Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems X

The Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ) serves as a model for modern astronomical facilities with its focus on automation and operational efficiency. Utilizing two telescopes with large fields of view—JST/T250 and JAST/T80—the observatory aims to conduct extensive sky surveys, J-PAS and J-PLUS. These surveys promise transformative contributions to fields such as cosmology, galaxy evolution, and exoplanet research. To support this, panoramic cameras equipped with large-format CCDs are integrated as part of the GOCS Global Observatory Control System. The paper discusses the benefits of integrating ERP and CMMS tools in GOCS operations, providing a cohesive framework for workforce optimization and cost reduction while maintaining quality. These systems employ a common inventory structure to enable seamless interdepartmental processes. Additionally, the role of AI technologies in harmonizing and enhancing the operations is emphasized, offering high-quality tools critical for project success. This approach sets a new standard in achieving operational and scientific objectives within common limits.

The Paranal Observatory has been in operations for the last 25 years. We review the latest updates for technical operations in terms of key metrics, work processes and their optimization to integrate the ELT. We present the latest results of our maintenance methodology (Maintenance in Condition of Operations, MCO) and its particular application to the scientific instruments. Finally, we will show the progress with our obsolescence management program and the strategy for the next decades.

SALT is a 10-m class optical telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa with its head office based in Cape Town, SALT has a small team of engineers and technicians who work in concert with astronomers to maintain, enhance and operate instruments and equipment. While asset renewal is key to keeping the telescope running, it is often challenging to remain up to date with the maintenance and asset renewal programs when you operate with limited resources due to high staff turnover. The technical team is looking at improving maintainability by way of better processes and tools that will assist the staff with this challenge. In this paper we will discuss these challenges and how we plan to overcome these challenges.

At 23:00 on November 27, 2022 (HST) Mauna Loa erupted. The eruption lasted for a total of 12 days and impacted astronomical scientific facilities based on both Mauna Loa and Makaunakea, Hawai`i. The 2022 event was the first eruption of Mauna Loa since 1984. It will not be the last. This paper focuses on the 2022 Mauna Loa eruption. It discusses how the eruption evolved and how the Maunakea observatories responded both individually and collectively night-to-night. It discusses how operations would have been impacted and the steps that were being considered in the instance that the lava impacted facility access, power and/or the fiber connection to the observatories. The impact to and current state of the facilities on Mauna Loa is discussed. Finally the observatories responsiveness to future challenges is discussed.

The efficiency of science observation Short-Term Scheduling (STS) can be defined as being a function of how many highly ranked observations are completed per unit time. Current STS at Paranal is achieved through filtering and ranking observations via well-defined algorithms, leading to a proposed observation at time t. This Paranal STS model has been successfully employed for more than a decade. Here, we describe the current VLT(I) STS model, and outline ongoing efforts of optimising the scientific return of both the VLT(I) and future ELT. We will describe the STS simulator we have built that enables us to evaluate how changes in model assumptions affect STS effectiveness. Such changes include: using short-term predictions of atmospheric parameters instead of assuming their constant time evolution; assessing how the ranking weights on different observation parameters can be changed to optimise the scheduling; changing STS to be more 'dynamic' to consider medium-term scheduling constraints. We will show simulation results for a wide range of probed parameter space and describe the conclusions from those on how STS can be optimised for VLT(I) and ELT operations

In the past years the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) has undergone a massive upgrade of the research infrastructure. In the near future the SRT will count nine receivers, from 300 MHz to 100 GHz, for scientific and technological studies. A flexible and dynamical approach to the scheduling system is crucial to organize efficiently the observations. I will present the envisioned general architecture for the SRT dynamic scheduling, currently in the development phase, which will take into account the complexity of the antenna, the requirements for each project and the local weather variations thanks to already existing and new future tools. I will describe several upgrades of the current system, e.g. the realization of a database that stores the information coming out from the evaluation process and contains weather data, from time series to real time, and other key information for the whole system; the programming of an optimizer algorithm to release a new schedule each few days based on a scoring criterion. A new projects-simulator is under development to validate the viability of the proposed system and to test the performance of the algorithms for the overall scheduling efficiency

Within the Dynamic scheduling of SRT telescope proposals there is a component, the Optimizer, which is in charge of calculate long-term and short-term schedules, based on a bunch of varying parameters like weather conditions or technical antenna’s constraints. The core calculation takes place inside the Optimizer, as well as the simulation of all the parameters, needed to properly calibrate the algorithms.

NEID is an optical, extreme-precision radial velocity (EPRV) spectrometer installed at the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, AZ, USA. Primarily designed to find, confirm, and characterize planets outside of the solar system, NEID was built as part of the joint NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research Program (NN-EXPLORE). Through the NN-EXPLORE program, ~50% of WIYN science time is made available to the public through NOIRLab, with the other ~50% available to WIYN institutional partners. Currently, the NEID queue makes up ~70-80% of the available WIYN telescope time, with the other ~20-30% of the time made up of a combination of classically and queue scheduled time on other instruments. Here we discuss the lessons learned in the early years of instituting and running a modern queue at a telescope that maintains some classical observing. We will give an overview of the software and staffing required to effectively run the queue and how we have both upgraded the software and modified operational procedures to increase efficiencies.

The development progress of an automatic scheduler for the HARPS-N and GIANO-B spectrographs at the TNG 3.58-m telescope is presented. Efficient use of observing time with these spectrographs is crucial for maximizing scientific outcomes. This implies a new challenge for the scheduling process, requiring a fully automated algorithm that should be able to provide at the operator not only an ordered list of optimal targets, but also an optimal back-up if the observing conditions change. This imposes a fast-response capability to the scheduler, without compromising the optimization process, that ensures good quality of the observations. Some of these objectives are accomplished by utilizing some existing functions developed for the automatic scheduler of the SOXS spectrograph. The automatic scheduling of Radial Velocity measurements at TNG, initially utilized by the GAPS collaboration, will eventually be open to anyone interested in leveraging this resource.

Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) will usher in a new era of observational astronomy, promising groundbreaking discoveries and unprecedented insights in astrophysics. Their success critically depends on rigorous control and management of science data and system performance. ELTs and their advanced instrumentation, capture an enormous volume of data in an unprecedented technical environment introducing complex issues in data acquisition, processing, and storage. Ensuring the accuracy, precision, and reliability of these data is paramount to their success. We present the design, and implementation of a renewed Quality Control system for ELT, which will already be applied to the current VLT operations at ESO. The aim of the system is an advanced automation of data processing and quality assessment while safeguarding the integrity and reliability of the produced scientific data. We present the requirements and the concepts that form the basis of the software that is already partially deployed on LaSilla Paranal Observatory. Finally, we present an outlook on how to advance the real-time data quality assessment of scientific astronomical data in the ELT era.

The ALMA Observatory experienced a cyberattack in late October 2022, disrupting regular operations and critical computing services for seven weeks. Although no scientific data was lost, operations data essential for computing services were affected. The incident highlighted the organization's limited knowledge of recovery assets and the absence of a specific cyber-attack disaster recovery policy. The attack raised cybersecurity awareness within the organization, shifting it from a secondary role to a cultural necessity. The paper discusses post-attack actions, strategies, and efforts to integrate cybersecurity into the organization's culture for enhanced cyber safety.

This presentation highlights the 2024 instrumentation suite in use at the Baade and Clay telescopes of the Las Campanas Observatory. Following two decades of operations, the partnership between the Carnegie Institution for Science, Harvard University, the University of Arizona, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan, presently provides our observing community with seven facility instruments and seven PI instruments. Five of those instruments (IMACS, MAGE, FIRE, FOURSTAR and LDSS3) are mounted permanently at the telescopes and ready to be used every night. Furthermore, the availability of one of the Nasmyth ports and a Cassegrain focus at the Clay telescope, allows a scheduled rotation of the other eight instruments (MIKE, PFS, M2FS, IFUM, PISCO, MAGAOX, MEGACAM, WINERED) according to the scientific needs of the community in each semester. In this presentation we will give a brief introduction for all the facility instruments followed by a status report of their use and performance. We will also present the challenges posed by continuous operations and regular maintenance. Finally, we will outline the future instrumentation projects and upgrades.

The telescopes in Las Cumbres Observatory's global network (LCO) operate robotically. The enclosures open and shut automatically, based on data provided by LCO's own weather stations. In 2023, LCO began using images from all-sky cameras to estimate the sky transparency at its sites. For each image, the locations and opacities of clouds are revealed by comparing a smoothed visibility map (based on visible stars) with a "catalog" (i.e. unattenuated) visibility map. The cloud map is then multiplied by a weighting scheme that favors low airmasses to determine a single effective transparency. To calibrate the transparencies at which the enclosures should be opened or closed, LCO staff astronomers reviewed thousands of all-sky images acquired during partly cloudy nights. The reviews were performed independent of the transparency calculations, to avoid biasing the open/close decisions. Since deploying the all-sky transparency calculations to LCO's sites, we have empirically determined that they provide a more accurate measure than IR cloud sensors of when sky conditions are appropriate for observing, and the time spent attempting to observe through clouds has been reduced.

