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defineobs

defineobs is a GUI application for creating or modifying observation definition files.

USAGEdefineobs [observset]
INPUTobservset.obsdef is an existing observation definition file
OUTPUTobservset.obsdef a new observation definition file
PARAMETERSnone


Details:

defineobs may be invoked with the name of an existing observation definition file, if one is to be modified, or with no filename. A GUI window is opened:

defineobs gui

The "Mask", "Dewar Offset File", "Grating Order", and "Grating Angle" boxes take typed input. "N&S" is an on-off button. The other boxes display menu selection when the left mouse button is clicked. The entries should be filled-in or modified from the top down: the choices for "Camera" depend on the setting for "Instrument", and the grating parameters depend on the settings for "Camera" and "Mode". If saving a file with the same name as an existing observation definition file, the existing file filename.obsdef is moved to filename.obsdef% before writing the new file.


We have recently updated defineobs to allow the user to edit an additional parameter, labeled as the "Disperser Misalignment," which will be written as "D_ALIGNROT" in the obsdef file. D_ALIGNROT is the change of the ALIGNROT parameter in degrees, which is defined in the opticdef.dat for each grism. This parameter can be used to correct for rotations of a grism with respect to the CCD. It is mostly needed in LDSS3 data where the instrument can shift slightly, but it can also apply to IMACS data (see Step 3 in the Cookbook).


As of Cosmos 2.18, the user is no longer prompted for the observation date, and the "Camera" drop-down menu contains more options for each dewar used at both cameras. Below are tables to help you determine which camera you should select based on the date your observations were taken.

f/2 (Short camera)
Date Choose
date < August 2005 f/2 Mosaic1 (SITE)
August 2005 < date < March 2008 f/2 Mosaic1 (SITE2)
date > March 2008 f/2 Mosaic2 (E2V)

f/4 (Long camera)
Date Choose
date < September 2011 f/4 Mosaic1
date > September 2011 f/4 Mosaic3

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