Finally photometric!
Quick and short :-)
After two bad weather nights, closing the telescope around 2:00 UT, the last night was almost totally photometric!! EEEEEEEEEE hehehehehe
Let's see the data!!
Now, going back to the guest house and later to the town! I'll come back wednesday to Germany and I'll be back on-line thursday.
Observing ...
First of all! This time the weather, even though not perfect, is allowing me to observe!!
I'm finishing the first night! The overheads are larger than I expected, and my expectations were already enlarged by the half night I was able to use the telescope in November right after the tropical storm. The overheads are mostly because it's not totally possible to use a script to make the dithering automatic, only if you need small dithering.
After 5 hours of flight on a LTU middle narrow seat, got to Santa Cruz at La Palma and rest! Rest of one and a half day to endure the 4 nights of observation. Yes, I'm out of shape for observing and too used to wake up early to cycling training.
First night is still going ... almost finishing ...35 minutes to twilight. Than flats, bias, saving data, since there's no night assistent I also have to park the telescope, fill the CCD and close everything ... :-))
Since there were too much learning on how the things work, there was no real work on something else, just started to re-write a proposal to more time here due to last year's storm.
Tomorrow more on the observation.
Everything ready!
All ready to the trip! Targets, charts, standards, planning, packing ...
Good! I'll be back on-line on saturday probably, and back home on wednesday!
Still another late post ... this is getting common ...
Another late post, gotta stop with it :-)
Yesterday was a simple day, some stuff to be solved in town for the trip of wednesday.
The rest of the day preparing the observation stuff (better targets, standards, charts, ...). Today it keeps going and I hope it doesn't take me until too late 'cos I gotta pack hehehehehehe
Short day!
Today was a short day! Gotta go to an early extra german class ...
New adjustment on the modelling and it is running. A lot to do on the weekend!!!!
Another very late post!
Another very late post from yesterday.
Simple day. Found out the the reply to the report should include a "updated" version of the whole project. So, I already have something to worry about on the weekend he he he and that the time scale for a final reply is very long, about the middle of the year ...
Basically cared about the analysis of the images from the LAICA run. No news yet.
Very late post from yesterday
Very late from yesterday.
New wavelet modelling on the images. I'm trying to find out a simpler way to get rid of the contribution from the bright stars. Let's see if it works.
Modelling also a new snapshot from simulations.
And finishing the reply to this report I've got.
Writing ...
Today was a "simple" day.
The modelling of the image I "repaired" yesterday didn't run because I did a small mistake. So the other filter was repaired using the same script. Let's see what comes out.
The whole day was spent with the reply to the report I got. Still not ready. I print it and at home I'll change the structure of the text, but mostly is ready. Tomorrow I'll discuss it a little bit with Bodo and send it.
Going on!
On the weekend I thought about what I should reply to the report, but didn't write. Would do that today, but it's late and I'm tired.
Also made the color figures, but didn't liked it. No dynamical range!
Today I checked the modelling of one of the groups I'm running to see if there's effects on the data and couldn't find any. But the modelling was affected by the CCD bleeding. So I spent most of the day "fixing" CCD bleeding. Now the modelling is running again.
We also had a longer than usual group meeting and some discussion with some of the students.
Not so good, not so bad!
Day spent, mostly talking to one of our students about his work and with Bodo's help to translate a report in german and how should we reply to that.
Yesterday night and today I tried to make the color figures ... didn't liked it. Anyone knows a nice way of doing it????
Now the modelling of the first set of new images is running, lets see what comes out of this.
Not so good results
Still recovering from yesterday.
Yesterday I combined the selected images and didn't like the result. No smooth flat sky ... today I "player" with the images, tried to select "the best" ones, of to change parameter of rejection. No significant changes ... bad, gotta live with it. Just makes me sad because it's data, and data it's not easy to get and because it was a lot of work applied on that.
I'll analise and see what comes out. Of course everything should reach my "standard of quality", otherwise -> TRASH
Tonight I'll try to make some color images with it and also I'll try to start the analysis of the new simulation of the OV_WAV. This paper GOTTA be ready by the end of the month (at least the part that concerns me).
Today astro-ph showed a paper about Intra Cluster Light from simulations. Gotta read that ASAP.
Bad day ... like in the song
Today was the day I should have stayed in bed!
Daniel Powter has a song called "Bad Day" that really talks about this!
Shifted and combined the images of the compact groups of the Laica run ... terrible results. Tomorrow gotta come back to the individual frames and see what is going on ... not really promissing. Besides that, trying to solve all the paperwork to go observe at La Palma in 2 weeks ...
Mosaics OK
Verified the mosaics, one by one, and they were all OK. Then the images were separated by compact group. Tomorrow the processing goes on.
Today was a day full of contacts, lots of mails sent to many people.
Also got some analysis on the wavelet analysis of the simulation snapshots. Definitely there's something wrong on the was I included a sky to the images and maybe on the way the mass is "passed" to light. Send those questions to the group that did the simulations. Gotta make it work, it's a nice tool for analysis of simulations.
Mosaic done!!
Today was mosaic day! Figure out a good way of rejoining the images and do it automatically. Now I have "whole" images again! But without quadrants.
Did a wavelet deconvolution of a couple of remosaiced images and couldn't find any residual of the quadrants. Good!
Tomorrow more good treatment! :-)
Flats over ... no fringing correction.
Flatfielded and checked the images. They are not perfect, but as good as it can get.
Tried the fringing correction, actually residual fringing because the ilumination flat had some patern. There's no fringing left, at least not in the limits of the images noise.
Now comes the part I'm still figuring out. Rejoining the parts of the CCDs.
In a "regular" mosaicing you can subtract the sky with something like SExtractor and just stick them together. I work with components that are a very small fraction of the sky light and any sky estimate would erase it ... I was thinking on measuring the diference level at the border and add it. Let's make some tests about it.
Flats ready!!
Finally the flats are ready. They are not perfect, but are the best I could do.
Tomorrow I'll flatfield the images (4 CCDs cut in 4 parts because of the read out, 2 filters and flats splited in groups because of the weather ...).
After flatfielding there comes the fringing correction, which SHOULD be simple and then, rejoin, with a new scaling, the for parts of each CCD. I still want to see how it will work!
Problem solved ... I guess so!
Late post!!!
Guess I solved the R band superflat problem. Gonna check everything today and I'll have all flatfielded! Then ... fringing correction!
Also had german class and slipped on the ice with the bike and went to the floor on the way to the class ... almost broke my arm, but I'm only sore.