The SKA Observatory target for Mid Telescope Science Availability is high. It emphasises quality of delivery and can drive high operating & maintenance cost. This paper describes observatory acquisition and operations establishment approach for realising SKAO Mid Telescope science availability at optimised cost. It shares interim results, challenges and focus areas for SKAO Mid Telescope Construction and Operations establishment. It provides insight in SKAO Engineering Operations collaboration with Science Operations, the SKAO Mid Acquisition Project, Mission Assurance, RFI and HSSE Management towards this objective.

Ongoing improvement of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) best practices continue to be a key priority at NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) and the Rubin Construction Project. NOIRLab strives to be a leader in the astronomical community in the development of DEIA programs. The DEI Officer and Committee lead the flagship Broadening Participation program, which invites all 500+ staff at NOIRLab to spend up to 3% of their work time on DEIA activities. This paper discusses all of the different opportunities that staff have to make DEIA a part of their work, and not a compartmentalized effort.

In the last decade, some detailed analyses of peer-review systems applied to the evaluation of observing proposals, showed that the outcome of these review processes were affected by significant biases, especially gender and nationality biases. Dual anonymous evaluations were identified as an important step to correct for the observed discrimination. Among the several improvements recently implemented in the front-end of ESO operational model (the so-called Phase1 segment, that includes the preparation, submission and evaluation of observing proposals), we have now been running dual anonymous reviews since a few years. In this talk, we will present the first results of our analysis that compares observing proposal success rates before and after the introduction of dual anonymous reviews, in order to evaluate the impact that this approach has had on the outcome of the process.

From the collection of proposals, telescope and instrument control, driving archives, and simulating and processing data, research software and data engineering underpins almost every process in the advancement of astronomy. And yet this has at times been an afterthought, receiving little attention or funding. Some institutes have always valued software engineering, and the community is slowly coming to realise that the discipline must be supported so that the best science can be carried out. We will discuss software engineering careers within astronomy, and the problems we must tackle if we wish to continue to attract excellent minds to our field from a diverse range of backgrounds. Not just attract but retain them, in an era where flexible working conditions are no longer a perk of academia, and salary disparity between our institutions and industry is larger than ever. We describe the AAO’s Research Data & Software section’s work to provide a stable career path for its engineers, and to attract a portfolio of work which both satisfies the requirements of the instrumentation and data projects, and the needs of our team to have a challenging, creative, and fulfilling work life.

The Keck Observatory Archive (KOA) has released the Observers’ Data Access Portal (ODAP), a web-application that delivers astronomical data from the W. M. Keck Observatory to observers and their collaborators anywhere in the world in near real time. Both Metadata and files are streamed to a users PC moments after they were taken from the telescope. The ODAP UI is built in React and links the User to KOA using WebSockets. This presentation describes the design choices, challenges encountered, metrics of use, and shows how ODAP is integrated into the Keck observing model.

Scientific data collected at ESO’s observatories are freely and openly accessible online through the ESO Science Archive Facility. In addition to the raw data straight out of the instruments, the ESO Science Archive also contains four million processed science files available for use by scientists and astronomy enthusiasts worldwide. ESO subscribes to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) guiding principles for scientific data management and stewardship. The impact of such an effort is tangible, with more that 40% of ESO's science output as measured by referred publications using archival data. I will present the current status, results and prospects for the ESO Science Archive. The paper is presented on behalf of the ESO Science Archive science, operations and development team.

The ESO Data Processing System (EDPS) is a new system to derive and execute workflows for astronomical data reduction from a specification of a cascade of processing steps. A single specification can be used to derive multiple workflows that address different use cases for pipeline processing. EDPS will replace current data processing systems for ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and will run the pipelines for ESO's future Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). In this talk, we will present the principles of EDPS and our experience with using it for quality control at the VLT.

The ESO Science Archive is a powerful scientific resource for the entire astronomical community, it allows the browsing and retrieval of ESO and ALMA raw and processed data. As both astronomical instrumentation and data grow in complexity and volume, managing and reducing raw telescope data becomes a challenge for non-experts. The driving principle of the ESO Phase3 process, which provides the channel to publish reduced data, is to delegate data reduction to experts while providing the broader astronomical community with ready-to-use products. In this contribution we illustrate the Phase3 process and the ESO Science Data Product Standard, which is a data interface document to which the reduced products must adhere. The standard ensures a uniform data and metadata format. We also present the automated audit process to verify compliance with the standard, focusing on the role that the archive team plays in assisting data providers in preparing the products and organising their submission. We wish to share our experience regarding user support and lessons learned to improve the process and provide a forward look.

CIGALE means Code Investigating GALaxy Emission. The code has been developed to study the evolution of galaxies by comparing modelled galaxy spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to observed ones from the X-rays and far ultraviolet to the far infra-red and radio. In a first recent evolution of CIGALE, we added the possibility to use both photometric and spectroscopic data (line fluxes, equivalent widths, and full 1D spectra). CIGALE-spectro is applied to the most distant galaxies detected with JWST NIRSpec/PRISM at z > 10. More than 1200 NIRSpec spectra are fit in about 3 hours. CIGALE is also used to fit resolved galaxies observed with JWST, and to make predictions on resolved emission lines that we can compare to the observed ones. Finally, it is often written in papers that SED fitting codes are much slower than machine learning. Beyond this kind of simple and not fully tested claim, she show that CIGALE can compete with some machine learning methods, with an inference time which is about the same order (and without any learning phase) than convolutional or deep-l

The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) primary data pipeline controls the daily processing of the data obtained by the various acquisition and science instruments on the telescope. The processing includes the primary (basic) reductions applied to the data based on the requirements for each instrument, as well as all the needed administrative database updates. Secondary (science) reductions are done for some of the instruments by separate pipelines under control of the primary pipeline. The daily processing furthermore includes the data distribution to users and other internal tasks needed for the efficient management of the telescope science operations. The primary pipeline is developed in Python and employs an internal workflow system to control the various stages of processing.

HERMES Pathfinder is a constellation of six 3U nano-satellites by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and hosting simple but innovative X-ray detectors to monitor cosmic high energy transients such as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB). The ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC) is a multi-mission science operation, data processing and data archiving center that will host the HERMES Science Operation Center (SOC). The SOC is responsible for archiving, generating, validating, and distributing scientific and ancillary data, for quick-look analysis, mission planning, GRB trigger alerts, calibration data and data-analysis software. SSDC has developed specific pipelines to automatically perform each task and the HERMEDAS (HERMES Data Analysis Software) software package to generate calibrated and cleaned scientific data from raw telemetry data. The HERMES science data archive will be freely and publicly accessible at www.asi.ssdc.it.

The Roman Space Telescope will have an unprecedented combination of mirror size and field of view - roughly one hundred times greater than HST or JWST - and it will perform several wide field surveys. Due to the large data volume of such surveys, the Roman archive will include mosaics obtained by coadding several images organized in tiles tessellating the whole celestial sphere. For each of these mosaics, cosmic rays, baseline drifts, and varying zodiacal light introduce offsets among different images of the same field obtained in different times. Without correcting for such offsets, discontinuities in the final mosaics could bias the shape of faint diffuse structures or hinder the detection of faint point sources. We discuss several approaches under consideration for the tessellation of Roman images and a comparison of different techniques used in previous all-sky surveys for sky background matching.

The Atacama Large Mm and sub-mm Array (ALMA) remains the largest observatory of its kind and has now completed ten proposal and observation cycles. In our previous paper presented at this conference series in 2020, we outlined a number of possible improvements to the ALMA end-to-end observing and data processing procedures which could further optimize the uv coverage and thus the image quality while at the same time improving the observing efficiency. Here we report the results of further work on refining our proposed adjustments to the scheduling and quality assurance processes.

The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is the world's largest radio telescope for observations at millimeter/submillimeter wavelengths. Inaugurated in March 2013, ALMA has already accomplished ten years of continued steady-state operations. It comprises 66 antennas located approximately 5000 meters at the Chajnantor Plateau in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. The ALMA partnership has established the ALMA 2030 development program to improve ALMA's capabilities and to address obsolescence over the next decade. As a part of this initiative, the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) project seeks to increase the ALMA receiver IF bandwidth and upgrade the entire digital processing system. The latter includes upgraded wideband digitizers, data transmission system, and data correlation system. A working group was charged to develop a WSU Deployment Concept based on a parallel deployment approach in order to minimize scientific downtime during the upgrade period, which could last up to five years. In this paper, the authors present the relevant aspects of this analysis and conclusions, which will pave the way to define the AIVC concept and the AIVC plan.

