An update on WFCAM progress

Paul Hirst

Progress with WFCAM has continued worldwide since the last Newsletter. More optical components have been delivered to the ATC in Edinburgh, with just a few now left to come in. Integration and testing has continued and some of the science grade arrays have been aligned in the co-planarity cryostat. A date for acceptance tests of the instrument will be finalised with JAC shortly. Nearby, the Wide Field Astronomy Unit (WFAU) at the ROE in Edinburgh have taken delivery of considerable amounts of computing and data-storage hardware on which the WFCAM Science Archive will operate, and have made progress with developing the software for data ingest and creation of the archive. Also on the software front, development of the data reduction pipeline has continued at CASU in Cambridge, including testing various methods of flat-fielding and sky subtraction, techniques needed to meet the stringent photometric accuracy requirements of the UKIDSS surveys.

Here at JAC we have been testing the somewhat unusual (at least for JAC) method of mounting the WFCAM instrument onto the telescope. A specially modified forklift truck will be used to lift the 2 tonne cryostat up and out over the primary mirror to its mounting location on the mirror plug. Testing was done using a specially made full size polystyrene model of the cryostat (that weighs substantially less than 2 tonnes).

Initial tests took place in Hilo (see the back cover), the spare mirror plug being supported at the same height above the ground as the real mirror plug is above the dome floor. Tests also took place in Hilo using a metal block that weighs the same as the WFCAM instrument.

Following success in Hilo, testing moved to UKIRT. The fact that the UKIRT dome is barely bigger than the telescope and that the gaps between the telescope struts are only marginally larger than the WFCAM instrument makes maneuvering the truck into position and lifting the instrument up through the telescope struts to put the instrument precisely into its mounting a very delicate procedure. Based on these test, we now know that, with the truck at an angle to the telescope, we will lift WFCAM up through the yoke between the mirror cell and the north hour angle bearing. Then, with the instrument high up above the mirror, the truck will be maneuverered until it is due North of - and directly facing - the centre of the mirror. Finally, the boom supporting the instrument on the forklift will be extended, moving the instrument out over the mirror to the mirror plug, where it will be delicately lowered into place and bolted down.

FIGURE 1: The WFCAM fork-lift being maneouvered at the North Column of UKIRT.	FIGURE 2: The polystyrene model of WFCAM being moved into position above the UKIRT primary mirror (the mirror covers are closed of course).

As you can see in the photos, space is very tight, though we're all very impressed at how easy our ETS team made it look after only a few days of practice!

We're currently expecting delivery of WFCAM to JAC in June or July, following acceptance tests in late-April/early-May. With preparations continuing well with all groups concerned, we are confident that everything will be in place to usher in a new era of UKIRT operations later this year.

Acknowledgements: Photos by Brad Cavanagh and Marge Dougherty

UKIRT adopts the JCMT Observation Queue

Andy Adamson

UKIRT's execution software took a step toward WFCAM with the adoption of the JCMT "Queue" system in January 2004. UKIRT observers over the past two years will have become familiar with the "Sequence Console" which displays and executes low-level telescope and instrument commands translated from the original Science Program xml. Since the introduction of flexible scheduling, the Sequence Console has been fed from the Query Tool (Newsletters passim), Observation by Observation. With WFCAM observing not far off, a more automated system was required, and the JCMT's Queue fits the bill all but perfectly. The Queue sits between the QT and Sequence Console; entire MSBs are sent to it from the QT and automatically sent to the Console for execution. With the current instruments it makes sense to retain a degree of control over this than will be necessary with WFCAM, and so the Sequence Console still retains occasional "Breaks" to which the observer has to respond. With WFCAM, this process will be more automated and we anticipate that entire hour-long survey MSBs will execute autonomously.

FIGURE 1: The queue system, showing the contents of a multi-filter Michelle MSB. Each Observation in the MSB is automatically sent to the Sequence Console when its predecessor has completed.

View from the Top

Thor Wold

Upon your next visit to UKIRT you will notice right away yet more changes to the control room set-up. The instrument that used to control data-taking has been changed; it is now a three-headed machine, as were the TCS and data reduction machines.

Additionally, the software group has instituted a queue manager window, so that one can set up a series of MSBs to run sequentially, with little or no intervention on the part of the observer. The TSSs also have access and also control over this as well, thereby enabling observers to take a break now and then. I am sure that you will find both of these innovations very useful.

Down at University Park, the official groundbreaking of the Mauna Kea Astronomy Education Center took place in April. Completion is slated for May of 2005, and then the construction of the various exhibits and installation of the state-of-the-art planetarium equipment will begin. Dedication of the completed facility is planned for the end of 2005.

