The VIMOS Mask Preparation Software

What is VMMPS?

The VIMOS Mask Preparation Software (VMMPS) is a SkyCat plugin to specify the VIMOS instrumental setup for Multi-Object Spectroscopy (MOS) during Phase II Proposal Preparation. VMMPS creates and manages the instrumental setup by means of files containing the Aperture Definition in Pixels (ADP) of the MOS slitlets. The ADP files need to be loaded by the P2PP tool to become part of an Observation Block (OB). For further information, please refer to the VMMPS Cookbook.

Warning concerning the HR_blue grism: with the HR_blue grism please only place slits in the lower portion of the CCD (y<1400 pix) in order to ensure that at least 10 arc lines fall on the detector. Negletting to do so will result in a significant degradation of the wavelength calibration and in the failure of the automatic pipeline.

Important Note concerning Releases

The current public release of VMMPS is version 3.24 of the software (+ plug-in for Finding Charts).

This version of VMMPS is released as a tarball which also includes the appropriate SkyCat version (see below for download).

Supported Platforms

The latest version of the VIMOS Mask Preparation Software (VMMPS) is available for Linux Redhat 9. If you do not have access to a PC or workstation running this operating system, please contact the USD for assistance.

VMMPS Distribution

The VMMPS can be retrieved via anonymous FTP:

VMMPS Retrieval and Installation Instructions for Version 3.24 (VMMPS for period 75 onwards)

How to Use VMMPS

For information about the use of VMMPS, please refer to the VMMPS Cookbook.

Problem and Bug Reports

Please report all VMMPS problems and bugs to the ESO User Support Department (USD).