David's Astronomy Pages Notes - Session 1387 (2025-12-19)

Notes (S1386)

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Notes (S1388)

	Session Aims & Highlights
	- Observing Result  - Night Summary Plot  - Session Event Log
	Operational Issues
	- Critical Issues (0),  Major Issues (0),  Minor Issues (7),  Small Defects (4),  Continuous Improvement (11)
	- Figures (0)
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Session Aims & Highlights (2025-12-19)

Main aims

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

 Equipment & Software

• 12" LX200 and ST-10XME
• 80mm APO and ZWO ASI 178MC
• TheSky6 6.0.0.65, CCDSoft 5.00.201, DeviceHub 7.1.0.4707, MeadeGeneric 1.3.12.522, UPB 3,  Pulsar Dome Firmware 1.51 & Driver 6.3.10
• Pegasus-UI 2.10, Peg-Focuser 2.10, Peg-Switch 2.10, TCF-LSI 3.3.5
• SharpCap 3.2, PHD2  2.6.13, Siril 1.0.6, deCONZ 1.18.2, ASCOM 7.1.0.4707
• [ DomeLink 1.0 / 1.1 - not used ]
   
• AstroMain 3.79.8 ,  AstroPlan 1.45.5, AstroShCap 1.3.16, AstroGuard 1.12.3  (any new items or versions in bold)
  AstroMag 1.5.12, AstroVOE 1.16,  AstroSN 1.15.1,  AstroProtect 1.10.6,  AstroMove 1.17.2
  AstroWeather 1.29.5, AstroAllSky 3.26.4,  AstroObsCam 1.12.2, AstroNorthCam 1.7.4, AstroLaunch 1.14.5

Highlights

• Targets. 37/48 planned targets were completed with 4 targets partially comleted. 7 targets failed (3 due to Slew Issue, 3 due cloud and 1 displaced by ToO target). In addition 4 ToO targets were successfully acquired.
• Comets. Images acquired of 7 comets :  24P/Schaumasse, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann,198P/ODAS (attempt), 240/NEAT (ToO),  3I/Atlas, C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) & C/2025 R2 (SWAN)
• CCD Camera.  No issues
•  Dome. No issues open/closing shutter. Dome was successfully parked at the end of the session

NotesNotes

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) Note:  The NorthCam Star Count line is unreliable and should be ignored (The AstroNorthCam 'Find' Star method is producing many false positives from clouds)

