Back to the NIKA2 main page

Daily Reports

Angel, Maite, Philippe and Ste B. arrived at the telescope. Also Jean, Carlos, and many others are here. JoaquĆ­n (day) and Sergio (night) are the Operators on Duty.

Nov 19th, Tuesday

18:00-21:00 Maite & Angel: starting the pool after VLBI session. Weather is quite cloudy, so we start with EMIR.
- project 033-24: cal gives tau ~ 0.45, pwv ~ 10mm.
- move to project test to do pointing and focus. Pointing really bad, after some waiting the antenna is parked @18:30 due to cloudy and humid weather
- staring again @ 20:00. Moving to project 017-20. Good tau (< 0.4) and pvw (~2mm). Good pointing and focus. 4 repetitions.

21:00-03:00 Stefano + Maite, Jean. We take over, complete the EMIR scans started in the previous shift and we the switch to NIKA2 :-) Tonight's operations include:
- Uranus calib_1scan (20241119s152 and 153); MWC349, CR2688, NGC7027 calib_1scan (20241119s158, 159, 160); skydip (20241119s162); Uranus calib_1scan (20241119s164)
- 089-24 A520, Az scans (because tau is a bit variable), 2 repetitions
- the sky is becoming too good to continue with NIKA2: the priority tonight with this tau~0.25 is measuring the telescope efficiencies with EMIR. Therefore I postpone the clusters observations of 087-24 and fill the gap with Uranus once again (calib_1scan 20241120s9, 10, 11)
- the sky collaborates with NIKA2 and now is again above tau~0.3. We continue with NIKA2 science
- 087-24 id303 started one rep, that will continue in the next shift

Our nice white telescope in the moonshine:
It gets whiter every time

Nov 20th, Wednesday

03:00-09:00 Philippe. Clear sky, tau ~0.3 at start decreasing to below 0.2. In the end, the telescope efficiencies could not be measured with EMIR since Uranus would need to be up during ~ 3 hr. So I continued with NIKA2 087-24 id303 and completed two repetitions of observe_id303. Project 087-24 is essentially done now. <AB>: ~95% of allocated time observed. Now on-hold in pools db. I then switched to NIKA2 Project 074-24 and observed 4 repeats of obs_n4449, i.e., ~ 1hr integration time on the galaxy NGC 4449. Calibrations: calib_scan on Mars, scans 20241120s34, and s35; skydip, scan 20241120s35.

09:00-15:00 Angel. Very good conditions; mild wind, tau_225GHz ~ 0.18 at the beginning. DAQ restarted, total power: 31/1040, 3/578, 34/1054. Summary:
- Taking over after last calibrations; pointing model changed successfully, in coordination with Telescope group (MC). Thanks Manuel! Pointing corrections are now consistent with (0,0). First valid scan with the new parameters: 20241120s57. Resuming science observations at 09:20 (LT).
- Switched to project 149-23. One rep. (~1h) on cluster MS1054. Quite stable atmosphere over this time slot.
- Changed to project 091-23. 2 reps. (52 min each) on PSZ2G143. Opacity increasing up to ~0.3-0.4 after the last scan onwards.
- Switching to nikas-24; MWC349, NGC7027, CRL2688, calib_1scan (20241120s105, 106, 107); skydip (20241120s108).
- Opacity keeps about 0.35-0.4, and OHB contractor (Aleksej) asked for the possibility (agreed with IR) to do an ACU software update related to the control of the Wobbler. The alternative was to stop the telescope tomorrow morning. Looking at the current atmosphere conditions and according to the forecast, it is preferable to do that right today. Telescope stopped at 14:25.

15:00-21:00 Maite. From 15:00 to 18:00 Telescope parked while doing remote wobbler tests. Restarting @18:00 with NIKA2. Opacity ~0.34 at 150 GHz.
- Observing project 091-24, after doing pointing and focus on 1641+399 on nikas-24. Doing pointing on nearby calibrator (1732+389), observing PSZ2G066 (1 rep.), pointing again on 1732+389
- Doing calibrations on MWC349, NGC7027, and CRL2688 until 20:00, when we have to handle the telescope for a VLBI project.