LOFAR is one of the few operational high-throughput data (peta-byte) SKA pathfinders and after ten years of operations it is undergoing an upgrade. The hardware, network and correlator improvements for LOFAR2.0 will allow to reach even higher data throughput regimes serving several science cases at once. By capitalizing the experience from LOFAR, a LOFAR2.0 customized development program is ongoing for several operational tools (specification, monitoring, scheduling, processing archiving and data-discovery). In this talk I will describe how the lessons learned in several aspects of operations of LOFAR (from telescope calibration to data storage) have triggered important technological, operational and policy progresses for LOFAR2.0

COVID-19 pandemic obligated to some ALMA Observatory’s teams for changing their working model from traditional on-site to full remote. The performance results obtained by the groups during this emergency situation, evidenced that a hybrid working model would be suitable to be implemented in the long term, specially for the teams which concentrates their activities out of the observatory site or Santiago’s offices. Science and computing groups were the most suitable teams for adopting a different working model. There were many lesson learn taken from this experience which contributed for establishing a permanent hybrid model. The ALMA software group, compound by 18 engineers, transitioned on this direction taken in consideration all the knowledge learned during pandemic and developing a smooth and successful experience by maintaining productivity levels and the cohesive team spirit despite the physical location of the group members. The paper also describes the challenges that the group will face up in the near future and the actions developed to mitigate the risks and disadvantages of the new way of work.

Remote observations are often limited by user interfaces, which seem frozen to another computer era: low performances, outdated programming languages, command-line scripting, high version-dependent software. Instead, web instruments are standard: using nothing more than a browser, astronomers interact with a generic observatory in a native cross-platform, remote-born way. We used this approach while advancing in the remotization of the 1m-class OARPAF telescope, located in Northern Italy. The web-based control software provides easy and integrated management of its components. This solution can be exported: not only to similar hardware/software facilities, but also to large instruments such as SHARK-NIR@LBT; not only for operations, but also for scheduling and templating. We detail our best practices and we present three recent, orthogonal use cases: an in-place professional use for exoplanetary transit follow-ups, outreach, and the first remote control from a Japanese high school, allowing students to independently observe (in their daytime) globular clusters.

With the SKA telescopes now in their construction phase, the first science observations are almost in sight. In order to ensure that the planning, designs and operational model are optimised to deliver transformational science to the community, we have embarked on a detailed analysis of the end-to-end systems of both the Mid and Low telescopes. As well as considering the details of the system designs and operational plans, we have incorporated science planning from within the community to deliver a relatively sophisticated view a of year in the life of the SKA telescopes. This year in the life is incredibly valuable to the refinement of SKAOs plans as well as ensuring alignment across the breadth of planning activities that are ongoing across the two telescopes. In this talk I will describe the year in the life - which includes the development of subarray and substation templates, defining representative year-long telescope schedules and then analysing user support requirements, proposal loads, estimates of telescope availability (RFI, weather, maintenance), power usage, data rates, telescope mode, data product requests – and discuss how this work feeds back into our planning.

This case study examines challenges faced by the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project, focusing on achieving high availability for its telescopes in remote Australian and South African locations. It emphasizes the crucial role of Engineering Performance Management in meeting availability requirements. The study underscores the impact on design, costs, and maintenance planning, highlighting the importance of integrating Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) analysis with logistics engineering and configuration management for cost-effective achievement of project goals.

The Aperture Array Verification System, or AAVS, has been an incremental prototype Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Low frequency station, deployed on the site of the SKA in Australia, Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory site, recognising and acknowledging the Wajarri Yamatji as the Traditional Owners. With three iterations, AAVS has been a means to end-to-end test the proposed antennas and station layout of the SKA-Low telescope. The third iteration is the first to be deployed and operated by the SKA Organisation directly, and was implemented as a way to test variants of the station layouts to investigate the best performance (randomised, Vogel and randomised Vogel). SKAO Science Operations has embraced this opportunity to enable early engagement with the prototype to test and explore aspects of telescope operations, scheduling, observing, monitoring and processing the subsequent data (together with the System Science and Commissioning teams). I will provide a description of the AAVS3 system, developments on site in Australia, and a forward look for SKAO Science Operations.

The MeerKAT Telescope is a radio interferometer consisting of 64 13.5 m diameter dishes. It started its first science observations in April 2018, while commissioning of new observational modes continues up to now. We discuss the processes and procedures developed over the course of the last five years, as we adapted to the ways in which the telescope usage evolved. The science programme consists of a mix of Large Survey Projects (through a once off call for proposals), Open Time Proposals solicited through yearly Calls, Directors Discretionary Time and Science Verification Projects. As the Large Survey Projects reach completion, the emphasis of science operations is shifting to Open Calls, with many new users introduced to the telescope each year. Additional challenges are being experienced in providing support to a growing user base and enabling access to a rapidly growing archive of observations exiting their proprietary periods.

The Intelligent Observatory (IO) is the vision of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) to enhance scientific support for the South African and global astronomical communities. By optimizing services, the IO initiative aims to create a seamless collaboration among diverse local and hosted astronomical facilities situated on the Sutherland Plateau. Achieving this vision necessitates strategic technological enhancements, such as upgrading telescopes for remote observations and automation, alongside a comprehensive redesign of the existing Sutherland operations model. The primary research driver is time-domain and transient science.

The Observatory Control System (OCS) is a comprehensive software package developed by Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), which helps in automating several crucial steps related to the robotic operations of an optical observatory. The OCS, with its Django-based API, efficiently manages telescope and instrument configurations. Adapted for the Intelligent Observatory program at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), it fosters seamless communication between proposers and telescope control systems. Currently operational on the Lesedi telescope (1m aperture) at SAAO, the integrated IO + OCS system is expanding to network various meter-class telescopes. Ongoing developments include API-controlled networking for independent observatory control systems and integration of photometric and spectroscopic pipelines for intelligent observatory data. At the conference, I'll discuss these developments, emphasizing API-controlled networking and the integration of data pipelines for observatory systems.

WFST telescope is a large-aperture sky survey telescope jointly built by the University of Science and Technology of China and Purple Mountain Observatory. It is currently the most powerful optical time-domain sky survey telescope in the northern hemisphere. Its scientific goals are diverse, and the urgency and observation window period of different scientific tasks are different. During the observation period, the control of equipment requires accuracy, real-time, efficiency and safety. Therefore, we design and implement the OCS (observation control system) of WFST which performs multi-layer abstraction on each hardware device and puts more attention on the operation of the observation process and the scheduling of observation tasks. In order to ensure the safety of equipment during the observation process, the OCS introduces a meteorological warning system and fault diagnosis system. At the same time, we design an observation strategy system in the OCS to adjust the observation plan based on task priority, equipment information and meteorological information to maximize the efficiency of sky survey.

Gemini North Telescope primary mirror (M1) suffered damage due to a collision with its wash cart during uncontrolled descent onto the cart in preparation for stripping and coating in October 2022. Gemini M1 is an 8.1 m aperture ULE thin meniscus mirror. This paper describes the damage assessment, the mitigation strategy, the team and resources involved, the preparatory work and tests done prior to start of the repairs, the repairs and modifications performed, the techniques employed, post-repair assessment, and the engineering analysis and experiments performed to verify long-term safety and performance of the repaired M1. After successful completion of the repairs and recoating of the M1, Gemini North telescope returned to normal science operations in June 2023.

The Science Operations Specialists tasked with performing observations at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope designed an in-house training program for new hires and re-certification for the variety of knowledge and skills needed during operations. The purposes of this training program were to ensure a standardized process, optimize training to be efficient and faster, reduce trainee dependency on a trainer, and allow for a supervisor to monitor and log successful completion of training activities. Additionally, the team used a multi-stage documentation management review system to keep training documentation up to date. To manage the training program and review system, the team used Confluence, JIRA, ClassMarker and Google Sheets. Future work will include a large updating effort for knowledgebase documentation, as well as the designing of a new skills-based training program for procedural processes.

The ALMA Astronomical Observatory currently faces the challenge of efficiently managing a substantial volume of image-processing jobs. This management must consider predefined Service Level Agreements for the jobs (MOUS) and address the significant variability in the delays observed in specific tasks, leading to server congestion. This work tackles ALMA’s problem by developing a novel predicting tool for the processing time for each MOUS based on pre-existing information regarding the inherent characteristics of each job. Using data processing techniques and various supervised regression models, we developed a prediction system based on a light gradient-boosting machine (LGBM) that has a prediction accuracy of 16% (MAPE) on a validation set of MOUS, vastly improving previous approaches. Additionally, confidence interval estimation models are developed using Quantile Forests, obtaining 45% of data point coverage. These two prediction systems are combined to create an online job scheduling scheme that considers predictions and prediction errors to perform much better than regular scheduling techniques that only use deterministic or job processing time predictions.

