UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA OBSERVATORIES / LICK OBSERVATORY

LGS Target Lists

Preparing LGS target lists for US Space Command and processing the results involves many steps.
  1. A few weeks before an AO run, email the observer a notice about the LGS target list. Sample email is below: 
    Dear Dr. Metchev,

You are scheduled for LGS AO nights on Dec 21-23.  Please email your 
LGS target list to mh-laser@ucolick.org by Dec 14th so we can process it 
and send it to US Space Command.  Please refer to
http://mtham.ucolick.org/techdocs/instruments/ShaneAO/prep/
for details about the target list and format.

Contact me if you have any questions about what should be included
in the target list or other AO issues.

Elinor
  2. The observer should email a target list in the following format. (Note: Keck format target lists are also accepted, but that format is not discussed here). The TargetName should have no spaces and the RA and Dec may be space or colon separated. Any target that does not include the lgs=1 key will not be cleared. Note that only one of the guide star-science target pair needs to be cleared (typically in Keck style lists only the science target is cleared and the TT star(s) are not, Lick lists will often have everything cleared). 
    TargetName  RA  Dec  Epoch lgs=1

for example:

PKS0736+01 07:36:42.51 01:44:00.24 1950 lgs=1
M10 16 57 06.0 -04 06 00 2000 lgs=1
  3. We take the observer provided target list and add the following header info. It is ok for most fields to be bogus, e.g. ?? for an unknown phone number or program, but the Date must be the PST date that the lasing will occur. The file can be named anything, but I use the following convention - LGStargetlist_YYYYMonDD.txt, e.g. LGStargetlist_2008Jan19.txt, where YYYYMonDD is the PST date of lasing. You should put the file on shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/targetLists/ (you don't have to do this, but it keeps everything organized for everyone if you do). 
    Observer's name:        Gates
Observer's email:       egates@ucolick.org
Observer's phone:       9-5910
Program name:   Active Galaxies
Date for which list applies:  19 January 2014

Comments:
  
Target list:
    There is now a program to help parse observer provided target lists and process them on shanevnc: /usr/local/lick/bin/targetListParse.tcl. This will prompt for the necessary information and allow you to Browse... for the file. You must also specify whether it is a Keck or Lick formatted list.

  4. Space command requires files to be in PRM format. The PRM program is currently on shanevnc in /usr/local/lick/bin/.
    Syntax: PRM targetlist

    For example:
    PRM LGStargetlist_2014Jan19.txt

    PRM creates three (or more, if more than 400 targets) output files, that will be on shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/PRM/. These files are

    1. PRM_Lick_LGS_Combo_DDMmmYYYY_For_JDAYddd_AZEL.txt
      where DDMmmYYYY is the date the list was prepared, e.g. 01Dec2014, and
      ddd is the julian date of lasing.

    2. PRM_Lick_LGS_Combo_DDMmmYYYY_For_JDAYddd_RADEC.txt
      where DDMmmYYYY is the datethe PRM file was prepared, e.g. 01Dec2014, and
      ddd is the julian date of lasing.
    3. YYYYmmmDDUT.txt where YYYYmmmDD is the UT date of lasing, e.g. 2014Dec01UT.txt.

  5. Upload the PRM files to space-track.org
    1. Log in as mh-laser@ucolick.org
    2. Click on Files - Upload
    3. Choose the Lick/PRM/ directory
    4. Select PRM files to upload.

    If necessary due to problems, email the PRM files to space command at JSpOCSSAOps@vandenberg.af.mil. Copy mh-laser@ucolick.org as well on the emails. The target list should be uploaded to space-track.org at least four days in advance of the lasing date. (FYI, if you need to phone space command, the number is 805-605-6546)

    Sample Email message (if needed, it has been many many years since this was neeed):

    Dear LCH,

Attached are PRM files for Lick Observatory Laser activities for UT
2014 July 20-23 (J-Days 202-205).

Please email clearances to mh-laser@ucolick.org.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Thank you,

Elinor Gates
408-238-9610
egates@ucolick.org
  6. On the day of lasing, space command will notify via the mh-laser@ucolick.org email that the PAM files are ready to download from space-track.org. Please save these files to shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/PAM/. Note: Both Julian date and UT date are listed in the PAM file from space command in case you aren't sure what date the files are for. PAM files have the following naming convention:
    PAM_Lick_LGS_Combo_T-001_29Jan2024_For_JDAY031_AZEL-1.txt
    where the date is the day Space Command processed the PRM file, and JDAYddd is the julian date for which the shutdown list applies.

    If you get back more than one PAM RADEC file, you will want to concatenate them into a single file using a command like the following:
    cat PAM-RADEC.txt PAM-RADEC2.txt > PAMJDay168.txt
    This creates a single file for the lsmParse program (see below) to process.

  7. There are three processing programs to deal with the laser clearances and create the files for the Laser Shutdown Monitor (lsm). These programs are on shanevnc in /usr/local/lick/bin/.
    1. lsmParse takes each PAM file and creates the lsm files.
      Syntax: lsmParse PAMfile
      Example: lsmParse PAM_Lick_LGS_Combo_T-001_29JAN2024_For_JDAY031_AZEL-1.txt
      Example: lsmParse PAM_Lick_LGS_Combo_T-001_29JAN2024_For_JDAY031_RADEC-1.txt

    2. lsmCheck.tcl checks to make sure that every requested target was cleared (and lists targets cleared, but not requested).
      Syntax: lsmCheck lsmUTDate
      Example: lsmCheck 2024Jan31UT

    3. lsmNames.tcl takes the lsm files and renames them according to the target names provided by the observer in the LGStargetlist file.
      Syntax: lsmNames lsmUTDate
      Example: lsmNames 2024Jan31UT

    Note: lsm files are on shanevnc in /u/user/observers/lgs/lsm/ in a date named subdirectory.

  8. At the time of lasing, start the Laser Shutdown Monitor (on shanevnc, /usr/local/lick/lgs/bin/LSM.tcl) and make sure the lsm file for the proper target is loaded.

    LSM.tcl looks at the type of target (AzEl or RADec) and its coordinates, and makes sure the telescope is pointed at the right spot and the tracking state is correct for the mode. If not, lasing will be disabled (via the POCLASER keyword).

  9. If new PAM files are sent after you have processed the previous ones, you must go to /u/user/observers/lgs/lsm/ and into the appropriate date subdirectory and remove all the .lsm files before processing the new PAM laser shutdowns as above.

  10. If there are additional blanket shutdowns from space command, refer to shanevnc:/u/user/observers/lgs/extraShutdowns/README for instructions.

Last modified: Wed Aug 19 18:53:23 PDT 2026