This will enable not only our visitors, but also any family members that may accompany them now and then, to experience a world-class planetarium as well as exhibits on astronomy on Mauna Kea and the history and culture that has preceeded us on the mountain.

I have been mentioning the rather ambitious project to finally and fully upgrade the entire length of Saddle Road. Groundbreaking for the first segment was finally held in February. This is the segment from the Mauna Kea Access Road west across the Pohakuloa Training Area. The military has long wanted to route the civilian population away from active firing. The situation has been such that fairly often artillery shells are sailing over the roadway. This means that the road has to be totally re-routed so that it will run further up the slope of Mauna Kea. This segment is projected to cost $50M.

The next portion slated for improvement is a part of phase two that runs from the Mauna Kea Access Road east towards Hilo to the 9 mile marker. This portion will be about 4.5 miles from the Access Road, so down to around the 22 mile marker; kind of where the 'flats' start, with all the bare lava. It is hoped that this will start in early 2005. The entire second phase is estimated to cost $60M, this portion ought to come in at around $10M.

The entire Saddle Road improvements will likely cost $200M.

This project is being touted as an 'Eco-Highway', especially since it will traverse extremely sensitive ecological areas with many endangered species. Many diverse groups from government and civilian entities are cooperating to ensure that the least possible damage is done with this project. For example, to protect native forest lands from inadvertent introduction of alien invasive species, all road-building equipment will be steam-cleaned and fumigated prior to being hauled to the construction site. To protect the endangered Newell's shearwaters, who can become confused by lights, no after-dark lighting will be allowed between April and October. And to protect the endangered Hawaiian hawks, who are known to be nesting along the route on the Hilo side, the right-of-way will be searched. If an active nest is found, construction must stop within a half-mile of the nest while the US Fish and Wildlife Service is consulted.

Meanwhile, construction on the Puainako Street extension has slowed of late. It is still running far ahead of schedule, though. This will enable visiting observers to turn left from the University Park for about a block, and then travel up on a new highway all the way up to the 6 mile marker on Kaumana Drive, thereby avoiding all of the traffic and winding road that one must currently traverse. Eventually, this will connect to the Saddle Road improvements and provide a much faster and far safer journey up to Hale Pohaku. This road is very near completion and ought to be finished within the next few months. It has been somewhat hampered by the wet weather we have had for the first few months of what passes for winter here.

That said, although this winter may seem to be wet and wild by recent standards, it is quite normal when viewed over the long term. What has been unusual over the past 10 years or so is the frequent and very dry El Nino winters. Even the upcountry finally got some decent rains between November and January. Oddly, February has been a bit on the dry side, but the moisture has been good enough for the mamame trees around Hale Pohaku to explode in bloom. So much so that we have had a honeybee invasion in Building D!

The construction at Hale Pohaku has finally finished. After the toilet facilities were completed in late summer, the front door to the commons building was basically left broken for months. It would not shut or lock, and there were several times when I arrived late at HP on my acclimatization night only to find a lot of strange people milling about inside the commons building, which was sometimes a bit disconcerting. The new doors were finally finished in early January and they work real well, though I think this was nearly a year behind schedule.

The only item that has not been done is the enlargement of the upper parking lot where the solar water heater field was. I am not at all sure this will be happening any time soon.

The rare silversword plant that I have mentioned in the past few columns is very much finished with its bloom and the flower stalk has gone to seed. This does not seem to deter the tour vans from stopping to disgorge tourists who trundle on down for photo-ops of a very dead-looking flower stalk. The plant itself is doing just fine, although one wonders about this tourist abuse. I presume someone is harvesting the seeds to propagate more plants to keep on trying to help this species reclaim its habitat. This is difficult, since it is so tasty to the ungulates that still wander the mountain.

We seem to have been bitten by a spate of bad luck the past couple of months, with both UIST and Michelle needing emergency repairs. At this writing (end of February) Michelle is poised to return to the telescope for its final run on UKIRT and UIST ought to be back in a few weeks. I cannot remember such a span of bad luck in my 18 years here. Let's hope this has paid our dues for a while and we can get back to business.

Reports from the UK indicate the Wide-Field Camera, WFCAM, is doing well. We are still looking at heavy engineering with WFCAM in July. Fingers crossed things will continue to go smoothly. I certainly hope I can have some nice things to say about WFCAM in the next edition of the Newsletter!

And, that said, we here at UKIRT do hope that you find your next observing run to be a smooth experience. As always, we cannot promise pristine weather, but we do strive to provide the world's best astronomical experience.

Aloha, and I hope to see you soon!