Annual Instrument Updates
The Support Astronomers
W. M. Keck Observatory
2010 February 24
photo © B. Schaefer
ESI
Greg Wirth
ESI Current Status
 Good news
 ESI working well overall
 Mechanical stages AOK
 MAGIQ software now on ESI
 Bad news
 Motor controller software can
no longer be compiled from
source
ESI Usage
Semester
Nights
2008A
16
2008B
5
2009A
4
2009B
3 (+1 eng)
2010A
7
3
ESI Integral Field Unit (IFU)
ESIESI
Echellette
Spectrum
IFU Spectrum
4.0”
 Delivered and tested in
1994
5.7”
 target acquisition
problematic
 Commissioning
completed 2010-Jan-17
 target acquisition solved
 Now released for use
 Documentation
underway
4
DEIMOS
Greg Wirth
DEIMOS Current Status
 DEIMOS continues to perform well overall;
no major problems
 Signal dropouts on CCD1 became a problem
 Traced faults to bad cable; now fixed
 Concerns:
 Grating tilt stages show occasional
unrepeatability; possible mechanical problem with
encoder mount
 Slitmask system generates metal “dust” in focal
plane requiring regular cleanup; no easy fix
6
DEIMOS Mask in Focal Plane
7
DEIMOS Slitmask Debris
8
DEIMOS Future Priorities
 Replace rotator control host
 Concern about obsolescence of Linux box
 Upgrade instrument control host
 New hardware
 Rebuild software for greater maintainability
 Revamp DEIMOS web pages
9
DEIMOS/LRIS Slitmask
Milling
10
Slitmask Mill
Spindle
Table
11
DEIMOS/LRIS Slitmask
Milling
 Slit quality remains uneven
 Summit staff are improving operation:
 Using new tool for more accurate depth
calibration
 Doubling tabletop thickness for better
stability and flatness
 Increasing vacuum for better suction
 Implementing regular mill PM program
12
NIRSPEC
Jim Lyke
NIRSPEC
 Extended AO capability
 Replaced Br- filter with AO pupil stop
 Access to KL, M-wide filters behind AO
 SCAM reading all 4 quadrants
 Since September 2009 service
 Server Crashes
 One crash every four nights
 20 min average per crash
14
NIRSPEC Service
 UCLA fabricated pupil
 I. McLean, G. Brims, J.
Canfield, T. Aliado
 Access port allowed in
situ swap
 Smooth service
 Servicing team
 G. Hill, M. Wagner, A.
Agliam, J. Lyke (I.
McLean by phone)
15
NIRSPEC AO
 AO pupils are aligned
 Easily switch between the two filter wheels
 Software
 New scripts
 EFS updated (no change for observers)
 XNIRSPEC needs updating
 Test data look good
 Mars methane measurements coming in early
April.
16
NIRSPEC SCAM
 Wires found pressed
against radiation
shield
 Consultation with PI,
Ian McLean
 Carefully relocated
wires
 Four good quadrants
since September
Dewar tape
SCAM wires
17
NIRSPEC Server Crashes
 Causes
 Fiber degradation
 OTDR inspection shows marginal performance
 Cleaning generally helps
 Connectors sensitive to alignment
 XNIRSPEC blocks server
 Server unresponsive
 Exiting XNIRSPEC “cures” crash
18
NIRSPEC Server Crashes
 Mitigation
 Fiber degradation
 Optimizing fiber assignment
 More frequent cleaning
 Improve tech training
 XNIRSPEC blocks server
 Update “recover” script
19
OSIRIS
Jim Lyke
OSIRIS
 Fourth service successful
 Temperatures nominal
 Detector temps stable
 Good image quality
 Previous three services
 Replaced cold head
 Fixed image motion with scale change
 Calibration updates
 Wavelength calibration as function of temperature
 Rectification matrix improvements
21
OSIRIS Temps
Current
Last Year
22
OSIRIS Near Future
 Move to K1 planned for late 2010B
 DRP v2.3 coming




Fewer RecMat spikes
Wavelength solution as function of T
New AO dichroic
Lots of work by Shelley Wright and James
Larkin
23
OSIRIS Upgrades?
 Grating
 ~30% efficient
 Possible to double this in J-band
 Detector/Electronics
Read-noise
Dark current
OSIRIS
10 e–
0.056 e–/s
MOSFIRE
4 e–
unmeasured
 AO bench temps 5–7 K above telescope
24
OSIRIS Upgrades
 Ha flux = 10–16 erg/cm2/s
 z = 2.3, FWHM = 80 km/s
 2.16 mm
10
Current
9
Det Only
8
Signal-to-noise
 Simulations based
upon D. Law’s
IFsim_v2 code
 Emission line source
Grating Only
7
cool AO only
6
All
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
Exposure Time (sec)
25
4000
NIRC2
Al Conrad
Time Lost to Faults
(A good year for NIRC2)
• ~1 hour time lost in 74.5 nights
• Pointing Origin (April; 22 min.)
