General Parameters |
| Sequence Number | : (seq_nbr) Sequence # of the particular
observation |
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| Status | : (status) Status of observation |
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| ObsID# | : (obsid) ID # used in ObsCat
database |
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| Proposal Number | :
(proposal_number) Proposal Number |
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| Proposal Title | :
(proposal_title) Title of proposal |
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| Target Name | : (targname) Normal name for the
target |
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| SI Mode | : This code is used by the CXC in command generation to select the appropriate
instrument configuration commands from the
controlled Operations Data Base in order to configure the
observation as is specified below. Observers do not generally need to
use this parameter. |
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| Instrument | : (instrument) Specifies which detector will be on the optical axis
during the observation. The choices are: ACIS-S,
ACIS-I, HRC-S or HRC-I |
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| Grating | : (grating) Specifies which grating to use. Grating options are
NONE, HETG, and LETG. The default is NONE which
specifies no grating (direct imaging) |
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| Type | : (type) Type of Observation.
Choices are GO, GTO, TOO or CAL |
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| PI Name | : (PI_name) Last name of Principal
Investigator |
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| Exposure Time | :
(approved_exposure_time) Exposure time for target |
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| Remaining Exposure Time | :
(rem_exp_time) The remaining time which still must be scheduled on this
target to give the Observer the approved_exposure_time. It is computed dynamically based on
the mission planning and data analysis processes. |
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| RA | : (ra) The Right Ascension of the source in mandatory J2000
coordinate system. The standard format is HH MM
SS.S - hours, minutes, seconds, separated by
spaces |
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| DEC | : (dec) The declination of the source in mandatory J2000
coordinate system. The standard format is +/-DD MM
SS.S - sign, degrees, arcminutes, arcseconds,
separated by spaces |
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| l2 | : Galactic longitude |
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| b2 | : Galactic latitude |
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Constraints |
| Y | : (y_det_offset) Y detector offset. Value is angle in arcmin
measured from the aim point. Overall valid range is
-50.0 to +50.0 |
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| Z | : (z_det_offset) Z detector offset. Value is angle in arcmin
measured from the aim point. Overall valid range is
-50.0 to +50.0 |
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| Z-Sim | : (trans_offset)
Translation offset on the SIM, in the Z direction, in mm.
|
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| Sim-Focus | : (focus_offset)
Focus offset on the SIM, in mm.
|
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| Focus | : (defocus) A number determining
how far in mm the focal plane will be moved toward or away from the mirrors;
user did not set in RPS for Cycle 1 |
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| Raster Scan | : (raster_scan) Y/N flag
indicating whether the observation will be a raster scan |
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| Dither | : (dither_flag) A number indicating
how much dither will be used in the observation; determined by Mission
Planning |
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| Solar System Object | :
(ss_obj_flag) Y/N
flag indicating whether target is a solar system object |
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| Object | : (ss_object) Name of the solar
system object. 'Null' if previous flag is set to 'N' |
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| Photometry | : (photometry_flag) Y/N flag which
indicates whether observor wants optical monitor data for the target |
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| V Mag | : (vmagnitude) V Magnitude of the
target if optical monitor data is selected |
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| Count Rate | : (est_cnt_rate) Count rate in
counts/sec |
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| 1st Order Rate | : (forder_cnt_rate) First order
count rate in counts/sec for ACIS-S+grating and HRC-S+grating observations |
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| Roll Angle | : (roll) The spacecraft
roll angle is the angle between celestial north and the spacecraft +Z
axis projected on the sky. Measured in degrees |
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| Roll Angle Tolerance | :
(roll_tolerance) Tolerance on the Roll Angle |
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| Temporal Window | : (phase_constraint_flag) Y/N flag indicating
whether a time window is required for the observation |
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| Start | : (tstart) Date and time to start
time critical observation |
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| Stop | : (tstop) Date and time to end time
critical observation |
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| Phase Constraint | :
(phase_constraint_flag) Y/N flag indicating
whether the observation is to be spread over a number of intervals
with a fixed interval between them and a given reference date |
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| Epoch | : (phase_epoch) For Phase Dependent observations, the reference date
(MJD). The observations will be made at an integral