21:00-03:00 Stefano. VLBI session with Pablo T from 20:00 to 2:00 (local time). I take over at 2 a.m. with NIKA2 in total power and I perform the ritual calibrations on Uranus: calib_1scan (20241121s30) and beammap (99 subscans, 20241121s31).

Nov 21st, Thursday

03:00-09:00 Philippe. Clear sky, tau ~0.2-0.3. After the end of the beammap on Uranus, I did a skydip (20241121s32) and then switched to Project 089-24. I did 1 repetition of @observe_A0520, completing the observations of this source. Then I took 1 calib_1scan on Uranus (20241121s42) and switched to Project 091-24. I did 1 repetition of @observe_PSZ2G143, completing the observations of PSZ2G143. I then continued with Project 074-24, doing 5 repetitions of @ obs_n4449 (10 scans in total) and completing the observations of NGC 4449. After 1 calib_1scan on Mars (20241121s70), I continued with Project 149-23 and launched 1 repetition of @observe_MS1054 (2 rounds of 4 maps = 8 maps of MS1054).

09:00-15:00 Angel. Some good weather clouds, stable atmosphere. Opacity about 0.25 at the beginning. Summary:
- Taking over by continuing on project 149-23 (cluster MS1054): 2 reps. done today. Quite stable so far, but clouds shape at SE tell us about increasing of wind speed in height. Switching to nikas-24 for pointing/focus and to examine stability.
- Switching to project 091-24. One repetition on PSZ2G06 cluster: planned reps. completed. Sky becoming more cloudy at the southern half. Opacity keeps about 0.3.
- Switching to nikas-24 again for monitoring stability. Opacity increases up to 0.35. Checking while pointing/focus corrections are carried out, after moving the telescope to the north.
- Monitoring stability & opacity for a while. Conditions improved enough for continuing. Switching to project 090-24. Two reps. (50 min) on PSZ2G107.

15:00-21:00 Maite: Good atmosphere stability. Opacity of about 0.26 at the beginning. Some clouds.
- Doing some calibrations on NGC7027, MWC349, and CRL2688
- starting NIKA2 polarization observations at ~ 16:20. Opacity ~0.25 Observations of NGC7027, MWC349, and CRL268
- Pointing and focus on 2251+158
- At 17:30 stating with polarization project 047-24 and source G23.01. No time to do a whole repetition, only 0.75, before the source is too low.
- Then observing polarization project 043-24, source IRAS21078. Opacity ~0.23 Done 1.5 repetitions
- At 20:45 handling the telescope to Joaquin to do EMIR efficiency tests.

I know you missed the daily fotos. Polarized too! ;-) The view from our beautiful library Just wow

21:00-24:00 Stefano and Philippe.
Joaquin and Ignacio measure the telescope efficiency with EMIR from ~ 21:00 to ~23:45 local time. Philippe joins early today, to use NIKA2-Pol. We take over and start immediately in polarimetry mode. Tonight we observe:
- We start with tau(225)~0.2
- Uranus. beam map (pol, 95 subscans, 20241121s278).

Nov 22nd, Friday

00:00-08:00 Stefano and Philippe (until 08:00).
- Two calib_1scans on Uranus (20241122s1 and 20241122s20) + 1 calib_1scan on Mars (20241122s42)
- 015-17/B-FUN: Two repetitions of @observe_omc1_long_polar (1 round) + 1 repetition of @observe_omc3_new_polar (1 round) + 1 repetition of @observe_omc2_polar (1 round) + 1 repetition of @observe_ngc2264cd_polar (1 round)

08:00-12:30 Angel. Clear sky, opacity ~0.18, quite stable atmosphere
- Continuing with NIKA2-pol for a while.
- Calib_1scan: Mars (20241122s57), 3C273 (20241122s60), 3C286 (20241122s67) under nikas-24 account. Avoiding for now the planned pol. beam map (95 scans) on 3C286 at Jean's request, while a solution of imbFITS creation critical crashing after that beam map scans is found.
- Switching to NIKA2-tp. Project 149-23, 1 rep. on cluster MS1054.
- Project 090-24, 1.5 reps. on cluster PSZ2G107.