• Server Problem (May; 18 min.)
• Frozen GUI (July; 15 min.)
• < 0.2% of total time
Pump Repair
• February 2009: The
CCR system went off-line
for approx. 2 hours due to
a glycol system failure.
• This triggered the NIRC2
auto-pump mechanism:
• But the pump did not spin up.
• The system protected itself
perfectly (i.e., the pump-todewar valve solenoid was
never energized).
view from below
Pump Repair
• The pump was repaired and re-installed during spring 2009
• Pump system was tested end-to-end (5 x 10-8 millibars).
• The NIRC2 PI (Keith) was included during all critical steps.
• Annual testing of the system has been added to the PM
schedule.
Monitoring NIRC2 Throughput
NIRC2 Zero Points
No Seg Exch.
26.5
Kp Zero Points
New AO Dichroic
26.4
26.3
P
P
P
T
P
T
26.2
T
26.1
26.0
1-Jan2003
1-Jan2004
1-Jan2005
1-Jan2006
1-Jan2007
1-Jan2008
1-Jan2009
• ‘P’ are photometric standards.
• ‘T’ are LGSAO Tycho stars.
• Post-dichroic improvement is ~15% at Kp.
1-Jan2010
1-Jan2011
Service Mission
• Three critical components are required:
• An L-Filter: In hand.
• A Y-Filter: Being fabricated at Barr. Cost shared 50/50
between AO ops and external support (M. Liu).
• The Wollaston Prism: Procurement negotiations are
ongoing between UC and the vendor.
• We will schedule a time to install these components once
we know more about the expected arrival of the prism.
• We must factor into this decision Galactic Center season,
plans for the OSIRIS move to Keck 1, and the MOSFIRE
commissioning schedule.
• We are also consulting with the AOWG regarding the
potential impact of the delay.
LGSAO Differential Tracking
• Long exposures of Solar System objects, until recently, were only
possible with AO when observing on-axis (R < 15 for NGS; R < 18 for
LGS)
Nix and Hydra
For example, faint companions of Pluto can
be seen in this stack of images, totaling
3100s (Tholen).
• Following the recent commissioning of LGS differential tracking, faint
solar system objects passing near suitably bright guide stars (R < 18)
can now be searched for companions (Grundy/Roe, Dec. 2009)
• When bright moons or passing stars are available, this mode can be
used in regimes with high scattered light (e.g., near Jupiter or Mars)
LGSAO Differential Tracking Example
Two images of the Kuiper Belt triple system 1999 TC36. The ~2 day
orbital motion of the two, barely resolved inner components can be seen
in these images separated by 3-1/2 hours. The faint outer component has
a 50 day period. These observations confirmed the orbital solution of the
inner pair.
HIRES
Scott Dahm
Current HIRES Demand
 HIRES use statistics:
 2009
 155 nights (135 HIRESr / 20 HIRESb)
 102 nights (66%) exoplanet searches
 2010 (Jan.–Jul.)
 82 nights (74 HIRESr / 8 HIRESb)
 68 nights (83%) exoplanet searches
 Kepler/CoRoT Followup
 2009: 24 nights
 2010 (Jan.- Jul): 22 nights
35
HIRES Update
 FTS scans of HIRES iodine cell completed at PNNL
and NIST in March 2009.
 Utility board problem reported to the SSC likely
resolved – no recurrence since March 2009
 Shutter replaced in September 2009 after indications
of failure
 Replacement shutter failed on second day of use
 3 spare shutters remaining
 Guider electronics box replaced in December 2009
 2 spares remaining
 MAGIQ camera upgrade
 Bias jumps: correlated with CCD electronics heat
36
exchanger fan.
HIRES Future Plans
 Improved exoplanet slit guiding algorithm being
developed by Keck software group.
 Development of HIRES fiber scrambler for PSF
stability
 Proposed by Marcy, Fischer & collaborators
 Two design concepts
 Optical breadboard located underneath the
echelle
 Rod lens assembly near the decker plate
 MAGIQ camera upgrade
 Recent donation received
 Possibly slated for installation during FY11.
38
LRIS
Marc Kassis
LRIS-MAGIQ Offset Guider
Commissioned
 Offset Guider
 FOV modest increase from
1.36’x1.0’ to 2.93’x2.93’
 Fixed optical system
 Photometric filters (BVRI)
 Old movable guider will be
removed in 2010A.
