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.

Additional Naming Rules for VLTI

Any VLTI OB must have its name beginning by one of the two following prefixes (except TOO OBs as shown), in order to indicate the type of target (either science or calibrator):

  • SCI_ or TOO_SCI_ (Target of Opportunity programs)
  • CAL_ or TOO_CAL_ (Target of Opportunity programs)

It is recommended that the name of the OB, that follows the prefix, includes the name of the science target. It is also recommended to use unique OB names across an observing programme (i.e. across different runs of the same programme).

If an observation of a scientific target shall be repeated at different hour angles (i.e., LST ranges), there must be as many CAL/SCI or CAL-SCI-CAL sequences of OBs submitted as desired observations.

If, instead, a certain observation shall be executed only once, but can be executed at either of several LST ranges, these alternative LST options for one observation must be indicated in one OB.

In each OB of a scientific target, the name of the corresponding calibrator OB (or OBs) must be indicated in the p2pp comment field labeled "Name of associated OB of SCI/CAL pair". Likewise, in each OB of a calibrator, the name of the corresponding scientific target OB must be indicated in this comment field.

Additional naming rules for AMBER

No rules in addition to the VLTI-specific rules.

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