post-session).  During Post-Session Reduction/Folder Analysis it was found that certain 3x3 10s V & 3x3 8s R image frames from RX And (but not all) are taking around 40s  to Image Link. This is much longer than expected.  Investigating it was noted that problem images were reported to have some 4020 objects (even though number of actual stars was only around 48.   A similar issue was noted with 2x2 images from Groombridge 34 & 61 Cyg in session S1236 session.  Need to see if the problem is with the original raw frames or with either the Master Flat frame or the Master Dark frame used during Image Reduction. Why do some frames from RX And have this problem but others don't.  In particular im1237160.8s.R (nObjects = 81,  nStars = 52) has no problem linking, but im1237162.8s.R (nObjects = 4020, nStars = 48) did, visually the images appear very similar.  Their raw images link ok (1.5 - 1.7s), but linking Reduced Images direct reveals the problem in the 1237162 image. Redoing Image Reduction on the respective folders 3x3 10s V  & 3x3 8s R did't fix the problem.  Examining BV images from RX And, it is noted that they all look similar. They all have a faint, but noticable dark current lit pixels concentrated in lower left corner.  Out of 3 x V Filter (10s) images,   2 images have 2340-2670 objects (when showing Star Inventory) and take 31-36s to link, whilst the image has only 81 objects and takes only 3s to link.  Out of 3 x R Filter (8s) images, 1 image has 4020 objects when showing Star Inventory) and takes 41s to link, whilst the other 2 images have just 71-81 inventory objects and take only 3s to link. However they are very similar to look at, with nothing to explain such a different result from image linking. It seems to be a very sutble difference that Star Inventory process somehow picks up. Performing a pixel repair on one of these problematic images (remove hot pixels) doesn't fix the issue. The raw versions of these problematic images quickly link in only around 3s.   This suggests that the either the flat field or the dark frame introduces something to the image that makes it susceptible to this 'star inventory / linking' problem. Performing a manual Flat Reduction, followed by manual Dark Reduction in CCDSoft produces an image that doesn't suffer from the problem,  but repeating the automated reduction does. Redoing the Master Dark Frame & Master Flat for V and R filters might resolve the issue. The VR images from RX And were acquired with 3x3 binning & CCD Temperature of  -10° C, whilst the R images from Groombridge 34 & 61 Cyg in previous session were acquired with 2x2 binning & CCD Temperature of -15° C (i.e. different dark frames & different flat frames).   Fix implemented in AstroMain 3.71.5, the PlateSolveImage() routine was modified so that DetectThreshold is changed to 50 if the number of inventory objects is > 500.
  Fixed 2024-10-06 (AstroMain 3.71.5)

Small Defects

• None

Continuous Improvement

• None

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