NACO miscellaneous: basics

NAOS+CONICA:
basics

File ownership

All raw files carry the FITS keyword 'HIERARCH ESO OBS PROG ID'. Depending on the content of this keyword, several cases are distinguished concerning the distribution of files in the Service Mode package:

SCIENCE files: here a strict check on the PROG_ID is made. You will receive all files which carry your PROG_ID, and only these. Included are also all acquisition files for NAOS (DPR CATG PSF_SELECTOR) and CONICA (DPR CATG = TEST)
CALIB files: you receive all the files which carry your PROG_ID, but in most cases your set is dominated by shared files, i.e. those ones which were produced by the Observatory as aprt of the daily calibration plan. So in general the selection of calibration files is not driven by the PROG_ID, but by the instrument settings.

File naming schemes

The following naming schemes are relevant for files in the Service Mode package:

archive file name (FITS keyword: ARCFILE): this is the unique name of a rawfile which consists of the parent instrument name and the timestamp of its generation. Raw files always have extension '.fits'.
original file name (FITS keyword: ORIGFILE): this is the name of a raw file generated by the instrument workstation. In case of NACO, it consists of the name of the parent instrument, a tag for the INS MODE and the sequence number of the frame within the stack. Original file names are not necessarily unique.
data product file name (FITS keyword: PIPEFILE): this is the name of any pipeline product following the NAOS+CONICA product naming scheme. It is composed by the prefix 'NC_,', a four letter code for the instrumnetal mode (e.g. IOAJ for imaging observation AutioJitter) and a number of parameters. Product files may have the extension '.fits' if they are frames, or '.tfits' if they are tables, or 'paf' if they are VLT parameter files. Since there are usually more than one raw file used to generate the product, the ARCFILE of the first one is used. In addition plain ASCII pipeline log files follow the same naming scheme with the .log extension.

File association

The association of raw files of different types (CALIB and SCIENCE), as well as of raw files and data products, is a non-trivial task given the amount and complexity of data types in many SM packages. To support in this task, we have created the list files which you find in each data directory.

In general, the logical link between raw files and product files (both SCIENCE and CALIB) is given in the HIERARCH ESO RAW fits header keywords. In addition a *.calib file is provided, in case the data reduction was carried out using calibration products. Each Service Mode package contains a <PROG.ID>_assoc.txt file showing the associations of the master calibrations files with the reduced and raw science frames.

FAQs

General policy of data distribution.

Do I have to submit a request to receive my Service Mode data package?

Service Mode programmes are declared completed by the Users Support Group. This signal is sent to the Data Flow Operations Group which then prepares the NACO package. The data are copied onto CDs/DVDs and sent to the PI as soon as possible.

When can I expect to receive my NACO data package?

NACO data are shipped on DVDs once a week..
They are processed by QC Garching as quickly as possible. Processed means: calibration products are created and quality-checked, science data are reduced.
As soon as QC Garching receives a notification on the completenes for a specific programme, we built up a Service Mode package and and a notitication to the archive group to copy these data on CDs/DVDs.
The complete set of CDs/DVDs is mailed to the PI.
We expect for the first operational period of NACO a somewhat longer delay of ServiceMode package deliveries.

In total this chain of events is finished on average four-six weeks after the last frames have been measured.

General information about ServiceMode Observing is available.

Under which conditions will my data be reduced?

Templates supported by the NACO pipeline and by data flow operations

Mode	template
imaging	NACO_img_obs_AutoJitter
imaging	NACO_img_obs_AutoJitterOffset
imaging	NACO_img_obs_FixedSkyOffset
imaging	NACO_img_obs_GenericOffset
imaging	NACO_img_cal_StandardStar
dark	NACO_all_cal_Dark
imaging	NACO_img_cal_TwFlats
imaging	NACO_img_cal_SkyFlats
imaging	NACO_img_cal_Lampflats

Unsupported modes:

Mode	template
coronography	NACO_coro_obs_AutoChopNod
coronography	NACO_coro_obs_Stare
polarimetry	NACO_pol_obs_GenericOffset
polarimetry	NACO_pol_cal_Standardstar
polarimetry	NACO_pol_cal_LampFlats
spectroscopy	NACO_spec_obs_AutoNodOnSlit
spectroscopy	NACO_spec_obs_GenericOffset
spectroscopy	NACO_spec_cal_StandardStar
spectroscopy	NACO_spec_cal_Arcs
spectroscopy	NACO_spec_cal_LampFlats

How can I handle fits header extensions ?

NACO science fits files consist of three parts, the main file and two image extensions. The usual way to specify an indiviudual extension is to append the '[<n>]' to the file name (e.g. NACO.2003-01-01T12:13:14.123.fits[2]). ESO-MIDAS (from Version Sep02 on) users will use commands like 'help [Filename]' and 'indisk/mfits' to handle NACO fits frames or display it via 'load/ima NACO.<timestamp>.fits[1]'. eclipse users do not have to handle the extensions separately. iraf users will use 'display NACO.<timestamp>.fits[0]' when using SAOimage. The RTD and SkyCat can be called with the normal filename 'rtd -file NACO.<timestamp>.fits' and all extensions are shown in a separate pop-up.

Send comments to <Danuta.Dobrzycka@eso.org>
Last update: March 23, 2007