A Handful of Topics

A Handful of Topics

P200 Constituencies• We re-negotiated our

partnership agreements in CY2009

• Long-standing partners JPL and Cornell are continuing as partners (for five and three years respectively)

• New partner NOAO joins at 1/16 share with particular interest in (single-object) spectroscopy. Time for NOAO participation coming from decreasing Cornell commitment

• Oxford partnership ongoing…

P200 Instrument Usage/Trends

• P200 Instrument Usage for 2010A and 2009B

• Majority (~ 55%) for spectroscopy

• AO usage increase: expectation of bench removal in 2010A

• P1640 99-night survey in 2011 – 2013 inclusive

• Structural decrease in OSWIFT with LGS decommissioning

Instrument 2010A (153n)

2009B (174n)

DBSP 41 (27%) 60 (35%)

TSpec 45 (29%) 49 (28%)

LFC 24 (16%) 18 (10%)

WIRC 7 (5%) 8 (5%)

PHARO 18 (12%) 16 (9%)

P1640 7 (5%) 9 (5%)

CWI 6 (4%) 0

OSWIFT 6 (4%) 14 (8%)

Instrument Usage/Trends (Cont)• Constituency Trends:

– AO Usage PRESENTLY tilted toward JPL constituency; this changes structurally with the 99-night P1640 program

– CIT (80%), Cornell (100%), & NOAO (100%) constituencies tend toward spectroscopic use

– Concern: no non-Oxford participation in OSWIFT science (1 CIT night in 09A)

Instrument 2010A (153n)

2009B (176n)

DBSP 41 (27%) 60 (35%)

TSpec 45 (29%) 49 (28%)

LFC 24 (16%) 18 (10%)

WIRC 7 (5%) 8 (5%)

PHARO 18 (12%) 16 (9%)

P1640 7 (5%) 9 (5%)

CWI 6 (4%) 2 (1%)

OSWIFT 6 (4%) 14 (8%)

TSpec Update• TSpec is an important near-IR

spectroscopic capability at P200; prominent nationally (i.e. NOAO listed as instrument to emulate at Kitt Peak – NOAO Town Hall DC)

• TSpec has had its share of electronics problems – which appear to be behind us – thanks to GustavoR’s extensive support in 2009

• A significant number of user reports of TSpec control software crashed (guider GUI)

• JHickey & MBonati have made simplifications to guider GUI; in recent TSpec (e.g. late Dec) runs software has been considerably more reliable

TriSpec & TEDIInstallation at

P200 cassJan 2008

COO Operations SW Engineer

• However, we anticipate there are still TSpec issues to iron-out, so…

• Creating campus position to focus on Palomar operations instrument control software support (co-located with OIR)

• Initial concentration on TSpec and DBSP control software

• Job ad submitted to PMA this week; expect start date in April.

2010B Solicitation Dates

• 15 Feb – Call for engineering proposals

• 26 Feb – Engineering proposals due

• 8 March 2010 – Science solicitation released

• 2 April – Science proposals due

• 19 April – TAC meeting

• 3 May – CIT inputs due to WMKO

J.Zolkower P200 Mirror Support Refurbishment Plan 8

Mirror Support Assembly

Russell Porter Illustration

Gimbal Assembly

Compound Lever Assembly

36 Mirror Supports39 Bearings / Support Assembly~ 1400 Bearings in total

Russell Porter illustration


In mid-2007 severe image distortions were experienced for an extended period of time.

Significant improvement was observed after vigorous exercising of the mirror supports in lateral mode.

Mirror Support Background & Recent History

Image obtained by Pharo in while the A.O. system DM was in a flat state, Aug. 2007.

AO deformable mirror phase map Aug. 2007.


Recent image quality issues

Image from LFC focus loopDec 2, 2008

More recently, occasional bad images are reported by telescope operators that are resolved by moving the telescope to a different place in the sky and then returning to original target.


Service Plan Time Allocation 1994 Process Flow (25 assemblies serviced)

– Total Time: 18 days; 14 working; 4 non-working– Service rate: 1.78 assemblies / working day– No Set-up or test noted

2010 Option 1 Process Flow (36 assemblies serviced)– Total Time: 41 days; 31 working; 10 non-working– Service rate: 1.33 assemblies / working day (set-up & test not incl)– 4 days for set-up & test

2010 Option 2 Process Flow (36 assemblies serviced)– Total Time: 33 days; 25 working; 8 non-working– Service rate: 1.71 assemblies / working day (set-up & test not incl)

2010A service program: Reserved 5 weeks Jan 24 - Feb 28

- two weeks of shared risk observing time is scheduled at end of five-week period. -Shared-risk observers identified

Documents

A Handful of Topics