README web version of /home/usg/OPS/MTS/readme_xml/readme_80053000
Principal Investigator Email Address
Estimated Total Execution Time (hours, including overheads)
General Description
Recent observations have shown that compact nuclear star clusters (NSCs)
are
present in 70-80% of galaxies.
The masses of NSCs correlate with the velocity dispersion of the host galaxies
in a relation analogous to the
?M - sigma? relations for supermassive black holes (SBHs). In this pilot project
we
use VLT/SINFONI in AO mode (K-band) to study the dynamical and chemical
properties of the nuclear star cluster in FCC277 (=NGC 1428), a nucleated E5
galaxy in the Fornax cluster. A prime goal of this programme is to measure the
velocity dispersion of the NSC and the immediate surroundings and thus high
spatial resolution is of paramount importance.
There are 7 OBs in total, of which 6 are identical. Each of the 6 normal OBs
contains a "OOSOOSOOS" sequence with 300s per exposure. The individual on-source
exposures are slightly dithered to allow for bad detector pixel removal and also
to supersample the images in the final data combination. The sky fields are 50"
away from the target. The last OB has only a single "OS" sequence and thus is
much shorter in total execution time. The priority of the OBs is indicated, with
1 being the highest. To allow for accurate positioning it would be great if the
same VLT-guide star could be used for all OBs.
The AO star (2MASS: 03422296-3509117) is ~4" away from the nuclear star cluster
and has R~14 (K=12.3). There are two more brightish stars in the vicinity with a
distance of 26" (K=11.6) and distance of 36" (K=11.8).
For calibration the standard calibration plan is sufficient (telluric + flux stsds).
To allow better telluric correction it would be great if all telluric standard stars
are BV spectral type.
Waiver Requests
Critical Observing Condition Constraints
Time-Critical Aspects
Special Execution Requirements
Special Calibration Information
ToO Information
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 ?
Did you indicate the magnitude of the brightest object in the field in
each SINFONI OB?
If you are using the AO: Did you indicate for every OB the magnitude
of the guide star, and its distance to the target (if any)?
If you submitted OBs for standard stars, did you use the provided StandardStar
templates?
If you are using a specific offset pattern or position angle: did you
check carefully the definition in the manual?
Did you make really sure that none of your OBs ever saturates the detector?
If you are using the AO: did you enter the correct Strehl Ratio (on-axis,
K-band) AND the seeing value in the constraint set?
Last creation of page: Tue Oct 6 15:40:21 2009
If you have comments, please contact usd-help@eso.org