Actual Weather vs Pre-Session Weather Forecast

Session Event Log

Time     Event Detail 16:24:36 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 16:24 & 06:43 16:24:37   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to too few stars 16:43:13 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (16:43) 16:43:26   CCDSoft Restarting CCDSoft being restarted (to set AutoSave No.) 16:43:41 Session Created Session Created (Live, 2025-12-19 S01387, ImageSaveNum: 1387001) 16:43:49   Scope Switched On Telescope Power has been switched on via UPB Switch 16:45:37   Services Started Observatory Services started 16:45:47 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 16:45:49   AutoStart Delayed Session delayed due to too few stars 16:45:51 Session Pending Session pending (2025-12-19) 16:45:53 Session Initiating Session initiating (2025-12-19) 16:46:10   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -20°C) 16:46:18   Plan Requested Observing Plan requested from AstroPlan (1.45.5) 16:47:19   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 1177) 16:47:59   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 16:48:24 Session Equilibration Session ready to Open Dome 16:49:09   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 40s) 16:49:19 Session Running Session running 16:49:22   Queue Started Observing Queue started (48 targets selected) 16:49:25     Target Started (NrZen) Target started (Focus Field 23, HIP 113729) 16:49:40       Dome Unparked Dome unparked 16:53:24       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 16:56:01       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1, wide) 16:58:18       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 1) 16:58:21       Focusing Started-Foc2 Foc2 Focusing Started (Secondary Scope, using ShCap) 17:00:20       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2, wide) 17:02:09       Focusing Completed Foc2 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 2) 17:02:31     Target Completed (NrZen) Target completed (Focus Field 23, HIP 113729) 17:02:46     Target Started (1/48) Target started (1/48, M31 w/AT2025ahch) 17:06:26       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 17:22:52     Target Completed Target completed (1/48, M31 w/AT2025ahch) 17:25:06     Target Started (2/48) Target started (2/48, UGCA 10) 17:32:38       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 17:49:05     Target Completed Target completed (2/48, UGCA 10) 17:49:09     Target Started (3/48) Target started (3/48, UGCA 5) 17:54:28       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is lost (TCF-LSI) 18:10:39     Target Completed Target completed (3/48, UGCA 5) 18:10:43     Target Started (4/48) Target started (4/48, GCVS TT Ari) 18:15:30       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 18:18:14       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 3) 18:25:12     Target Completed Target completed (4/48, GCVS TT Ari) 18:25:17     Target Started (5/48) Target started (5/48, WLM Galaxy) 18:53:56     Target Completed Target completed (5/48, WLM Galaxy) 18:54:00     Target Started (6/48) Target started (6/48, UGCA 3) 19:15:11     Target Completed Target completed (6/48, UGCA 3) 19:15:15     Target Started (7/48) Target started (7/48, UGCA 9) 19:15:37     Target Failed (7/48) Target failed due to slew error (7/48, UGCA 9) 19:23:41     Target Aborted (8/48) Target aborted (8/48, AT2025adxd) due to Priority 1 ToO Target 19:23:45     Target Started (9/49) Target started (9/49, C/2025 Q3 (ATLAS), ToO) 19:27:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 19:30:37       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 4) 19:41:42     Target Completed Target completed (9/49, C/2025 Q3 (ATLAS), ToO) 19:43:28     Target Aborted (10/49) Target aborted (10/49, GCVS HH And) due to Priority 1 ToO Target 19:43:32     Target Started (11/50) Target started (11/50, GCVS Z And, ToO) 19:43:54     Target Failed (11/50) Target failed due to slew error (11/50, GCVS Z And, ToO) 19:55:30     Target Aborted (12/50) Target aborted (12/50, M31 w/AT2025agmm) due to Priority 1 ToO Target 19:55:34     Target Started (13/51) Target started (13/51, 240P/NEAT, ToO) 19:55:57     Target Failed (13/51) Target failed due to slew error (13/51, 240P/NEAT, ToO) 19:56:54 User Intervention User Intervention to abort job queue & switch back to Manual Mode 19:56:56   Queue Aborted Job Queue aborted 19:56:58 Observatory (Manual) Observatory placed in Manual Mode 19:57:29   Services Stopped Observatory Services stopped 19:58:23 Session Closed Session closed by User 19:58:26 Program Closed Program closed by User 20:00:20 Program Opened Program Opened (AstroMain 3.79.8) 20:00:22 Session Resumed Session Resumed (Live, 2025-12-19 S01387, ImageSaveNum: 1387062) 20:00:25   Obs.Overseer Started Obs.Overseer started 20:01:00   Obs.Manager Started Obs.Manager started 20:01:05   Services Started Observatory Services started 20:01:39   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -20°C) 20:01:54 Session Monitoring AutoStart monitoring for Live Session opportunity between 20:01 & 06:43 20:01:56 Observatory (AutoStart) Observatory placed in Auto-Start Mode 20:01:58 Session AutoStarting Session autostarting (20:01) 20:02:46   Services Started Observatory Services started 20:02:57 Observatory (Auto) Observatory placed in Fully-Automated Mode 20:03:01 Session Pending Session pending (2025-12-19) 20:03:03 Session Initiating Session initiating (2025-12-19) 20:03:13   Camera1 Connected SBIG Camera connected (Set point -20°C) 20:03:30   Plan Loaded Observing Plan loaded to queue (Plan ID: 1177) 20:03:41   Telescope Connected Telescope connected (TheSky6) 20:04:07 Session Running Session running 20:04:10   Queue Started Observing Queue started (39 targets selected) 20:06:21     Target Started (10/48) Target started (10/48, M31 w/AT2025agmm) 20:09:52       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 20:26:18     Target Completed Target completed (10/48, M31 w/AT2025agmm) 20:26:23     Target Started (11/49) Target started (11/49, 198P/ODAS, ToO) 20:30:58       