Data acquisition

A general ``optics'' script was made that searches ALFOSC and FASU wheels for one or more optical elements (in the form of specific [grism or filter] numbers, or containing a given string), and which returns if the element is present and where it is (wheel name and position). In the case of slits and grisms it can also show the alignment flag, and it can also display the whole content of a specific wheel. The script also allows to actually move the different wheels to put the given items in the light path.

The main objective of this script is to allow to make observing scripts that are not dependent on the specific position of an item in the wheels, while also giving the option to check in a simple way if the elements in a script are actually available. This specifically makes it possible to provide generic scripts for things like ToO observations, but also provide an automated way to check if scripts can be executed with the current set-up, or what is specifically missing. This can be very useful to plan (queue-mode) service observing.

Thomas Augusteijn 2009-01-15