Observing Procedures | |
Instrument Scientist:
Josh Walawender
Quick Reference
Wait for dome to openThe Observing Assistant (OA) is not permitted to open the dome until after sunset. Please be patient while the shutter opens and the OA checks the initial telescope pointing.Start of nightTo configure KPF for observing, runKPF Control Menu --> Run Start of Night Script from the background menu (or kpfStartOfNight from the command line on any KPF machine)This will
Wait for dome to openThe Observing Assistant (OA) is not permitted to open the dome until after sunset. Please be patient while the shutter opens and the OA checks the initial telescope pointing.Slew to vicinity of first targetWhen ready to move the telescope, the OA will ask you for your first target and load the coordinates from your starlist file. He or she will select a bright star near your target and will attempt to acquire that in the guider, then will double-check the accuracy of pointing by acquiring one or two additional stars from the SAO or GSC catalogs.To monitor the guider images, run Telescope GUIs --> MAGIQ Guider UI from the
background menu.Focus telescopeAsk the OA to run the telescope focus procedure (Autofoc) near your science field.Execute OBsObservers can load previously saved OBs or create them on the fly for KPF observing. To load and execute a saved OB,
Confirm with the OA that
![]() ![]() Stop an exposureThere are two ways to stop an exposure. In the OB GUI, click Request Script STOP or STOP Exposure and Script.Note that once an OB is executed, with or without slew cal, the only way to modify the same OB is to first stop the exposure.
![]() Switch program on a split nightOn a KPF/KPF split night, before starting the second KPF program, runKPF Control Menu --> Set Program ID and Observers from the background menu (or kpfSetObserverFromSchedule from the command line on any KPF machine)Enter the program ID at the terminal prompt ![]() The script will set program ID and observers for the second KPF program, based on the telescope schedule. | |
Last modified: 07/10/2023 23:21 Send questions or comments to:KPF Support |