2016Q3 Schedule Announcement

Dear 2016Q3 DCT Observers,

Please read this entire email as some information has changed.

2016Q3 Schedule released

The 2016Q3 DCT observing schedule is now available at:

https://jumar.lowell.edu/confluence/display/DCTIC/DCT+Science+Schedule

For the nights you are on, please check the on-line schedule for details, especially that the instrument configuration listed is what you expect.

This schedule is being released as a Draft on 2016-05-24. The Draft status will be removed on Friday 2016-05-27. Please notify the scheduler (hroe@lowell.edu) of any issues as soon as possible. The sooner we know of any issues the more likely we are able to fix them.

DCT Observing Documentation

All documents (manuals, policies, guides, etc) related to observing at DCT are available at:

https://jumar.lowell.edu/confluence/display/DCTIC/Observing+at+DCT

Please let us know if you find anything is missing, unclear, or out-of-date. Email questions & comments to the DCT Scheduler (Henry Roe, hroe@lowell.edu) or partnership point-of-contact (Michael West, mwest@lowell.edu).

New Observers

If you are a first time observer to DCT, or you are using a new instrument, please email DCT staff so that we can set up time on your first night to cover any questions or issues you are wondering about. Typically a Lowell staff member will meet you out at the DCT about an hour before sunset for this.

If you have not been to the site before, please don't enter without a Lowell staffer, or someone who is familiar with the site. There is an alarm that needs to be dis-armed, and it is not always obvious how. Your lodging packet should include keys and written instructions about the gate and alarm codes.

Coordinating with your Telescope Operator

Please contact your Telecope Operator(s) in advance to let them know when you plan to arrive, how many people they should expect and if there is anything out of the ordinary that you will want or need. The Science Schedule lists the TOs along with their contact information.

If you are splitting a night with someone else, and you and they agree on some modification(s) to the schedule, please let the TOs and DCT Scheduler (tac@lowell.edu) know ahead of time. Handover time on split nights is listed on the schedule and is typically local astronomical midnight.

Remote Observing

We are committed to providing remote observing support only on nights that show "Remote" in the "Remote" column on the Science Schedule. If the "Remote" column is blank, then you are expected to observe from on-site in Happy Jack. If the "Remote" column lists "Requested" then we are still working to schedule staff in order to support remote observing. We will attempt to support as many of the "Requested" nights as possible. We will update the schedule as soon as possible & will contact affected observers if their request for remote observing is unable to be supported.

Please review the DCT Remote Observing pages:

https://jumar.lowell.edu/confluence/display/DCTIC/DCT+Remote+Observing

Please communicate ahead of time with your TO.

We recommend that you put together a detailed, written back up observing plan that you can share with your TO in case your internet connection goes down. Bear in mind that if this is needed, the person who will be doing the observing is not an expert in your science, so put in everything, even if you think it is obvious. If you don't leave us a plan, we do have engineering tasks that can be done if your connection is lost but the time will still be charged to your institution.

If you have not observed remotely with DCT before, we strongly recommend that you set up a time to test out the tools ahead of your run.

Target of Opportunity Observations (ToO)

Observers are responsible for having read & understood the ToO Policy & Procedures so they know what to expect if a ToO is triggered & what is expected of them. These are available at:

https://jumar.lowell.edu/confluence/display/DCTIC/DCT+Target+of+Opportunity+Policy+and+Procedures

Weather considerations

Please try to make your decision about whether or not to call off your observing time at least 1 HOUR before your TO plans to leave to go to DCT. Typically, the TOs aim to leave Lowell's in town campus about 2 to 2.5 hours before sunset - it takes about an hour to get to the DCT, and 30 to 60 minutes to bring the facility on-line (if all goes well). Since they have an hour drive to the site, plus commute time to get to Mars Hill before that, for first half, this will typically mean something like 3 hours before sunset, and for second half, about 9pm.

Visitors invited to give Colloquia

If you would like to give a colloquium or lunch time talk at Lowell about your research, we'd love to hear it. If you are coming from out of town, please consider staying an extra day or two. We'll put you up on Mars Hill. If you have time and are interested, please contact Nick Moskovitz (nmosko@lowell.edu), who organizes our colloquia.

