Help for OBS_LIST

PURPOSE:
To create an ascii observing list for input to the Palomar Test Bed 
Interferometer sequencer.

USAGE:
First run obs_cat a number of times to obtain a list of potential objects.
Then concatenate the list together omitting the time stamp header from all but
the first record.
Then run obs_list to order them in an observing list. 

You may specify the time to begin observations four ways:

1. If you default the date & time it will create a sequence beginning "now" and 
   extending until sunrise.

2. You can  specify the local date and time via parameter LOCDATE.

3. You can  specify the UT (GMT) date and time via parameter UTDATE.

4. You can just specify the sidereal time without a date via parameter LST.
   If you start it at some local sidereal time it has no date so it will 
   create a timeline of about 24 hours in which the sun is always below 
   the horizon.

EXECUTION:
obs_cat out=pti_catalogue.ascii name="Betelgeuse" password="    "
obs_list inp=pti_catalogue.ascii out=(pti_list.ascii,pti_timeline.ascii)

THE ALGORITHM:
Obs_list creates a timeline consisting of discreet bins of about 7 minutes each.
The length of time for each bin corresponds to the shortest observing time
for any target input including it's calibrators. The bins extend from the
start time (now or the specified time from the LOCDATE keyword or UTDATE 
keyword) until sunrise. 
Each timeline bin contains the local sidereal time, the sun zenith angle and which
target can be seen from the interferometer for each time bin. This computation
includes a solar ephemeris and a baseline limitation. Once this is known
the program loops through the targets in order of priority to
find sequences of empty time bins into which each target and it's calibrators
(together) can be observed. 

There are two strategies for assigning targets to time bins.
Strategy 1:
Targets are assigned to time bins such that the hour angle of the observation 
is minimized. This places targets towards the center of their observing
windows. This strategy is used if the requested spacing between observations is
greater than zero. 
Strategy 2:
Targets are assigned to time bins such that the separation between 
observations is maximized. This places targets at the very edges of their
observing windows. This strategy is used if the requested spacing between 
observations is zero.
You may mix the two strategies.

Many passes are made through the targets until no further matches can be made,
ie: all the bins are occupied. A last pass is made setting the "repeat"
interval to 1 in order to squeeze single observations into any remaining 
short sequences of empty bins.

OUTPUT FILES:
There are four output files. Two of them are specified on the vicar command
line and the third is created locally under the name sky_locus.dat and the 
fourth locally under the name status_file.txt. The STATUS keyword can
redirect these files to another directory.

The first output file is input to the sequencer.
Record 1 contains times when the program was run.
Record 2 contains the ut time of the first observation.
It consists of time stamped repeats of targets with their calibrators.
The time stamps are:
first     local sidereal time hh:mm:ss
second    coordinated universal time hh:mm:ss
third     Local time (hh:mm:ss)

The second output file lists the timeline as discreet bins with the columns:
1. LST (local sidereal time hh:mm:ss).
2. UTC (coordinated universal time hh:mm:ss).
3. Local time (hh:mm:ss).
4. Sunzen (solar zenith angle in degrees).
5. The target assigned to this time bin. A blank means no assignment possible.
   + means the start of an observation.
   - means the continuation of an observation.
6-n. The names (if any) of all the targets which are visible.

The third output file contains three columns which define the region within
which the interferometer can see on the sky. Column 1 is the declination
in degrees and columns 2 and 3 contain the left and right most limits of
the field of view in hour angle (hours) for this declination.
This file is created locally or at the directory specified by the STATUS keyword
Note: This file depends upon the selected baseline. If you override the
baselines in the input file using the BASENAME keyword then this baseline
will be used throughout. If you don't override it then you'll get whatever
baseline was last used in the program if there are different baselines 
specified for different objects in the input file.

The fourth output file contains the status of the job.

Example of output file 1.