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 20:33:38       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 7) 20:44:43     Target Completed Target completed (11/49, 198P/ODAS, ToO) 20:44:47     Target Started (12/49) Target started (12/49, M31 w/AT2025agwf) 20:55:39     Target Completed Target partially completed (12/49, M31 w/AT2025agwf) 20:55:43     Target Started (13/49) Target started (13/49, GCVS TV Cas) 21:01:02     Target Completed Target completed (13/49, GCVS TV Cas) 21:01:06     Target Started (14/49) Target started (14/49, GCVS RX And) 21:04:34       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:07:03       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 8) 21:09:40     Target Completed Target completed (14/49, GCVS RX And) 21:09:44     Target Started (15/49) Target started (15/49, 240P/NEAT) 21:13:21       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:16:15       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 9) 21:27:11     Target Completed Target completed (15/49, 240P/NEAT) 21:27:15     Target Started (16/49) Target started (16/49, NGC 1325) 21:37:53     Target Aborted (16/49) Target aborted (16/49, NGC 1325) due to User Intervention 21:37:58     Target Started (17/50) Target started (17/50, C/2022 E2 (ATLAS), ToO) 21:42:08       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 21:44:48       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 10) 21:53:42     Target Completed Target completed (17/50, C/2022 E2 (ATLAS), ToO) 21:53:46     Target Started (18/50) Target started (18/50, UGC 2885 w/SN2025aant) 22:13:54     Target Completed Target completed (18/50, UGC 2885 w/SN2025aant) 22:13:59     Target Started (19/50) Target started (19/50, AT2025agqo) 22:34:36     Target Completed Target completed (19/50, AT2025agqo) 22:34:40     Target Started (20/50) Target started (20/50, C/2025 R2 (SWAN)) 22:39:12       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 22:49:19     Target Completed Target completed (20/50, C/2025 R2 (SWAN)) 22:49:23     Target Started (21/50) Target started (21/50, GCVS BL Lac) 22:53:01       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 22:57:15     Target Completed Target completed (21/50, GCVS BL Lac) 22:57:48     Target Started (22/50) Target started (22/50, GCVS SU Tau) 23:01:54       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:02:48       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 23:04:35       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 11) 23:08:51     Target Completed Target completed (22/50, GCVS SU Tau) 23:08:53   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 23:08:54 Session Suspending Session suspending 23:09:43   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 49s, Zigbee 43s) 23:09:46 Session Suspended Session suspended 23:12:49 Session Resuming Session resuming 23:13:34   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 23:13:36 Session Running Session running 23:13:38   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 23:13:41     Target Started (23/50) Target started (23/50, GCVS CN Ori) 23:13:43       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 23:24:18     Target Completed Target completed (23/50, GCVS CN Ori) 23:24:20   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 23:24:22 Session Suspending Session suspending 23:25:10   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 43s) 23:25:13 Session Suspended Session suspended 23:32:51 Session Resuming Session resuming 23:33:36   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 23:33:38 Session Running Session running 23:33:40   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 23:33:43     Target Started (24/50) Target started (24/50, AT2025agqu) 23:46:24     Target Completed Target partially completed (24/50, AT2025agqu) 23:46:28     Target Started (25/50) Target started (25/50, GCVS FU Ori) 23:50:33       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 23:53:23       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 12) 23:56:02     Target Completed Target completed (25/50, GCVS FU Ori) 23:56:06     Target Started (26/50) Target started (26/50, GCVS SY Cnc) 23:59:36       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 00:02:14       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 00:03:08     Target Completed Target completed (26/50, GCVS SY Cnc) 00:03:10   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 00:03:12 Session Suspending Session suspending 00:03:59   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 43s) 00:04:01 Session Suspended Session suspended 00:13:15 Session Resuming Session resuming 00:14:00   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 00:14:02 Session Running Session running 00:14:04   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 00:14:06     Target Started (27/50) Target started (27/50, NGC 2207) 00:28:11     Target Completed Target partially completed (27/50, NGC 2207) 00:28:15     Target Started (28/50) Target started (28/50, UGC 4316 w/SN2025advo) 00:31:52       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 00:34:53       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 13) 00:51:14     Target Completed Target completed (28/50, UGC 4316 w/SN2025advo) 00:51:19     Target Started (29/50) Target started (29/50, AT2025adhw) 01:11:53     Target Completed Target completed (29/50, AT2025adhw) 01:11:57     Target Started (30/50) Target started (30/50, UGC 5381 w/AT2025ahep) 01:15:53       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 01:32:03     Target Completed Target completed (30/50, UGC 5381 w/AT2025ahep) 01:32:07     Target Started (31/50) Target started (31/50, AT2025agtl) 01:36:22       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 01:39:05       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 14) 01:55:11     Target Completed Target completed (31/50, AT2025agtl) 01:55:15     Target Started (32/50) Target started (32/50, GCVS U Mon) 01:58:51       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:01:07       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 15) 