Logistics - Transport and Lodging:

In general, transport to and from the DCT site is the responsibility of the observer(s). DCT staff are happy to coordinate, and carry people on a space available basis, but we don't necessarily have someone going to/from Flagstaff everyday, so please don't assume this is an option.

The Giovale-Millis Lodge (in Mule Park, near the telescope) is available for use if you would like to stay near the site. If you do, you will need to stop up at Lowell to get keys (for both the lodge and the DCT) and site instructions, and you should pick up groceries and such in Flagstaff as there is very little available near the DCT.

There are a few things to be aware of:

1) There is a satellite network connection at the Mule Park Lodge, so there is email, but bandwidth is limited, so no streaming video.

2) There are 2 bedrooms/4 beds but only one working bathroom (it's a long story). The third bedroom is reserved for night staff use.

3) Up to one month before a night, preference for lodge space is given to people working at DCT that night (ie the assigned observers, and night staff). After that space is mostly on an as available basis. If you want to come early or stay later and there is not space at the GM Lodge, we will try to accommodate you in the lodging on Mars Hill (the Mars Hill Lodge, and the Chalet). Please read the GM Lodge policy that is attached to the Lodging for DCT runs page for the actual details:

https://jumar.lowell.edu/confluence/display/DCTIC/Lodging+for+DCT+runs

You will need to arrange with Mattie Harrington (email address below) to pick up and drop off your keys for DCT and any Lowell lodging you might be using. Note that the GM Lodge rooms have been keyed, so you need both a house key and a room key.

The Lowell lodging reservations page is

http://reservations.lowell.edu/Chalet_Reservations/

Instrument Details

LMI

The LMI users manual is available at:

http://www2.lowell.edu/users/massey/LMIdoc.pdf

We cannot mount all filters all the time, so please check that the filters listed for your time are correct. The intended filter complement for each night is listed on the observing schedule:

https://jumar.lowell.edu/confluence/display/DCTIC/DCT+Science+Schedule

LMI filters include

Johnson-Cousins UBVRI,

Sloan u'g'r'i'z',

a slightly wider version of the UKIDSS Y (on the red cut-off, we are

calling it Yish),

HalphaOn and Off,

VR filter,

[OIII] filter,

comet filters

DeVeny

The latest documentation is on the Lowell confluence site under:

https://jumar.lowell.edu/confluence/display/DCTIC/Observing+at+DCT

Available gratings:

a) 300g/mm - 5000A blaze, 2.17A/pix, R ~ 920, 4440A Free Spectral Range

b) 400g/mm - 8500A blaze, 1.66A/pix, R ~ 2850, 3400A FSR

c) 1200g/mm - 5000A blaze, 0.58A/pix, R ~ 3450, 1180A FSR

d) 2160g/mm - 5000A blaze, 0.33A/pix, R ~ 5250, 1180A FSR

e) 150g/mm - 5000A blaze NOAO GCAM grating 201, on loan as of 20141029

Calibration lamps include: Hg, Ne, Ar, and Cd.

NIHTS

Is being commissioned and is not released to users in 2016Q3. We expect NIHTS to be released to users for 2016Q4.

IGRINS

Is being commissioned in September 2016 and will be released to users for 2016Q4.

Contact Info

DCT phone numbers

(928) 354-2674

(928) 255-0182

Email addresses

TOs:

Larson, Heidi - hlarson@lowell.edu

Pugh, Teznie - tpugh@lowell.edu

Sanborn, Jason - jaisen1@lowell.edu

Guth, Amy - aguth@lowell.edu

Partnership Point-of-Contact:

West, Michael - mwest@lowell.edu

DCT Scheduler:

Roe, Henry - hroe@lowell.edu

Engineering Support:

DeGroff, Bill - bdegroff@lowell.edu

Sweaton, Mike - msweaton@lowell.edu

Science and Instrument Support:

Levine, Stephen - sel@lowell.edu

Child pages