Frequently Asked Questions

Observation Preparation

Do I need to account for overheads in my total exposure time when submitting Service Mode OBs?

Answer: Yes. The Observing Programmes Committee (OPC) allocates total time = integration time + all standard operational overheads. To estimate your operational overheads, see the individual instrument User's Manuals and/or use the Execution Time Report function in the P2PP tool.

How many special calibration OBs do I have to submit?

Answer: You should assume that your science OBs will be executed completely independently of each other, possibly on different nights, and take into account that no calibration OB will be executed more than once. You should submit enough special calibration OBs to cover that situation. Example: if you need to observe and flux-calibrate six targets in a filter that is not supported in the calibration plan of the instrument, you need to provide six special calibration OBs to allow for the case in which each target is observed on a different night. This must be done so even if the same calibration star can be used for all the science targets. For assistance, contact the User Support Department (usd-help@eso.org).

I already installed P2PP on my computer when I prepared Phase II material for the last Period. Do I need to install the latest version to prepare my OBs for the current Period, or will the version I have work?

Answer: You need to install the latest version of P2PP when preparing OBs for a new semester. The P2PP distribution for a new period usually includes new capabilities, which in some cases are mandatory for the proper submission of the Phase II package.

Can I specify different observing constraints (e.g. seeing, transparency) at Phase II than I specified in my Phase I observing proposal?

Answer: You can relax your constraints to increase the chances of execution of your OBs (for example, if you specified Seeing = 1.0 or better at Phase I, you can specify Seeing = 1.2 or better at Phase 2). However, more stringent constraints (like Seeing = 0.8 at Phase II in the previous example) are not allowed, as an essential ingredient of the long-term scheduling of Service Mode programmes over the semester is the constraints that users of approved programmes specified at Phase I. Allowing more stringent constraints at Phase II would thus endanger the completion of even the highest ranked programmes. An allowed exception to this are OBs needed to flux-calibrate observations that can be mostly done under non-photometric conditions, provided that accurate flux calibration is needed for the scientific goals of the programme and that the execution time under photometric conditions does not exceed 20% of the allocated time. The values in the OB constraint sets that are selected (and approved) during Phase II preparation (and review) cannot be changed later during the observing period. This is explained in more detail in the Phase II Service Mode Guidelines webpages.

I received the notification of time allocation, but when starting P2PP my new program does not appear among the folders

Answer: Unless you have rebuilt your P2PP installation from scratch, the list of your scheduled runs is not updated every time you start P2PP (note that this applies also if you installed a new version of P2PP but kept the existing local cache; see the P2PP User Manual for details). Thus, when you need to work on new runs using an existing P2PP installation, you need to click on the Download/refresh Observing Runs option under the File menu in P2PP. This will create a folder for each newly approved observing run.

How do I get my P2PP ID and password?

Answer: The P2PP ID and password now correspond to the ESO User Portal username and password of the Principal Investigator (PI). This is the same username and password used to check Webletters, etc. If you are the PI of a program that has received observing time but you have forgotten your User Portal username and/or password please use the apppropriate corresponding link(s) on the User Portal login page.

If you have no accepted programs as PI but wish to learn the use of P2PP, you can use the tutorial account (ID '52052', password 'tutorial') set up for this purpose.

After reviewing my Phase I proposal, I have realized that I can observe a better set of targets than the ones I listed then. Since the scientific goal is the same, can I simply change the list of targets?

Answer: In principle, no. The reason is that the allocation of time in Service Mode is a complex process in which one of the main ingredients is the pressure factor on each right ascension interval, derived from the distribution in the sky of the targets that the accepted programmes proposed at Phase I. The Long Term Schedule that results from the time allocation process would thus be invalidated if changes of target were allowed at Phase 2, this is, after the time allocation has been made.

It is however possible to accept a limited number of target change requests in cases for which a sound scientific justification exists, such as the existence of new observations that demonstrate that a given object of the original sample had been misclassified and is not relevant to the purpose of the programme anymore. Target change requests are reviewed by ESO to ensure the strength of the justification and also that there is no other approved programme that intends to execute observations of the new target in a similar configuration.

Target change requests must be addressed to the ESO User Support Department via a dedicated Target/Instrument Setup Change web form.

There is no check-out button in p2pp. How can I check out my OBs to modify them ?

Answer: Use Check-out... in the P2PP main window File menu. This will give you access to the ESO Database Browser, where you can use different selection criteria to display your OBs. Once you have highlighted the relevant OBs, you can check them out by choosing the Check out option in the ESO Database Browser File menu. A more detailed description of this procedure can be found in the webpage dedicated to the OB Resubmission Procedures.

How do I prepare my Phase II proposal for APEX?

Answer: APEX does not use P2PP, but a web-based form . The APEX Phase II deadline is different from the P2PP deadline. You will be contacted directly by the ESO APEX Project Scientist Carlos De Breuck about your Phase II preparations.

I have an accepted proposal which consists of a pre-imaging run and a follow-up multi-object spectroscopic (MOS) run. May I submit only the pre-imaging OBs now, by the Phase II deadline, and the spectroscopic OBs later?