 Image quality element
testing
 Focus calibrations complete
 Tip-Tilt calibrations ongoing
 MIRA vs. IQM with observer
permission
Movable
guider
FOV
Offset guider image of M99: BVR, 20s
40
Red Upgrade completed









Upgraded LRIS Red in June 2009
Wrote data reduction routines
Modified focusing software
Modified and improved slitmask alignment software.
Updated script library
Implemented electronics temperature regulation
Characterized performance
Revised most LRIS web documentation
Immediately released for observer use
Upgrade was nearly seamless to observers
41
Minor Problems
 Blue side data slightly noisier following repair
of a video board
 Capacitors replaced by Bob Leach
 Pursuing solutions as time permits
 Red side noise resulting from temperature
changes in external controller electronics
 UCSC isolated noise to a clock driver board
 Acquired new boards
 Temperature regulating hardware will be removed
42
L
LRIS Red CCDs
CCD 1-13
 Data smearing
 Limped through
September &
October runs
R
CCD 1-12
L
R
 Determine
problem was
internal to
dewar
Sept 2009
43
L
 Shipped to
UCSC for repair
CCD 1-13
LRIS Red CCDs
 Recovered 1-12
Left with
reduced
performance
R
CCD 1-12
L
R
 Full FOV
possible with 1
amp (left)
readouts
Nov 2009
Sept 2009
44
L
LRIS Red CCDs
R
CCD 1-12
L
R
CCD 1-13
 1-12 L
went bad
Dec 2009
Sept 2009
 Science
limited to
CCD 1-13
45
Jan 2010
L
CCD 1-12
R
 1-13 L went
bad
 Correlated
faults with
power cycling
R
CCD 1-13
L
LRIS Red CCDs
Dec 2009
Sept 2009
 Temperature
excursions
below -150
degrees C
may be the
cause
46
LRIS Red Repairs
 Implemented continuous power mode for LRIS
 New software keeps CCD temperature at or above -150 C
 Rewrote LRIS/telescope installation procedures
 Added automatic power transfer switch & breakout box
 Software modifications to handle one amp readouts
 DS9
 XPOSE
 XFOCUS
 Observers receiving updates via
 Nine news updates
 E-mails sent to observers with upcoming runs
 Observatory Newsletter article
47
LRIS Red CCDs Stabilized
 Two Amp Mode
 Long slit mode
 Performance of 1-13 R
unchanged since commissioning
One Amp R Mode
CCD 1-13
Linear
Gain = 1
RN = 3.5 e-
CCD 1-12
Non-Linear
Gain = 1.3
RN > 17 e-
48
Minor Planned Upgrades
 New Slitmask frames tested 22 Jan
 Astrometry analysis completed 18 Feb
 Release for use in March
 LRIS Calibration Lamps
 Will follow removal of old movable guider
 DEIMOS-style slitmask alignment
 More efficient alignments
 Differential flexure data acquired 22 Jan
49
NIRC
Marc Kassis
NIRC
 NIRC’s Last Ride—2010 Jan 30
 P.I. Soifer
 Matthews observing




Cooling fan died (lost 1 science night)
Warmed to ambient temps
Backfilled with dry nitrogen
Will not be scheduled in 2010B
51
Interferometer
Sam Ragland
Presentation sequence
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction
Science highlights
What is new?
KI performance summary
ASTRA status update
53
1. Introduction
 Keck Interferometer provides milliarcsecond angular resolution through
fringe contrast measurements
 12 observing runs in 2009 – 19 science
nights
 NASA key science program completed in
Jan/09
 Demonstrated good reliability of the
instrument (~ 90% uptime); lost ~ ¼ to
bad weather
 NSF-funded ASTRA project in process of
delivering new capabilities
K1 in
K2 in
Beam combiners
Fast delay lines
Switchyard
Long delay lines
54
2. Science Highlights (slide 1 of 2)
 7 refereed publications since start of 2009
 Spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of 15
young stars in the K-band (Eisner et al. 2009)
 Detect hot hydrogen gas through Br  emission line
 Observations suggest the presence of water vapor and CO gas
in the inner disk of several objects
 Interferometric evidence for resolved warm dust in the
DQ Tau system (Boden et al. 2009)
 Suggests the IR excess from this PMS binary system is
distributed on the physical scale of the binary orbit (0.1-0.2 AU)
 First L-band observations of a YSO disk (Ragland et al.
