1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         10        11        12
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP dddddddddddd*tttt.tt nn vvvv b sss fff nn mm ppp tttt yyyy-mm-dd yyyy-mm-dd rrr mmm      bb dd tttt.tt hh:mm hh:mm aa

SSP

1-3

This fixed 3-character code specifies that the target is a solar-system object with a published ephemeris.

dddddddddddd

5-16

Target designation. The designation must match the official designation assigned by the MPC. The following are common examples:

Notes:

1. The target designation may be typed anywhere in the field, between columns 5 and 16.

2. Do not use asteroid names, e.g., "Ceres" or "Varuna".

3. Do not use packed designations for unnumbered asteroids or comets, e.g., K03R11U or CK03R010.

*

17

Tracking mode. If this field is left blank, the telescope will track at the sidereal rate while taking the requested exposures. If this field contains an asterisk (*), the telescope will track in right ascension and declination at the target's rates of motion at the scheduled observation time, as computed from the available ephemeris (for objects with a published ephemeris, it will be automatically retrieved from either the MPC's Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service or from the NEO Confirmation Page; for objects without a published ephemeris, the user must supply the ephemeris). This non-sidereal tracking feature is extremely useful to observe fast moving and/or faint targets, such as NEOs making close approaches to the Earth, since it eliminates trailing losses and maximizes the targets' signal-to-noise ratios.

tttt.tt

18-24

Exposure time. This must be between 0.50 seconds and 600.00 seconds.

nn

26-27

This is the requested number of exposures. If more than one exposure is requested, the request is interpreted as a single-night time series, where each exposure will have the same length, use the same filter, etc. One usually takes at least 3 images of a given minor solar system body in order to be able to detect it by blinking the resulting images. Targets near the Milky Way often require 4 or 5 images, since there is a high probability of the target being involved with a star on any individual frame. Minor planet or comet photometry would require longer time series.

Notes:

1. If you request up to 4 exposures, we will either schedule all of them or not schedule your exposures.

2. If you request more than 4 exposures, we will schedule as many exposures as we can up to the number you requested, but can't guarantee that it will be possible to schedule all of the exposures you requested. This is because the number of exposures which it is possible to take on a single-night time series varies with target position, time interval between exposures, exposure time, etc.

3. If you want many exposures of a given target but are not sure if it is actually possible to take that many exposures of the target at the specified exposure time and interval between exposures, you might request the number of exposures that you wish, or the maximum number you would be willing to pay for, and we will take as many exposures as we can, up to the number you requested.

vvvv

29-32

If you requested only one exposure, you may leave this field blank. If you requested more than one exposure, this field allows you to specify the time interval (in seconds) between exposures in the corresponding time series:

• If this value is 0 (zero), the time series will consist of exposures taken in direct succession (so that the interval between successive exposures will be approximately equal to the sum of exposure time plus camera download time).

• For positive integer values, this field specifies the number of seconds between exposures. The scheduler does its best to ensure that exposures are equally spaced. The scheduler is usually set to 15% tolerance, which means that the actual interval between exposures will be within +/-15% of the user-specified value. The variations in the interval between exposures arise because the scheduler may insert observations of other targets between two successive exposures belonging to your time series (remember, at Tenagra each user pays for his/her total exposure time, not for a contiguous block of telescope time; any idle telescope time between exposures belonging to your time series may be used to perform other observations, possibly requested by other users). These +/-15% variations in spacing between exposures should not affect the statistical significance of the time series results.

• If the value of this field is -1, the scheduler chooses the time interval between successive exposures of the target according to its rate of motion, so that it moves a few pixels between successive exposures; this is convenient for detection purposes, and also ensures that meaningful rates of motion in R.A. and Dec. can be estimated from measured astrometric positions of the target. As discussed above, the spacing between exposures can vary by +/-15% with respect to its optimal value.

Notes:

1. Note that if you specify a spacing which is smaller than the sum of exposure time plus camera download time for the specified resolution and frame size, it will be physically impossible to carry out your time series with the specified interval between images. If your desired time interval between exposures is small, you may wish to set the value of this field to zero so that the exposures will be taken in succession.

2. When you request more than 4 exposures, the time interval between some of the exposures belonging to your time series may be longer than the interval you specified in this field. This sometimes occurs when other observation requests are scheduled in the intervals between the images belonging to your time series.

b

34

Binning factor. The Tenagra II cameras are based on SITe 1024 X 1024 chips (pixel size = 24 micrometers). If the value of this field is 1, you will take unbinned (high resolution) pictures at a scale of 0.87"/pixel; if the value of this field is 2, you will take 2x2 binned (lower resolution) pictures at a scale of 1.74"/pixel. Tenagra III cameras are based on Kodak 4096  X 4096 chips (pixel size = 9 micrometers). If the value of this field is 1, you will take unbinned (high resolution) pictures at a scale of 1.23"/pixel; if the value of this field is 2, you will take 2x2 binned (lower resolution) pictures at a scale of 2.45 "/pixel.

