Instruments |
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Observing Information |
Dear Observer,
Congratulations on having been awarded Keck time for your project. All of us
at the Observatory will do our best to make your observing as scientifically
productive as possible. We urge you to consult the W.
M. Keck Observatory, Science and Observing section; for general information
needed to prepare for your upcoming visit.
Important deadlines!
Please note as of August 1, 2005, we began to charge for DEIMOS and LRIS slitmask designs that are submitted later than the following deadlines. An exemption may be granted for valid scientific reasons. See the Web page on slitmask incentives for details.
EIGHTS WEEKS IN ADVANCE: DEIMOS “megamask” slitmask designs are due.
FOUR WEEKS IN ADVANCE: All other DEIMOS slitmask designs, all LRIS slitmask designs are due, and all LRIS and DEIMOS configuration forms are due.
TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE: Lodging reservation forms are due.
As of August 2004, if you fail to submit your lodging reservation at least two weeks in advance, your priority in booking a VSQ room will be in jeopardy. See the booking priority list on the Web. This explains the challenges associated with last minute booking changes. To help remind you, we will be sending out reminders to the PIs a month in advance of their run, and to all observers and the PI two weeks in advance, in order to assure that the entire team has gotten their reservations submitted.
DEIMOS megamasks are those designs with more than 200 slits, typically in two or more columns. These take much longer to mill; hence the greater lead time required.
Please see the DEIMOS or LRIS web site for further details and on-line forms.
REMOTE OBSERVING:
Fully functional remote observing rooms at Headquarters allow observing from
Waimea. Communication between these rooms and the telescope control rooms on
the summit is maintained by high quality video teleconferencing equipment. This
mode of observing is generally recognized as the most effective. All observing
is now done remotely, not only because of increased mental acuity at 2,700 feet,
but also because a wider range of support is available to observers in Waimea.
Observing from the summit is no longer supported.
SUMMIT VISIT:
It is possible to arrange a daytime visit to the summit for observers working
remotely from Waimea during the weekday, although visitors must supply their
own four-wheel drive vehicle to transport themselves to the summit. Please relay
your request for a summit visit via the “Comments” field when you
submit the online reservation form.
MAINLAND OBSERVING:
Rather than travel to Hawaii, experienced Keck observers may choose to have
part or all of their team observe remotely from one of several mainland sites
which offer facilities and support for mainland observing. Use of these sites
may be done in either an “eavesdropping” mode, with at least one
member of the observing team in Waimea at the controls, or in “mainland-only”
mode, with the entire team on the mainland. It is important to note that only
certain instruments are available for remote use, and that you must notify us
well in advance if you intend to make use of a mainland site for your Keck run;
this is required so that we can ensure availability of the site. Please see
Keck's mainland observing
policy for further information and instructions.
SPLIT NIGHT POLICY:
If you are scheduled for a half night or nights, please read the Split
Night Guidelines. Most importantly, on configurable instruments such as
LRIS and DEIMOS, you will have to share the complement of filter, masks, etc.,
with the observing team that has the other half of the night. This will require
significant advance coordination. Contact your instrument support person for
details.
SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL SUPPORT:
Please note that Support Astronomers/Instrument Specialists work at Headquarters
in Waimea, regardless of the location of the observers. Exceptions are possible
only by mutual arrangement between the Support Astronomer and the observer at
least two weeks in advance of the run.
Notes for All Observers:
POST-OBSERVING COMMENT FORM:
At the conclusion of your observing run, please take the time to record your
comments, especially recommendations to improve the observatory operation, on
our interactive comment form found
in the Observing Support
section of our web site. This is the best way to be sure your feedback is
heard.
TIME FOR ENGINEERING TESTS AND CHASING FAULTS:
Up to one hour of an observing night may be used for engineering tests to assess
and improve observatory performance. If an intermittent fault occurs during
observing, it can sometimes be in the best interest of our user community as
a whole to chase down the problem, rather than work around it. We make every
reasonable effort to schedule engineering tests at times that minimize the impact
on observing. However, with some tests we need a fair sampling at all times
of the night, and it will not always be possible to confine the tests to twilight.
PAYMENT:
As of August 2004, WMKO now requires a credit card at the time of reservation
for all VSQ and Hale Pohaku stays. For more information see Payment
section of our website.
ACCESS TO COMPUTERS:
To handle data associated with your observing, log into the “instrument-specific
account” allocated to you on the observing schedule, as indicated in the
column headed “Instruments”. The account will be available three
days prior to your run and for seven days after your departure, unless otherwise
arranged. This account can also be used for handling e-mail. At Waimea, workstations
and PCs are available in the KI and KII Remote Operations Rooms, new Pre-/Post-Observers
office (located in the Kohala wing), and the VSQ Commons. Yellow laptop connections
are also available in these locations as well as in the VSQ rooms and the Kohala
Lounge. [You can use DHCP to get an IP address automatically. If your laptop
is DHCP-configured, you no longer need to sign up for a static IP address on
the sign-up sheet outside the Remote Operations rooms. If you can’t run
DHCP, static IP addresses on the sign-up sheet are still available.]
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS PUBLISHING PAPERS CONTAINING KECK DATA:
All scientific papers based on Keck data should include the following acknowledgment:
“(Some of the) Data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory,
which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute
of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial
support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.” We also ask that two copies of
preprints and two copies of reprints of all papers be sent to Peggi
Kamisato, the WMKO librarian.
SHARING RESULTS
Please send a copy of your research results to the Public Information and Outreach
Office at newsletter@keck.hawaii.edu.
Results which appear to be of special and significant interest may be the subject
of a press release. Please notify the Public Information and Outreach Office
several weeks in advance if you will be participating in a press conference
or public presentation of findings which are significantly based on Keck data.
Best wishes for a productive observing run,
Bob Goodrich
Observing Support Manager