02:07:10     Target Completed Target completed (32/50, GCVS U Mon) 02:07:14     Target Started (33/50) Target started (33/50, GCVS U Gem) 02:10:50       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:13:34       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 16) 02:16:47     Target Completed Target completed (33/50, GCVS U Gem) 02:16:51     Target Started (34/50) Target started (34/50, AT2025afut) 02:20:45       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:23:22       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 17) 02:39:27     Target Completed Target completed (34/50, AT2025afut) 02:39:31     Target Started (35/50) Target started (35/50, GCVS RR Leo) 02:43:01       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 02:45:49       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 18) 02:51:23     Target Completed Target completed (35/50, GCVS RR Leo) 02:51:27     Target Started (36/50) Target started (36/50, GCVS DX Cnc) 02:55:06       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 03:01:18     Target Completed Target completed (36/50, GCVS DX Cnc) 03:01:22     Target Started (37/50) Target started (37/50, AT2023cwd (CV)) 03:03:32       SoftSuspend Called Soft Suspend called due to Deteriorating Conditions (too few stars) 03:04:52     Target Failed (37/50) Target failed due to cloud (37/50, AT2023cwd (CV)) 03:04:54   Queue Paused Queue paused for Session Suspension 03:04:57 Session Suspending Session suspending 03:05:47   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 49s, Zigbee 44s) 03:05:49 Session Suspended Session suspended 03:12:14     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (37/50, AT2023cwd (CV)) due to cloud 03:32:34     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (38/50, NGC 2983) due to cloud 03:46:54     Target Cancelled Target cancelled (39/50, AT2023ae (CV)) due to cloud 03:49:11 Session Resuming Session resuming 03:49:56   Dome Opened Dome opened (Opening time 45s, Zigbee 41s) 03:49:59 Session Running Session running 03:50:01   Queue Resumed Observing Queue resumed 03:50:02     Target Started (40/50) Target started (40/50, 24P/Schaumasse) 03:52:54       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 04:02:28     Target Completed Target completed (40/50, 24P/Schaumasse) 04:03:36     Target Started (41/50) Target started (41/50, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) 04:07:06       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:09:58       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 19) 04:25:57     Target Completed Target completed (41/50, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann) 04:26:01     Target Started (42/50) Target started (42/50, NGC 3023 w/AT2025addb) 04:29:36       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:32:20       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 20) 04:48:39     Target Completed Target completed (42/50, NGC 3023 w/AT2025addb) 04:48:43     Target Started (43/51) Target started (43/51, 3I/ATLAS, ToO) 04:52:09       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 04:54:53       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 21) 05:13:18     Target Completed Target completed (43/51, 3I/ATLAS, ToO) 05:13:20     Target Missed (44/51) Target's time slot was missed (44/51, NGC 3887) 05:13:23     Target Started (45/51) Target started (45/51, UGCA 286) 05:32:52     Target Completed Target completed (45/51, UGCA 286) 05:32:56     Target Started (46/51) Target started (46/51, T CrB) 05:36:50       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 05:39:25       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 22) 05:43:37     Target Completed Target completed (46/51, T CrB) 05:43:41     Target Started (47/51) Target started (47/51, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw) 05:47:10       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 06:03:19     Target Completed Target completed (47/51, NGC 5957 w/SN2025fvw) 06:05:06     Target Started (48/51) Target started (48/51, GCVS U Her) 06:08:23       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 06:10:52       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 23) 06:17:49     Target Completed Target completed (48/51, GCVS U Her) 06:19:09     Target Started (49/51) Target started (49/51, AT2022qyh (CV)) 06:23:02       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 06:29:11     Target Completed Target completed (49/51, AT2022qyh (CV)) 06:31:29     Target Started (50/51) Target started (50/51, UGCA 257) 06:35:41       Focusing Skipped Foc1 focusing skipped - star is too dim (TCF-LSI) 06:51:48     Target Completed Target completed (50/51, UGCA 257) 06:53:49     Target Started (51/51) Target started (51/51, GCVS AM CVn) 06:57:20       Focusing Started-Foc1 Foc1 Focusing Started (TCF-S) 06:59:40       Focusing Completed Foc1 AutoFocus Completed (Profile No 24) 07:02:45     Target Completed Target completed (51/51, GCVS AM CVn) 07:02:47   Queue Completed Job Queue completed 07:02:51 Session Closing Session closing 07:03:46   Dome Closed Dome closed (Closing time 50s, Zigbee 44s) 07:04:41   Dome Parked Dome parked (parking time 48s), Az: 90.0 deg 07:05:30   Telescope Parked Telescope parked (parking time 41s total) 07:06:00   Telescope State Handbox reads 'Scope parked Turn scope off.' 07:06:22   Telescope Switched Off Telescope Power has been switched off via UPB Switch. 07:07:48   Services Stopped Night Services stopped 07:07:51 Session Finishing Session Finishing started (Create Fits Summary, Transfer Files) 07:09:23     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 80.0 to 100.0°, Step 1.0°, Wide) 07:10:18     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 91.0°) 07:10:24     Dome (Find Park) Find Park started (Search Az 89.0 to 93.0°, Step 0.2°, Narrow) 07:11:11     Dome Find Park found (Best Park Az 91.2°) 07:11:17     Dome Dome has been synced at park position (Az 90.0°, Adjustment: -1.2°) 07:11:19   Dome Parked Dome parked 07:12:46   Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (24mA) 07:12:48 Session Finished Session Finished