The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) is an integral field spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope Unit Telescope 4. The MUSE adaptive optics observing capabilities include a wide field (1 square arcmin), ground layer seeing-enhanced AO mode (WFM-AO), and a narrow field (7.5"×7.5"), laser tomography AO mode (NFM-AO). The MUSE AO observations use four laser guide stars (4LGS) to correct the atmospheric turbulence. The MUSE AO observations routinely improve image quality by a factor of 1.5 in the seeing-enhanced wide field (WFM-AO) observations and deliver image quality of 60mas in the laser tomography AO (NFM-AO) mode. The 4LGS and AO systems at UT4 are stable, but there is still some chance that one of the lasers or wavefront sensors (WFS) is out of service, leaving us with 3LGS. In the last few years, we have successfully commissioned and characterized the MUSE AO degraded mode (3LGS mode) for both MUSE WFM-AO and NFM-AO modes. In this SPIE talk, we will present the commissioning activities, the procedure developed to switch between 4LGS and 3LGS mode, and the performance characterization of the MUSE AO degraded mode.

Murriyang, the 64-m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope celebrates its 63rd year of scientific operation and with it welcomes a new cryogenically-cooled phased array (CryoPAF) receiver. As the radio astronomy community prepares for the "SKA-era," Murriyang is undergoing a complete upgrade to its receiver fleet. In addition to the CryoPAF, the single-pixel Ultra Wide-bandwidth Low (UWL) was installed in 2018 and its counterpart, the Ultra Wide-bandwidth High (UWH) is in the final design phase. However, it is not just receiver upgrades that have allowed The Dish to stay at the forefront of astrophysical research: upgrades to our user interfaces, infrastructure, backends, and data formats have enabled us to offer a novel, flexible, and robust instrument while regular communication with users has ensured that we are receptive to the observer community's needs. Like many observatories, Parkes faces future budget strain and we continue to build academic and industry partnerships to help secure our future. In this vein, the Australia Telescope National Facility is open to expressions of interest for new experiments to be deployed at our existing East Coast observatories.

SALT is a 10-m class optical telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa, owned by an international consortium and operated in fully queue-scheduled mode by the South African Astronomical Observatory, which also operates a number of other telescopes. In this paper we present an update of all performance metrics, such completion rates and efficiencies and publications, and discuss the strategic changes and instrumentation updates that are currently in progress or have just completed, such as our new NIR spectrograph, NIRWALS, and the Laser Frequency Comb for our High Resolution Spectrograph, in order to continue improving on our characteristics and performance.

The ESO Paranal Observatory, home to the UT4 YEPUN telescope, is at the forefront of astronomical innovation. Four TOPTICA-MPB Laser Guide Star Units (LGSUs) are currently operational, with plans underway to integrate three additional laser systems. Recent advancements focus on operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness, introducing strategies such as real-time monitoring and automated systems for critical parameters. These initiatives have not only optimized staffing allocation through a 20% increase in critical component lifespan but also reduced the need for visual inspections. Environmental parameter monitoring, coupled with AI tools, ensures timely deviation detection, triggering alerts and proactive interventions. Comprehensive data analysis tools have streamlined laser unit health checks, leading to a significant 25% reduction in staffing allocation for this task. These strategic initiatives underscore a commitment to advancing technology, enhancing operational efficiency, and ensuring the sustained scientific contributions of the 4LGSF to the astronomical community.

Recent years have seen an increasing number and capabilities of both gravitational wave detectors as well as wide field survey telescopes, providing us with new opportunities to find the electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave events. However, due to their inherently scarcity, faintness and rapidly evolving nature, this can be difficult. Optimising the observing strategy and finding any detected counterpart among potentially thousands of unrelated transients is paramount to finding and identifying the counterpart as quickly as possible. In this talk I will present GERry, a code that performs a detailed analysis of a follow-up campaign. GERry considers almost every aspect of a follow-up campaign and can be used to: determine the probability of detecting the counterpart, identify the most promising sources as well as assess and refine strategy performance. I will also talk about the potential performance and parameter space probed by current and upcoming telescope facilities such as GOTO, BlackGEM and VRO/LSST in LIGO observing runs O3 to O5.

With the advent of sensitive gravitational wave (GW) and neutrino detectors, new messengers are available to study the Universe and its contents. To fully exploit the wealth of forthcoming discoveries by multi-messenger facilities, it is crucial to detect as many electromagnetic (EM) counterparts as possible. 3U Transat (3U cosmic TRANsient SATellites) is a French project for building a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) nano-satellites constellation to survey the high energy transient sky. Each science payload mimics a 1-D coded mask providing a 1-D localization by arranging in a cylindrical configuration 7 NaI(Ti) detectors of 8 cm long and Ø 1.2 cm coupled with silicon photomultipliers. In this talk, I will present the 3U Transat mission and its main scientific goals as well as the dynamical mission simulation we have built to assess the constellation performances as a function of multi-parameters .I will present highlights of the performance results.

International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab is currently developing GNAO, the next-generation adaptive optics (AO) facility for the 8-m Gemini-North telescope. GNAO’s primary science instrument will be the future Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) which will use the AO-compensated beam from GNAO to offer (i) wide-field near-infrared imaging with near diffraction-limited performance over fields of approximately 20”x20”, (ii) seeing-enhanced imaging over fields of up to 85”x85”, and (ii) spatially-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy through up to four deployable integral field units. Time domain applications have played a major role in defining GNAO’s capabilities. As a queue-operated, 4-laser-guide-star adaptive optics system, GNAO will be a premier facility for following up gamma-ray bursts and transient multi-messenger events at high angular resolution. This paper describes the operational requirements and concepts facilitating rapid-response observations with GNAO. We also present a preview of the anticipated sensitivity and astrometric performance when using GNAO together with the GIRMOS imaging mode.

This work presents the design, implementation, and commissioning of the infrastructure and support services of the 1.3-meter COLIBRI robotic telescope site, located at the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional en San Pedro Martir, Instituto de Astronomia- UNAM, Baja California, Mexico. COLIBRI is a ground-based telescope, associated with the SVOM (Space Variable Object Monitor) mission dedicated to the study of gamma ray bursts. We share the progress on the building as well as the installations of the electrical systems, communications, air conditioning systems and security systems. We also share the strategies implemented to achieve the optimization of spaces in the building and the operation site, including technological challenges related to the process of enabling equipment to meet operating specifications and requirements

In dynamic operational settings like the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter Array) an Astronomical observatory facility, the Monitoring and Control software continually evolves to meet emerging challenges. This necessitates a meticulous approach to tracking symptoms and variables, emphasizing the importance of experience-based software tools with usability and pre-production testability. These tools not only address immediate operational needs but also aid in precise requirement formalization, contributing to a comprehensive design process. This technical review explores the development and real-time utility of such tools, highlighting their role in effective solution exploration and validation. The goal is to propose prototypes to futures standardized protocols for enhanced operational safety and efficiency, particularly crucial during the transition to remote control room operations in dynamic environments.

The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), CSIRO's latest radio telescope, is designed for rapid all-sky surveys and consequently diverges from traditional human-operated telescopes. Since mid-2019, our efforts have focused on shifting ASKAP towards autonomous science operations, reducing reliance on human input and decisions. The goal is maximum system autonomy with collaborative workflows blending machine and human strengths. SAURON (Scheduling Autonomously Under Reactive Observational Needs) became pivotal in this transition and has managed science observation scheduling since late 2020. This transition of ASKAP from commissioning to operations is fuelling ongoing research in optimising human-AI collaboration within CSIRO's Collaborative Intelligence (CINTEL) Future Science Platform. In this presentation, we highlight ASKAP's progress into the period of full survey operations, emphasising automation, autonomy, and the role of AI in shaping complex telescope systems.

The Dogu Anatolu Gözlemevi (DAG) Eastern Anatolia Observatory is an astronomical project fully funded by Turkish Ministry of Development and the Atatürk University of Astrophysics Research Telescope (ATASAM). DAG Observatory will be provided with a 4m-class optical and infrared telescope. Since 2015, EIE GROUP is involved in the Design, Production and on-site Installation of the 4m class optical/near-infrared telescope (DAG Telescope) in contract with Amos company. Starting from an overview of the activities conducted, this paper focuses on the development of the integrated on-site EIE assembly & mounting activities of DAG Telescope, which at present have exceeded the 80% of completion with the relevant Dome.

