Using the MNIRS Observation Submission Tool (MMOST)
Problems with this tool? Please email smoran at cfa.harvard.edu.
Overview:
Fill in the data fields to identify your MMIRS observing targets. The available fields will change depending on the type of observation you select (imaging, longslit, mask), so select the appropriate one first. Most of the data fields will immediately let you know if the wrong kind of characters are entered (for example, letters in fields which require numbers.)
Multiple filters/configurations per object are not yet supported by this tool. Please email any special request to smoran at cfa.harvard.edu after you submit this form for one of your desired configurations.
If you select "New Mask", a file selector and "Upload" button will appear at the bottom of the form. Choose your .msk file and press Upload. Note that you must then come back to MMOST to finish submitting your observing request, this time selecting your new mask in the pull-down menu.
Click "Submit" for each target to send the information to CfA. You will get a popup error message if any of the data is invalid.
Once you click "Submit", your submission will be sent to the Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge for checking. If all goes well, a MMT-format observing catalog will be created for your targets and sent to the MMT when your plan is checked at CfA. You do not need to create your own MMT observing catalog(s) for MMIRS observations.
About the data fields:
All the data fields must be filled in.
- PI/Program: Select the PI/observing program from the pulldown menu.
- Observation Type: Select the type of observation from the drop-down list: imaging, longslit, existing mask, or new mask. Existing masks are those that have already been physically cut for use during a previous semester. The drop-down menu will be populated with all available choices. When selecting new mask, the drop-down box only shows mask files that have already been uploaded, so please use the upload button at the bottom of the form first. For longslit, please select your slit width and whether you want a long or short slit length.
- Moon: Select the desired moon phase (Bright, Grey, Dark) from the pulldown menu.
- Seeing: Enter maximum allowable seeing.
- Photometric?: Change to Y if photometric conditions are required (default is N).
- Priority: Enter an integer corresponding to the priority of the observation.
- ObjID: Enter the ID for this object. NOTE:If you have selected a slit mask observation, the object name is constrained to be the same as the mask name. In addition, the values for RA, DEC, Epoch, and PA are all read from your uploaded .msk file. Anything shown in the form will be ignored.
If you use the same ObjID again, it will overwrite the previous submission automatically. Alphanumeric and ._+- data only; also, the ObjID may not begin with . or -, and may not end with a period., because it will be used internally as a file name.
- RA, Dec: Enter the RA and Dec of your target, in HH:MM:SS.SS/DD:MM:SS.SS format. Only numbers and :+-. are permitted in these fields.
- PA: Enter the position angle of the observation; default is 0. It is preferred that Mike/Perry compute the position angle at the time of the observation and then communicate that to the MMT telescope operator. Signed decimal data only.
- Epoch: Default is J2000.0, but you can select B1950.0 if needed.
- Mag: Enter the approximate magnitude of your targets. Informational only to aid in accquisition, most important for imaging or longslit targets.
- Exp Time: Enter the desired exposure time in seconds for this target with this filter. Integer data only.
- Num Exps: Enter the desired number of exposures for this target with this filter. Integer data only.
- Visits: Enter the desired number of times to repeat the exposure sequence for this target. Integer data only.
- One per Night: Change to greater than 1 if you wish to spread the visits across more than one night; otherwise leave this as 1.
- Filter: Select the filter from the drop-down menu.
- Grism: Select the desired grism from the drop-down menu.
- ReadTab: Select the readout mode for up-the-ramp readout. See MMIRS observing manual for more information
- Gain: Select the desired gain setting. Default is low gain/
- Dither Size: Enter dither step offset size in arcseconds. More complicated dither pattern requests are not yet supported by this tool. Default is 0.0