2009)
 Studied the temperature structures of the inner disks a Herbig
AeBe star though simultaneous K & L measurements
 Press release in Dec 2009: http://www.keckobskeck_telescopes_take_deeper_look_at_planetary_nurseries;
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/keck-life-zone.html
55
2. Science Highlights (slide 2 of 2)
 51 Oph: A possible Beta Pictoris analog measured with
the Keck Interferometer Nuller (Stark et al. 2009)
 A two component model: inner disk of blackbody grains and
outer disk of small grains was essential to explain the observed
KI measurements in conjunction with VLTI-MIDI & Spitzer
observations
 Exploring the inner region of type 1 AGNs with the KI
(Kishimoto et al. 2009)
 Four Type I AGNs – thanks to the recent angle tracking
improvement; these observations partially resolved the dust
sublimation region
 Press release in Dec 2009:
http://keckobservatorkeck_observatorys_interferometer_takes_closer_look_at_supermassive_black_ho/
 Transitional Disks with KI (Pott et al. 2010)
 Rule out binary companions within specific parameter range
56
3. What is new? (Slide 1 of 3)
 Completed operational transition of the ASTRA Self-phase
referencing (SPR) mode and offered as a fully operational
science instrument for semester 2010B
 Spectral resolution of ~ 1700 in K-band for K’ < 7
Science
beam
Beam
splitters
Primary
FT
Primary FDL
FB
• Fast Servo
• Closed loop feed-back
• Open loop feed-forward
FF
Secondary
FT
Secondary FDL
FB
• Slow Servo
• Limited feed-back
• Long integration times
• High Spectral Resolution
57
3. What is new? (Slide 2 of 3)
 Offering ASTRA Dual-field Phase Referencing (DFPR) mode
for shared-risk science in 2010B
 Measurements up to K ~ 12 when suitable nearby reference star is
available
Bright
reference
beam
FB
New sub-systems
Field
Tip/tilt
Separators
Metrology
Faint
science
beam
Primary
FT
Primary FDL
• Fast Servo
• Closed loop feed-back
• Open loop feed-forward
FF
Secondary
FT
Secondary FDL
FB
• Slow Servo
• Limited feed-back
• Long integration times
• Fainter magnitude limits
58
3. What is new? (Slide 3 of 3)
 Validated V2 observations in ASTRA-DSM configuration
 Easy reconfiguration between modes
 Enables split observing with ASTRA and standard V2
instruments on the same night
 Upgraded to a SMC-based sequencers for easy
maintenance
 Performed a performance validation test for H-band
visibility mode
 Validated science with newly implemented AO/IF
dichroic
 Worked on L-band instrument to improve operational
efficiency
59
4. KI performance summary
•
V2 Science modes
•
Nuller Science mode
•
Adaptive optics and Angle tracking limits
•
•
•
•
•
•
K5/H4 sensitivities: K’ < 10.3; H < 9
K42 sensitivity: K’ < 7.6
K330 (R ~ 1700) sensitivity: K’ < 7
L-band sensitivity: L < 6
K/L split pupil mode: K’ < 8.7 & L < 4.8
DFPR mode: K < 12.3 for when bright reference star (K < 8)
within 5-15”; K < 11.3 for 15-25” field
•
N-band flux > 1.7 Jy
•
•
AO sensitivity: R < 12
KAT sensitivity: J/H < 10.5 ( H < 9 for SPR & H < 13 for DFPR)
KI is the most sensitive IR interferometer by over 2
60
(operational modes) to 4 (shared-risk modes) magnitudes
5. ASTRA status update - J. Woillez
Dual field phase referencing
“Improving the limiting magnitude of the interferometer to K>14”
• First fringes on a bright target pair obtained on Dec 29.
• In process of completing the DFPR subsystems (dual field
subsystem after AO & tip/tilt metrology)
• 1.5 engineering nights to complete commissioning (March &
April) with July night as backup
Astrometry “Known exoplanets and galactic center ”
• Astrometry review on Oct 29, 2009
• Currently developing the astrometry subsystems:
astrometric metrology + transverse internal baseline monitor
• First astrometric tests starting in July 2010
61
• Qualification campaign through 10B
AO Operations
Randy Campbell
62
Recent Changes
 Operating Model
 1 spotter mode with Night Attendant
 G10-T safety standards committee met at Keck




No laser coordinator
OAs fully trained on LGSAO operations
Primary SA reduced hours
No need for additional secondary SA
 Laser/satellite keep out cone reduced
from 0.5° to 0.1° (Keck II only)
63
LGSAO Metrics
Hours
64
LGSAO Lost Time Metrics
Hours
65
Things We’re Working On
 Frequent Faults:
 Laser Pointing
 Supervisory Control, SC, offloading
 Efficiency
 Mauna Kea Laser Operations Group, MLOG
 NSF and DoD representatives to visit Keck
and Gemini to review impact of LCH.