number of Periods from this date |
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| Period | : (phase_period) Period in days between phase
dependent observations |
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| Min | : (phase_start) Minimum orbital phase to be observed. Values must
be between 0 and 1 |
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| Min Err | : (phase_start_margin) Error on the minimum orbital phase. This parameter
sets how precisely the phase range will be
covered. Values must be between 0 and 0.5 |
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| Max | : (phase_end) Maximum orbital phase to be observed. Values must
be between 0 and 1 |
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| Max Err | : (phase_end_margin) Error on the maximum orbital phase. This parameter
sets how precisely the phase range will be
covered. Values must be between 0 and 0.5 |
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| Min Int | : (pre_min_lead) Monitoring
Observation: The minimum
interval between monitoring observations. Units are days |
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| Max Int | : (pre_max_lead) Monitoring
Observation: The maximum
interval between monitoring observations. Units are days |
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| Follows ObsID# | : (pre_id)
Gives the ObsId # in which this observation follows. Default is NULL |
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| Remarks | : Any relevant
observor remarks regarding the target |
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HRC Parameters |
| HRC Configuration | : (hrc_config) Options: "NORMAL", "HESF",
"LESF", "CHOP", but the chop option was removed from
cycle 1 so there should be none of these |
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| Zero Block | : (hrc_zero_block) Logical value indicating zero-order blocking. The
default is 'N'. The spectrum's zero order may be
blocked if desired |
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ACIS Parameters |
| ACIS Exposure Mode | : (exp_mode) The exposure mode for ACIS for which two choices are
possible: Timed Exposure (TE) or Continuous Clocking
(CC). The default is TE |
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| Event TM Format | : (bep_pack) Event Telemetry Format: Event Telemetry Format
controls the packing of the data into the telemetry
stream. The choices are Faint(TE,CC), Very
Faint(TE), Faint+Bias(TE), and Graded(TE,CC). The
default value is Faint |
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| Frame Time | : (frame_time)
Same as Subarray Frame Time |
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| Standard Chips | : (standard_chips) Logical value indicating that the standard ACIS
chips should be used. The default is 'N'. A 'Y'
answer will activate the 6 standard ACIS
chips. NOTE: beginning in Cycle 8, this flag is no longer applicable as a "standard" chip set is no longer defined. |
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| NOTE: beginning in Cycle 8, temperature constraints may necessitate turning off ACIS chips in order to lower the operating temperature. However, the number of chips, if any, cannot be determined ahead of time. Therefore, the desgination 01 through 05 indicates in which order the observer prefers that chips be turned off if necessary, with 01 being the first chip turned off. |
| I0 | : (ccdi0_on) ACIS chip I0 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| I1 | : (ccdi1_on) ACIS chip I1 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| I2 | : (ccdi2_on) ACIS chip I2 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| I3 | : (ccdi3_on) ACIS chip I3 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| S0 | : (ccds0_on) ACIS chip S0 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| S1 | : (ccds1_on) ACIS chip S1 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| S2 | : (ccds2_on) ACIS chip S2 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| S3 | : (ccds3_on) ACIS chip S3 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| S4 | : (ccds4_on) ACIS chip S4 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| S5 | : (ccds5_on) ACIS chip S5 Y/N/01/02/03/04/05? |
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| Subarray Type | : (subarray) Choices are: None, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and
Custom. A subarray is a reduced region of the CCDs
(all of the CCDs that are turned on) that will be
read. A reduced region may also help to reduce the
effects of pulse pile-up. The first box indicates
whether the proposer intends to use the subarray
capability. The default is 'None'. Note that the
minimum Frame Time depends on the size and location
of the subarray |
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| Start | : (subarray_start_row) Subarray: The starting row that will be read for
processing custom subarrays. Valid range is 0 -
895 |
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| Rows | : (subarray_row_count) Subarray: The number of rows that will be read for
processing custom subarrays. A minimum of 128 rows
is required if multiple ACIS chips are selected. A
minimum of 100 rows is required if a single ACIS chip is
selected. Valid range is 100 - 1023 |
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| Frame Time | : (subarray_frame_time) Subarray - Frame Time: The Frame Time is the
fundamental unit of exposure for ACIS. It ranges
from 0.2 to 10.0 seconds. The higher time
resolution is achieved by reading fewer rows of the
CCD. The minimum frame time of 0.2 sec corresponds
to reading a subarray of 128 rows. The maximum time
of 3.2 sec corresponds to reading all 1024 rows. Any value
from 0.2 to 3.2 sec is possible by adjusting the
number of rows to be read. The number of rows to be
read and the Subarray Frame Time should be
equivalent; the two values will be compared to see
