README web version of /home/usg/OPS/MTS/readme_xml/readme_76079300

Principal Investigator Email Address

• tmueller@mpe.mpg.de

Estimated Total Execution Time (hours, including overheads)

• 03:48:08

General Description

• Goal of this program is to obtain fairly accurate MIR photometry of the
   Rosetta mission target asteroid Steins
  to get estimates of the so far unknown size and albedo.
  For this purpose photometry at at least two wavelengths is necessary, so the filters
   10.4 and
  11.9um will be used. Observations are planned redundant with two measurements per
   filter.
  
  Flux estimates for Steins are between 0.1Jy and 0.7Jy at 10.4um, depending on the
   actual albedo.
  The asteroid's type suggests a rather high albedo, so the flux will be probably
   at the faint end
  of this estimates. The flux at 11.9 will be approximately 50% higher than at 10.4um.

Waiver Requests

• No Waiver Request was submitted

Critical Observing Condition Constraints

• Nothing special. Nights should be photometric, seeing is not critical.
  I set the minimum moon distance in the OBs to 20deg, hoping that a
  useable guidestar will be near the object to allow differential guiding.

Time-Critical Aspects

• The optimum sequence for the filters would be 10.4-11.9-10.4-11.9, so
   I gave
  priority 1 to the first set of 10.4 and 11.9 and priority 2 to the second.
  Of course contigous execution would be optimum but is not critical as long
  as proper calibration observations are performed.
  The object's flux does not change very much during the specified time
  window (2005-10-01 - 2005-11-30) but visibility and brightness 
  will be best at the beginning of this period.

Special Execution Requirements

• Acquisition:
  Since the precise flux is not known, I cannot predict if the object will be visible
   on the RTD.
  The preferred acquisition mode would be using a nearby reference star. If the source
   then appears
  on the RTD, it should be moved to the correct position (therefore I used the MoveToPixel
   template).
  If the source is not visible, then just start the observation.
  If there is no suitable reference star in the neighbourhood, then blind acquisition
   should do it
  also if the pointing accuracy is as good as I remember it from my last visits. 
  If OBs are executed contigously, please do not skip the acquisition to ensure that
   accumulated
  position errors due to the changing speed of the target are compensated.
  
  Guiding:
  Guiding on the target will not be possible. If this mode works and a guidestar is
   available,
  then please use differential guiding. The object's speed changes rather slow, but
   better keep
  an eye on it and update it frequently. If blind guiding is the only option then
   please try
  to perform acquisition using a reference star. This should ensure at least that
   the object
  does not leave the FOV during the observation.
  
  An accurate acquisiton and guiding will be of great value, since any flatfielding
   effect
  would be avoided.

Special Calibration Information

• Nothing special. Two different calibrators would be perfect with one calibration
   per hour.
  Standards stars from the list of bright calibrators are preferred, but please
  avoid HD81797 (unreliable) and HD29139 (too bright, artifacts). They are pretty
  far away from the object anyway...

ToO Information

• ---(Empty)---

ToO Activators List

• ---(Empty)---

Is this a Pre-imaging run ?

• false

Pre-imaging Requirements

• ---(Empty)---

Source(s) of Pre-imaging

• ---(Empty)---

Pre-imaging sources not listed above

• ---(Empty)---

Do all your OBs comply with the instrument-specific requirements listed
 on the instrument-specific Phase 2 web page ?

• YES

If this is a pre-imaging run, did you select PRE-IMAGING for the Observing
 Category for each Observing Template ?

• N/A

Do all your finding charts comply with both the general and instrument-specific
 Phase 2 Web Pages ?

• N/A

If you submitted OBs for standard stars, did you specify the magnitude
 and spectral type of all standard stars in the OBs ?

• N/A

Have you included OBs for any calibrations that you need but which are
 not part of the Calibration Plan ?

• N/A

If you are observing Moving Targets, have you attached suitable ephemeris
 files to your OBs?

• YES

If you have preferences which OBs should be executed first, did you make
 use of the User Priority field in the OBs ?

• YES

If this is a run that requires coordinated observations with other facilities,
 did you give proper instructions in the Time-Critical Aspects Section ?

• N/A