12:30- 21:00 Maite & Angel: Very good opacity ~0.17. Atmosphere stable for a while. Summarizing:
- Starting polarization observations with NIKA-POL at 12:30. Thanks to Jean, the pol. beam maps can be launched now without risk of crashing at the new imbFITS files creation. Be sure that the script for polarimetry is @beammap1scan95sub_polar_hwp3hz_29min
- Beam map on 3C286 @ ~60 degrees elevation (pol, 95 subscans, 20241122s108). Opacity is slowing worsening but no spikes are present. @ 13:30 the opacity is ~0.35
- Opacity still rising. Switching to total power. Calib_1scan on MWC349 (scan 20231122s112), NGC7027 (s113) and CRL2688 (s114).
- Moving to EMIR @15:00. Opacity > 0.4 at the beginning. - Starting project 033-24: Doing some pointing and focus on 1757-240. Moving to source L429: 2 repetitions of Setup 1/A. Finished. Opacity ~0.35 and stable.
- Project 033-24; source L429: Doing 4 repetitions of Setup 1/B. DONE
- Project 042-24; opacity < 0.4 but not too stable. Done MAP-1 (vertical)
- Project 017-24; opacity very unstable. Observing B5_HSEdge: 5 reps.

Above the clouds

21:00-03:00 Stefano. I take over and let the EMIR scans be completed. Then we switch to NIKA2 at roughly 21 UT; tau(225)~0.3; stability @2mm +/- 0.5 Jy/beam peak-to-peak on Az sub-scans of pointing scans. This is the evolution of tonight:
- calibrations. MWC349, CRL2688, NGC7027 (20241122s208, 209, 210); later Uranus (s218), beammap (99, option a, scan 20241122s219)
- 091-24 PSZ2G172 two repetitions
- 087-24 id321 0.625 reps (scheduled time exhausted, I stop)

Nov 23rd, Saturday

03:00-08:00 Philippe. I take over and switch to NIKA2-POL / B-FUN at 3:20 (LT) tau(225) ~ 0.3, a bit marginal for B-FUN (015-17) but very good stability +/- 0.5 Jy/beam @ 2mm.
- Calibrations: calib_1scan on Uranus (20241123s31) and Mars (20241123s54).
- 015-17 observations: 1 repetition of @observe_omc3_new_polar (OMC3-MM6) + 1 repetition of @observe_ngc2024_polar (NGC2024S) + 2 repetitions of @observe_ngc2264cd_polar

08:00-13:00 Angel. Taking over, continuing NIKA2-POL observations. Clear sky, quite stable conditions, opacity about 0.2. Summary of observations and related:
- A NIKA2-POL calibration set under nikas-24: pointing/focus on Mars + calib_1scan (20241123s72). Moving to 3C286. Beam map polar (95, scan 20241123s75). 3C273 (bonus on-track): calib_1scan (scan 20241123s77). Polar skydip (scan 20241123s78). Coming back to Mars: pointing (well preserved FWHM) and calib_1scan (20241123s81).
- Switching to NIKA2-TP. Restarting DAQ: 27/1040, 4/578, 34/1054. Opacity < 0.2, stable conditions. Project 091-24: 2 reps. on PSZ2G284.
- Switching to NIKA2-POL (nikas-24). Restarting DAQ, same bad KIDs counts. Opacity < 0.18, stable. 3C273: calib_1scan (scan 20241123s106). Pointing/focus on 3C286: calib_1scan (scan 20241123s113).