that they are. The equation for calculating the
Frame Time from the number of rows to be read is
included in the Proposer's Guide (ACIS chapter) |
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| Duty Cycle | : (duty_cycle) Alternating Exposure Readout: Logical value
indicating use of alternating exposure readout. The
default is 'N'. Alternating Exposure Readout
observation sets the number of SECONDARY exposures
that will follow each primary exposure. If n = 0,
only primary exposures are used. The recommended
value for n is 2. A deadtime will result from the
short exposure since the electronics still require
3.2 sec to process the full frame. Therefore, to
minimize the deadtime, the number of short exposures
should be kept to a minimum |
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| Number | : (secondary_exp_count) Alternating Exposure Readout: The number of
secondary exposures that will follow each primary
exposure. If n = 0, only primary exposures are
used. Read the ACIS chapter of the Proposer's Guide
for an estimate of the efficiency. Valid range is
0 - 15. The recommended value is 2 |
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| Tprimary | : (primary_exp_time) Alternating Exposure Readout: Exposure Time for
Primary Cycle: The primary exposure time in tenths
of seconds. The recommended time for a non-zero
number of secondary exposures is 0.3 |
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| Tsecondary | : (secondary_exp_time) Alternating Exposure Readout : Exposure Time for
Secondary Cycle: The secondary exposure time in
tenths of seconds. The recommended time for a
non-zero number of secondary exposures is
3.2 |
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| Onchip Summing | : (onchip_sum) Logical value indicating on-chip
summation. The default value is 'N'. On-chip
summation can be used to reduce the number of items
per CCD readout. The spatial resolution is degraded
as is the event splitting information. Currently,
only 2x summation is supported |
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| Rows | : (onchip_row_count) # of rows for On-Chip Summing.
Values are (1, 2) |
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| Columns | : (onchip_column_count) # of columns for On-Chip Summing. Values are
(1, 2) |
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| Event Threshold | : (event_threshold) Event Threshhold: Not set for Cycle 1 |
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| Threshold | : (threshold_pha) Not set for Cycle
1 |
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| Event Filter | : (eventfilter) This logical value indicates that the
user wishes to filter every candidate event before
packing into the telemetry stream. The filter
applies to all of the active CCDs. The use of an
event filter does NOT affect pulse pileup, but only
reduces the telemetry. The default value is
'N' |
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| Lower | : (eventfilter_lower) Event Filter: Lower Event Threshold: The value of
the threshold that will be applied. Units are keV.
Valid range is 0.0 - 10 |
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| Range | : (eventfilter_higher) Event Filter: Event Filter Range: The range of the
event amplitude in energy channels. Valid value is
a single entry within the range of 0.1 -
15 |
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| Window Filter | : (spwindow) This set of parameters allows the
user to filter the data to reduce the telemetry
load. The use of a Spatial Window does NOT affect
the reading of the CCD, so there will be no impact
on pulse pile-up. Spatial windows do reduce the
telemetry by selecting photons to insert into the
telemetry stream. Spatial Windows can either INclude
all of the photons in the defined region or EXclude
all of the photons in the defined region. Choices
are: No, INclude window, EXclude window. The
default value is 'No' |
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| Start Row | : (spwindow_start_row) Spatial Window: Starting row: The starting row that
will be read. Valid range is 0 - 895 |
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| Start Column | : (spwindow_start_column) Spatial Window: Starting column: The starting column
that will be read. Valid range is 0 - 895 |
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| Height | : (spwindow_height) Spatial Window: Height of Window: The number of rows
of the window that will be read. Valid range is
128 - 1023 |
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| Width | : (spwindow_width) Spatial Window: Width of Window: The number of
columns of the window that will be read. Valid
range is 128 - 1023 |
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| Lower Energy | : (spwindow_lower_threshold) Spatial Window: Lower Threshold: The value for the
lower discrimination threshold. Units are keV.
Valid range is 0.0 - 10 |
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| Energy Range | : (spwindow_pha_range) Spatial Window: Energy Range for Window: The value
for the energy range. Units are keV. Valid value
is a single entry within the range of 0.0 - 10 |
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| Sample Rate | : (spwindow_sample) Spatial Window: Sampling Rate: The value for the
window readout rate. Valid range is 1 - 512. A
value of '1' indicates that every event will be
read. A value of '2' means that every 2nd event wil
be read, etc. |
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| Bias | : (bias_request) To request a bias different from normal. Not
allowed for Cycle 1 |
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| Frequency | : (frequency) Designates how often to check the bias. Not allowed
for Cycle 1 |
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| After | : (bias_after) The algorithm used for checking the bias. Not
allowed for Cycle 1 |
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