HET Beginning-Trimester Report
Third Period of 2003
August 1 - November 30

This report is composed of five sections:
Instrument Status

In this section we will discuss the status of each instrument and any limitation to configurations that occurred during the period.


Expected Observing Conditions

Here is a histogram from the last period.

For comparison here is the image quality for the period last year.

We expect to have a similar overhead to last period. The following overhead statistics include slew, setup, readout and refocus between exposures (if there are multiple exposures per visit). In the summary page for each program the average setup time is calculated. The table below gives the average setup time for each instrument PER VISIT and the average and maximum PROPOSED science exposures and visit lengths.

Instrument Avg Overhead (min) Median Overhead (min) Avg Exposure (sec)Median Exposure (sec)Max Exposure (sec)Avg Visit (sec)Median Visit (sec)Max Visit (sec)
LRS 15.9 (from last period) 15.0 (from last period) 379.7 600 2700 1036.26004800
HRS 14.3 (from last period) 10.9 (from last period) 613.9 1200 3000 1017.512005720

The overhead statistics can be shortened by multiple setups (each one counted as a separate visit) while on the same target as is the case for planet search programs. The overhead statistics can be lengthened by having multiple tracks that add up to a single htopx visit as can happen for very long tracks where each attempt might only yield a half visit.

A way to improve the overhead accumulated for programs with long exposure times is to add double the above overhead to the requested visit length and make sure that time is shorter than the actual track length. This avoids the RA having to split requested visits between several different tracks.


Observing Programs Status

The following links give the summary for each institution and its programs. The resulting table will give (for each program) the total number of targets in the queue and the number completed, the CCD shutter open hours, average overhead for that program, and the TAC allocated time. This usually will be the best metric for judging completeness but there are times when a PI will tell us that a target is "done" before the total number of visits is complete.


Institution Status

This is how each institution has allocated its time by priority.

Time Allocation by Institution (hours)
Institution Priority 0 Priority 1 Priority 2Priority 3 Priority 4
PSU 6.000 (9%) 14.520 (22%) 20.570 (31%) 16.460 (25%) 8.800 (13%)
UT 11.500 (6%) 38.000 (21%) 49.000 (27%) 36.500 (20%) 45.000 (25%)
Stanford 0.000 4.000 (33%) 4.000 (33%) 2.000 (17%) 2.000(17%)
Munich 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Goetting 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
NOAO 0.000 41.370 (54%) 29.510 (39%) 6.000(8%) 0.000
SALT 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
DDT 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000


Future Priorities

The following are the high priority targets for the rest of the period for each institution:

UT03-3
RankProgram Constraints
1 UT03-3-001 HRS, Synoptic, EE50 < 2.0, Vsky > 20.3
2 UT03-3-007 LRS G3, EE50 < 2.3, Vsky > 20.0

PSU03-3
RankProgramConstraints
1 PSU03-3-003 LRS G2, EE50 < 5, Vsky > 20.2
2 PSU03-3-036 LRS G1, EE50 < 2.0, Vsky > 20.5
3 PSU03-3-031 LRS G3, coordinated observation, EE50 < 2.5, Vsky > 20.0

STA03-3
RankProgramConstraints
1 STA03-3-001 J0205+1444, J2049+1003 LRS G1, EE50 < 1.5, Vsky > 20.0

MUN03-3
RankProgramConstraints
1 MUN03-3-001 WESP213 HRS, Synoptic, EE50 < 2.0, Vsky > 20.5

G03-3
RankProgramConstraints
1 No programs None



The following is a histogram of the current HET queue visits for the rest of the period.

The following histogram shows some of the extrema in observing conditions: good seeing dark time, bright time and bad seeing dark time. There will be a problem later in the trimester with a lack of bright time targets.

  • Future IC and Engineering:
    The current plan is to do 5% IC, 50% Engineering and 45% Science during the remainder of this trimester.

    TAC Response