For faster downloads, these file sizes can be decreased by about 50% using file compression. Please click here for more information about the available image compression options, and then contact us to choose the compression option which best suits your needs. 

sss

36-38

Frame size. You can use the full Tenagra II 14.8 X 14.8 arcminute field or choose the central 7.4 X 7.4 arcminute field on the CCD chip. Allowed values are 'FUL' (full field of view, 14.8 arc minutes) and 'CTR' (central 7.4 arc minute field of view). The size of a full field unbinned image (1024 x 1024 pixels) is about 2 MB; a full field, 2x2 binned image (512 x 512 pixels) is about 512 kbytes. If you use only the central 7.4 arcminute field, the file sizes decrease by a factor of 4, that is, an unbinned image (512 x 512 pixels) would be 512 kbytes and a 2x2 binned image (256 x 256 pixels) would be 128 kbytes.

On the Tenagra III telescope you can use the full 1.393 X 1.393 degree field or choose the central 41.8 X 41.8 arcminute field on the CCD chip using the same key words as described above.

For faster downloads, these file sizes can be decreased by about 50% using file compression. Please click here for more information about the available image compression options, and then contact us to choose the compression option which best suits your needs.

fff

40-42

This is the filter selection for the exposure. See this graph for in formation about Tenagra II UBVRI filters. Allowed values for the Tenagra II telescope are U, B, V, R, I, UNF (unfiltered), and HA (H-alpha). If the filter name is one or two charactes long, it can be typed anywhere in the field.

nn mm ppp

44-52

These 3 parameters serve to specify a mosaic search for an asteroid or comet whose ephemeris uncertainty is larger than the field of view (14.8 X 14.8 arc minutes) of the Tenagra II telescope. This is often the case when one tries to recover NEOs and other minor bodies observed at only one past opposition and/or over a very short arc. You can obtain estimates of ephemeris uncertainty from NEODyS (NEOs with published orbits), from the Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service (other unusual minor planets), or from the NEO Confirmation Page (newly discovered NEO candidates in need of confirmation). The ephemeris uncertainty region of a one-opposition object can often be approximated as a line (or a very elongated ellipse) in the sky passing through the nominal ephemeris prediction. The orientation of this line (which can be obtained from NEODyS for known NEOs or from the Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service for other unusual minor planets) is specified by its position angle (PA). PA is measured from North (0 deg) through East (90 deg), up to 360 deg. A search mosaic is centered at the nominal ephemeris prediction, and consists of mm parallel rows of nn fields of view; the fields in each row have their centers along a line oriented at a position angle specified by the user in field ppp (this position angle should be equal to the position angle of the uncertainty line). The fields in a search mosaic partially overlap so that they cover a contiguous region of the sky without "holes" in between. The allowed values of nn (number of fields in each mosaic row) and mm (number of rows in the mosaic) are 1, 3, 5, 7,... For a typical one-opposition object, the uncertainty region is so well approximated by a line that one can use only one row (mm = 1) of partially overlapping fields covering the uncertainty line. The number of fields along the uncertainty line (nn) is chosen according to the estimated ephemeris uncertainty.

Notes:

1. In most cases, the ephemeris uncertainty is smaller than the field-of-view, so it is not necessary to request a search mosaic; a single field centered at the nominal ephemeris position is sufficient. A single field is selected by choosing nn = 1, mm = 1, and leaving the ppp field blank.

2. The number of exposures specified in columns 26-27 applies to each individual field of the mosaic. Therefore, if you request 3 exposures in a mosaic consisting of one row of 5 fields, you will take 3 exposures of each field, for a total of 15 exposures.

3. The exposure time, interval between exposures, binning factor, frame size, and filter will be the same for all fields in a search mosaic.

tttt

54-57

This allows you to choose the Tenagra telescope you wish to use. Currently allowed values are 32IN (Tenagra II) and 16IN (Tenagra III).

yyyy-mm-dd
yyyy-mm-dd

59-79

These two fields specify a window of opportunity for your observation request. The first date specifies the earliest night in which you wish the observation to be made; in case we are unable to carry out your observation request on the night specified on the first date field, we will retry it on subsequent nights until the date specified in the second date field. If the request is carried out, we will stop retrying; if by the final date it still couldn't be carried out, you will either not be charged for the observations, or will receive a refund in case the observations in questions have already been paid for.

Notes:

1. Dates are referred to universal time.

2. Nighttime in Arizona always starts at most a few hours after 0:00 UT, so each night at Tenagra can be uniquely identified by its UT date.

3. When the two date fields are the same, your observation request will be submitted to the scheduler for that night only.

