CCD: FULL 13'x13'armin READOUT: ONE AMP - Please use the UPPER LEFT amplifier, since that has best ta I have seen. GAIN INDEX: 1: Read Noise ~ 1.5 FILTER SET: UBVRI - Just need V and I actually. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Begin Template - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUMENTAL SETUP -- Kormendy NOAO 2006A-0123 -- July 2006 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Use FULL chip mode. 2. Read out the chip through ONE amplifier. This is very important. The best data I have seen was taken using the UPPER LEFT amplifier, so use that one. I have assumed readout times of 100 sec below. 3. Use gain setting 1 to get 1.5 ADU read noise, and a 1/gain of 3 e/ADU, and hence the largest dynamic range (to try to avoid saturation problems). 4. Use 1x1 binning. 5. We only need data in the V and I filters for this program. 6. Has the color balance filter in wheel 1 been cleaned lately? It shows a dust donut in the February 2006 data that gets into dome flats, but not the actual science frames, since we only use the color balance filter when taking dome flats. IN THE AFTERNOON Take 17 biases and 11 dome flats in the V and I filters, with the usual exposure times. Also take 21 dome flats at V with an exposure time of 1 second, so that I can determine the shutter correction. Before starting the flats, please allow the lamps a few minutes to warm up after turning them on, so that the output will stabilize. FOR THESE SHUTTER CORRECTION FLATS, PLEASE USE THE COLOR BALANCE FILTER in wheel 1, just as you do for the regular dome flats. DURING TWILIGHT If clear, take sky flats, at least 3 exposures each in the V and I filters, but as many as possible, with tracking on, offsetting the telescope ~30 arcsec between exposures. Increase the exposure times as the sky gets darker, and mix up the order in which the V and I frames are taken, so we don't always get short-exposure V frames and long-exposure I frames. If you cannot get a good set of sky flats in evening twilight, please try again in morning twilight. DO NOT OBSERVE GALAXIES IN TWILIGHT. It is a good idea to set up on the first galaxy field in evening twilight, but please wait until it gets fully dark to open the shutter for the first exposure. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FOR TARGET FIELDS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Make sure that twilight is over. The sky must be dark for galaxies. 1. Take a short test exposure. 2. Make sure that the focus is good. 3. Check to make sure that the coordinates are correct. 4. Check finder chart to confirm field. The target galaxies are generally the large elliptical galaxy in the center of my chart. In a couple cases there are two target galaxies in the field, which are marked. In a few cases the target is not obvious, and is marked with an arrow. DO NOT CENTER THE GALAXY IN THE CENTER OF THE CCD. Instead, adjust the pointing so that the target galaxies fall in different places on the detector in each exposure. The primary goal is to get all of the galaxy on the CCD. The secondary goal is to move the targets around randomly on the chip so that they don't always fall in the same place. That way all the science frames in a given filter can be median-combined to make a dark sky frame that is free of stars and galaxies. This also allows us to median-combine the 3 frames for each galaxy, to eliminate cosmic rays and bad pixels. Try to avoid bad columns when positioning the galaxies, if possible. In any case, do not let the center of the target galaxy land on a bad column. To reiterate, it is very important that the galaxies NOT land on the same place on the detector in each succeeding exposure. 5. Take an exposure. Move the telescope 3-4 ARCMIN either North/South or East/West so that the target galaxy will fall on a different part of the detector for the next exposure. Do not worry about saturated stars in the long integrations. 6. Repeat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES FOR CALIBRATION FIELDS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. If there are no clouds at all, please observe the standard star field T_Phe at the end of the night. Please do this only if there is time left after all of the galaxy exposures are done. It is perfectly fine to take standard star exposures after morning twilight formally begins. 2. I have provided charts with and without the standard stars marked. Please center up the field so that as many of the marked stars are on the chip, and not on a bad column, as possible. 3. Take a long and a short exposure for the standard field in each filter. Bump the telescope position a few arcsec between exposures. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OBSERVING SEQUENCE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TARGET NGC4696 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 12 48 49.0 -41 18 39 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/NGC4696.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 35 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET NGC4709/PGC043427 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 12 50 05.9 -41 23 25 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/NGC4709+PGC043427.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 35 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET NGC4767 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 12 53 53.0 -39 42 52 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/NGC4767.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 35 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET NGC5419 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 14 03 38.4 -33 58 46 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/NGC5419.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.9 FILTER(S) V,V,V,I,I,I INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 70 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET IC4889 PRIORITY 3 COORDINATES 19 45 15.1 -54 20 39 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/IC4889.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) I INTEGRATION(S) 600s TOTAL TIME 12 minutes NOTES THIN cirrus ok TARGET IC4931 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 20 00 50.3 -38 34 30 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/IC4931.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V,I,I,I INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 70 minutes NOTES try to position the telescope so that the two bright stars to the east of the galaxy do not fall on the CCD, offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET NGC6877 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 20 18 36.2 -70 51 11 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/NGC6877.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V,I,I,I INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 70 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET ESO462-015 PRIORITY 3 COORDINATES 20 23 13.8 -27 42 52 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/ESO462-015.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) I,I INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 24 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET IC1459 PRIORITY 1 COORDINATES 22 57 10.6 -36 27 44 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/IC1459.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V,I,I,I INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 70 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET PGC072423 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 23 47 31.7 -28 06 25 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/PGC072423.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 35 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET NGC1373/1374 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 03 35 16.6 -35 13 34 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/NGC1373+1374.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 35 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok TARGET NGC1419 PRIORITY 2 COORDINATES 03 40 42.1 -37 30 39 FINDER CHART http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/NGC1419.jpg AIRMASS minimum available, less than 1.7 FILTER(S) V,V,V INTEGRATION(S) 600s, 600s, 600s TOTAL TIME 35 minutes NOTES offset telescope after each exposure, THIN cirrus ok FIELD T_Phe (stds) PRIORITY 3 COORDINATES 00 30 27.1 -46 28 52 FINDER CHART1 http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/T_Phe+stars.jpg (stars marked) FINDER CHART2 http://puck.as.utexas.edu/CTIO/T_Phe.jpg (no stars marked) AIRMASS 1.0 (+/- 0.1) FILTER(S) V,V,I,I INTEGRATION(S) 10s, 360s, 3s, 200s TOTAL TIME 17 minutes NOTES observe in twilight at end of night, require photometric conditions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - End Template - - - - - - - - - - - - - -