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NIFS Phase II (OT) Checklist

There is a general OT/Phase II checklist that is useful to consult. In addition, there is a NIRI page identifying a number of common OT errors most of which are not NIRI-specific. Here is the NIFS checklist for Phase II, of which most, but not all, are NIFS-specific. For more information on most of these questions, consult the Observing Strategies and OT Help pages (along with general instrument pages).

General

Have you included concise and informative notes in your OT file to aid the observer?
Have you prioritized all your observations?

Instrument configuration:

Did you choose appropriate grating and filter?
Did you choose an appropriate readout mode?
Are focal plane mask and imaging mirror set correctly (for normal observation, FPM='clear' and Mirror='out')?
Is position angle correctly defined?

Guide stars:

Choose only one guide star (the brightest in guider FOV) per wavefront sensor you are using.
Is selected guide star(s) brighter than the guiding limit (OI: K<14.5, P2: R<14.5, AO: R<14.5 mag)?
Is selected guide star(s) within the guide separation limit (OIWFS within 48", AOWFS within 25")?
Check selected guide star(s) are not vignetted by the WFS probe arm (e.g., P1 and P2WFS).

Calibrations:

Are the appropriate baseline calibrations (flat, arc, standard star) included in the phase II file and will they be sufficient? If not, have you included additional calibration data for your program?
Has sufficient observing time been requested for additional calibrations?
If your observation is long (> 2 hours), have you chosen appropriate telluric standards or calibration stars both before and after the science observation?

Observing time:

Are overheads included in the time requested in your proposal?
Have overheads been included for additional calibrations?
If many very short exposures are needed, you may need to include larger overheads to account for the lower observing efficiency.
If accurate centering of the target behind the occulting disk is essential, have appropriate overheads been included to allow periodic checks of the coronagraph centering?
If your observation is long (> 2hours), then it is recommend to break it up into smaller chunks for easier scheduling.

Observing conditions requested (for queue-scheduled observations):

Is the expected image quality (scaled to the airmass of your target) sufficient for your program? What is the minimum image quality necessary for the science?
What level of cloud cover is acceptable? Is photometric weather required?
Water vapor content is usually NOT relevant to NIFS observations.
Sky background in the near-IR doesn't vary greatly.
Note the product of the probabilities of each of the conditions listed above. You might wish to reconsider the minimum requirements of your program.

Acquisition Sequences:

Acquisition sequences are required for all coronagraphic observations and are recommended for other observations, too! Remember, NIFS FOV is small 3."0 x 3."0!

Example acquisition sequences can be found in the NIFS OT Library

Last update: February 2006; Inseok Song

Previous Version: November, 2005; Inseok Song & Tracy Beck