Daily Reports
Contents
Feb. 13th, Tuesday
Jianhang, Stefano, Antoine, Federico, and Angel at the telescope. Operators-on-Duty: Joaquín and Juan Luis.
10:30-15:00; Maintenance slot.
15:00-16:30; System check with EMIR (Joaquín); Jean's tests of the BluePill and Aleksej's tests of the wobbler system (both in remote).
16:30-21:00; Jianhang, Stefano, Antoine, Federico, Angel: tau_225GHz~0.5, wind speed about 2-4 m/s, not so stable atmosphere, but after pointing & focus trials, look quite good for EMIR backup programs. Some problems with beam switching (not-so-good behaviour of the chopper wheel; fixed provisionally by launching two pointings in a row per pointing try). We started with EMIR backup program 073-23, TMC2 and CB23 were successfully observed. At ~20h we switched to project 104-23. The first map set for target W3-IRS5 (2h) was started. InSegment tracking deviations below 1 arcsec. At 19:52 (UT) a continuous sequence of TCP/IP local socket closed/connected messages in the PCP started to appear. The queue was cancelled by Juan Luis. After the due error acknowledgment in the PCP, we launched a calibration. No more warning/error rolling messages in the PCP.
21:00-03:00; Jianhang: The observation of the first map set for target W3-IRS5 (project 104-23) was resumed by completing the scans removed from the queue before. Switched to project 152-23: line calibration on M82, REF position checked, and 5 repetitions on J0826. Mean tau_225GHz increasing up to ~0.6 with large spikes over most of the shift, very low wind speed. Light fog outside at the end of the shift.
Feb. 14th, Wednesday
03:00-09:00; Stefano: two more repetitions on J0826, then a pointing, then a repetition, which completes the project 152-23. tau>0.6 and unstable. No sources in other projects are visible after the completed project 152-23 for a very long while. One more repetition on J0826 to compensate bad weather. Suspended observations and waited for the weather improved (for 1.5h). Now, tau stabilized around 0.6, starting 112-23 for lack of other observable sources. Done two sources (G59.78+0.07, G59.79+0.07), then pointing+focus+pointing after sunrise, then done one more source (G59.79+0.63), only one repetition each.
09:00-15:00; Federico: one repetition completed for source G58.77+0.64, project 112-23. Changed project to 079-23 to complete the second half of the final observation of Clump_B, setup 2 (9 subscans). Completed (09 UTC). Changed configuration for NIKA2 session: initialization of the quick look pipeline terminals. Tentative pointing session on source 16041+399. First track stacked, reactivating tracking & homology. The second track was completed (10:06 UTC), testing imbFITS creation. Stopped all operations for wind, telescope moved to a safe position.
15:00-21:00; Antoine: Windy for all the afternoon. Operations restarted again at 18:15 (LT) with Nika2. Lost KIDs (a1, a2, a3: 27, 1, 31). Excellent pointing and focus on Uranus, very good atmospheric stability, tau ~ 0.3. Calib_1scan (scan 89). Then started observing source id307 of project 150-23 for half a repetition (40 minutes). Then went back to Uranus and finished with focus, launched a beam map (scan 105, sudden spike from taumeter records in the middle) and a skydip (scan 106).
21:00-03:00; Jianhang: Finished two half repetitions for source id307, project 150-23 of NIKA2 pool. Changed to project 106-23 later due to the increase of opacity (tau>0.4). For project 106-23, the opacity is still good enough in the beginning (tau<0.5), but became worse in the middle of the observation. Source WB89-705 observed (scans 20240214s134-139 and 20240215s1-6). After 1:00 (LT), changed to the EMIR backup programs (project 143-23, target region1).
Today, we have beautiful sunset 
Feb. 15th, Thursday
03:00-09:00; Stefano: at the start tau>0.4 and variable. Jianhang started project 143-23 for lack of other observable sources. hi-frequency data are likely useless (but anything else observable). Observed 6 repetitions of region1, with pointing and focus before, in the middle, and end. Bad weather, observations suspended at UT=4:44 with tau=0.6-1 and variable. Observations restarted in test mode at UT=5:45 under variable conditions with test focus and pointing. Program 104-23 started at UT~6:17. Started obs of IRAS18566 (the largest elevation source, all raising now). Done 5.5 maps then suspended because of wind at UT=7:33.
09:00-15:00; Federico: Operation still suspended for wind. Snowing -in addition- since 15h (LT). A thunderbolt strike triggered low-voltage circuit alarms. No anemometer records after that. Possibly the bolt affected the power supply of the meteo station. It will be checked by technical staff when conditions improve.
15:00-21:00; Antoine: Condition is still not suitable for observation, till 21h (LT). Wind gusts. Snowing.
21:00-03:00; Jianhang: Operations still suspended for snow. Got an early bed at 1:00 (LT).
Feb. 16th, Friday
03:00-09:00; Stefano: Bad weather continues. Telescope parked.
