Creating and installing a starlist for SKY
Your starlist file contains the list of targets you plan to observe during the night at Keck.
The file must conform to certain formatting rules in order for the SKY program
(used to control the telescope) to read the file properly.
Follow these steps to create and install a target list (starlist) file
for use with SKY:
Creating the file
Use your favorite editor (vi, xemacs, etc.) to compile a list of your targets.
Formatting rules
- Plain ASCII text
- One object per line.
- No blank lines
- Comments lines begin with a "#" character in column 1 and end at the end of the line.
Required fields
- Target name in columns 1-16 (tabs and spaces allowed). Maximum length is 15 characters.
TIP: If there is space, indicate the possition angle for the target by ending the
the target name with '_PA#'
- RA in the form HH MM SS.SS
-
DEC in the form (-)DD MM SS.S
-
Equinox in the form YYYY.YY with <=1950 meaning FK4 and 2000 meaning FK5 and
APP meaning apparent.
Optional fields
The following fields are identified by the form keyword=value. Note: no spaces are allowed around either side of the equals sign.
- pmra=s.ssss (RA proper motion in seconds-of-time/year)
- pmdec=a.aaa (Dec proper motion in arcsec/year).
- dra=s.ssss(RA differential tracking rate in arcsec/hr divided by 15; positive implies moving east).
- ddec=a.aaa (Dec differential tracking rate in arcsec/hr).
- vmag=m.m (V magnitude)
You may place other comments or notes at the end of the line. These will be ignored by SKY, but retained in your text file for your information.
Sample Starlist File
197+17.1 07 29 09.400 +20 54 45.90 2000.0
ring neb 18 53 36.000 +33 02 00.00 2000.0
SAO 102961 17 34 24.13 11 52 28.29 1950.0 pmra=+0.0001 pmdec=-0.007 vmag=9.0
HD 19904 03 08 49.1 -39 14 24 1950
G77-31 03 10 40.5 +04 35 12 1950 pmra=0.1139 pmdec=0.107
Hale-Bopp 5hr 17 30 6.62 -4 41 58.4 APP dra=0.35 ddec=7.3
Titan 6:00UT 01 05 39.6050 +04 00 28.846 APP dra=-0.96 ddec=-4.2
Installing the file
There are two methods for installing starlists. The first is to use a script
called Install Starlist. The script will install your starlist
into a directory in /kroot/starlists/ after verifying the input file. Further information may be found
at Install Starlist.
The second method is to follow the steps below.
- At a Unix prompt of any HQ workstation, type:
cd /kroot/starlists to go to the starlist directory.
- Target lists are stored in a subdirectory given by the last name of the observing P.I. Use the command
ls -1 | more to check whether there is already a subdirectory here for you.
- If none exists, then create one using the command
mkdir PIname
where PIname is the name of your observing proposal's Principal Investigator.
- Move into your starlist subdirectory using the cd command.
- Copy your starlists into the subdirectory using the cp command.
- Modify the file protections to ensure that the OA will be able to read your starlist using the command
chmod go+r *
- After installing your starlists, you should verify them by reading them into SKY.
Instructions for doing so are given in the SKY instructions page.
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