David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1317 (2025-04-28)

Notes (S1316)

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Notes (S1318)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (1),  Small Defects (5),  Continuous Improvement (1)
	Images from 2025-04-28 >>

Session Aims & Highlights (2025-04-28)

Main aims

1. Targets.  Acquire images of a selection of variable stars, nearby stars, comets & deep sky targets as allowed by sky conditions.
2. Scope Path. Continue to test new Scope Path plotting routine and check that it is producing smoother/less angular paths

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• TheSky6, CCDSoft5, DeviceHub 7.0.3 RC3.4694, MeadeGeneric 1.3.12.522 , UPB 1.5,  Pulsar Dome Firmware 1.51 & Driver 6.3.10
• Pegasus UPB & Motor Focus, TCF-S 6.0.6
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.13, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 7.0.3 RC3
• [ DomeLink 1.0 / 1.1 - not used ]
   
• AstroMain 3.74.7,  AstroPlan 1.43.1,  AstroShCap 1.3.15, AstroGuard 1.10.6   (any new items or versions in bold)
  AstroMag 1.2.10, AstroVOE 1.15.1,  AstroSN 1.14,  AstroProtect 1.10.6,  AstroMove 1.15.10
  AstroWeather 1.27.8, AstroAllSky 3.23.5,  AstroObsCam 1.11.4 (not 1.11.5), AstroColorCam 1.2.10, AstroLaunch 1.12.3

Highlights

• Targets. 10/12 planned target observations were completed. One ToO target (NGC 5957 w/SN 2025fvw) were also acquired, as a back up to the planned acquisition of this target.
• SN 2025fvw. Images of SN 2025fvw  were collected at two different times during the night.
•   Dome. There was no issues opening/closing the shutter during the session. Dome closed and parked at end of session ok.

Notes

• Good Seeing
  
  

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 23:59:00 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 23:58 & 02:52 23:59:02 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (23:59) 23:59:24   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 23:59:51   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -20°C) 23:59:53 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2025-04-28 S01317, ImageSaveNum: 1317001) 23:59:58   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Powerbox. 00:01:46   Services Started Observatory Services started 00:01:53 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 00:01:58 Session Pending Session pending (2025-04-28) 00:02:00 Session Initiating Session initiating (2025-04-28) 00:02:09   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -15°C) 00:02:11   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.43.4) 00:03:22   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 1101) 00:04:03   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 00:04:28 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 00:05:13   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 46s, Zigbee 40s) 00:05:15 Session Running Session running 00:05:18   Queue Started Observing Queue started (12 targets selected) 00:05:20     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 13, HIP 63666) 00:05:35       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 00:09:44       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:13:04       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 00:15:32       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 00:15:35       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 00:17:51       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 00:19:44       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 00:20:02     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 13, HIP 63666) 00:20:07     Target Started (1/12) Target started (1/12, UGC 5695 w/SN2025cfc) 00:20:46     Target Aborted (1/12) Target aborted (1/12, UGC 5695 w/SN2025cfc) due to Priority 1 ToO Target 00:20:50     Target Started (2/14) Target started (2/14, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw, ToO) 00:25:15       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:28:09       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 00:44:56     Target Completed Target completed (2/14, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw, ToO) 00:45:01     Target Started (3/14) Target started (3/14, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw, ToO) 00:45:23     Target Aborted (3/14) Target aborted (3/14, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw, ToO) due to User Intervention 00:45:27     Target Started (4/14) Target started (4/14, NGC 3521 w/AT2025gti) 01:06:18     Target Completed Target completed (4/14, NGC 3521 w/AT2025gti) 01:06:22     Target Started (5/14) Target started (5/14, LEDA 2155454 w/SN2025erh) 01:10:13       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:12:47       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 01:28:52     Target Completed Target completed (5/14, LEDA 2155454 w/SN2025erh) 01:28:56     Target Started (6/14) Target started (6/14, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw) 01:33:16       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:35:49       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 5) 01:51:53     Target Completed Target completed (6/14, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw) 01:51:57     Target Started (7/14) Target started (7/14, UGC 10058 w/SN2025gvs) 01:55:29       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:57:58       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 6) 02:14:33     Target Completed Target completed (7/14, UGC 10058 w/SN2025gvs) 02:14:37     Target Started (8/14) Target started (8/14, T CrB) 02:22:44     Target Completed Target completed (8/14, T CrB) 02:22:48     Target Started (9/14) Target started (9/14, AT2024wzq (CV)) 02:27:19       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:30:12       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 02:36:18     Target Completed Target completed (9/14, AT2024wzq (CV)) 02:36:22     Target Started (10/14) Target started (10/14, AT2025lc (CV)) 02:39:38       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:42:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 02:49:20     Target Completed Target completed (10/14, AT2025lc (CV)) 02:49:24     Target Started (11/14) Target started (11/14, AT2025md (CV)) 02:52:38       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:55:26       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 03:02:03     Target Completed Target completed (11/14, AT2025md (CV)) 03:02:08     Target Started (12/14) Target started (12/14, GCVS BL Lac) 03:05:11       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 03:07:44       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 03:12:34     Target Completed Target completed (12/14, GCVS BL Lac) 03:12:39     Target Started (13/14) Target started (13/14, AT2024wys (CV)) 03:20:21     Target Completed Target completed (13/14, AT2024wys (CV)) 03:20:25     Target Started (14/14) Target started (14/14, HIP 87937) 03:24:42     Target Failed (14/14) Target failed due to slew error (14/14, HIP 87937) 03:24:44   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 03:24:45 Session Closing Session closing 03:25:41   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 51s, Zigbee 43s) 03:26:23   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 33s), Az: 90.0 deg 03:27:03   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 36s total) 03:27:26   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 03:27:48   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 03:29:12   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 03:29:15 Session Finishing Session Finishing started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 03:29:37     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 88.0 to 92.0°, Step 0.2°, Narrow) 03:30:22     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 90.2°) 03:30:28     Dome Dome has been synced at park position (Az 90.0°, Adjustment: -0.2°) 03:30:30   Dome Parked Dome parked 03:32:30   Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (45mA) 03:32:32 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 03:32:30 Green Clear Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (45mA)