09:00-15:00; Federico: 9:30h - 10h (LT) operation to restore the anemometer. Wind speed measurement restarted, but the direction indicator is still not working. At 10h, cleaned the cage of the taumeter from snow/ice. Restarted the taumeter measurement. In the meantime, telescope was rotated in from of the operation room to visually check the status of the ice on the telescope. 10:25 telescope rotated again and waiting for its relaxation after the anti-ice system. 11h: test on new wind direction instrument to replace the burn one. 12:40h: Wind direction monitor system operative again. 13h: Launched observation with EMIR, waiting for a better relaxation of the telescope for Nika2. Starting project: 104-23, source IRAS23151. Observation script (last 1.6h) splitted in two to allow a new pointing/focus after 50min.
15:00-21:00; Antoine: Finished EMIR observation of project 104-23 IRAS23151. Switched to NIKA2 at ~16H00. DAQ restarted, lost KIDs (a1, a2, a3: 25, 3, 37). Very good pointing-focus-pointing. Did one repetition of PSZ2G083 of project 151-23 (40 mins). Then went to Uranus for pointing/focus + a calib_1scan (scan 74) and a skydip (scan 75). Very good tracking, max. wind speed < 5 m/s and without facing the telescope. The max. wind speed started to rise to ~8-9 m/s when went to NGC7538 for a pointing (scan 77) and another calib_1scan (scan 78; cannot be processed by PIIC-QL). See the plots below:
After that, a different target was tried. Moving to 0355+508 (track, scan 79). According to Grafana -> BluePill Forwarder, a problem appeared with telescope tracking. The pointing scan on 0335+508 (scan 80) cannot be processed. See the screenshot below:
Managed to have good pointing and focus after a while and did one repetition of source WB89-529 for project 106-23. Then at 19h30 operations were stopped because of wind.
21:00-03:00; Jianhang: Started a beam map (scan 102, option h: speed 39 arcsec/s) at 21:00 (LT) and the skydip (scan 103) right after the beam map. After the skydip, moved to 0716+714 and tried the focusing, but failed with too high tracking deviations. At 22:30 (LT) suspended the operation due to strong wind. Operation resumed at 00:15 (LT). Wind speed stays below 8 km/s, tau_225 < 0.2, it is fantastic observing condition! Thanks to the stable weather condition, I managed to execute non-stop two whole repetitions (160 min) of project 150-23 on target id307. The weather condition and tracking were super stable during the whole observation.
The sunset at IRAM30m is always amazing!
Feb. 17th, Saturday
03:00-09:00; Stefano: continuing on project 150-23 for half repetition, then pointing (and then pointing again because the previous one didn't show up for a long time). then moved to 153-23. pointing, focus (at UT=3:46, previous one was at about UT=23) and pointing on 1226+023, 2 repetitions on AR2623, then a pointing on 1354+195, then 3 repetitions of AR2747, followed by pointing on 1308+326. General comment: the data reduction is slow, has a delay of a couple of exposures, which reduces the observation efficiency when doing pointing and focus (need to wait the reduction of the backlog, which includes 1-2 observations and the pointing/focus itself, before setting pointing or focus value and run next target).
09:00-15:00; Federico: Pointing and focus on 1308+326, source WB89-040. 8:45-8:55h One of the five focus scan failed. Tried again with the same source. Second attempt was worst, 4/5 scan of the focus failed for wind! 9:20h Moved to another source: 1807+698. Again, 4/5 scan failed. Telescope stopped at 09:30 (LT). The fixed anemometer at the meteo station was not giving consistent results with the manual anemometer at the telescope (at least in the regime with a wind direction from SSE-SSW, a factor ~2 is observed between the two measurements). Due to high wind speed, the telescope was moved to a safe position waiting for better conditions (9:30h).
15:00-21:00; Antonie: Started observing at 16h45 UTC, wind ok. Finished observing source WB89-529 for project 106-23, excellent conditions. Switched to project 150-23, but wind increased again. Couldn't get pointing, too much tracking deviation. Operations stopped because of wind at 18h50 UTC.
21:00-03:00; Jianhang: Operation started at 21:30 (LT), the wind speed is much lower (<6m/s) and stable. Did a first pointing and focus with 0316+413, and then changed to Uranus for calib_lscan. At 22:05 (LT), switch to project 150-23, start with the pointing again with 0716+714 and finish one repetition (80min) on source id307. At 00:47 (LT), re-pointing again with 0716+714. The beam shape is still quite good (17.19x18.31), so started another repetition without re-focusing. At 01:30 (LT), the wind speed up and triggered the alarm, we waited another four minutes to finish the on-going scan (scan 2) and then suspended the operation and the rest of scans in the queue. For this repetition, only 3/8 scans were finished and likely the last scan was highly affected by the wind. Checked after telescope stop: as much as 7% of records with high tracking deviations on the most recent id307 scans, according to PIIC-QL.
What a clear and sunny day! If there is no wind...
Feb. 18th, Sunday
03:00-09:00; Stefano: wind continues, no observations.
