Related Links

OVERVIEW

The User Support Department

Observing in Service Mode:
Philosophy and Scheduling

Data Distribution

Run Progress Reports

Frequently Asked Questions

Service Mode Questionnaire

PHASE 2 PREPARATION

VLT and ESO-MPI 2.2m
Service Mode Guidelines

Instrument-Specific
Service Mode Instructions:

AMBER CRIRES FLAMES FORS1/2 HAWK-I ISAAC	MIDI NACO SINFONI UVES VIMOS VISIR
FEROS	WFI

NTT and 3.6m
Service Mode Guidelines

APEX Service Mode preparation

Visitor Mode Phase 2 Guidelines

Special procedures:

   Director's Discretionary Time
   Target of Opportunity
   Rapid Response Mode
   Moving Targets

TOOLS

The P2PP Page

Instrument-Specific
Preparation Software:

   FIMS
   NAOS PS
   FPOSS

Auxiliary Tools for
Phase 1 and 2 Preparation

Finding Charts Tool
Other Tools

Links to Related Sites

Further Reading

The following selection of articles published in recent years provide useful information on different aspects the Data Flow System, operations in Service Mode, proposal preparation, scheduling, etc.

VLT Data Flow Operations News, ESO Messenger 90, 12 (1997).
The NTT Service Observing Programme: Period 60 Summary and Lessons Learned, ESO Messenger 92, 20 (1998).
The NTT Service Observing Programme: On the Efficiency of Service Observing, ESO Messenger 95, 18 (1999).
On the writing of observing proposals, in the ESO Web pages (1999).
The Observing Programmes Committee - an Evolving Process, ESO Messenger, 101, 37 (2000).
Service Mode Scheduling: A Primer for Users, ESO Messenger 105, 18 (2001).
The VLTI Data Flow System: From Observation Preparation to Data Processing, Messenger, 106, 2 (2001).
The ESO Users Committee, Messenger, 106, 46 (2001).
Four years of Service Mode observing at the VLT: performance and user feedback, Messenger, 113, 32 (2003).
Detailed results of the Service Mode questionnaire (April 2003, MS Word document).
VLT Service Mode operations at 7 years, SPIE, in press (2006).