Daily Reports (2026/02/24 - 03/03 NIKA2 run 79, Cryo run 91)
Observers on-site: Felipe Alves, Shixian Mo, Miren Muñoz, Li Yingxi.
Astronomer on Duty: Stefano Berta
Pool Manager: Angel Bongiovanni
Operators: Pedro (day), Ioaquin (night)
Organization of shifts:
22:00-04:00 LT: Miren
04:00-10:00 LT: Felipe
10:00:16:00 LT: Li
16:00-22:00 LT: Mo
Important
Focus offsets shall be measured on Ar1
Pointing offsets shall be measured on Ar2
Pool-Account usage: Accounting of observing times
Calibration observations like pointing, focus, and calib_1scan (the latter in case of NIKA2-Pol only, aimed at characterizing the instrumental polarization) which are conducted before and during project observations are part of the project time. Note that all proposals include such overheads in the time and sensitivity estimates. This holds for total power and polarimetry observations.
Other calibration observations which are important for all projects like beam maps, skydips, or calib_1scan for absolute flux calibration may be accounted under the pool account (nikaX-YY, where X = s,w and YY = year ; nikaw-25 in this case).
- When conditions are unstable and it is unclear whether project observations make sense at all, calibrations may be accounted to the pool account.
Focus and Beam maps accounting
Please fill the Table with the Ar1,2,3 focus values as follows. At best, make one table per day.
Focus sequences (NOTE: Ar2 is very noisy and this might influence the A2 focus value)
Scans nr.
Target
Ar2
Ar1
Ar3
Pol?
Notes
20260224s75-79
Uranus
out
0.65
0.90
yes
started at 1.3 mm
109-113
Uranus
-0.14
uhm
+0.72
yes
started at 1.0 mm; Ar2 based on FWHM only; Ar3 with 4 points only; Ar1 with only 3 points -> re-do
114-118
Uranus
-0.17
+0.64
+0.84
yes
started at 0.8 mm; Ar2 based on FWHM only
128-132
Uranus
0.11
0.85
1.15
yes
started at 1 mm; Ar2 based on FWHM only (marginal)
153-157
Uranus
out
1.43
out
yes
started at 1.3 mm; Ar1 only 4 points but good parabola
Similarly, if any beam maps (total power or polarimetry) are taken:
Beam maps
Scan Nr
Target
Focus
TP (99 subscans) or Pol (95 subscans)
Notes
Tuesday, 24th February 2026
@09:30 UT the team arrived safely at the observatory
@9:30-14:00 UT: Maintenance time; we do a cuple of hours of training on Stefano's slides before lunch
@15:30-22:00 LT Mo + everyone
- we start the NIKA2 operations, with polarimetry; lost KIDS 5/15/22. The 1.5 Hz peak in the pow spec (see last week) is still there.
- Tapas log-in is not working at the beginning and PM fixes it
- few stuck scans at the start (focus sequences). Pedro fixes the problem.
- training all together
- 156-25 one repetition of N68 using Uranus for IP
- 128-25 one repetition of L1482 using Uranus for IP
- calibrations on Uranus + skydip (scan nr ...)
- 128-25 one repetition of L1482 using Uranus for IP
- 128-25 last scan repeated, so to compensate for the one cancelled on 2026/02/16 and make a round total number of repetitions
@22:00-04:00 LT Miren
- 128-25 one repetition of L1482 using Uranus for IP
- ...
Wednesday, 25th February 2026
04:00-10:00 LT
- ...
10:00-16:00 LT
- ...
16:00-22:00 LT
- ...
22:00-04:00 LT
- ...
Thursday, 26th February 2026
04:00-10:00 LT
- ...
10:00-16:00 LT
- ...
16:00-22:00 LT
- ...
22:00-04:00 LT
- ...
Friday, 27th February 2026
04:00-10:00 LT
- ...
10:00-16:00 LT
- ...
16:00-22:00 LT
- ...
22:00-04:00 LT
- ...
Saturday, 28th February 2026
04:00-10:00 LT
- ...
10:00-16:00 LT
- ...
16:00-22:00 LT
- ...
22:00-04:00 LT
- ...
Sunday, 1st March 2026
04:00-10:00 LT
- ...
10:00-16:00 LT
- ...
16:00-22:00 LT
- ...
22:00-04:00 LT
- ...
Monday, 2nd March 2026
04:00-10:00 LT
- ...
10:00-16:00 LT
- ...
16:00-22:00 LT
- ...
22:00-04:00 LT
- ...
Thuesday, 3rd March 2026
04:00-10:00 LT
- ...