13:00-21:00 Maite. Taking over, continuing NIKA2-POL observations. Clear skies, very good opacity (~0.16) and stable.
- Project 047-24: source G23.01: 3 repetitions
- calib_1scan on 3C286 (20241123s123), NGC7027 (20241123s126), MWC 349 (20241123s127), CRL2688 (20241123s128), and skydip (20241123s129)
- calib_1scan on 3C454.3 (2251+158) (20241123s142)
- calib_1scan on 3C454.3 (2251+158) (20241123s153)
- calib_1scan on 3C84 (20241123s166)
- Continuing with polarization. Very good opacity of ~0.13. Project 043-24: source IRAS21078: 1 repetition
- calib_1scan on 3C84 (20241123s179),

Tell the teacher we're surfing... We want the pesto too!!!

21:00-03:00 (LT): Philippe. Continuing with NIKA2-POL. Clear sky, very low opacity ~ 0.12, stable conditions
- Calib_1scans on: NGC7027 (20241123s182), MWC349 (20241123s184), CRL2688 (20241123s183), and skydip (20241123s185)
- Calib_1scans on Uranus (20241123s196, 20241123s214)
- 015-17 (B-FUN): 2 repetitions of observe_ngc1333_polar, 1 repetition of observe_omc2_polar, 1 repetition of observe_omc3_new_polar

Nov 24th, Sunday

03:00-08:00 Stefano. We renew the NIKA2 Saturday night tradition with a nice homemade pesto. I take over and switch to total power.
- Uranus, preparation and calibration (calib_1scan: 20241124s19); Betelgeuse (calib_1scan 20241124s21)
- 011-24, 2nd rep for 3 maps of Orion-B
- 149-23 two repetitions on MS1054 (the taumeter shows spikes but the stability in the direction of the source is very good, hence I proceed observing this).

08:00-14:30 Angel. Taking over and continuing with NIKA2-TP observations, project 149-23, 2nd rep. left ongoing. Opacity ~3.5 and rising slowly, despite looks stable.
- First signs of instabilities appeared in the QL maps of cluster MS1054 at 2 mm. Only one round (= 0.5 reps. = 4 scans) of the 3rd rep. was added during this NIKA2-TP session.
- Switching to nikas-24 project. Pointing/focus on Mars + calib_1scan (20241124s71). Opacity arose to ~0.5 and its forecast is not favourable. Adverse weather in the coming hours is predicted.
- Changing to EMIR, backup programs. Project 042-24: MAP-2 (vertical) done. Project 028-24: 2 rep./rx-2 on L183. Mean opacity dropped up to 0.33. But it is expected a steep rise. Unstable. Setting project test for testing and coming back to project 028-23 after a while: 1 rep./rx-1 done on L183.

14:30-16:00 Maite. Taking over. Some clouds. Opacity ~ 0.4 and rising. Atmosphere quite unstable. Continuing with EMIR.
- Starting project 033-24, Setup 2, source L429; 1 repetition.
- 15:55: Parking the telescope due too bad weather.

21:00-03:00 Stefano. The telescope is safely parked. Clouds, rain and wind.

There is always hope The light at the beginning of the tunnel

Nov 25th, Monday

03:00-09:00 Philippe. Clouds and wind. No observations.

09:00-15:00: Angel. Even more cloudy. Wind (> 20 m/s).

15:00-21:00: Maite. Strong wind and rain/hail until ~19h (LT). It was not necessary to activate the deicing system. Max. wind speed dropped to 10-14 m/s at the end of the shift. Weather conditions are improving.

21:00-03:00 Stefano. We start the telescope and NIKA2 again around 22:30-23:00:
- some time on Uranus with very unstable sky
- 091-24 one repetition on PSZ2G172 (tau~0.15-0.2)
- Then calibrations again (Uranus, CRL618 and Betelgeuse). The sky is now completely stable (2 a.m. Local Time).
- 011-24 one map of Orion-B (2nd rep of map nr 2) - at ~3:00 a.m. (LT) I give the telescope to Albrecht for POLAMI observations

Nov 26th, Tuesday

Programmed POLAMI observations (AS) until maintenance slot.

DailyReportsNika2Pool191124 (last edited 2024-11-27 09:33:00 by NikaBolometer)