It is important that the W. M. Keck Observatory demonstrate real action toward sustainability measures as stewards of Maunakea, our place in the Hawaii island community and our role in the global community. Green operations should also be financially beneficial for any organization. W. M. Keck Observatory presented a paper in 2022 that outlined a methodology for viewing and measuring the sustainability challenge in order to inform the development of a sustainability strategy applicable to any observatory. Now, two years later, we are in a position to reflect on the results and to forecast future actions. This paper presents lessons learned from pursuing a green operations strategy for WMKO and how those lessons learned guide our future decisions. One of the most important lessons is how our actions support our duty to achieve balanced and reciprocal relationships within the community that we share. We also share some surprising insights about the reality of implementing apparently simple steps toward a green operation. These lessons learned might benefit any other observatory that is also pursuing green operations.

The Simons Observatory (SO) will enter into operation this year with an array of large- and small-aperture, millimeter-wavelength sensitive telescopes operating at a remote, high-altitude site on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile. As SO begins primary cosmic microwave background polarization science objectives, a new science infrastructure initiative - the Advanced Simons Observatory (ASO) – will prioritize the design, integration, and operation of a new renewable energy system, the core of which is a large-scale, high-altitude photovoltaic array (PVA) power plant (between 1 and 3 MW nameplate capacity), to ensure the long term energy security of SO site operations. In addition to reducing operating costs owing to sharply-reduced need for diesel fuel deliveries to run on-site generators, the introduction of the ASO PVA will reduce energy intermittency related to weather-driven site inaccessibility, hence increasing the efficiency of science operations across the lifetime of the SO project while addressing global climate objectives.

The electric power grid supplying astronomical observatories differs from standard grid structure. Observatories are not knitted into widespread mesh-type power grid structures, but rather at the end of so-called stub powerlines. Power disturbance in the observatory cannot be compensated properly. Although operators claim to nullify power quality issues, e.g. over- or undervoltage phenomena, by widespread application of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), this superficial cover-up of the symptoms can neither mitigate the root cause nor heal improper engineering of the power grid in any way. In previous contributions, power quality parameters have been measured on site at astronomical observatories. This contribution tackles the research question whether a novel approach to so-called power quality measurements can render additional information important to remote power grids. The approach is to measure a multitude of voltage and current signals in a massively parallel setup known from high-power high-voltage measurement. The high-speed measurement setup can detect not only the symptoms, i.e. deviations in voltage or current signals, but also the root causes that happened prior.

This study delves into a decade of ALMA weather data to evaluate the impact of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation on operational conditions. We are developing a model to predict pathlength fluctuations crucial for the precision of ALMA's radio observations. An initial prediction model will be showcased, illustrating our advancements beyond conventional forecasts. Our proactive strategy seeks to enhance observation quality and operational adaptability to the Altiplano's variable climate.

To test the disruptive effect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformers (e.g., ChatGPT) and their associated Large Language Models on the time allocation process, both in proposal reviewing and grading, an experiment has been set-up at ESO for the P112 Call for Proposals. The experiment aims to raise awareness in the ESO community and build valuable knowledge by identifying what future steps ESO and other Observatories might need to take to stay up to date with current technologies. We aim to present here the results of the experiment, which may further be used to inform decision-making regarding the use of AI in the proposal review process.

Lunar Trailblazer is a NASA SIMPLEx mission scheduled for launch in late 2024. The mission's goal is to continue the search for water in its various forms on the Moon and to explore how temperature fluctuations impact it. The Mission Operations System and Ground Data Systems (MOS/GDS) for Lunar Trailblazer are the responsibility of IPAC on the Caltech campus, with Mission Design and Navigation at JPL. Lunar Trailblazer is using the AMMOS Instrument Toolkit (AIT) and OpenMCT software developed by NASA JPL and NASA Ames, respectively, for DSN connectivity, commanding, telemetry displays, and telemetry storage and trending. Lunar Trailblazer is a target-driven mission, and the science planning system for target selection and scheduling is a custom Postgres database for target tracking. This paper describes the ground systems for LTB and their development, with special attention paid to contributions by undergraduate interns.

Gemini Observatory is a ground-based international observatory with 8.1 m telescopes in each hemisphere to provide all-sky coverage. We offer optical and IR imaging and spectroscopy. Laser adaptive optics systems provide near diffraction-limited image quality, taking advantage of our two excellent observing sites (Maunakea and Cerro Pachón). Each telescope keeps three of our larger suite of instruments mounted on the telescope at all times and switches between them routinely during the night. The night time operations are all conducted remotely from our base facilities located ~1hr from the summits. Science Operations is responsible for the routine operations of the established instruments and heavily involved in the commissioning phases of the new instruments. We offer multiple avenues to request observing time (standard semester calls, annual calls for long and large programs, monthly calls for fast turnaround, and an always-available director’s discretionary time) and multiple ways to observe (classical, queue, eavesdropping). Here, we will describe our operation model — how we manage proposal selection, night time operations, archive data, and data reduction pipeline.

The long term schedule preparation follows after the submission and scientific review of new proposals. At the European Southern Observatory (ESO) this process entails preparation of the telescopes schedule including the scientific proposals according their scientific merit and available observing resources, as well as scheduling technical, maintenance and commissioning activities for all operational telescopes of the La Silla Paranal Observatory (LPO). After the recent overhaul of the phase 1 proposal submission software ESO started development of a new telescopes scheduling tool. The new tool will to make the scheduling process more efficient while optimising the use of observing facilities. Besides scheduling activities and allocating time according to scientific merit, available resources, operational and programmatic needs, the tool will enable simultaneous scheduling of multiple telescopes to appropriately account for dependencies between them. The implementation of this new Time Allocation tool will open a possibility for re-scheduling of the telescopes, which is a pre-requisite to implement a yearly Call for Proposals along with the Fast Track Channel at ESO.

A highly automated remote control system based on Web technology is introduced in this paper, which employs near-infrared sky background radiation measurements for the calibration of astronomical observational data, enabling precise detection of target celestial bodies. The system enables remote monitoring, control, and real-time data processing. The Input-Output Controller (IOC) serves as a liaison between the EPICS control system and hardware devices, responsible for mapping the status and data of hardware into Process Variables within EPICS. Tornado, functioning as an asynchronous non-blocking Web server, establishes a connection between the device control layer and the user interaction layer. Tornado adeptly manages concurrent requests through non-blocking I/O and event loops. Moreover, the Web server integrates business logic for automated observation and blackbody radiation source calibration through inter-thread shared memory variables. At the user interaction layer, a progressive Vue.js lightweight framework is employed. Through component-based development and centralized state management using Vuex, the efficient construction of a single-page application is achieved.

Following a fall accident that occurred in 2018, Subaru Telescope designed and implemented the dome safety interlock system. An access from the control building to the dome requires to walk between the elevator landing platform and the dome landing platform. These platforms meet only at two discrete Azimuth angles of the dome and platforms are not passable when the dome points to other angles. After the accident, we made an extensive investigation and found that at the time of the accident, a door of the swing doors to the landing platform was unlocked from the floor and the dome was pointed away from the angle where the platforms are passable. In this talk, we will cover the unique structure of the dome access of Subaru Telescope, the accident investigation, the temporary measurement, the engineering of the final solutions and the installation. We also discuss the lessons learned from this accident.

The shipment of the LSST Camera from SLAC National Lab in California to Rubin Observatory in Chile was completed successfully in spring 2024 after extensive road testing of the Camera’s shipping container. Prior to final shipment, two local driving tests and one full test shipment from California to Chile were completed with a mass simulator to validate the performance of the wire rope isolator system by collecting data on acceleration events and vibration modes. This paper presents the results from the second test drive as well as the final shipment of the LSST Camera and associated hardware to the observatory.

Nowadays, with the increase in the scale of astronomical equipment, the complexity of device structures, and the diversification of observational demands, the autonomous control of astronomical telescopes through computers and networks has become increasingly crucial. However, as computer networks and software become more deeply integrated and the overall system maintenance complexity rises, the risk of malicious network attacks and unauthorized user operations on astronomical observation control systems continues to escalate. The Mozi Wide Field Survey Telescope, as the most powerful optical transient survey device in the Northern Hemisphere, places great importance on access and permission management within its observation control system. We have developed dynamic identity authentication based on JSON Web Tokens and implemented role-based access permission management using the RBAC model to enhance the flexibility and security of identity authentication and permission management in the observation control system, effectively reducing the risk of unauthorized access and erroneous operations by users.