Session Alerts & Alarms

Time     Type       Name Detail 16:45:49 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (49.48 GB) is less than 50 GB 07:09:13 Yellow Alert Disk Space Free Space on C:\ Drive (43.75 GB) is less than 50 GB 07:12:46 Green Clear Dome Charging Dome is parked and re-charging Ok (24mA)

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Operational Issues (2025-12-19 S1387)

• Critical Issues (0)
• Major Issues (0)
• Minor Issues (7)
• Small Defects (4)
• Continuous Improvement (11)
• Figures (0)
  

Critical Issues

• None

Major Issues

• None

Minor Issues

• Slews for a couple of submitted ToO targets failed.  Slews for a couple of ToO targets submitted for immediate acquisition failed during slew.   It is believed that the issue was due to the current target being aborted during its slew.  There was a previous investigation (date ? / session ? ) which concluded that aborting a target during its slew likely caused problems with the Telescope Drivers that then led to a TheSky6 / Telescope Connection issue when a ToO attempted to then slew. When a high priority (ToO target request is received for immediate action the HandleToO() routine inserts the ToO target in the TIS job queue and calls AbortTargetExplicit() routine to abort the current target.  The current routine in AstroMain 3.79.8 and earlier versions call Scope.AbortSlew if Scope.Slewing is True.    Fix attempted in AstroMain 3.79.8, the AbortTargetExplicit() routine no longer forces a slew abort if scope is slewing and instead enters a wait loop if scope is slewing before raising the jobAbortTarget flag
  Fix attemped 2025-12-21 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• An incorrect Comet target was acquired.  It was intended to acquire images of C/2022 E2 (ATLAS), but instead telescope slew to the coordintates of C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) and took images of that comet instead. After noticing an opportunity to image C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) which was well placed and potentially bright enough to image, a new target was setup in AstroPlan, this was done by copying the C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) target and modifying the target name to C/2022 E2 (ATLAS) , and then submitting the comet as a ToO target. When reviewing realtime JPQ pictures it was later noticed that the comet looked like C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) which has been imaged in recent days.  It was quickly realised that in setting up the C/2022 E2 target specification it was left with Horizon Coords specified with the Horizon Body Id corresponding to C/2025 K1 comet.   During reduction process the comet name in FITS Summary.dat was changed to C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), and the Object Name and Target ID changed in each of the FITS file acquired, before further processing. More care needs to be taken during target setup.
    Resolved 2025-12-20 (Fits Summary, Targets Database, User Awareness)
   
