Mopra Schedule File Creator: On-the-Fly (OTF) Map V6.0

Project:
Observer Initials:
MOPS Configuration:
Open graphical frequency editor
Central Frequency:  MHz
MOPS Zoom Band 1:   Enter up to four numbers, separated by a comma. (e.g. -37,-43,-51). Use the graphical frequency editor to determine the zoom window numbers.
MOPS Zoom Band 2:
MOPS Zoom Band 3:
MOPS Zoom Band 4:
Doppler Tracking: enabled    disabled
LEAVE DISABLED, unless you know what you are doing!
Radial Velocity: km/s    Frame: LSR    Barycentric
Do not enter unless you know what you are doing. It is recommended you correct for doppler shifts by entering the source's radial velocity in the graphical frequency editor.
Cycle time: s (always use 2.048 seconds ) *
Coordinate system:   B1950  J2000     Galactic
Source Name:
Source Position:RA/GLon:     Dec/GLat: 
Reference (OFF) Position Type : absolute position
Reference (OFF) Position Value: (absolute coordinates separated by a space)
Map width: arcmin (only square maps supported at this time)
Scanning direction: RA/GLONG     DEC/GLAT
Starting Point: north-west     north-east     south-east     south-west
Number of scanning rows per OFF: 2     1
Tsys (paddle) measurements every: min (enter "0" for 12- and 7-mm band observations)   
Nyquist Frequency (optional): MHz
Time spent on OFF scans (optional):s
Spacing between rows (optional):arcsec
Beam Size (optional):arcsec
Proper motion of the source(optional): arcsec/hour

To refresh the screen using the default entries, press SHIFT and click the 'reload' button simultaneously.

Note that this schedule file creator assumes a cycle time of 2s.

This output should be saved on your local computer (.sch) and then uploaded to the Mopra control computer bigrock.


Project

The project number assigned to your proposal.

Example: M007

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Observer

Initials or short name of the observer(s).

Example: ZOZ

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MOPS configuration

Select a MOPS configuration from the menu. MOPS refers to the Mopra Spectrometer, the new polyphase digital filterbank. MOPS is now the standard mode. MOPS can operate in wideband mode (8.2 GHz bandwidth) or zoom mode (137.5 MHz bandwidth). There is an option for the wideband mode to observe with only 1024 channels and therefore reduce the size of the data files. This third option is rarely used.

Example: MOPS zoom

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Central Frequency

Enter the centre frequency of the 8 GHz covered by MOPS. If Doppler tracking is enabled, the frequency here will be interpreted as the rest frequency of the observed line. If Doppler tracking is disabled the frequency here would be the actual observing frequency (sky frequency).

Make sure your frequency is within these limits:

Example: 92900

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MOPS Zoom Band values

For MOPS zoom mode use the mops_vis.pl script available on pyroclast to determine which values to enter into the 4 spectral windows of each band. For unused windows leave blank.

Example: 33,44,51,56

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Doppler Tracking

Enable/disable Doppler tracking. Note that this only adjusts the centre frequency, it does NOT continuously track the Doppler shift during an observation. For observing with MOPS it is recommended that Doppler tracking be disabled.

Example: disabled

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Radial Velocity

The radial velocity of your source. Also choose the reference frame, LSR (local standard of rest) or barycentric. The radial velocity information provided here will be ignored if Doppler tracking is disabled.

* Note: If Doppler tracking is disabled (recommended for MOPS) and no radio velocity is specified (also recommended) then you must adjust your sky frequency to account for the velocity of both the source (LSR or barycentric) and the velocity of the observatory relative to the rest frame. An online tool is available Frequency Calculator to calculate this adjustment.

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Cycle time

The number of seconds per integration cycle. Use 2 seconds for mops zoom and broadband observations, and 2.048 seconds for fast mapping observations. * CHECK WITH SUPPORT STAFF BEFORE CHANGING THIS OPTION.

Coordinate system

The coordinate system of your coordinates. You may choose between equatorial (J2000 or B1950) or Galactic coordinates.

Example: J2000

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Source Name

Specify the name of your source here. If left blank the source name defaults to "source".

Example: Orion

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Source Position

Please provide the source coordinates in the specified coordinate system here. This determines the centre of the on-the-fly map. Please take care of the format: Equatorial, RA: hh:mm:ss DEC: dd:mm:ss, Galactic GLON: ddd.xxxxx GLAT: dd.xxxxx.

Example: RA: 23:41:32  DEC: -82:43:09

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Reference (OFF) Position Type

You may choose only absolute positioning for the reference position.

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Reference (OFF) Position Value

The position of the reference integration (2 values separated by a comma). Please take care of the format: Equatorial, RA: hh:mm:ss DEC: dd:mm:ss, Galactic GLON: ddd.xxxxx GLAT: dd.xxxxx.

Example 1:  12:33:15.3, -72:54:04.8   
Example 2:  366.4988, -54.0000   
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Map Width

The size of the map in arcmin. Only square maps are supported at this stage. The maps always have an odd number of rows so that one row passes through the map centre. Consequently the final map width may vary from what you specified here.

Example: 5

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Scanning direction

Scanning direction of the map. You may choose to perform your map along RA/GLONG (i.e. horizontal direction) or along DEC/GLAT (vertical direction). Scanning at arbitrary angles is currently not supported.

Example: RA/GLON

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Starting point

Starting point of the map. Values may be the north-eastern, north-western, south-eastern, or south-western corner.

Example: north-east

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Number of scanning rows per OFF

Number of OTF rows before returning to the OFF position. You may choose 1 row for large maps (say more than 2 arcmin in size) and 2 for small maps.

Example: 1

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Tsys (paddle) measurements

For observing at 3-mm only. Approximate time in minutes between Tsys measurements, i.e., ambient load calibration using the paddle. The true intervals between the Tsys measurements may slightly vary from the input due to other constraints of the schedule.

* For observing at 7- and 12-mm no Tsys measurement is required. In this case enter "0" for the time interval. This will ensure no Tsys measurements are entered into the output schedule file.

Example: 15

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Nyquist Frequency:

This frequency value (in MHz) is used to calculate the Nyquist sampling rate for the scanning. Default is the value given in Observing Frequency.

Example: 88000

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Time spent on OFF scans:

Time spent on OFF scans in seconds. Default is calculated from the time spent on each row. Please seek advice from support staff if you require no reference scans.

Example: 120

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Spacing between rows:

Spacing in arcsec betwen rows (orthogonal to the scanning direction). Default is calculated from the Nyquist frequency using an extra 0.9 oversampling factor and a 2" guard band to mitigate against tracking errors.

Example: 40

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Beam Size

Beam size in arcsec (FWHM). Default is calculated from the Nyquist/Observing frequency with a Nyquist sampling rate (lambda/2D, where D=22 m). This value is then used to determine the scanrate.

Example: 40

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Proper Motion

(Note: This option has not been tested.)Proper motion of the source, in arcsec/hour in the directions of specified coordinate system (RA/Dec or GLON/GLAT). Two values separated by white space. Default is zero. Note: Proper motion tracing is inexact and based on an estimate of how time passes during the map. The map centre is updated at the beginning of each scan. You should give as the map centre the position of the source at the start of the map. Coordinates and proper motions of the planets are available on JPL's HORIZONS website.

Example: 10.2 -3.5

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Original: Balthasar Indermuehle (10-OCT-2009)
Modified: Balthasar Indermuehle (14-OCT-2009)