******************************************************** ** ** ** IIII NNN NN GGGGG ** ** II NNNN NN GG GG LA PALMA ** ** II NN NN NN GG ** ** II NN NN NN GG GGG INFORMATION ** ** II NN NNNN GG GG ** ** IIII NN NNN GGGGG BULLETIN ** ** ** ** ** ** DATE: 1 June 1996 ** ** NUMBER: 10 ** ** ** ******************************************************** >>>>> MUSICOS ON THE INT <<<<< Nic Walton At the end of April 1996, a fibre fed spectrograph (MUSICOS) has been successfully commissioned. This has a resolution of some 25,000. The spectrograph is located off the INT observing floor in a temperature stabilised room. MUSICOS has been developed by a team led by Bernard Foing of ESA-ESTEC. Further details can be found on the ING WWW page at http://ing.iac.es/newdevs/musicos.html. >>>>> DEVELOPMENTS AT THE INT <<<<< Nic Walton A number of exciting new developments are nearing completion on the INT. Full details will be presented in the September 1996 issue of Spectrum, and also on the ING web pages. However I will briefly give a description of the projects and expected commissioning dates. * First up is the new Sparc based INT DAS. Commissioning started May 7 1996. The main benefit to users is the significantly improved readout times of the CCD, one minute for the TEK compared to 3 minutes under the old system (full frame readout in QUICK mode). * June 1996 sees the installation of a flat field screen in the INT dome, useful for those day time flats. * October will see the implementation of a new CCD autoguider at the INT Cassegrain focus. This will be a similar device to that planned for the new INT Prime Focus camera. Limiting magnitude gains of at least two magnitudes will be achieved compared with the present Image Dissector Scanner based autoguider. It is expected that closed loop tracking performance will be improved. * November will bring the move of the Cassegrain A&G controls for the Perkin Elmer (PE) Instrument Control Computer (ICS) to a Sparc system. The final port of the Cassegrain IDS ICS to a Sparc will occur towards the beginning of semester 97A. * The Prime Focus camera will be commissioned in January 1997. This camera will consist of 4 2048*2048 thinned Loral CCD's having a pixel size of 15um (corresponding to 0.37 arcsec) at the INT PF. A fifth Loral will function as the autoguider. Fuller technical details will be made available on the ING and RGO web servers shortly. It is expected that this camera will be available for use in Semester 97A on a shared risks basis - a final decision will be announced in August 1996. * The last upgrade will be that of the Telescope Control System (TCS). This is being ported from a PE to a VAX alpha machine, commissioning foreseen for February 1997. This TCS will give imporved functionality, and the same system will enventually run on the JKT and WHT as well. In total these upgrades will significantly enhance the scientific effectiveness of the INT. If any prospective user requires further information of the status of these upgrades, or further technical details they are welcome to contact me, Nic Walton, naw@ing.iac.es. >>>>> PEOPLES PHOTOMETER AND IPCS-2 RETIRED <<<<< Rene' Rutten The Peoples Photometer on the JKT, and the IPCS-2 detector on the WHT will not be offered anymore as common-user instruments from the start of next semester 96B (1 Aug. 1996) onwards. >>>>> REAL-TIME DISPLAY ON THE WHT <<<<< Rene' Rutten A new Sparc real-time CCD display software package has been commissioned on the WHT. It's main functionality is to automatically copy data from the Data Memory System into the Sparc, and to display that data while the CCD is being read out. This display tool is integrated with IRAF so that the newly arriving data is immediately available for assessment. >>>>> NEW HIGH-SPEED CCD READOUT MODE <<<<< Rene' Rutten The data acquisition system on the WHT has been upgraded and is now capable if taking data at high-speed, allowing exposure times as short as 0.7 seconds with typical dead times of 0.3 seconds, depending on details of the setup such as readout speed and readout window. Currently this readout mode is still in an experimental state, but we expect to have it fully commissioned and offered as a common-user mode on the WHT within the next few months. This mode has been primarily designed for high-speed spectroscopy with ISIS and has been successfully used by an observing team headed by Keith Horne. Some 20000 spectra of the well-known X-ray source Sco-X1 were obtained in 4 nights. The fast exposure capability is obtained by quickly shifting the charge on the exposed area of the CCD down towards the readout register. During the second exposure the charge of the previous exposure is kept on the CCD until, after several exposures, it reaches the readout register and is digitized and stored on disk. A mask in the focal plane ensures that only the science window on the CCD is exposed to light. This is known as the "drift" mode. The result of a drift mode exposure is a single, large file which contains many (hundreds !) of individual spectra. Further development of this mode will allow high-speed work with multiple windows, and will show a higher level of integration with the existing CCD controler software. We envisage that a similar readout mode will be implemented on the INT and JKT in the future. For more details contact Rene' Rutten: rgmr@ing.iac.es >>>>> WHO-IS-WHO FOR INSTRUMENT RESPONSIBILITIES ON SITE <<<<< Contact the following persons if you have queries about specific instruments (usernames@ing.iac.es are given in brackets): WHT - Chris Benn (CRB) / Vik Dhillon (VSD) INT - Nic Walton (NAW) / Phil Rudd (PJR) JKT - Phil Rudd (PJR) / Rene' Rutten (RGMR) Imaging - David Sprayberry (DSPRAY) / Phil Rudd (PJR) WHT prime - David Sprayberry (DSPRAY) INT prime - David Sprayberry (DSPRAY) ISIS/FOS2 - Rene' Rutten (RGMR) / Vik Dhillon (VSD) AUTOFIB - Don Pollacco (DLP) / Rene' Rutten (RGMR) WYFFOS - Don Pollacco (DLP) / Rene' Rutten (RGMR) UES - Nic Walton (NAW) TAURUS - Nic Walton (NAW) LDSS - Mike Breare (BREARE) / Rene' Rutten (RGMR) IDS/FOS1 - Don Pollacco (DLP) / Phil Rudd (PJR) RBS - Phil Rudd (PJR) WHIRCAM - Chris Benn (CRB) GHRIL - Vik Dhillon (VSD) >>>>> SERVICE NIGHTS COMING UP <<<<< The following service/discretionary nights are scheduled for semester 96A: WHT === Jun 4 UES (half night) Jun 5 UES Jun 24 TAURUS/UES Jul 2-4 ISIS/UES (half nights) Jul 8 ISIS/UES Jul 19 ISIS/UES Jul 23 ISIS/UES INT === Jun 9 IDS Jun 20 IDS Jun 21-24 PF Jul 1 IDS Jul 9 IDS Jul 12 IDS Jul 16 IDS Jul 24 IDS JKT === Jun 4 CCD Jun 25 PP Jul 31 CCD To apply for service time: 1) Use the html fill-in form on the World-Wide Web at: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/%7Elpinfo/service/service_form.html 2) By emailing the text form to service@ing.iac.es >>>>> NEXT PATT APPLICATION DEADLINE <<<<< September 30, 1996 for Semester 97A between Feb. 1 and Jul. 31, 1997. NOTE: for Dutch applications, according to the latest information, the deadline will be September 15, 1996. March 31, 1997 for Semester 97B between Aug. 1 1997 and Feb. 1 1997. NOTE: for Dutch applications the deadline is March 15, 1997. >>>>> CONTACTING La Palma <<<<< La Palma can best be reached through INTERNET address: user@ING.IAC.ES ============================================================================== This information bulletin was prepared at the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes. Distribution is by e-mail only. For free subscriptions send your Internet address to: >>>>>>>>>>>>> BULLETIN@ING.IAC.ES <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Suggestions regarding content are appreciated. ==============================================================================