• Comet targets using 'Horizon Coords' (even Tier 1 'must-include' targets ) don't seem to be included on Observing Plan. Anedoctal observation of the Observing Plans created in recent sessions seem to indicate that comet targets that use the Horizon Coords mode (which fetches empherides data from JPL's Horizons System), such as 3I/Atlas, isn't being selected for some reason, even though they have 'Tier 1 Must Include' flags. Targets have to be submitted as ToO target in order to be acquired.   Code to be reviewed to understand what might be blocking these targets. AstroPlan logs confirms that these targets are being rejected from schedule process with the following message produced within the GetActiveTargetSet() routine
     3620 C/2025 K1 (ATLAS)  Y1 Can't Lookup Coords (Non-Sidereal)
   3621 C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) Y1 Can't Lookup Coords (Non-Sidereal)
   3692 3I/ATLAS           Y1 Can't Lookup Coords (Non-Sidereal)
   3693 C/2025 T1 (ATLAS)  Y1 Can't Lookup Coords (Non-Sidereal)
   3715 198P/ODAS          Y1 Can't Lookup Coords (Non-Sidereal)
  Running the Schedular in debugger shows calls to GetCometRADEC() routine produces exception "Current thread must be set to single thread apartment (STA) mode before OLE calls can be made. Ensure that your Main function has STAThreadAttribute marked on it." Copilot quickly identified that the issue was caused by code line
      Clipboard.SetText(url))
  Fixed in AstroMain 1.45.6, the line was moved to run on the UI thread with
      MainForm.Invoke(Sub() Clipboard.SetText(url))
  Fixed 2025-12-20  (AstroPlan 1.45.6)
   
• Observatory unexpectedly restarted and wasn't operating for 20 hours (2025-12-18).   Observatory Computer restarted itself at around xx:xx after installing a Window Update (2025-12 Security Update (KB5072033) on 2025-12-18.  The need to restart the computer wasn't recognised (issue with System Tray ?) though AstroMain had flagged up the need as per design, but it was confused with a background requirement to restart for a driver install.  Upon noticing the issue the Observatory Computer was accessed remotely, signed-in and observatory software restarted.
  Resolved 2025-12-19 (Observatory Computer, User Awareness)
   
• Four Zigbee Sensors not immediately available after deconz restart.   After Observatory Computer restarted for a Windows Update, and a 20h delay in signing and restarting Observatory Software including deConz,  4 zigbee sensors (Shutter Bot, Dome Park, Greenhouse Door, Greenhouse Vent) weren't immediately available.  All devices eventually reached/ last update renewed by themselves over next 15-60 minutes. 
  Resolved by itself 2025-12-19 (Observatory Computer, ZIgbee Network/dConz, User Awareness)
   
• A updated ASUS System Control driver needs computer to be restarted.   After Observatory Computer restarted for Windows Update, a subsequent check on Device Manager showed an issue against the system device 'ASUS System Control Interface v3.  Examining properties showed a message "The device cannot properly work until you have restarted your computer". Evidentally a new driver dated 2025-12-09 (version 3.1.53) has recently been installed but needs a computer restart to take place.   Computer was restarted on 2025-12-21 and the 'ASUS System Control Interface' device is now working.
  Fixed 2025-12-19 (Observatory Computer)
   
• AstroMain's 'Estimate Mag Limit' routine is giving unexpected results. When analysing an stacked image of AT2025abko from S1379 session, the transient AT2025abko was not visible and the 'Estimate Mag Limit' facility was used to provide a 'Non-Detection Limiting Magnitude' value for the image but the resulting values were clearly incorrect, being much brighter than expected are likely given the image.  The Link Image button routine was used first with a Detect Threshold of 15.0.  When 'Estimate Mag Limit' was then used it gave the results "Non-Detection Mag : 13.5 to 14.0".  A report warning was given with the message  "Only 2 comparison star available".  This was entirely unexpected given the 96 stars found during the image link operation.   The results were the same when 'Link Image' was used with a Detect Threshold of 30. However when ''Link Image' was used with a Detect Threshold of 50 (which finds 94 stars),  the expected results (Non-Detection Mag: 19.7 to 20.2) were finally given. More analysis conducted on 2025-12-28 showed the conversion of RA 02 48 46.848, Dec +50 12 43.71" to XY using  Image.RADecToXY() function would give X: 358.09, Y: 402.72 when using Detection threshold  of 15 & 30  but give X: 364.04, Y: 245.03 when using threshold of 50.  Further tests showed that X: 364.04, Y: 245.03 and the expected Mag Limit results would be given using Detection Threshold of 15.05 and 30.05 suggesting a very subtle bug in SExtractor / CCDSoft which CoPilot confirmed, suggesting that the image has one or more pixels whose value is exactly equal to the threshold, and that in the original SExtractor code the comparison is 'pixel_value > threshold' and Not 'pixel_value >= threshold', but using a non integer value like 15.05 or 15.1 forces SExtractor into a stable state as all stars are either clearly above or clearly below the threshold. Fixed in AstroMain 3.79.11, the SetDetectThresh() routine was modified to add 0.1 to Threshold if it is an integer number.
  Fixed 2025-12-29 (AstroMain 3.79.11)

Small Defects

• Page Builder producing pages contain A° instead of °.  Fixed in AstroMain 3.79.9,  by converting the  ° symbol into the htm equivalent code (°),  using htmlSnippet = sb.ToString().Replace("°", "°")
  Fixed 2025-12-19 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• When changing the ImageSet Object the previous target image is retained and used in ImageBuilder. Upon changing the ImageSet the loading image from previous imageset the backcolor of the 'loaded' flag (flagObjFullAvailable) should be reset to red.
  Fixed 2025-12-20 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• When display TargetBuilder form, the height of image sometime cuts off the lower part of the Close and Description buttons. TargetBuilder setup isn't correctly setting the form size when opening a new image..
  Fixed 2025-12-20 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• Unexpected result obtained from GetAlternativeH3heading() function. Whilst using new PageBuider routines it was notice then when a 'Heading' had the value "VV 410 - Spiral Galaxy with Type Ia Supernova 2025hjz" execution failed to enter the following conditional branch
     ElseIf InStr(Heading, "Supernova")  And InStr(Heading, "with")  Then
  Problem was discussed with CoPilot which identified that the issue is being caused by using 'Instr (text, fragment)'  instead of 'Instr(text,fragment) >0'.  Using the former code in a compound condition statements is unsafe, and shouldn't be used. It was working with other similar values of 'Heading' but not the particular one use.   Instead the following code line should be used
     ElseIf InStr(Heading, "Supernova") > 0 And InStr(Heading, "with") > 0 Then
  Fixed in AstroMain 3.79.10. Using it a single condition statement whilst safe, is unwise as it forms a bad programming habit. A separate Continuous Improvement ticket has been raised to go through all programs and ensure this error is repeated elsewhere.
  Fixed  2025-12-21 (AstroMain 3.79.10)

Continuous Improvement

• Add further small features & improvement to AstroMain's new PageBuilder tool.  PageBuilder is a new tool in AstroMain, that is still undergoing additions and improvements. NCurrent items for inclusion as at 2025-12-19 are: .
  - Automatically call ProposeBottomLink() when starting a new target.
  - PageBuilder form to be placed on left side of screen (to avoid covering AstroMain Console Form
  - Fill TNS Information field automatically when TnsId field is set via TargetTnsId() property.
  - Insert 'using Telescope' into TargetTitleNotes automatically
Done 2025-12-21 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• Widen 'Objects' (Contents) column relative to the 'Session Notes' column. In new PageBuilder tool it is proposed to increase with of Objects' (Contents) column to try to get longer Object Names to be displayed without wrapping (in particular those with '(non-detection)' suffixes). Implemented on 2025-12-19.  The Session.htm template modified to show following html code, where width of Session Notes column is reduced from 50% to 40%.
    <table class="Session">
    <tr>
       <th valign="top">Objects </th>
      <th style="width: 40%" valign="top">Session Notes</th>
   </tr>
... </table>
  Further work will look at whether this can / should be achieved via CSS.
  Done 2025-12-20 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• After using 'automated align on Comet' the focus should be left on the Analysis dialog / Combine etc.  After performing an align the focus is left on the './aligned' folder, bu thise shouldn't apply to the case where automated alignment has been made.
  Done 2025-12-20 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• After image linking an image of M31 with a transient cropX/Y position should be set to coordinates of transient object. Currently in AstroMain 3.79.8 and earlier versions, ObjCropX/ObjCropY are set to coordinates of host galaxy (M31 in this case) with means that cropped images will be centered on M31 nucleus by default. why appropriate for small galaxies, it is not apporpriate for very extended objects such as M31 and M33.  Whilst the workaround is to use the 'V' button to copy the cross-hair X/Y coordinates into the ObjCropX/ObjCropY fields it it proposed to automatically set the fields to the X/Y coordinates of the Transient when the host galaxy is M31 or M33. Implemented in AstroMain 3.79.9.
  Done 2025-12-20 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• Add Transient group links to 2025 Transient Web Page. To ease navigation it is proposed to add hyperlinks at the top of Transient Web Pages (transients_2025.htm, transients_2024.htm etc) like  :
    | Galactic Transients | M31 Transients | M33 Transients | Other Extragalactic Transients |
   Implemented on 2025-12-20.
  Done 2025-12-20 (Website)
   