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Operational Issues (2025-04-28, S1317)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (1)
• Small Defects (5)
• Continuous Improvement (1)
  

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Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• Final target in session (HIP 87937) failed due to slew error (03:20). The final target in the session (Target 14/14, HIP 87937) failed due to a slew error and with the message "Scope may not be pointing towards the target (Ang Sep > 1.0°)".  Examiming the Scope Path table in the log file shows the scope slewing to the target, but instead of the Slew Flag turning to 0 (False) it remained on 1 (True) untill the SlewMonitor's Wait Loop timed out after 4 minutes, and sent an Abort Slew command to the telescope at 03:24:37. There was concern how this might have affected the Park operation at the end of the session, but the log shows a normal ScopePath to the Pre-Park position, and then a sucessfully Park. The final ObsCam picture confirmed that scope had sucessfully arrived at the expected Park Position.  Command to slew scope to HIP 87937 was made at 03:20:32 and the scope seemed to arrive at the target around 12s later at 03:20:45.    For the remainder of the monitoring time the scope appeared to be tracking, Ra/Dec not changing, Az/Alt changing slowly.   The Post-Slew check suggested that there was a slew discrepency of 54.67' (W: 54.66', N: -1.00') which was logged as a Slew Failure with message "Slewing discrepency of AT LEAST 5' ". 
    PreSlew.ScopeRaDec     | RA= 18 03 30.249 Dec= -19 08 59.44 | Epoch Current
  Slew.Coords            | RA= 17 59 28.059 Dec= +04 46 40.59 | Epoch Current
  Post Slew Coord        | RA= 18 03 07.475 Dec= +04 47 40.53 | Epoch Current
  It seems that reporting of RA from scope has stalled at around 18° 03' however the ScopePath table based on Alz/Alt values suggests scope had physically moved from Ra 18.0581  (18° 03' 29") to 17.9915  (17° 59' 29").  This looks like a rouge glitch.   The MeadeGeneric log shows scope moving from RA 18:03:28.0  to 17:59:15.0 ok,  but later comms between DeviceHub and TheSky6 shows ambiguous RA data :
    03:24:29.231 Get RightAscension: 18:02:50.0 (done)
  03:24:30.031 Get Declination:    05:04:01 (done)
  03:24:30.463 Get RightAscension: 17:59:15.0 (done)
  03:24:31.167 Get Declination:    05:03:57 (done)
  where RA is flickering between two values,  this can be normal (and is typically seen by the telescope position in Virtual Sky flickering around rather than remaining static in RA/Dec).  The Meade Generic log shows SlewToCoordinatesAsync Ra=17.9877458455663, Dec=5.06411776243531 at 03:20:33 .  Slewing Flag turns True at, stays True till 03:24:33, then turns back to False at 03:24:36 after the  AbortSlew command received at 03:24:32.944.  Pre-Slew  "RightAscension Get - 18:03:27 ", but reaches RightAscension Get - 17:59:15  at 03:20:42.    It seems that either LX200 or Meade Generic Driver suffered a glitch, and was unable to report the end of the slew correctly.    AstroMain's Slew Monitor worked as per design, enforcing a slew timeout and sending abort command to telescope.  This seems to have resolved the glitch, and allowed the Slew to Pre-Park positon to work correctly.   Issue closed after review 2025-04-29, but need to conduct a slew test before the next session and to monitor the telescope slew performance during the next session. 
  Closed after review 2025-04-24 (Session, LX200, Meade Generic)