# UTC= "Fri May  8 16:17:11 1998"  Local= "Fri May  8 09:17:11 1998" GMT=1998128161711   Obs_list_version=1
# UT_start=1998002014729
# LST=10:35:11 UTC=03:25:10 Local=20:25:10
# Target HIP57632 known as Denebola is a  PulsV*delSct
# owner=lorre mode=ssm priority=1 repeats=2 spacing=0 time=50 baseline=ns
#  HD          RA(2000.0) dec(2000.0)  pmRA    pmDEC   V    K   SpTyp  Separ Paral  Angle O C Flag  Simbad
 HIP57632     11 49 03.58 +14 34 19.4  -0.499  -0.114  2.1  1.9 A3Vvar  0.00 90.16  1.674 p 01 - -  PulsV*delSct
 HIP57606     11 48 38.71 +14 17 03.2  -0.103  +0.005  5.9  5.2 F0V     0.30 13.48  0.169 c 02 C A  **
 HIP57821     11 51 24.72 +11 48 18.6  -0.221  +0.002  7.1  5.9 F6V     2.83 18.59  0.208 c 02 C B  PM*
# LST=10:58:41 UTC=03:48:40 Local=20:48:40
# Target HIP57632 known as Denebola is a  PulsV*delSct
# owner=lorre mode=ssm priority=1 repeats=2 spacing=0 time=50 baseline=ns
#  HD          RA(2000.0) dec(2000.0)  pmRA    pmDEC   V    K   SpTyp  Separ Paral  Angle O C Flag  Simbad
 HIP57632     11 49 03.58 +14 34 19.4  -0.499  -0.114  2.1  1.9 A3Vvar  0.00 90.16  1.674 p 01 - -  PulsV*delSct
 HIP57606     11 48 38.71 +14 17 03.2  -0.103  +0.005  5.9  5.2 F0V     0.30 13.48  0.169 c 02 C A  **
 HIP57821     11 51 24.72 +11 48 18.6  -0.221  +0.002  7.1  5.9 F6V     2.83 18.59  0.208 c 02 C B  PM*
# LST=11:22:11 UTC=04:12:10 Local=21:12:10
# Target HIP57632 known as Denebola is a  PulsV*delSct
# owner=lorre mode=ssm priority=1 repeats=2 spacing=0 time=50 baseline=ns
#  HD          RA(2000.0) dec(2000.0)  pmRA    pmDEC   V    K   SpTyp  Separ Paral  Angle O C Flag  Simbad
 HIP57632     11 49 03.58 +14 34 19.4  -0.499  -0.114  2.1  1.9 A3Vvar  0.00 90.16  1.674 p 01 - -  PulsV*delSct
 HIP57606     11 48 38.71 +14 17 03.2  -0.103  +0.005  5.9  5.2 F0V     0.30 13.48  0.169 c 02 C A  **
 HIP57821     11 51 24.72 +11 48 18.6  -0.221  +0.002  7.1  5.9 F6V     2.83 18.59  0.208 c 02 C B  PM*

Example of a fragment of output file 2.

  LST      UTC      Local  Sunzen   target visible_targets
15:09:21 07:59:20 00:59:20 130 -Alphecca Izar Alphecca 
15:17:11 08:07:10 01:07:10 130 +Izar Izar Alphecca 
15:25:01 08:14:60 01:14:60 129 -Izar Izar Alphecca 
15:32:51 08:22:50 01:22:50 129 +Izar Izar Alphecca 
15:40:41 08:30:40 01:30:40 129 -Izar Izar Alphecca 
15:48:31 08:38:30 01:38:30 128 +Alphecca Izar Alphecca 
15:56:21 08:46:20 01:46:20 128 -Alphecca Izar Alphecca 
16:04:11 08:54:10 01:54:10 127 -Alphecca Izar Alphecca 
16:12:01 09:01:60 02:01:60 127           Izar Alphecca 
16:19:51 09:09:50 02:09:50 126 +Izar Izar Alphecca 
16:27:41 09:17:40 02:17:40 125 -Izar Izar Alphecca 
16:35:31 09:25:30 02:25:30 125           Izar Alphecca 


Example of a fragment of output file 3 "sky_locus.dat":

Dec 18.000000 HA_limits -2.333333 2.400000
Dec 17.000000 HA_limits -2.266667 2.333333
Dec 16.000000 HA_limits -2.200000 2.266667
Dec 15.000000 HA_limits -2.133333 2.200000
Dec 14.000000 HA_limits -2.133333 2.200000
Dec 13.000000 HA_limits -2.066667 2.133333

Examples of output file 4 "status_file.txt"

success

or

failure
Error opening output catalogue

HISTORY:
3-1-98  J Lorre. 
COGNIZANT PROGRAMMER:  Jean Lorre

PARAMETERS: