README web version of /home/usg/OPS/MTS/readme_xml/readme_81040601
Principal Investigator Email Address
Estimated Total Execution Time (hours, including overheads)
General Description
Run 081.D-0406(B) is one of three temporally-coupled runs,
081.D-0406(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 requested, and
granted on 22 January.
The Waiver Requests are the same as those granted to this program in
Periods 72-79. 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 B1,
B2, B3, and B4, 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 15:40:24 2009
If you have comments, please contact usd-help@eso.org