Small Defects

• A 'Do Next' ToO target submitted during Near Zenith Focusing isn't acted upon by the Job Executor as expected (00:20).  After the session's observing plan had been built and initial Near Zenith Focusing was being conducted,  user decided that 'NGC 5957 w/SN 2025fvw' needed to be obtained as the night's first target, and submitted the target as a ToO Target (Do Next) from AstroPlan.. This was recieved by AstroMain at 00:06
    > Received ToO Request    Ok    1 observation requested
  > Loading ToO             Ok    NGC 5957 (priority 2, c. 23:06 - 23:36) imported at 00:06
  After Near Zenith Focusing finished the Job Executor began the Job Queue at 00:20. Instead of starting with the 'NGC 5957' ToO  target,  the job queue began with the original plan's first target (UGC 5695), and showed that NGC 5957 appeared in the job queue after UGC 5695.  This wasn't the user expectation, which was that the ToO should have started first and UGC 5695 hadn't yet been started.   ObsManager calls CheckForPendingToO() on each 5s cycle when SessionState is Equilibrating, Running, Suspending, Suspended or Resuming. The routine Fetches Any ToO sumbitted by AstroPlan, and if there is a pending ToO the highest ranking one then PendingToO variable is updated with its reference.
  Fast React ToO's are handled straight away if SessionState is Running. For other ToO's
  NGC 5957 was inserted into Job Queue at 00:20:06.97 which was shortly after UGC 5695 target had been started (00:20:03.45) and therefore was inserted as the next target.  A flag 'bHandleToORunning' has been added to AstroMain 3.74.8 to indicate when the HandleToO() routine is running or not in case it is needed at some future stage.  Examining code it It would seem that the ToO can be submitted as first target by the user using 'Do Immediately' ToO Submit method and accept that first target will be cancelled, rather than permitted to finish if there is still time left.
  Closed after review 2025-04-29 (AstroMain 3.74.8, User Awareness)
   
• A target in the Job Queue couldn't be skipped using 'Use' checkbox (00:44). After finding that submitted ToO target (NGC 5957) didn't start before UGC 5695 target, NGC 5957 was resubmitted as a 'Do Immediately' ToO target which aborted the UGC 5695 target and commenced NGC 5957.   This left the original NGC 5957 ToO target as the next target.  Not wishing to immediately image it again (It was already planned for further imaging later in the session) and without other direct method to cancel a submitted ToO target, the 'Use' checkbox against the 'next' NGC 5957 target was unchecked with the hoped for result that the target would be skipped.   However despite the unchecking the next NGC 5957 target was commenced, and necessiated using the Abort Target facility to stop the unrequired observation and waste of observatory time.   The Use checkbox was part of original Job Queue usage and it was unknown if it was used by the new Job Queue method implemented in c. 2018.  The code suggests that the listTargetImagingQSO list is really just for display and is not intended to be interactive and functional.  A workaround has been adopted in AstroMain 3.74.8. A new 'Skip Selected' button has been added to Queue tab,  which gets the selected row (SelItem), gets the details of the selected row (like TargetDisplayName) from the TIS array and then after seeking/obtaining confirmation sets TIS.T(SelItem).Use = False, and finally redisplays the ShootList in which 'Use' field will be now be displayed as unchecked.
  Fixed 2025-04-29 (AstroMain 3.74.8, User Awareness)
   
