README web version of /home/usg/OPS/MTS/readme_xml/readme_82505501

Principal Investigator Email Address

• emason@eso.org

Estimated Total Execution Time (hours, including overheads)

• 05:12 (some of Part B time was used in Part A)

General Description

• Spectroscopic monitoring of a recurrent nova in the LMC: last 3 epochs.
   
  Observations should be performed in CLR sky and decent seeing (up to 1"). 
  
  Virtually 2 OB has to be executed at each epoch (DIC1=346+580 and DIC2=437+760).
   
  Please set PRESET=F when executing the DIC1 and DIC2 OB in a raw. 
  However, the target will be at airmass 1.65 at the beginning of the night at the
   
  end of April. Hence there will be little or no chance to execute the two epoch 6
   
  OBs in a raw, within airmass 2. 
  Hence, Epoch 6 OBs should/might be executed in 2 consecutive nights. 
    
  Each epoch has different exposure time, hence THE OBs MUST BE SELECTED
  AND EXECUTED  IN THE  RIGHT SEQUENCE (starting  with epoch4  OBs, and
  finishing with epoch6 OBs).
  
  The program  is a  time critical one:  please check the  time critical
  section for the  execution constraints and the optimal observing windows.

Waiver Requests

• Waivers were requested and approved for: 
  1) execution of two OB in a sequence (2 OBs per epoch) 
  2) OB execution longer than 1 hr. All the 3 epochs of part B of the program have
   execution time exceeding the 1 hr execution time.

Critical Observing Condition Constraints

• Constraints are relatively relaxed. But it is important to have CLR sky
   as we need to combine the 4 spectra and determine the continuum splope. 
  Seeing should be no worst of 1" just for SN issue (the nova is fading).  
  
  Note that, as the relative flux calibration of the object is critical to our project,
   I am  providing OBs for a spechphot standard to be executed on the same night of
   the observations (of course in twilight).

Time-Critical Aspects

• The program aims ad monitoring the spectroscopic evolution of the nova
   
  during decline. Part B of the program is for the monitoring of the "late decline"
   
  possibly into the nova nebular phase. 
  
  Here is the suggested schedule: 
  
  PART A of the program:
  Epoch1: ASAP, possibly on Feb 12 --- DONE ON FEB 12 --- GREAT, THANK YOU
  Epoch2: ~ 1 week after epoch 1 -- Feb 16-23 --- DONE ON FEB 19 --- EXCELLENT, THANK
   YOU. 
  Epoch3: ~ 1 week after epoch 2 -- Feb 25-Mar 3 --- DONE on FEB 25 --- VERY GOOD,
   THANK YOU!
  
  PART B of the program: 
  Epoch4: ~ 2 weeks after epoch 3 -- Mar 10-20
  Epoch5: ~ 2-3 weeks after epoch 4 --  Mar 30-Apr 10
  Epoch6: ~ 3-4 weeks after epoch 5 -- second half of Arpil, possibly end of April
    
  
  Any missed epoch,  should be executed at the  soonest. However, for no
  any reason  two epoch should  be executed on  the same night.  Best scheduling is
   if 
  any 2 epochs of part B of the program are be separated by at least 10-15 days (of
   course 
  two close epochs are better than no data). 
  
  Please do you best ... thanks.

Special Execution Requirements

• Please always execute the  DIC1 and DIC 2 OBs on the  same night in case
   of epoch 4 and 5 observations. Execute the two OB of epoch 6 on two consecutive
   nights (however should the seeing be very good, epoch 6 OBs can be executed on the
   same night no matter the >2 airmass). 
  
  Please take care of the time critical aspects. Use common sense or contact me
  in case  the suggested  schedule is no  longer valid/applicable  or in case of doubts.

Special Calibration Information

• A specphot standard should be executed during the same night a given epoch
   is observed. 
  As the specphot standard is not part of the calibration plan I am providing (as
   suggested) 
  my own OBs. 
  In particular, I am providing a selection of 3 standards: one visible at the beginning
   of the night (GD71), one visible about all night (GD108) and one for the second
   half of the night (Feige 67). At each epoch pick the one you prefer according to
   your observing schedule (I expect that USD will put the OBs back in the queue) I'll
   be happy with any of them.
  
  Of course there are 2 OBs per standard DIC1 and DIC2 with the same setup (but wider
   slit) than the target OBs. Please execute the same standard at each epoch: i.e.
   do not execute one standard for DIC1 and a different one for DIC2 on a given night.
   
  
  [note: visibilty will be different in a couple of months]

ToO Information

• this is not a ToO

ToO Activators List

• NA

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

• YES

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

• YES

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 specified the S/N ratio at given wavelength in the User Comments
 field of each OB?

• 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?

• N/A

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 ?

• YES

If you need secondary guiding, are there suitable objects within 30 arcsec
 from your target ?

• N/A