The wide field survey telescope(WFST) is a new generation optical telescope under commissioning in China at the present stage. Designed with a field of view(FOV) of 3 degrees and equipped with a 0.765 gigapixel mosaic CCD camera, the telescope will be used to survey the northern sky in multiple optical bands each night. To optimize the data, a diffuser screen system is designed to evaluate the inhomogeneity of the entire telescope system, which includes a diffuser screen, lighting module and system control module. The correction parameters from diffuser screen system will be very helpful to improve the accuracy of subsequent scientific data in data processing. For this purpose, the control module of the diffuser screen system is developed and some measurement are proposed. The correction methods and algorithms are achieved based on the operation of the diffuser screen and the corresponding screen data, which can make the system better used in observation of WFST.

The observatory building for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope was constructed such that waste heat from equipment inside the building is evacuated to the outside through two forced-air exhaust ports. The exhaust ports remove heat from the building chilled water/glycol plant as well as removing heat from the building air. Instrumenting these exhaust ports offers a convenient opportunity to measure how much energy is being removed from the building as a function of time. Comparing this against the energy draw from the electrical utility service, it is possible to determine roughly how much residual heat is contributing to dome seeing. Understanding how efficiently we can remove heat from the building will also be useful for planning power and heat budgets for the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer. In this paper we describe an inexpensive instrument suite and the equations necessary to convert the raw sensor data to an estimate of the instantaneous joules/second we are evacuating from the building.

Dust and dirt on telescope optics are a constant problem at an observatory. Measuring dust and correlating increased dust levels to external events is a first step in trying to better control the problem. This paper will describe the simple, inexpensive, and robust dust sensing system installed at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) to monitor dust and a first pass at analyzing the data to see if patterns and correlations can be found.

In the operation of robotic telescopes, ensuring equipment protection from adverse weather conditions and avoiding unproductive observations during heavy cloud cover are essential. Traditional methods of monitoring the sky for such cases typically involve IR cloud sensors that are prone to degradation and require regular calibration to provide reliable data. To address this, we propose a more sophisticated and reliable approach: comparing real-time zero-point values from astrometrically and photometrically calibrated all-sky images, provided by the ATLAS project, with a master reference zero-point map captured by the same system under ideal cloudless conditions to conduct a spatially resolved assessment of cloud cover across the entire visible sky. Currently, this method guides a basic decision of whether to observe or not. However, in the future, a more sophisticated approach could determine which sections of the sky are suitable for observation and limit observation requests to those specific areas.

Do you like doing work you are good at and enjoy? Do you like to be valued and well-compensated for your work? Do you like flexibility in your work hours and assignments? Do you like getting to know a number of good people and getting insider access to a variety of organizations? Have you developed some key skills and tools that could benefit multiple organizations? If so, contracting and consulting in astronomy might be for you. Have you ever rejected an opportunity for lack of available effort? Have you gone without a key skill set because you don't have enough work or funds to support a full time FTE? Has a project faltered because a key person was unavailable for a significant period of time? If so, contractors and consultants in astronomy might be for you. I'll briefly describe my path towards my current role as president and janitor for Astromanager LLC and describe what it's like working in astronomy in this rewarding capacity.

The forthcoming installation of a new Manara telescope in the AlUla region, renowned for its archaeological heritage, follows a meticulous site selection process that included a rigorous evaluation of several factors crucial to the optimal establishment of the telescope. The chosen plateau region in AlUla satisfied all of the criteria, thus demonstrating the most potential for installing the Manara telescope. The comprehensive analysis thoroughly assessed ground stability, seasonal weather patterns, and accessibility. The selection process was executed with utmost scrutiny, ensuring the chosen location was the most suitable for the intended purpose.

We have developed the KASI-Deep Rolling Imaging Fast Telescope (K-DRIFT) to optimally detect Low Surface Bright (LSB) structure and installed a testbed for K-DRIFT performance testing and verification at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO). Achieving optimal LSB observations requires minimizing fluctuations in the night sky background value and obtaining high-quality data under stable conditions. For this reason, the remotely controlled K-DRIFT system demands continuous monitoring of the surrounding environment. We have equipped the K-DRIFT testbed with various devices for monitoring the observatory environment. This paper provides an overview of the environmental monitoring system and reports on the performance of the monitoring equipment.

A look at how the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) Science Operations team solves the problem of daily activity reporting. Our reports keep track of the time required for different events such as operations activities, technical issues and time losses. Information gathered in these daily reports is shared across the organization, providing a means to understand the activities happening at the telescope during a day in operations. All of this report data is also saved in order to gather statistics used for analysis on improving operations into the future. We will discuss how our team uses services such as Confluence and Google Workplace, as well as incorporating both Javascript and Python code to create this daily activity reporting structure.

The ALMA Array Operation Group (AOG), consisting of 8 dedicated Array Operators, performs a crucial function in supporting astronomers during observations, ensuring the safety of antennas, personnel and the system. Operating remotely from Santiago, Chile, has not only improved operational and logistic efficiency, but has also enhanced the work-life balance of the team. In this SPIE conference, insights into the vital role of the AOG in enhancing the performance and data acquisition of the ALMA Observatory will be shared. The discussion will emphasize contributions, the impact on personal lives, and the vision for the future, showcasing expertise in remote operations.

The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) is Europe’s largest radio telescope, designed, built and operated by ASTRON and international LOFAR partners. It is a complex instrument which had an expensive active human workflow and became difficult to adjust. The new Telescope Manager Specification System (TMSS) solves this by the introduction of a dynamic scheduler, a data-quality assessment workflow and a specification system that allows easy versioned specification of known observing setups but also detailed adjustments of observations and processing pipelines. In this presentation we will show the new optimised operations workflow and dynamic scheduling with TMSS.

We delve into the strategic decision to design a cloud-based infrastructure for the New Robotic Telescope (NRT) amid the era of affordable and scalable cloud services. The Software Operations Data Centre (SODC), a key component, employs REDIS, RESTful APIs, web sockets, and cloud-based data pipelines, ensuring astronomers seamless data access and real-time feedback during observatory offline periods. The paper emphasises the scalability and redundancies enhancing the NRT's operational robustness, while auxiliary tools secure data transmission. The focus is on the SODC's role in data accessibility, security, and observatory control interfaces, with real-world demonstrations illustrating practical effectiveness for the astronomical community.

The Gemini Visiting Instrument Program (VIP) has been successfully hosting cutting-edge instruments since its inception. The size and scope of visiting instruments range from compact to extensive, from already-built to under development, and from single-semester visits to extended stays. Visiting instruments are usually offered to the wider user community, with the visiting instrument teams providing operational support. The Gemini VIP is based on the evolving needs of the scientific community and helps the Observatory respond with shorter project cycles compared to more complex facility instruments. Several VIs have become long-term residents, such as IGRINS, MAROON-X, `Alopeke, and Zorro, entirely based on their productivity. For example, MAROON-X is the second most in-demand instrument on Gemini North for a number of semesters. The collaborative efforts between the instrument team and the Observatory have continuously improved operations and performance of the instrument since its commissioning in 2020. Here we present an update on the current status of VIs available at Gemini Observatory and describe a potential transition plan for MAROON-X into a facility class instrument.

For over two decades, Canada France Hawaii Telescope has been a leader in modernizing the scientific operations model of ground-based observatories, including queued service observing and remote operations. This continues with Kealahou, CFHT's effort to reconstruct our entire queued service observing infrastructure, while reimagining the user experience. Kealahou, a word from Ōlelo Hawaiʻi, the indigenous language of the Hawaiian islands, meaning “the new way/path”, encompasses an Angular-based web application, a Java-based application layer, and databases which are built upon the open-source MariaDB technology. Software releases to these systems utilize a full Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline, and custom containers for each development stage. Kealahou runs in parallel with CFHT’s legacy QSO system, which, through the use of database bridges, gives Kealahou full access and control of both. These intermediary configurations allow CFHT to conduct a vast redevelopment with far less resources than otherwise would be required.

During the M1 re-coatings leading up to 2022 at the VLT, the M1 Handling Tool located at the Mirror Maintenance Building (MMB) displayed erratic behavior during operation, which ended with the tool on a locked state whilst holding an M1 in the air. This high risk situation triggered an investigation on the tool and how to recover it. Furthermore, the next coating process involved the handling of UT2’s primary mirror, which holds a large manufacturing defect on its underside. Given the high stakes, additional analyses were performed to ensure the mirror’s integrity in worst-case scenarios. This paper reviews the different techniques used and the positive results obtained from the performed work, as well as the lessons learned regarding M1 integrity and future improvements to be made to the M1HT itself.

This paper presents an extensive analysis of a recent critical failure in the Deformable Secondary Mirror (DSM) of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) adaptive optics systems. The DSM plays a crucial role in rectifying optical aberrations for high-resolution imaging in astronomy. Employing Root Cause Analysis (RCA), the study systematically identifies the core reasons behind the failure, using various diagnostic methods and fault tree analysis to reveal contributing factors such as human error, equipment failure, and procedural shortcomings. By understanding the root cause, the research aims to enhance reliability and performance. The investigation led to the implementation of two risk mitigation methods, integrated into operational and maintenance protocols for DSMs. These measures significantly reduce the risk of similar failures, ensuring continuous, uninterrupted operation of adaptive optics systems during critical astronomical observations.

