Observations Page Help

On this page, you define the observations that you wish to perform. This includes: the targets you wish to observe; the resources (frontend, backend) you will need; and when you wish the observations to be scheduled.

Observations are grouped together by session - a block of time which will be inserted into the telescope schedule.

The observations page is divided into two main panels. The left hand panel displays the proposed observations, as they are currently defined, in a tree structure. The right hand panel allows you to edit the observations. Selecting an item on the left configures the right-hand area as required.

Program Information

Selecting program information in the left-hand panel offers a choice of queue or classical observing mode. The GBT is not yet making this distinction, so the choice is currently irrelevant. The total requested time (which is the sum over all sessions) is also displayed, but is not editable.

Resources

Selecting resources on the left-hand panel allows you to specify what equipment you need to complete your observations. Currently, there is only one resource list for the whole proposal - so you should select every item you will need for all observations. The resources panel also allows you to select observing mode and switching scheme. More information is available on the resources help page.

Constraints

You may optionally add Constraints to your proposal to specify when, and under what conditions, the observations may be performed. Constraints may be global to the whole proposal (in which case they appear directly under the "Program Information" icon), or specified on a per-session basis. For more information on adding constraints, see the constraints help page.

If you do not add any scheduling constraints to your proposal, then your observations may be scheduled at any time during the semester consistent with the RA distribution of your target list. If you add a global scheduling constraint, this will apply by default to all sessions, but may be over-ridden on a per-session basis.

Sessions

A session consists of a set of targets, a total integration time for those targets, and an optional scheduling constraint. (The PST also allows you to add conditions constraints to your sessions. However, this information is not currently used during the scheduling process.)

Targets

To add targets to a session, click on the target icon on the left hand side. If targets have already been defined, the current target list will be displayed on the right hand side, and you may select or de-select these by clicking in the "selected" column. To select or de-select all targets in the list, click on the appropriate button at the bottom of the page. In addition, you may create new targets with the "new target" button. If you do so, the new target will be added to the global target list.

See additional help on:

Adding sessions and targets

Resources

Constraints