 Blanket closures, ToO coordination.
 Future aircraft safety solutions
 K1LGS support
66
Keck Observatory Archive
Hien Tran
KOA Status
 Extracted spectra for single-chip legacy data released August
2009
 NIRSPEC data release agreement signed
 All NIRSPEC PIs notified
 Simple User Interface released
 Access data for a given night or target
 Special protection of HIRES data taken in support of Kepler
 2302 nights of HIRES data (236,154 files) ingested
 63% of the data are publicly released
 Over 140,000 queries (~4 TB downloads) since public
opening July 2006
 Three refereed papers
68
KOA Future Plans
 NIRSPEC data released spring 2010
 Directors’ review March/April 2010
 Extracted spectra for NIRSPEC data
 Visualization tool for extracted spectra
 PI-specific user interface; interface for
selecting officials (SOs)
69
Mainland Observing
Greg Wirth
Mainland Observing Sites:
Old
Old Sites
Caltech #1
LBNL
UCB #1
UCB #2
UCD
UCI
Old Sites
UCLA
UCR
UCSB
UCSC
UCSD
71
Mainland Observing Sites:
New
Old Sites
Caltech #1
LBNL
UCB #1
UCB #2
UCD
UCI
Old Sites
UCLA
UCR
UCSB
UCSC
UCSD
New Sites
Caltech #2
Swinburne
72
Mainland Observing Sites:
Future
Old Sites
Caltech #1
LBNL
UCB #1
UCB #2
UCD
UCI
Old Sites
UCLA
UCR
UCSB
UCSC
UCSD
New Sites
Caltech #2
Swinburne
Future Sites
Yale
NOAO Tucson
73
Mainland Observing Sites:
Mainland-only Mode
Old Sites
Caltech #1
LBNL
UCB #1
UCB #2
UCD
UCI
Old Sites
UCLA
UCR
UCSB
UCSC
UCSD
New Sites
Caltech #2
Swinburne
Future Sites
Yale
NOAO Tucson
Sites supporting
“mainland-only” mode
74
Mainland Observing Sites:
External Use Allowed
Old Sites
Caltech #1
LBNL
UCB #1
UCB #2
UCD
UCI
Old Sites
UCLA
UCR
UCSB
UCSC
UCSD
New Sites
Caltech #2
Swinburne
Future Sites
Yale
NOAO Tucson
Sites allowing external
observers
75
76
Instrument PM* Project
Grant Hill
* Preventive Maintenance
* Predictive Maintenance
* Performance Monitoring
Instrument PM Project
Since last report:
 Project provided good earned value to the observatory in FY09 and is
continuing through FY10.
 To date:
 Database of PMs created and ingesting task information.
 Scheduling software automatically generating work orders.
 Wide variety of PMs being developed, documented and
performed
 Several Web-based interface GUIs written and in regular use.
 Many problems found and most addressed.
 Effort to script some tasks of particular interest to observers is
now underway.
79
80
Instrument Throughput
The Support Astronomer Group
General Notes
 Use existing data or procedures when
possible.
 Minimize impact to science observing.
 In all case, we need to identify
photometric nights. (SkyProbe)
 LGS-AO: leverage use of laser
alignment stars (OSIRIS, NIRC2,
NIRSPAO)
82
Throughput Monitoring Summary
Instrument
DEIMOS
LRIS
Source
List of five
spectroscopic
standards
Bandpass
3900–10,000 Å
3200–10,000 Å
ESI
3900–10,000 Å
HIRES
4000–8000 Å
NIRC2
Tycho stars used for
LGS-AO checkout
OSIRIS
NIRSPEC
Kp
Notes
When standard gratings are installed,
by observer’s choice.
Echelle, 6-arcsec slit.
Planet hunter nights and setup
Every LGS-AO night
Kn3
Flux standards or
2MASS stars
any
Use extracted data from KOA (once
available); no extra on-sky time
needed
83
DEIMOS Throughput GUI
Suggests a star
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Single button data-taking
Single button analysis
84
Next Steps
 Finish commissioning DEIMOS throughput
acquisition tool.
 Implement tool on LRIS.
 NIRC2, OSIRIS, HIRES:
 Write data-taking scripts
 Write data-analysis scripts
 Determine magnitudes of LGS-AO checkout stars
 NIRSPEC
 Write and test KOA queries.
 Write analysis software
 All: integrate into IPM
85