Yali Shao

Useful Links

☐ NIKA2 homepage: CLICK

☐ Observing with NIKA2: CLICK

☐ NIKA-2 data reduction: CLICK

☐ Weather condition monitor and prediction: CLICK1 CLICK2

☐ IRAM 30m pools webpage: CLICK

☐ Telescope Access for Public Archive System: CLICK

☐ Remote observing guide: CLICK

☐ Pool observations: CLICK

Remote observations

vncviewer to port XX with command:

This will ask for twice for a password. Enter the romote account password (a...G) for both times.

If the VNC viewer software does not support the via option, use:

Port 30: usually for operation; Port 31: usually for monitoring; Port 32: usually for backup.

Starting PaKo

PaKo is the observer's user interface to the New Control System at the 30-m Telescope. To start PaKo session for regular observations:

Observations queue

To check what is currently in the observation's queue:

This will open a file browser with a list of all the observation's files commanded, which are waiting to be executed by the telescope's system. To remove any observation's file from the queue, right-click on the corresponding xml file and select "delete". The display will be automatically refreshed.

Starting the NIKA2 pipeline

To have the IDL pipeline continuously processing observations as they are produced:

where scanID is the corresponding identifier of the observation (as shown in the example) in the format YYYYMMDDsXXX, where YYYY is the year, MM the month, DD the day, and XXX the scan number.

Starting XEphem

XEphem is the software used at the IRAM 30m telescope to keep track of the position of astronomical sources on the sky. To start XEphem

Then on the Xephem window, click on the tab "View" and open the "Sky View". The "cross hair" shows the coordinates the telescope is pointing at. The filled blue circles are the pointing sources. The size of the circles is proportional to the flux of the target. To load the sources catalog of your project, click on the tab "Data" and go to "Files". In the new window go again to "Files" and select the catalog of the project that you are observing. Right click on a target, and "create trails" can show the path of the project

Starting PIIC

PIIC is a quicklook monitor to process continuously the NIKA2 data (autometically).

with X = 2pf, for pointing/focus monitoring at 2mm (in window-4 always??; it is much quick), and X = 1 (in window-6), 2m (for your project at 2mm; in window-5), 3 (in window-7) (w6 and w7 are for the pointing+focus+your project at 1mm and 3mm, so they are very slow), the instrument array to be monitored.

Pointing

In order to correct the pointing of the telescope in a given part of the sky choose a nearby pointing source (using e.g. XEphem).

After this, check the green window if the target is there. Now launch the nkpoint script:

where the keyword "mode" can adopt the values b for bright sources and f for faint sources (the l option for very faint sources that require the Lissajous pattern is no longer used). To obtain the pointing corrections, use the results given by the 2pf PIIC monitor. Supplementarily, PIIC monitors 1 and 3 show the pointing corrections based on 1 mm data.

[Alternatively], you can process the corresponding scan with the IDL pipeline to obtain the pointing corrections:

Once the pointing scan is processed, enter the new pointing corrections in azimuth (PnewX) and in elevation (PnewY) shown on the PIIC monitor in window-4 (or the IDL prompt of the NIKA2 pipeline), after which check the green window if the values set correctly:

Focus

The focus needs to be monitored and it needs to be corrected online. This should be done every two hours or so (~3h during very stable night-time conditions, ~1h or less near sunrise and sunset) in the Z direction. To check the quality of the focus run:

The fz value can be obtained from the green window.

This script will carry out 5 foci measurements in Z direction within a 1.6 mm range, centered at the fz value. In order to obtain the focus corrections, use the results given by the 2pf PIIC monitor. Supplementarily, PIIC monitors 1 and 3 also show focus corrections from 1 mm data.

[Alternatively], the corresponding scan number can be processed by the IDL pipeline to obtain the focus corrections:

All measured foci need to be processed together by the "nk_focus_otf" routine of the IDL pipeline to perform the best focus fit in terms of the measured Flux, beam FWHM, and beam ellipticity of the KID's. The ScanID is in the format YYYYMMDDsSCANNUMBER. Once the "nk_focus_otf" routine has finished, check the focus correction values displayed in the IDL prompt under "Fluxes" for the three arrays (A1, A2, & A3) and calculate the average value that will be used to correct the focus.

Once the focus correction calculation finished, enter the new focus value (Fnew) as follows (Fnew comes from the PIIC monitor in the right panel of window-4 or the IDL prompt of the NIKA2 pipeline), after which check the green window if the values set correctly:

Project observations

For pool observations:

Other calibations

calib_1scan -

Skydips - This kind of scan is to be done two to four times a day. It takes ~6 mins.

Beam Map - Beam maps are designed to ensure the source is moved over all the detectors of the array, in order to characterize and calibrate them (field of view geometry, flat field, stability, etc). The aim is to calculate the actual pixel offsets in the focal plane. This kind of scan is to be done once a day or every two days. It takes ~25 mins. To obtain a beam map go to a primary calibrator and launch the beammap1scan99sub.pako script in the normal PaKo session:

Add comments

Log in Telescope Archive for Public Access System, and click "My Projects", then click "Logsheet". Then add comments like:

☐ For initial pointing in pool account: set pointing X X; baseline fluctuations at X Jy/beam (rms) @ 2mm and X Jy/beam (rms) @ 1mm; beam size in FWHM of X" x X" @ 2mm and X" x X" @ 1mm and

☐ For initial focus in pool account: focus sequence 1/5; 2/5; 3/5; 4/5; 5/5 set focus X

☐ For target-before-pointing observations: set pointing X X. Focus correction was obtained right before the beginning of this repetition on XXXX+/-XXX (scans X to X[5-scan], , nikas-21 account); best value is X. Pretty stable. Beam sizes as expected.

☐ For target observations: @ ~/083-21/observe_J0839+0113 -> 1/9; @ ~/083-21/observe_J0839+0113 -> 2/9; @ ~/083-21/observe_J0839+0113 -> 3/9; ...

☐ For target-after-pointing observations: set pointing X X

Other tips

☐ mrt-lx1 is for PAKO; mrt-lx3 is for XEphem and PIIC; mrt-lx2 or lx3 for IDL.

☐ To start PAKO, XEphem, PIIC anf IDL, one need be in the home directory.

☐ The IDL pipeline is earler than the PIIC pipeline. People who used IDL pipeline may prefer to use it. The PIIC pipeline is automatic. The IDL pipeline can do polarazition but PIIC pipeline can not.

Reference

☐ Observing with NIKA2