hydra.asutexas.edu

 


 


 




 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why has my target not been observed yet?

    This is usually attributable to one of four reasons:

    1. Your project is not very feasible. See Project Feasibility.
    2. Your priority is not high enough and other targets with higher priority are accessible at the same sidereal times as are yours. Historically targets with priority 2 were observed in the middle of the trimester and priority 2 in the last month of the trimester. With HPF utilizing the majority of night time hours from 2019 onward, this trend has somewhat reversed, with some groups submitting only priority 2 and 3 targets at the beginning of the trimester and waiting to use their priority 1 time until the end of the trimester.
    3. Your Phase II observing condition constraints are relatively severe and are not commonly attained. Take a look at a few night reports at roughly the UT time when your targets are accessible. Compare the observing conditions present with your Phase II specified conditions. You can review the observing constraints of any active target in your program tab on Hydra by clicking on that target.
    4. Your targets are competing for the same sidereal time slots with a large number of other equally high priority targets. You are encouraged to reach out to the RAs for help and advice on this.

  • Why does my target have less S/N than I expected?

    There are several possible explanations:

    1. Did you use the latest S/N estimate? Make sure that you used the latest estimates and that the wavelength you use is the same as in the estimate.
    2. Did the conditions in the night report match what you requested in your Phase II or in your S/N estimate?
    3. Was the target observed near the center of the track? See the filling factor estimator or download a code, called checkfill, to check the filling factor in your actual observation.




    Last updated: Fri, 29 Dec 2023 11:27:34 +0000 stevenj



Phase III

Phase III Information for New Users

HPF quick-look

How to Retrieve Data

World Coordinate System for HET frames

Finding Calibration Files

Updates to Your Target List

Data Rejection Policy

FAQs

Data Reduction Tips

Filling Factor Estimator