README web version of /home/usg/OPS/MTS/readme_xml/readme_79023602
Principal Investigator Email Address
Estimated Total Execution Time (hours, including overheads)
General Description
Run 079.D-0236(C) is one of three temporally-coupled runs, 079.D-0236(ABC),
to obtain deep K-band imaging of a black hole X-ray transient (BHXRT) at three epochs
after the transient begins an
X-ray/radio outburst.
Waiver Requests
As the 4 1-hr OBs for each of the three runs need to be executed contiguously,
Waiver Requests for all runs were submitted on 5 February. The Waiver Requests are
the same as those granted to this program in Periods 72-77. The approval was previously
granted with the following restriction (shown here from the previous approval):
"Your requested Waivers can be granted with the restriction that if the conditions
degrade in violation of the constraints after the first hour, the sequence will
be completed anyway and it will not be repeated."
Critical Observing Condition Constraints
To image the faint jet structures around the bright central BHXRT, we
request that these observations be performed with 0.6" seeing or better. However,
it is also critical that *all* OBs for each run be executed consecutively once the
run is triggered. We require the ~3 hours of integration time for each run (4 hours
with overheads) in order to obtain images down to a depth of K=23-24. The jets
which we are attempting to image are not only faint but also evolve with time, moving
outward from the central source. Thus co-adding observations obtained over several
nights would likely 'smear' any image of the jets, possibly to the point of undetectability.
We recognize that it is not possible to guarantee 4 hours of continuous <0.6"
seeing, but given the various constraints necessary for success of this program,
we must require all four OBs for each run be executed consecutively on the same
night. Once this program is triggered, we are flexible as to the actual start of
observations, within a window of ~1 week. Therefore we hope that it would be possible
to choose to execute this program on a night where the seeing is proving to be both
very good (0.6") and fairly stable (i.e. without significant excursions to intervals
of ~0.8" or worse.)
Time-Critical Aspects
We request that the initial observation be obtained within 1 week after
we trigger our ToO program. The second observation should be obtained 7-10 days
after the first, and the final observation should be obtained 1 month after the
first. We will contact the Paranal observer for each observation to specify which
OB should be used.
Special Execution Requirements
We have designed three OBs for this program. The first, TOO-BHXRT-bright,
should be used if the central BHXRT is bright (K~12-13). The second, TOO-BHXRT-intermediate,
should be used if the BHXRT has a magnitude of K~14. The second, TOO-BHXRT-faint,
should be used if the BHXRT is faint (K>15). When we trigger the initial observation,
we will specify which of these OBs should be used. However, as our target will be
a transient, its IR magnitude will likely begin to decrease between the initial
observation and the subsequent one. We will monitor the BHXRT at other telescopes
and track its optical/IR magnitude through the outburst. Therefore for the later
epochs of observation, we may request, for example, that TOO-BHXRT-faint OB be executed
for one or both of the later observations, even if the initial epoch was done using
the TOO-BHXRT-bright OB. We will contact the Paranal observer with the information
as to which OB should be used for the latter two observations at the beginning of
the observing windows we specified above (e.g. ~7 days after the initial observation
and again ~1 month after the initial observation).
Special Calibration Information
ToO Information
The first epoch of observation will be triggered when a BHXRT undergoing
an X-ray outburst is observed to have extended radio jets or an exceptionally strong
radio flare (the radio data will be obtained by one of our team using the VLA or
VLBI). We request that the first observation be obtained as soon as possible after
our observations in this program, we are somewhat flexible as to how quickly we
want the data to be taken once we have submitted our trigger request. We would
then request that the two further observations be obtained ~7-10 days after the
first observation and then again ~1 month after the first observation. For each
epoch of observation we were awarded 4 hours of time. As OBs are limited to 1-hr
duration, we have designed all three OB types to be 1-hr long. Thus there are four
TOO-BHXRT-bright OBs, numbered A1, A2, A3, and A4, and similarly there are four
OBs for the intermediate and faint target options. We have therefore submitted
12 OBs for this run.
ToO Activators List
Is this a Pre-imaging run ?
Pre-imaging Requirements
Source(s) of Pre-imaging
Pre-imaging sources not listed above
Do all your OBs comply with the instrument-specific requirements listed
on the instrument-specific Phase 2 web page ?
If this is a pre-imaging run, did you select PRE-IMAGING for the Observing
Category for each Observing Template ?
Do all your finding charts comply with both the general and instrument-specific
Phase 2 Web Pages ?
If you submitted OBs for standard stars, did you specify the magnitude
and spectral type of all standard stars in the OBs ?
Have you included OBs for any calibrations that you need but which are
not part of the Calibration Plan ?
If you are observing Moving Targets, have you attached suitable ephemeris
files to your OBs?
If you have preferences which OBs should be executed first, did you make
use of the User Priority field in the OBs ?
If this is a run that requires coordinated observations with other facilities,
did you give proper instructions in the Time-Critical Aspects Section ?
If you have PSF reference star OBs, do the names of those OBs begin with
PSF_ ?
If there are Finding Charts attached to your OBs, is the field-of-view
of at least one of these charts 2' x 2' (with clearly labelled field orientation)
?
Have you clearly marked and labelled your wavefront reference objects
R1, R2, R3, ... (as specified in the NAOS Preparation Software) on your Finding
Charts ?
Have you specified the magnitude of the brightest object in the field-of-view
for each OB ?
Are there objects in any of your fields (including standard stars) which
are brighter than the limits specified in the User Manual and on NACO web Pages
?
If the previous answer is yes, have you given a list of OBs and a justification
for the brightness limit violation in the general description field ?
Last creation of page: Tue Oct 6 15:40:18 2009
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