Override Programmes

IMPORTANT:
As a consequence of the WHT and INT upgrades, the Override Programme is not offered.

Before proposing an override programme, please visit the applying for telescope time web pages and this definition of target of opportunity. If your programme has been allocated time, then please follow the instructions below for triggering:

Trigger information

1. For override teams
2. For observers at the telescope
3. Allocations
4. Conflict resolution

Step 1: CHECK

Before triggering, find your programme in the override-allocations table below and check:

• Which programmes you can override and which instruments you can use, by checking the allocations table below and what is scheduled for the night on the ING schedules. Please note that combined programmes are shown in the schedules separared with "/". In those cases, check the first programme listed, e.g. 'N15/P29' means that N15 is the programme that should be checked against the allocations table as being the owner of the time.

  Please note that ACAM is always available to overrides when observing at Cassegrain or Nasmyth, and not necessarily it is scheduled (ie. whenever prime-focus instruments are not scheduled).

  Overrides which require a switch of focal station from that scheduled are permitted, but changes to the configuration of a specific instrument (e.g. filter-wheel content, dichroic or grating changes) may only be made with the permission of the observer affected and only if qualified ING staff are available to make such a change, and a observer is trained. Please note that some changes, for instance, from GRACE to ACAM, might be longer than others (~10-15 minutes), given the particular instrument setups, and any resulting overheads will be charged to the overriden time.

• The observations done so far of your programme and the limits for the semester.
• The visibility of your targets (sky brightness, moon distance, airmass, telescope limits).
• Triggers only last one night, i.e. if it was cloudy the previous night, then the observers won't requeue the observations on the following night, and if the trigger is still active, resubmission is necessary.

Step 2: PHONE

The Override Team must make phone contact with the observers prior to execution of the observations in order to obtain an email address where to send the request and find out about the instrument setups and modes currently available. This phone call will establish precedence in the event of more programmes being activated that night.

Contact	Phone
WHT Control Room	+34 922 425 452
INT Control Room	+34 922 425 409

If the phone numbers above are unavailable, please phone the Residencia (+34 922 405 500) and ask for the relevant control room; or call the OSA mobile phone (+34 616 97 45 13), available only from 19:30 (summer) or 18:30 (winter) until sunrise every night.

Step 3: TRIGGER

Overrides can only be triggered by a member of an Override Team (see the allocations table below for nominated members).

Email the override request template to the observer and to triggering.iac.es. This will automatically forward the communication to the Observing Support Assistants (OSAs), Support Astronomers (SAs) and Override Programme Manager. If bounced, then please fax the request to WHT's control room: +34 922 425 448 and let the observers know.

We recommend triggers are emailed as soon as possible. Our email template allows specifying the night when observations are requested. Delaying a trigger can result in unnecesary time losses and inconvenience when setting up for the night, while an early trigger helps planning the night better.

Step 1: CHECK

Look for the triggering programme in the allocations table below and check the following:

• Whether the observers' programme can be overridden, can be overridden only at the observers' discretion or cannot be overridden at all.
• The maximum allowed duration of the override, including the overheads.
• That the observing plan was correctly received from the Override Team, it is clear and it can be carried out. In particular check that the requested instrument modes and setups are feasible and can be used with little impact on the observing plan for the night.

Please acknowledge the triggering email from the Override Team replying to the sender and all the copied recipients (including triggering.iac.es), and proceed to the next step if everything is fine. The email address triggering.iac.es will reach every member of the ING's Astronomy Group Please do not use triggering.iac.es for discussions on the observing details unless necessary.

If anything is not clear (instrument setups, number of overrides allowed per night), check the conflict resolution rules below and contact the Override Team as soon as possible. Copy messages to the Override Manager at overrideing.iac.es.

Step 2: OBSERVE

Please observe at the earliest opportunity on the timescale requested by the Override Team. For example, prompt reaction to rapid-response GRB programmes is important and target acquisition should commence immediately on receipt of the alert if so requested by the GRB team. For other GRB triggers target acquisition should commence no later than thirty minutes after the phone request, unless a more relaxed observation timeline is confirmed by the GRB team.

Non-ACAM observers undertaking an ACAM override should seek advice from the OSA about how to configure and use the instrument, and if the Override Team submitted a specific ACAM observing sequence, then proceed to execute.

Step 3: REPORT

Whether the attempt has been successful or not, always and immediately submit the Override Report below right after obtaining the data. The same report can be edited and resubmitted later with any remaining calibration frames, for instance, but the immediate submission of the report is critical for communicating the results, sending the data to the override team and taking any further observing decisions. This report is also essential for recording the override programme's used time and triggers.

Override Report

Only if the above form is not available (the form is only available at the ING intranet) or the file upload failed, then follow these alternative instructions:

The data should be copied promptly to the appropriate directory in the anonymous ftp area. For example, as user whtguest (replace wht by int below for INT observers) on any public linux PC (for instance, WHTDRPC1 or INTDRPC1):

Then the data can be retrieved from the ING ftp server as follows:

user> ftp ftp.ing.iac.es (login as anonymous, password your email address)
ftp> cd whtguest/20110801
ftp> bin
ftp> prompt
ftp> passive
ftp> mget *
ftp> bye

(The prompt and the passive commands should set the interactive and the transfer modes on respectively.

Or you can also browse the data as an anonymous user:

ftp://ftp.ing.iac.es/whtguest/20110801/

Please email the downloading instructions and their description promptly to the override team and to the Override Programme Manager (overrideing.iac.es). Delete the files once downloaded:

rm /obsdata/outgoing/whtguest/20110801/*

Step 4: FURTHER ACTIONS

The Spanish CAT time-allocation committee requests from the observers some other actions, please visit CAT override programmes.