OB Naming Conventions

General rules

So as to facilitate the observers' job, some OB naming conventions have to be enforced. Regardless of the instrument, the following generic prefixes must be used when naming OBs:

  • PRE_ - pre-imaging OB (e.g. PRE_Field A)
  • TOO_ - Target of Opportunity OB (e.g. TOO_GRB-1); see also note below
  • RRM_ - Rapid Response Mode OB (e.g. RRM_grb346+580_3x600s)
  • MOV_ - Moving Target (i.e. solar system) OB (e.g. MOV_TNO-43A)
  • CAL_ - Calibration star (e.g. photometric, telluric, radial velocity, polarization, etc) (e.g. CAL_TNO-43A)

Note: All observations belonging to a ToO run must start with the TOO_ prefix, including those belonging to the other categories mentioned above: for instance, an OB intended to observe a star for calibration of a ToO science observation should have a name starting with TOO_CAL_....
Note: Pre-imaging OBs for moving targets should have a name starting with the prefix MOV_PRE_.

For OB time sequences, please name your OBs in such a way that the sequence is obvious. Examples: 

Field A - Night1
Field A - Night2
Field A - Night3


Field B - Baseline
Field B - Baseline + 1 week
Field B - Baseline + 2 weeks

Please use always a unique name for each of your OBs, even if they are identical to each other. For example, a series of 3 identical OBs on NGC 5128 may be called NGC5128-1, NGC5128-2, NGC5128-3, instead of calling all three OBs NGC5128.

Instrument selector