Internal info for triggering LCOGT
Information for photom@pessto.org people to send a trigger.
For general PESSTO science PIs, please see this page:
if you would like to send a requirement.
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Tips of sending a trigger:
Cadence setting:
With wide range of Jitter time to increase the schedule window for different cites,
and add observing constraint (~2).
For example, cadence observation with period: 72 hours, jitter: 48 hours; or period: 24 hours, jitter: 20 hours
Observation record in the PESSTO marshall
Once send the trigger, add a comment to the PESSTO marshall, like:
Start to trigger photometric follow-up (gri) with LCOGT/PESSTO.
Also add a comment when the follow-up observation complete.
End of LCOGT/PESSTO follow-up.
Get a contact with science PIs
To add trigger comments in the PESSTO marshall, at the beginning and at the end for record.
Normally we also send emails to PIs when the first data set has came, and then they can check the image quality.
Later on, send an email when the cadence, exposure time, etc. have been changed. (exposure time should be PI’s duty, but if the SN signal is really too low, it's good to send a reminder email to them to avoid wasting the telescope time).
Discuss the observation plan with PIs for each target.
Network Status & Scheduling
Observations for all LCOGT telescopes and all instrument are scheduled through the online observation portal.
The responsibility for the scheduling is with Janet (tchen09 at qub.ac.uk) and Giorgos (g.dimitriadis at soton.ac.uk). They can be reached through photom@pessto.org (see below). No one else should trigger the network.
Once we receive your requirement, we will trigger LCOGT immediately and all info will be uploaded to a shared google doc spreadsheet at the Google Spreadsheet used for scheduling and triggering on PESSTO targets can be found here (sign-in with your unique username and password).
Data access
The portal to access reduced data is LCOGT's archive hosted at
http://lcogtarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/
Reduced imaging data and source catalogs are available here.
Login and password same as above.
Currently Janet collects and uploads all images in the external data archive, also renews the observational log.
Stephen will find the other good way to do it later.
The automatically updating time has been changed from 12 hours to 1 hour, so this archive webpage will update every one hour.
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Useful information from the LCOGT with triggering with SNEx
How do I trigger the PESSTO program on SNEx?
Go to the page of the object you want to trigger and click the clock icon in the top right menu. This will take you to the scheduling page. Select the observing parameters (see the SNEx manual for help on exposure times), and choose "PESSTO Proprietary" under "Program" (this option is only available to PESSTO'ers).
What can I trigger with the PESSTO program?
Only 1m-telescope photometric observations can be triggered via this program (either with the SBIG or Sinistro imagers) under normal priority.
What's the difference between triggering the PESSTO program vs. the SN Key Project program?
When triggering the SN Key Project Program, we (at LCOGT) must approve the observations (unless they are marked as "urgent") and we manage them (decide if / when to continue / stop). Also, the data from these observations will be available to all members of the key project.
When triggering via the PESSTO Proprietary Program, observations are submitted immediately, and are managed by PESSTO. When triggering such observations, you decide who the data will be visible to (by default, only PESSTO and LCOGT).
What does it mean to "manage" our triggers?
Cadence observations (e.g. an observation every 3 days), go on until a user requests to stop them. It is therefore important to stay on top of requested observations and stop or modify those which are no longer relevant. In order to help with the bookkeeping, you should set a reminder when submitting an observing sequence.
How do we manage our triggers?
All PESSTO users now have a new link in the top of the SNEx main page, called "Scheduling". This will show you all active PESSTO triggers, with those whose reminder has expired first.
What happens to the images obtained via the PESSTO program?
All the images will be ingested into SNEx and reduced with our automated pipeline. The images and SN magnitudes will be visible on SNEx shortly after they are obtained. They will be visible only to the groups selected when issuing the trigger.
What if I trigger a PESSTO observation via the general LCOGT Portal and not via SNEx?
This data will also be ingested into SNEx, but the trigger will NOT appear in the list of reminders, and you will not be able to choose with whom to share the data (outside PESSTO and LCOGT).
How do I know how much time is left in the PESSTO program?
Unfortunately, this information is not available to SNEx, and can only be seen in the general LCOGT observing portal.