4. The observation requests for each field in a mosaic are treated independently by the scheduler. If your window of opportunity spans more than one night, different fields may be observed on different nights.

rrr (optional)

81-83

This optional field specifies the number of times to repeat your observing request. For example, if you specify the "window of opportunity" (see above) for your observing request as 2003-09-15 to 2003-09-17, and set the value of this field to 3, the observation will be attempted in the time interval 2003-09-15 to 2003-09-17 (until it is carried out or until this window of opportunity passes), and then the same process will happen in the time intervals 2003-09-18 to 2003-09-20 and 2003-09-21 to 2003-09-23. To request daily observations of a target, use the starting date as a single-night window of opportunity (e.g., 2003-09-15 to 2003-09-15) and use this field to specify the number of nights on which you wish to observe the target.

mmm (optional)

85-87

This optional field specifies a variable exclusion radius (in degrees) around the moon, which serves to prevent observations too close to the moon. The radius specified in this field is the exclusion radius around the full moon. For other moon phases, the exclusion radius is scaled by a cosine factor so that it drops to one half its full moon value when the moon is in quadrature, and to zero at new moon. Your observation request will not be carried out when the distance between your target and the moon is smaller than the scaled exclusion radius for the moon phase at the date of the observations. This feature is particularly useful when you request long-term observations of a given target; the scheduler will automatically interrupt the observations during time periods when the moon is too close to your target.

Notes:

1. If you leave this field blank, a default moon exclusion radius of 5 deg will be adopted.

2. The exclusion radius only takes effect when the moon is at an altitude greater than -5 deg as seen from Tenagra. This allows certain observations to made at distances from the moon which are smaller than the exclusion radius, if they can be carried out while the moon is below altitude -5 deg.

bb (optional)

94-95

This optional field specifies the number of bias frames to be taken along with the science exposures belonging to this observation request. These bias frames will be taken in direct succession before one of the requested science exposures, and will have the same binning factor and frame size as the requested science exposures. Leaving this field blank is equivalent to specifying a value of zero (no bias frames).

dd (optional)

97-98

This optional field specifies the number of dark frames to be taken along with the science exposures belonging to this observation request. These dark frames will be taken in direct succession before one of the requested science exposures, and will have the same binning factor and frame size as the requested science exposures. Leaving this field blank is equivalent to specifying a value of zero (no dark frames).

tttt.tt (optional)

100-106

This optional field specifies the exposure time of the dark frames to be taken along with the science exposures belonging to this observation request (the number of dark frames may be specified in columns 97-98; if these columns are left blank, columns 100-106 must also be left blank).

hh:mm
hh:mm (optional)

108-118

These two optional fields may be used to restrict the execution of your observation request to a certain UT time interval within each night belonging to the request's window of opportunity (specified in columns 59-79). This feature is useful when you have observations, such as a binary asteroid's eclipse, which need to be carried out during a specific time interval within a given night (or nights). For example, if you specify a time interval from 05:40 UT to 06:30 UT and a window of opportunity from 2011-01-26 to 2011-01-27, your request will not be executed outside the following two time intervals: 05:40 to 06:30 UT on 2011-01-26 and 05:40 to 06:30 UT on 2011-01-27. Our scheduling system will attempt to schedule your observations within your specified time intervals, but you should be aware that in some situations this may not be possible. For example, if your target is not sufficiently high above the horizon, or is too far east or west of the meridian during your specified time interval, it will not be scheduled. Also, if you request more images to be done within a given time interval than is physically possible to take in that period, not all requested exposures will be scheduled. Lastly, you should be aware that specifying a time interval in an observation request does not exclude the possibility that observations requested by other users (or other observation requests you may have submitted) are scheduled within your specified time interval. That is, specifying a time interval in an observation request does not "reserve" that time interval for your exclusive use. Therefore it is always possible that observations requested by other users, or by yourself, preclude scheduling of your observations within your specified time intervals. You should avoid specifying very short time intervals (e.g., 2 minutes), since this increases the chances that your exposure will not fit within the desired time interval.

aa (optional)

120-121

This optional field specifies the minimum target altitude (in degrees) at which your observation request may be carried out. If this field is left blank, a default minimum target altitude of 30 degrees is adopted (unless you instruct us by e-mail to use a different default minimum target altitude for your observation requests). Allowed values of the minimum target altitude are between 22 and 90 degrees.

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1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP (8034)        300.00  3   -1 1 FUL   R  1  1     32IN 2003-09-29 2003-10-01

         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         10        11        12
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP P/1996 R2     300.00  3   -1 1 FUL   R  5  1 152 32IN 2003-09-29 2003-10-01

         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         10        11        12
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP 2003 RW11     180.00 30  600 2 CTR   V  1  1     32IN 2003-09-25 2003-09-25

         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         10        11        12
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP 2003 RW11     180.00 30  600 2 CTR   V  1  1     32IN 2003-09-25 2003-09-25   4

         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         10        11        12
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP (50000)       300.00  1      1 FUL   R  1  1     32IN 2003-09-25 2003-09-25 120  45

         1         2         3         4         5         6         7         8         9         10        11        12
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP 9SA9332     * 240.00  3    0 1 FUL   R  1  1     32IN 2009-09-20 2009-09-20      40

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1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901
SSP 1994 AW1    * 180.00 50  240 1 FUL   V  1  1     32IN 2011-01-28 2011-01-28      50       5  3   20.00 04:10 07:20 45