• Correct code where 'Instr (text, fragment)' is used instead of 'Instr(text,fragment) > 0'.  Following the finding of a bug in new PageBuilder code, discussion in copilot showed that code was using 'Instr (text, fragment)' in a compound condition statements without using ' > 0' is unsafe, and needs to be corrected. Using the simple form a single condition statement whilst safe, is unwise as it forms a bad programming habit. Fixed in AstroMain 3.79.10, AstroPlan 1.45.7. AstroSN 1.15.2.  Other programs (AstroVoe, AstroWeather, AstroAllSky, AstroVOE, AstroMag, AstroNorthCam, AstroObsCam, AstroVma, AstroMove, AstroLaunch & AstroGuard) were checked but didn't require any immediate update.
  Done 2025-12-22 (AstroMain 3.79.10, AstroPlan 1.45.7, AstroSN 1.15.2)
   
• Slightly modify the default set of Launch Program in AstroLaunch.  AstroNorthCam needs to be made of the default launch programs on the AllSky Tab.  AstroGuard and Chrome need to be removed from default launch programs on the Observatory Tab. mplemented on 2025-12-20.
  Done 2025-12-20 (AstroLaunch 1.14.6)
   
• Created new button / routine to set detection threshold of 2.0.  AIn AstroMain 3.79.9 and earlier versions, setting of detection threshold of 2.0, requires tying 2 ino 'Other' text box and Analysis/Special tab and then clicking Other and then typically the 'Redo Object Info' button is then clicked.  Improvements made to AstroMain 3.79.10,  new '2.0' and '3.0' buttons added which both set detection threshold to 2.0 and 3.0 respectively before calling a new 'RedoObjectInfo() routine (pulling code from the btnRedoObjectInfo_OnClick() routine into a new dedicated routine).
  Done 2025-12-22 (AstroMain 3.79.9)
   
• Extend AstroMove's Backup tab to facililate the back-up of the new AstroCommon project.  AstroCommon isn't a vb. project as such but is a folder that will contain common  .vb files, that may be used by various AstroSuite programs.
  Done 2025-12-22 (AstroLaunch 1.17.3)
   
• Add further small features & improvement to AstroMain's new PageBuilder tool.  PageBuilder is a new tool in AstroMain, that is still undergoing additions and improvements.  Current items for inclusion as at 2025-12-21 are
   - Add ImageHeaderC field and textbox and use to support supplenmentary heading descriptions
    (examples are use  "in WISEA Galaxy" or "in NGC 1340" ) 
 - Add Button on Image tab to insert default Descripton and Configuration details for Cam2 Reference image
 - The 'Propose MagNotes' button routine should be modified to recognise Supernova vs Transient,
    and ideally recognise a 'reported ..' vs Earlier. Extra control is needed to indicate if we wish
    'Measured Magnitude' 'Estimated Magnitude' or 'Non-Detection Limiting Magntitude' or none
  Implemented in AstroMain 3.79.11
  Done 2025-12-28 (AstroMain 3.79.10)
   
• Consider creating a helper function 'Contains'. A helper function 'Contains (text, fragment) as boolean could be used to check if a string is present with having to use 'Instr(text, fragment ) > 0'. To consider. This might be part of a refactoring project. Contains() function added to StringsHelper.vb in AstroMain 3.79.11 but doesn't yet handle CompareType.  Eventually removed Contains() / ContainsStr() 2025-12-31 as the built in function text(string).Contains() already has this functionality.  Other built in functions text(string).StartsWith() and text(string).EndsWith() are also available to use.
  Closed  2025-12-31 (AstroMain 3.79.12, AstroCommon)

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