Answer: Yes, you should submit only the pre-imaging OBs (i.e. no dummy MOS OBs should be submitted at the general Phase II deadline). ESO will make every possible effort to execute all pre-imaging as early as possible, and will release pre-images immediately. In effect all pre-imaging OBs will be treated as ``carry-under OBs'', meaning that they will be executed as soon as they are ready, even if that is before the period starts. For the Phase II proposers this means that it is important to submit pre-imaging OBs as soon as possible, even long before the deadline. The earlier valid OBs are submitted, the earlier the pre-images will be taken, and the higher the probability that follow-up MOS observations will be completed within the narrow window of opportunity.

Can I directly interact with my contact scientist, rather than sending mail to usd-help@eso.org?

Answer: We discourage you from doing it. User support astronomers have other professional committments that sometimes cause them to be away and have limited access to email and, especially, to the tools used in ESO operations, which may cause delays in addressing problems. If you send your request to usd-help@eso.org we will ensure that it is always given prompt attention by an expert on the instrument that your run uses, even in periods when your contact scientist cannot deal with it.

Scheduling

My run can be executed more efficiently if my OBs are executed one after another, skipping the acquisitions for the latter OBs. Why cannot I ask for such a procedure for service observing?

Answer: There is no guarantee that user specified conditions will last long enough to complete any given OB sequence. Furthermore, breaking down a sequence of OBs often improves overall operations efficiency by allowing the execution of OBs best matching the external conditions. Therefore, to maintain the flexibility needed to adapt to changing observing conditions and to maximise operations efficiency, ESO requires that all Service Mode OBs be treated as independent observations with independent acquisitions. As long as you have requested enough overhead time at Phase I, there is no penalty to your run.

Having to split my OBs to make them compliant with the rule that no Service Mode OBs could last longer than one hour implies much more execution overhead. Wouldn't it be more efficient to allow longer OBs?

Answer: Experience has shown that longer OBs make Service Mode observing less efficient, rather than more. The reason is that, the longer an OB, the more likely it is that the external conditions go outside the acceptable range specified in the Constraint Set. Since OBs executed outside constraints must be rescheduled and reexecuted, longer OBs imply not only a higher fraction of OBs to be reexecuted, but also a larger amount of time wasted in the execution of OBs failed because of the degradation of external conditions.

Still, some programs require OBs longer than one hour to be scheduled. In such case, a waiver request justifying the need for a longer execution time must be submitted to ESO. When sufficiently justified, these requests are accepted under the condition that the OB will be considered as executed within constraints even if the conditions degrade after the first hour of execution.

Is it possible to monitor the progress of my program?

Answer: Yes. Both the Run Progress Reports page and the Science Archive query form allow you to access updated information on the progress of your observations.

If my programme cannot be completed by the end of the Period, can I ask to have it carried over to the next one?

Answer:If your programme obtained a Priority Class A and has not been completed by the end of the Period, it will be normally considered as a candidate for carryover to the next Period without you having to request it. This is not possible at present with Priority Class B or C programmes, which are terminated at the end of the Period regardless of their status of completion. Please see our page on the philosophy and scheduling of Service Mode programmes for more information. If you had a Class B or C Programme and you see that the end of the Period is approaching without it being near completion, you are strongly encouraged to resubmit it as a new observing proposal.

How can I know precisely on what dates my Service Mode observations will be executed?

Answer:A key feature of the flexible scheduling approach followed at the ESO Observatories is that Service Mode Programmes do not have definite dates assigned to them. Rather, they are executed according to the external observing conditions, some of which are unpredictable, like the sky transparency or the seeing. Only in this way it is possible to ensure that each of the many programmes approved every semester in Service Mode is executed under the conditions that are necessary for its scientific goals.

ESO has communicated me the allocation of time to my run, but only in class C. Is it worth that I prepare any Phase II material at all?

Answer:Yes! ESO selects class C programmes from those that did not get a high enough rating to be above the time allocation cutoff line, but whose constraints made them scheduleable under a very wide range of conditions (i.e., in intervals of bad seeing, with moon, or under poor sky transparency conditions). Higher rated runs normally have more stringent constraints and, when the conditions are below average, only class C runs may be executable. Due to the high pressure factor at ESO telescopes, the scientific quality of class C runs is normally still very high, and experience shows that Service Mode class C programmes, which would not have been scheduled in classical Visitor Mode, have produced very valuable scientific results.

Data Distribution

Question: I see from the Web that my pre-imaging OB has been completed. What do I have to do to get the data?

Answer: Nothing. A special data quick-release process is in place and you should be contacted with instructions about how to retrieve your data as soon as they are available, usually the next working day.

I have seen in the Run Progress Reports webpages that some data have been obtained for my programme. Can I obtain the data already?

Answer: Yes! As of 01 April 2008 Principle Invesigators can download their proprietary raw data from the Science Archive Facility as soon as the data have been ingested into the archive. For complete details, including important details regarding the proprietary period for the data see the Data Release page.

I have seen in the Run Progress Reports webpages that all my OBs have been carried out. When will I get the data?

Answer: Data are shipped by ESO typically within one month from the last observation. Also note that as of 01 April 2008 Principle Invesigators can download their proprietary raw data from the Science Archive Facility as soon as the data have been ingested into the archive. For complete details, including important details regarding the proprietary period for the data see the Data Release page.