09:00-15:00; Federico: 8:40h: telescope still parked for wind. Operation restarted at 14:45h (LT). First pointing and focus on Uranus. The telescope was stopped (stow position) all morning in front of the sun, we will attempt a second focus on another source. Kids lost: 26/3/36. Then pointing on source 2037+511, near a secondary calibrator and possible targets for observations. First calib_1scan on NGC7027, a second one on MWC349. Done a second focus on 20378+511, still not so good. Moved to another source for a new attempt: 2200+420.
15:00-21:00; Antonie/Federico: Started observation of WB89-040, project 106. 2/3 Nrounds completed. then moved to 2037+511 for pointing & focus. Focus was not so good likely because of the residual beam distortion linked to the telescope warm-up during the parked time. Curiously, the ambient temperature suddenly rose around 17h (LT). Switched to nikaw-23 account for further refinements on source 0716+714 and then on 0355+508 at a higher elevation, as long as the telescope was relaxing a bit more and a reasonable beam shape was recovered. After that, started observation of WB89-572, project 106-23. Done half of a repetition (PA = 0 and 30 deg). Moved to Uranus for a focus after the sunset. Good focus and FWHM values; done a beam map (scan 82) on Uranus.
21:00-03:00; Jianhang: Started the skydip (scan 83) right after the beam map and then got the pointing and focusing with Uranus before moving to the science projects. At 21:10 (LT), started project 150-23 with a pointing on 0836+710, then completed two repetitions on source id321 with great weather conditions. The pointing and focus were stable during the scans. At 02:24 (LT), change to project 153-23, started with the pointing and focus with 1226+023, then followed by two repetitions on AR2623.
Then, here comes our daily pictures of the sunset and telescope. Today, we did not have a picture of the telescope, but we have a movie!
Feb. 19th, Monday
03:00-09:00; Stefano: continuing with 1 repetition on AR2623, pointing on 1226+023, two more repetitions on AR2623. Pointing and focus on 1226+023 (focus has not changed; also tau is constant since 24h!). Moved to project 150-23, pointing on 1044+719, 1.5 repetitions on id386 and pointing again on 1044+719. Switched to project 106-23, pointing on 2037+511, one repetition of WB889-40 (which completes this target) then pointing again. Very stable conditions all the shift.
09:00-15:00; Federico: Started with calibrations, skydip, and focus after the sunrise with nikaw-23 account: 1st pointing on 2013+370 (Scan 68), then 2 calibs on CRL2688 and MWC349 (S69 and S70, respectively), skydip with Scan ID 71. Focus done after the calib_1scan because of good precedent focus and for waiting the telescope condition after the sunrise. Focus (S74-78) and pointing (S73) on 2251+158, then started observation of PSZ2G083, project 151-23, at ~10:04h (LT), one repetition. Done a pointing on 2234+282 to check the stability of the beam. We still have a good focus, thus we continue observation of PSZ2G083 (second repetition of the day, 3/6 in total for the source). Changed to nikaw account to check first the geometry of the beam, and repeat focus. pointing/focus on 1641+399 (at 12:00h LT). Telescope was not relaxed, and the geometry of the beam not satisfying for Nika. Condition suitable for EMIR-3mm backup programs only.
Tau forecast seems worsening, but opacity records are pretty stable...
Changed to EMIR, project 087-23 first. Hard to get a convincing focus, pointing ok. L694-2_off1 was observed once (too low at the end of the repetition). Switched to project 104-23. Observations of IRAS23151 finished. Then, NGC7538_IRS1 was observed (the only 45' map required). The last focus with EMIR is about 0 mm. In addition, temperature differences of backup structure components suggest that the telescope is reasonably relaxed. Switched to NIKA2 at 19:50. Some problems with selected cards of crates 1 and 3 after DAQ restarting. A cold reboot of both crates. Everything went fine after that. Lost KIDs: 26, 3, 33. Got pointing-focus-pointing on Uranus. Beam shape at 2mm, FWHM = 17.2" x 18.4".
21:00-03:00; Jianhang: Started the shift with beam map on Uranus, option h (scan 207), which took about one hour to finish. At 22:00 (LT), started the project 117-23 on Orion-B. After the first pointing and focus with 0458-020, we launched two repetitions. The quick look took a long time to finish (30min+20min for writing the imbFITS and processing), so we started the third repetition directly without pointing corrections to save a bit of time. The pointing was launched after the third repetition and changed to project 151-23. After the pointing and focus with 0754+100, finished two repetitions on source PSZ2G206. At 02:20 (LT), launched another pointing correction with 0736+017, then launched one more repetition, passed to Stefano.
Feb. 20th, Tuesday
03:00-10:30; Stefano/Federico: pointing on 0754+10, then moved to project 150-23. Pointing on 1044+719, almost 1.5 repetitions of id386, because at 4:20 UT problems started (BluePill must have been rebooted after getting synchro problems according to PIIC-QL on scan 26; DAQ restarted after that, lost KIDs: 15, 2, 18). At 4:40 UT we suspended regular operations that resume at 6:20 UT analysing the pointing of 1308+326 taken at UT=16:03. Launched 2 repetitions on AR2747. Then moved to 1730-130 for focus. Good focus, launched a repetition for project 151-23, source PSZ2G083 (pointing to 2234+282 canceled at 11:00: maintenance requirements).