Observing Runs

Update October 2023: a taxi booked by ESO should pick up observers from Santiago airport and transport them to the ESO guest house (if that is indeed the organised schedule). There *should* be someone waiting in the airport lobby to pick you up. If this does not happen (as occurred recently), then observers should first go to the 'Transvip' desk and give their name and say that they are with ESO. Transvip should have the booking. If you have any further issues then contact the guest house: https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/travel/?lang

Each ePESSTO+ observing run usually consists of 10 nights per lunation, split into shifts of 4N, 3N and 4N, with a pattern which will loosely follow: 4ON/5OFF/3ON/5OFF/3ON. (The exact distribution depends on the scheduling constraints at ESO.) The run will be covered by 2 observers per 10N run, who will travel to Chile, and will both be funded by ESO (for astronomers affiliated to institutions in the ESO Member States at the time of the observations). During one of "OFF" gaps, the observer(s) are required to come down off the mountain as stays of longer than 2 weeks are not permitted by ESO. Travel to Santiago to stay at the ESO Guest House (with travel and accommodation funded by ESO) during this time is possible.

The first observer is the lead observer, and must be an experienced observer. The other (second) observer must have had some previous observing experience (i.e. should not be a complete novice). Previous NTT experience is not specifically required for either observer.

The experienced (lead) observer must stay for at least the first run of 4 nights, during which time he or she should ensure that the second observer is trained on the NTT and comfortable to run the remaining 2×3N shifts runs by themselves. In some cases, the experienced observer will stay to cover the first 2 shifts, and may stay for the entire observing run if preferred. When the lead observer departs, the trained second observer then takes over the role of lead observer for the remaining two shifts. The purpose of having a third student observer would be to train as many students as possible giving a larger pool of experienced student observers for future years.

Note that the work load at the telescope for one observer is quite high. It is therefore essential that a European (or other) support team is identified prior to the run to assist with data reduction and classification, as required.

Information from ESO

There is a significant amount of information provided by ESO about the arrangements and logistics for observing runs. Travel and accommodation should be booked through ESO (see links below).

If you are travelling to observe for ePESSTO+, please read this information carefully and follow all the instructions it contains.

1. At the time of writing, transportation from La Serena to La Silla is provided by ESO Mondays-Fridays.

2. Note that ESO (vatravel) will book all travel internal in Chile and all accommodation, even if the trip is not being funded by ESO (they will then invoice you in this case). Do not book these yourself. If you are being funded by ESO, then they can also book your international travel - see the links below. If you are not ESO funded, then vatravel can also book your international flights, but they will then invoice you the cost.

General overview: [1]

Instructions for visiting astronomers: [2] -- including link to travel form

La Silla specific information: [3]

Sending a 3rd observer to La Silla

We encourage institutions to send a third student observer, for training.

However, the third observer funding would be covered by the partner institutes rather than by ESO - note that all travel and accommodation in Chile must still be booked by ESO, and then invoiced to the traveller/institute.

Below you can find the steps that should be followed:

- Send Vatravel a request to have a third observer approved (please ask Cosimo Inserra or Joe Anderson to be added to the Observing schedule since vatravel will look at that as a reference. Vatravel also requests a scientific justification to be added. This is usually a formality and the training and formative experience might be emphasised since such observers is usually a student and that the costs are covered by Institution.
- You need to wait for La Silla approval before filling the travel form.
- After that, you can follow the instructions on this page

Data reduction

The two observers in Chile (or at home since remote observations) must be supported by a data reduction team in Europe (or equivalent home institute). This must be a minimum of one named person responsible for overseeing the data reduction during the lunation, although in some cases the observers themselves may be able to handle both observing and data reduction. It is the responsibility of each institute to ensure that the observing team and the data reduction team are functional and meet the requirements laid out here.

At the telescope

Note that there is no scientific support available on-site at the telescope. However, observers are introduced to the observatory by one of the system engineers (SE). This introduction is usually given on the afternoon of the first observing night. However, if you are a new NTT observer, it may be possible to watch the previous night's observer at work, with his/her prior permission.

Finder Charts

Can be found here.

Night reports and Astronotes

During each night observing, the observing team and data reducers should compose a night report and an Astronote detailing new classifications. Details on the Astronote format. Send the Astronote to alerts@pessto.org, and note that the night report is available.

Run reports

At the end of each run (of e.g. 3 or 4 nights), a La Silla end-of-run report should be completed: this can be found here

As this is a public survey, there is also a separate spreadsheet to complete and return to ESO at the end of each run. This records all the OBs and their quality grades. More details to appear here.

Observing run schedule

This section lists all PESSTO, ePESSTO and ePESSTO+ observing run schedules. The most recent schedule is at the bottom.

To subscribe to this calendar use this feed : http://tinyurl.com/box3nrl

- with iCal see here.
- with Calendar (Mountain Lion or greater) go to File > New Calendar Subscription... and paste in the calendar url.

Period 89-98 (PESSTO)

Dates always refer to the nights of observations, i.e. 10th-13th is a four night run for the nights of 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th, finishing on the 14th.

Period 90 (PESSTO)

Dates always refer to the nights of observations.

Period 91 (PESSTO)

Dates always refer to the nights of observations.

Period 92 (PESSTO)

Dates always refer to the nights of observations, i.e. 2nd-3rd is a two night run for the nights of 2nd and 3rd, finishing on the 4th.

Period 93 (PESSTO)