EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY

La Silla Science Operations: NTT

How to Use the SofI Quick Tool

This tool is based on the SofI pipeline recipes. They are launched from Gasgano.
Bellow you can find instructions how to set the recipes and how ti use them from Gasgano.
NOTA BENE: This tools are still in working/testing stage! The output data are not certified science grade. They are only quick-look quality, at the moment.

(1) Load the correct configuration from the pecs file. From the home dir:
. .pecs/misc-all.env

(2) Launch Gasgano by typing "gasgano" at the prompt or from the pop-up menu.
The recipes should be already available from "Selected Files" -> "To Recipe" -> "Load Recipe".
If they are not available, you have to configure Gasgano. Go to "File" -> "Preferences..." and click on the tab "Recipe Configuration". Then click on "Add Recipe" to get a pop-up window for reading files. Go to sub-dir
/home/quality/pipelines/sofi-1.1.0/lib/sofi/plugins/sofi-1.1.0/
and you will see 8 *.so files:
sofi_img_dark.so

sofi_img_domeflat.so

sofi_img_illum.so

sofi_img_jitter.so

sofi_img_zpoint.so

sofi_spc_arc.so

sofi_spc_flat.so

sofi_spc_jitter.so

Load them all. Note that sometimes Gasgano crashes while loading. Repeat loading the recipes one by one.
Once this is done, restart Gasgano.
(3) Check if Gasgano uses the correct SofI rule file. To do that go to "File" -> "Preferences..." and click on the tab "Data". Make sure the "Classification Rule File" field contains:
/home/quality/gasgano/config/SOFI.rul
If not, enter the correct path and file name.
This file is responsible for the correct automatic classification of the files into flats, arcs, jittered object/sky images or spectra.
(4) Run the recipe:
(a) Mark the files you want to process in Gasgano. This should also include the necessary calibration files, i.e. flats.

(b) Load the recipe from "Selected Files" -> "To Recipe" -> "Load Recipe". This will open a new work window which contains a number of sub-windows from top to bottom: the parameters, list of input files, product naming, "Execute" button, list of output files, and work log.
Set the "Product Root Directory" in the "Product Naming" sub-win (upon starting this is the sub-dir from which Gasgano was started).
Check if the files in the "Input frames"sub-window are classified (3rd column). If they are not, then Gasgano has not loaded the SOFI.rul file that contais the classification rules. Go to /home/astro/.gasganorc and set CLASSRULE_FILE=/home/astro/sofi_pipeline/SOFI.rul
As an alternative, you can classify the files manually (this is somewhat cumbersom, but you may stil have to do it in some cases, i.e. if you want to run sofi_spc_jitter on standard star images). Types of classes for the different precipes:
--- sofi_img_jitter : IM_JITTEROBJ or IM_JITTTERSKY; also acceptable MASTER_IMG_FLAT; the recipe has trouble reducing sequences with user-defined large offsets but works fine on most AutoJitter observations.

--- sofi_img_domeflat : IM_FLAT

--- sofi_img_zpoint : IM_ZPOINT, MASTER_IMG_FLAT

--- sofi_spc_jitter : SP_NODDINGOBJ, SP_NODDINGSKY; also acceptable ARC_COEF, STAR_TRACE_COEF, MASTER_SP_FLAT; in case of crowded fields, the recipe usually fails to extract 1-dimensional spectrum, or it extracts a spectrum of the brightest source, which is not necessarily the target but even in this case it produces a commbined 2-dimensioanl spectrum that can be inspectedi by the user.

--- sofi_spc_flat : SP_FLAT

--- sofi_spc-arc : SP_ARC

(c) SET THE PRODUCT DIRECTORY! The default value is /home/astro which produces files in a wrong place. The best solution is to use the raw data dir: /data/raw/2006-07-25 or similar. You need to perform this step only ones efter starting a Gasgano session - the selected directory will be remembered as long as you do not restart Gasgano.
(d) Press "Execute" and monitor the output in the log sub-window. If the recipe is completed fine, the message at the end is "Completion status: SUCCESS". The product can be inspected with Gasgano, provided the output sub-dir is loaded. NOTE: you can exclude some files and repeat the execution, for that you just need to untick the marks in front of the raw files in the top window.

(4) Output: the shifted/combined images are regular fits files. To see them click on the DISPLAY button next to the images in the output sub-window. The spectroscopic recipe produces also an extracted 1D spectrum in a fitstable (with extention tfits). It can be seen the IRAF task strfits or in MIDAS with (resp. for the object and the sky spectra):
crea/gra

plot/tab sofi_spec_jitter_0004.tfits :Y_coordinate :Extracted_spectrum_value

plot/tab sofi_spec_jitter_0004.tfits :Y_coordinate :Sky_spectrum

The flat recipes also produce regular fits fiels, and the arc and zpoin recipes produces tables.
Some tips. You can have more than one recipe workspace open. This comes handy if you suddenly realize that you are istill havent; reduced the flat that you will need in sofi_img_jitter, for example, and to make it you have to open the a workspace with sofi_img_domeflat.
You can add files to worikspace that has already been created/open. You just have to just mark the additional files and select from the Gasgano menu: "Selected Files" -> "To Recipe" -> ..." You will see that the workspaces that have already been open are present as separate entries in the popup menu. This feature is useful if you have been impatient and you have run the recipe with only part of your data obtained. Then, you want to repeat the recipe with all the images after the template has been completed. Or if you forgot to add some calibration file to the file list.
(5) A proper SofI Pipeline manual is fortcoming with the pending release of the pipeline in 2007. For now, more help can be found on the ISAAC pipeline page. The recipe names are clickable and will give you more detailed help. A SofI pipeline page is forthcoming. Note that the two pipelines, albeit similar, are not identical - for example sofi_img_jitter contains a correction for the crosstalk, but not for the odd-even column efect because of the different features of the ISAAC and SofI arrays and electronic components. Another difference is the arc calibration lamp set.
(6) Please report problems to the SofI Instrument Scientist Valentin D. Ivanov at vivanov ...at... eso.org. This will be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!
Final word (the same as the openign word): This is service is still on a working/testing stage! The output data are not certified science grade. They are only quick-look quality, at the moment.
Nevertheless, the users are strongly encouraged to use the tool and to report any problems.

Warning! This is just a simple minded automatic tool!
It is NOT going to write the first draft of your paper!