• Multiple exception message reported "Exception in MainLoop (State: Running)" (00:06 - 00:20).  165 exceptions were logged near the start of the session with the messages "Exception in MainLoop (State: Running)" and "Object reference not set to an instance of an object".  Exceptions seem to occur once for each 5s cycle of the ObsManager's main loop.   Exceptions began at 00:06:20 shortly after finishing Scope Slew to Near Zenith Target, and finished at 00:20:02 after completing Near Zenith Focusing.  There were no assoicated Session Alerts or Report File messages, and no obvious issue to operations. Whilst the exceptions are not in themselves seem not to be critical, the concern is what part of ObsManager loop are being skipped when an exception occurs.  ObsManager may not have been able to respond to particular critical conditions.  The exceptions messages didn't occur during during the previous two session (S1315 & S1316).  The only thing that was notably different about the S1317 session was that a ToO target was submitted whilst Near Zenith Focusing was running.  The log message is modified in AstroMain 3.74.8 to log the name of the ObsManager code section that the exception occurred in using the gObsManagerSection variable.  However this is already clear from (State: Running) element, so the code skipped due to exception is limited.   It is suspected that exception is one that has come up from HandleToO() routine.   A fix/improvement has been implemented in AstroMain 3.74.8 by employing a Try..Catch..EndTry block in the HandleToO() routine to stop the exception propogating to the ObsManager Main Loop  and with logging that includes ex.StackTrace to gain more details about the code line / particular object reference which is not set.
  Fixed 2025-04-29 (AstroMain 3.74.8, User Awareness)
   
• AstroMag SAM Monitor stopped running correctly after starting a run with X Axis Monitor turned off (2025-04-29 09:18).  After beginning a test in which the X Axis Magnetometer was turned off, AstroMag stopped making fresh charts. Examination of 'mag_data.dat' file showed a single record from 08:19 UT (09:19 LT) reflecting the new magnetometer arrangement, but there were no additional records after this despite the fact that SAM View was running ok and logging data to 'sam_dat.txt'
     2025-04-29 08:19:25, -999999, 12846, 44601, 1000082, 9.19 ~
  The record show the vcLargeNull (-999999) value for X reading as expected. The calculated H reading shows 1000082, but this should show -999999 as one of the two inputs (X and Y) is null.     AstroMag's SamMonitor couldn't be stopped suggesting that it is in an infinite loop. No exceptions are recorded.  Running again with extra tracing (AstroMag 1.3.9 beta) indicates that the monitor is held up building initial charts. Examining the charts files saved to /Charts folder indicates that first two charts MagnetometerChart and MagnetogmeterStackChart have been completed but not the third chart, suggesting that execution is held up in building the ActivityChart. Issue fixed in AstroMag 1.3.9.
     Fixed 2025-04-29 (AstroMag 1.3.9)
   
• AstroMag's SAM Monitor unexpected began recording 'Bad Records' (2025-04-29). After AstroMag 1.3.10 'SamMonitor was started at 16:03:06 (15:02:25 UT) SAM records were read ok up to 18:48:26 (17:48:26 UT), e.g.
     29.04.25 17:48:26: X,,Y,12662,Z,44470
  bu the SAM Monitor then unexpectedly began recording Bad Records from 18:49:35 (17:49:35 UT) . eg.
     29.04.25 17:48:36: X,,Y,12693,Z,44470
  and from the same time mag_data.dat records were written out with vcNullLarge values for Y and Z readings. There is nothing obviously bad about the record, so the origin of the 'bad record' messages in a mystery.  SamMonitor was restarted without any initial issue. Examining the earlier failure it is noted that between 15:02 and 17:49  UT (a span of 166 minutes) there would have been 166 records at 1 min spacing or 999 records at 10s spacing.   It is suspected that XData, YData or ZData had reached their respective array bound (1000).  The counters (nXdataPoints, nYdataPoints, nZdataPoints) should be reset every 10 minutes after Noise Measurements are reported. so why they weren't they reset as 10m noise data was logged every 10 mins.  Fixed in AstroMain 1.3.11, the newly added YdataPoints, nZdataPoints counters weren't getting reset.  Also fixed the issue that Bh isn't being set to vcNullLarge when Bx reading is missing.
     Fixed 2025-04-29 (AstroMag 1.3.9)

Continuous Improvement

• Extend AstroMag to include noise measurements for Y & Z axis.  AstroMag 1.3.8 include noise measurement calculations for X magnetometer reading.   It is proposed to extend routines to also include measurement of noise for the other magnetometer readings (Y & Z). Implemented in AstroMag 1.3.10.
    Done 2025-04-29 (AstroMag 1.3.9)

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