While extremely large telescopes are built, it is necessary to adapt the operations of older and smaller facilities in order to still be useful in modern astronomy. The risk is to be left behind. This paper will delve into key areas of the TNG that need to be improved, including telescope automation, real-time data processing, and remote observing techniques. While the TNG is still highly competitive in exo-planet research, a lot can be improved with a proper refurbishment of the instruments and with optimization of telescope operations. The final objective is to optimize the efficiency and maximize the observational capabilities and the quality of data acquisition. There are several aspects to be faced. Allowing astronomers to remotely operate the telescope, automating routine tasks for telescope and instrument configuration, implementation of intelligent scheduling algorithms, real time data analysis, environmental considerations and visibility will be adressed here.

CARMENES is an instrument designed to search for extrasolar planets around M dwarfs with the radial-velocity technique. It consists of two independent high-resolution echelle spectrographs for the visible and near-infrared wavelength ranges, which are simultaneously fed through fibers from a front end at the Cassegrain focus of the 3.5m telescope at Calar Alto, Spain. CARMENES was installed in late 2015 and has been operated almost continuously since Jan 1st, 2016, with only a brief interruption due to the Covid pandemic. The first five years were mostly dedicated to a large survey carried out by the CARMENES consortium. Currently the instrument supports two “legacy” programs and a number of smaller projects. On-site operations are performed by the observatory staff, while the instrument team still provides services such as automated scheduling, monitoring of instrument health and data quality, and pipeline processing of all data. Joint efforts have been necessary to implement measures to improve the performance, and to address occasional problems and failures.

By performing mirror washing one to two times per year, we have surpassed the expected life of our coating. The broader and, therefore, more complete picture for our 2016 unprotected aluminum coating will be presented. After years of periodic water, soap, and cotton swab dabbing of the standard aluminum coating at the MMT, on-glass mirrors-coating properties were maintained close to near-fresh coating levels without detectable scratching of the bare aluminum surface. Data will be shared about the life of the 2016 coating using our Konica Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-600d.

New telescopes require extensive campaigns to monitor the weather and the sky quality prior to selecting the observatory location. Stable conditions are essential to ensure successful scientific observations and long-term monitoring is needed to gauge the site potential. The ngVLA is a next-generation interferometric array that will have about 244 18-m antennas and 19 6-m antennas, that will operate at frequencies from 1.2 to 50.5 GHz and 70 to 116 GHz. The antennas will be distributed in a compact array , a mid-baseline array with antennas in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Mexico, and a long baseline array. For the case of Mexico, the tentative antenna sites are in Sonora and Chihuahua. In this paper we report the design, integration and testing of a portable weather monitoring system to be used at selected sites to determine their suitability for the Mexican ngVLA antennas. Our system includes several weather stations, lightning detection, a K-band radiometer, and an RFI monitoring system. Preliminary performance results are shown from field testing at our institute location.

Ground-based astronomy requires the implementation of growingly bigger, and thus more complex, instrumentation. These elaborate systems also require a reliable and efficient control and management. For this reason, the current paradigm for the control electronics of astronomical instrumentation is represented by PLC-based architectures, with industrially developed real-time communication protocols. An additional aspect of the PLC-based solution is the possibility to employ modules that are specifically developed for safety applications. While this solution is already commonly employed in industrial automation applications, it is still relatively new in the field of astronomical instrumentation. In this paper the safety PLC solution is described and its application to astronomical ground-based instrumentation is analysed. In particular, a study of the possibilities offered by Beckhoff TwinSAFE modules is presented, and both the advantages and drawbacks a PLC-based safety architecture can bring to the instrument control hardware, and the system as a whole, are taken into account.

This study addresses the issue of light pollution caused by artificial light sources, negatively impacting ecological systems and diminishing the quality of the night sky. With a focus on astronomical observatories. This work present the development of innovative tools to identify light pollution sources. The proposed system, employing high-resolution cameras, blue band filters, and a Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) module, offers a comprehensive approach to measure and analyze light sources violating regulations. The study aims to empower the Environmental Agency of Chile (SMA) in adopting effective technologies for monitoring and controlling light pollution, emphasizing the importance of preserving the pristine quality of the night sky.

The aim is to present statistics of the astronomical seeing at the Maidanak observatory. Astronomical seeing measurements were performed using a differential image motion monitor (DIMM) in the period 2018-2023. The median zenith seeing for the entire period of observations found to be 0.70"(arcseconds). The results were compared with the ones obtained in previous measurement period of 1996-2003. Current work also presents the results of the night-time surface layer turbulence measurements at Maidanak observatory. Turbulence of the surface layer was evaluated at the Maidanak observatory using LuSci during the period of 2021-2023. The overall median DIMM-seeing was 0.74 arcseconds in this period. It was determined that the seeing in the surface layer equals 0.47 arcseconds. Influence of the surface layer meteorological parameters as well as other factors to the optical image quality has been discussed.

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) completed construction and transitioned into its Operations Commissioning Phase (OCP) at the end of 2021. Prior to the start of the OCP, the DKIST Science Operations team had very little exposure to observatory operations on site and, hence, had to prepare in advance for science operations. During that time, the team developed several tools to support science operations and gathered a large amount of information that served as learning material and provided a good basis for the start of science operations. From early on during the OCP and with the growing experience with actual science observing, additional learning material was created, new science operations software systems were implemented, and some tools were adjusted to better aid operations. This presentation will elaborate on the preparation process for operations during the construction phase, the lessons learned during the current operations commissioning phase, and the challenges we expect to face for future steady-state operations.

Space-based and ground-based telescopes have documented the impact of satellites on astronomical observations. With an increasing number of satellite mega-constellation programs being proposed, it is undeniable that satellites affect astronomical observations. The Large Sky Survey Telescope is particularly affected, and by formulating observation strategies, the impact of satellite constellations on telescope observations can be mitigated. We propose a method based on ELT satellite orbit data to estimate the probability distribution of satellites. Further, we incorporate factors such as satellite brightness and telescope characteristics to assign an impact factor to each satellite. Ultimately, by combining these impact factors with the probability distribution, we determine the extent of satellite interference in each sky region, aiding in observation planning. We validate and analyze this method on the Large Sky Survey Telescope (LAMOST), and our approach proves effective in reducing the impact of satellite constellations.

We provide an update on the Exposure Time Calculator 2.0 project at ESO, which has now been implemented for all new Paranal and La Silla instruments (CRIRES, ERIS, HARPS/NIRPS, and 4MOST) and work is ongoing to implement one for MOONS. All the current La Silla and VLT instruments will also be migrated progressively and the first one being FORS2. The new ETC2 is based on the Instrument Packages and will allow in the future a smooth interaction with the Phase 2 observation preparation tools. Moreover, the new ETC 2.0 is now fully independent of database software and will soon make use of the NgRx/Store technology in the frontend.

An indispensable part of any modern observatory's software suite is a tool for calculating on-source observing times based on a desired observational characteristic, usually the image sensitivity. The SKA, which will be the world's most sensitive radio observatory when completed, is no exception and in this talk I will introduce the SKAO Sensitivity Calculator which is currently under development. This consists of a Python back-end that receives parameters from a web-based front-end, performs the necessary calculations and returns the results – communication between the two is enabled using a stateless REST API. The front-end is written in Angular and has recently undergone a restructuring that also enhanced the tool's accessibility. The calculator currently supports observing with both the Mid and Low telescopes, contains modes for continuum and spectral-line observing and includes validation of user input. I will also discuss future development plans, including the inclusion of additional observing modes.

Atmospheric seeing, a crucial astronomical meteorological parameter, directly affects the imaging quality of astronomical telescopes. Establishing a reliable mechanism for predicting atmospheric seeing is vital for enabling flexible scheduling of telescope observations and enhancing observational efficiency. This study aims to develop a forecasting mechanism for atmospheric seeing over both short time-scales (1-3 hours) and long time-scales (up to 3 days), based on a combination of the mesoscale meteorological model Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN). The WRF model predicts meteorological parameters for a given future period at the target astronomical site, which, when integrated with an atmospheric seeing analytical model, facilitates seeing forecasts at a long timescale. Concurrently, the RNN establishes a relationship between observed meteorological parameters and seeing, enabling short time-scales predictions of atmospheric seeing at the site. Experiments conducted at the Xinglong Observatory demonstrate the reliability of this research approach.

The advent of increasing satellite traffic poses a significant challenge to ground-based astronomical observations, often leading to image contamination due to satellite streaks. Addressing this issue, we introduce 'Blink', an innovative software system designed to predict satellite passes that intersect a telescope's field of view and subsequently activate a fast shutter to prevent image streaking. This paper outlines the development, capabilities, and potential applications of Blink in the realm of observational astronomy. Blink employs sophisticated algorithms to forecast satellite trajectories and their timing relative to a telescope's observational schedule. Upon predicting an imminent satellite pass, the software sends a real-time trigger to a fast-acting shutter system. The software can be augmented by integration with a network of horizon cameras. These cameras serve a dual purpose – they enhance the accuracy of satellite pass predictions and detect unexpected objects, such as space debris, which are not catalogued in standard databases. This real-time monitoring capability significantly improves the reliability of the system.

A new fibre-fed near-infrared (NIR) integral field unit spectrograph (IFU): NIRWALS, has been added to the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), pushing the telescope into the near-infrared wavelength regime (up to 1700nm). Various changes have made to the telescope, its subsystems, software and observing procedures to accommodate the instrument. In this paper we will present an overview of the observational procedures to use the instrument, and the changes to the observing software and proposal preparation software and processes.

The Large Millimeter Telescope Alfonso Serrano (LMT) is a 50-m diameter single-dish radio-telescope designed, constructed, and optimized to conduct scientific observations and to enable its user communities to analyze their science products. This paper describes the goals and objectives of the LMT’s science operation program and provides an overview of the life cycle of its science projects, including: (1) organization and activities of the user support staff; (2) review of scientific proposals; (3) operation of the telescope as a queue-scheduled, service observing facility; (4) pipeline reduction and data quality checks; and (5) initiation and maintenance of a scientific archive.

Binospec at the MMT is a queue scheduled wide field multi object spectrograph, operated by MMT staff queue observers. PIs design slitmasks and upload targets through web interfaces. A scheduling program ranks targets for QOs to choose from. A pipeline run by SAO scientists returns reduced data to the PIs. MMT instrument scientists manage the PI interaction with target catalogs, and interpret science programs for the QOs. We discuss pros and cons of queue scheduling, changes in user training, and educating a new user base in observing. Queue observing has many advantages for flexibility. However, it separates the PIs from observing, adding pressure on observation design and observatory staff. PIs not trained by apprenticeship at the telescope are a new reality. Staff must be both intermediaries and educators. To make queues work, software for entering observations needs to be easy to use, and observatories need to be transparent about time used. Further adaptations of observatory operations are needed to keep productivity, user satisfaction, and knowledge of observing methods, without alienating the users and staff too much from the means of production of observational data.

ESA currently owns or directly operates four ground-based observatories fully dedicated to Near-Earth Object observations. These are the Test-Bed Telescopes (TBT) in La Silla, Chile and in Cebreros, Spain, the Schmidt telescope at Calar Alto observatory, Spain and the Optical Ground Station telescope in Tenerife, Spain. Additionally, ESA is building the Flyeye telescope for the Northern Hemisphere for an automated asteroid survey. Using these telescopes, we are conducting low-elongation surveys and targeted follow-ups, focusing on potential imminent impactor asteroids. For the Flyeye network, a custom tasking software has been created to manage the survey, which also allows scheduling for follow-ups, and is compatible with our existing TBTs. The scheduler allows the creation of a survey with configurable survey parameters, and also takes into account successful observations from the previous night by the telescope and external observatories. For follow-up it is capable of loading objects from the risk lists of both ESA NEO Coordination Centre NASA and JPL Scout and assigning them a priority based on a figure-of-merit.

We present the results of the ground-based observing campaign to build the grid of spectro-photometric standard stars (SPSS) for the absolute flux calibration of data gathered by Gaia, the European Space Agency (ESA) astrometric mission. The spectro-photometric standard stars catalog is characterized by an internal ≅1% accuracy (and sub-percent precision) and it is tied to the CALSPEC Vega and Sirius systems within ≅1%. The final list of SPSS and their flux tables are presented, together with all the quality parameters and associated stellar properties derived from Gaia and the literature. Improvements with respect to the previous SPSS release (Pancino et al. 2021) are discussed, concerning especially the flux accuracy in the red part of the spectrum, above 800 nm. The grid will be used to calibrate Gaia photometry and spectra fluxes in the DR4 and DR5 releases.

We compare two techniques for washing bare aluminum-coated telescope optics. The established “contact” method agitates contaminants through abrasion which may introduce small scratches thereby increasing scatter. A contactless method using pressurized water potentially reduces such scratches, while posing other challenges. Specular and diffuse reflectance data from two 4-meter class telescope mirrors cleaned with contact and contactless methods offers insights into the effectiveness of each method and their impact on coating longevity.

This paper presents an approach to investigate the correlation between the long-term variability of photometric zero-point curves and the quality of the primary mirror coatings in 4-m class telescopes, specifically focusing on SOAR (Cerro Pachón, Chile) and Blanco (Cerro Tololo, Chile), both telescopes under NOIRLab. Using imaging data acquired with Goodman HTS (SOAR) and DECAM (Blanco), we are constructing an extensive dataset comprising images taken at similar instrumental conditions, sampling a substantially long period of the telescopes' operations. The analysis involves a comprehensive comparison of the photometric zero-point light curves against the reflectivity curve of the primary mirror of each telescope, taken bimonthly before and after each cleaning cycle. This study aims to aid in optimizing maintenance efforts, including scheduling cleaning procedures and re-aluminizing tasks, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency and longevity of the telescopes.

We present timing metrics and technical solutions used to monitor performance of the data reduction pipeline for JWST data. Software tools for managing and facilitating the daily operations of the pipeline will be discussed, while the first two years of pipeline processing and reprocessing of jWST data are accessed against technical requirements. To maximize JWST science data pipeline efficiency, it is important to develop the necessary processes and tools to help trouble-shoot, detect and respond to operational issues or anomalies that may arise. Besides the type and instrumental modes of the data, this in turn directly relates to the time required to complete high-level data processing, and thus the availability of the data products to users in the archive.

I will present an analysis of seeing, temparature and humidity measurements done with the MaunaKea Atmospheric Monitor (MKAM) located at the summit of MaunaKea. MKAM hosts a MASS-DIMM that was provided to the Maunakea Observatories by TMT after they completed their site studies. The instrument has been functional since 2009, taking several measurements of seeing every night it was in operation. I will present the trends seen when looking at all seeing, temperature and humidity values and report on seasonal trends to see how these correlate with the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

The LOFAR Data Valorization (LDV) project aims to curate and add value to the multi-petabyte distributed data collection of the LOFAR Long Term Archive. As part of the LDV project, the following topics are described in this paper: Data curation, where we will show how this challenge was tackled over the first year of LDV operations. Data editing, for which we will show how we improve sustainability of operations as well as user data access experience. And lastly data placement; where it is presented how we handle petabyte-scale data transfers by using the LOFAR Stager service and the SURF File Transfer Service (FTS)

The Robert Stobie Spectrograph (RSS) science product pipeline forms part of the daily SALT primary data pipeline. The primary pipeline controls the primary (basic) reductions of the RSS data whereafter the fully automated RSS pipeline performs the secondary (science) reductions under control of the primary pipeline. Currently only the data from the normal (full-frame) longslit spectroscopy mode are reduced by the RSS pipeline. It produces multiple science products in stages from basic wavelength calibrated and rectified to fully flat fielded, sky subtracted and cosmic ray cleaned 2D FITS images. The pipeline is developed in Python and utilises a number of stable open-source astronomy and science libraries, such as Astropy, NumPy and SciPy.

The fully automated science product pipeline for the Near Infrared Washburn Astronomical Laboratories Spectrograph (NIRWALS) forms part of the daily SALT primary data pipeline. Under control of the primary pipeline the NIRWALS pipeline performs the secondary (science) reductions after the completion of primary pipeline controlled primary (basic) reductions of the NIRWALS data. Multiple science products are produced in stages from basic wavelength calibrated and rectified to fully sky subtracted stacked 2D FITS images of the extracted fibres. The pipeline is developed in Python and utilises a number of stable open-source astronomy and science libraries, such as Astropy, NumPy and SciPy.

The International Virtual Observatory Alliance plays a pivotal role in making astronomy data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). Virtual Observatory standards are now mature and underpin data discovery, usage and interoperability from most major observatories around the world, including those managed by NASA, ESA, ESO and many others. New facilities such as Vera Rubin Observatory and SKAO are currently being built with these standards fully integrated, and they are central to their future operations. The VO is an enabling excellence through interoperability among both the service implementations and in the data exchange layer, and continues to demonstrate success year after year. In this talk I will give an overview of the importance of the VO to the modern observatory, highlighting its successes and discussing some of its upcoming challenges.