The Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ^†1 ) in Spain is a young astronomical facility, conceived and developed from the beginning as a fully automated observatory with the main goal of optimizing the processes in the scientific and general operation of the Observatory. The OAJ has been particularly conceived for carrying out large sky surveys with two unprecedented telescopes of unusually large fields of view: the JST/T250, a 2.55 m telescope of 3 deg field of view, and the JAST/T80, an 83 cm telescope of 2 deg field of view. The most immediate objective of the two telescopes for the next years is carrying out two unique photometric surveys of several thousand square degrees, J-PAS^†2 and J-PLUS^†3 , each of them with a wide range of scientific applications, like e.g. large structure cosmology and Dark Energy, galaxy evolution, supernovae, Milky Way structure, exoplanets, among many others. To do that, JST and JAST are equipped with panoramic cameras deployed within the J-PAS collaboration, JPCam and T80Cam respectively, which make use of large format (~ 10k x 10k) CCDs covering the entire focal plane. The first part of this paper elaborates on the organizational advantages realized through the incorporation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) in our operations. These administrative tools offer a coherent framework for workforce optimization, reducing operational costs, and achieving scientific objectives while maintaining stringent quality standards. Central to this strategy is the employment of a common inventory structure to facilitate seamless interdepartmental processes. The second section explores how emerging technologies, specifically Artificial Intelligence (AI), are integral in achieving a harmonized global framework. AI models and algorithms are instrumental in optimizing various facets of the observatory's operations, thereby furnishing the project with essential high-quality tools for success. This multi-faceted approach not only meets but exceeds operational and scientific targets within budgetary constraints, setting a benchmark for observatory operational efficiency and performance.

In an era characterized by the availability of affordable, powerful, and scalable cloud-based services, we delve into the strategic decision to design a cloud-based infrastructure for the New Robotic Telescope (NRT). We provide a comprehensive discussion on the design, implementation, and challenges encountered during this approach. Central to this infrastructure is the Software Operations Data Centre (SODC), serving as the public-facing web portal. The SODC leverages REDIS, modern RESTful APIs, web sockets, and cloud-based data pipelines allowing astronomers seamless access to their data while ensuring data availability when the observatory is offline due to unmanageable interruptions in data connections. These tools also grant us instant feedback from the facility, providing live system states of the observatory’s devices. In this paper, we specifically address the scalability and redundancies embedded in this cloud-based system, elucidating how they contribute to the robustness of the NRT’s operations. We also spotlight auxiliary tools in use to transmit this secure and public data. We aim to shed light on the strategic advantages of our cloud-based approach in astronomical observatories, emphasizing the role of the SODC in data accessibility, data security and observatory control interfaces with real world demonstrations.

The operations at the Paranal Observatory have hit their 25th year milestone for the Unit Telescope 1 that saw first light in 1998. We will review different technical and organizational aspects of the technical operations over the last years. First, we present an update on the reliability and availability of the observatory systems and in particular the scientific instruments over the last decade. Corrective maintenance metrics will be presented to show the trends and compare with previous similar studies. Second, we present a review of our current maintenance processes after an analysis started recently for planning the future integrated operations with the Extremely Large telescope (ELT). The exercise revealed how the resources are used as well as the gaps and potential for improvements, in particular in the context of our methodology of Maintenance in Conditions of Operation (MCO), which we implemented in 2014. Finally, we will give an update on obsolescence management by describing some of the solutions we have implemented, and our strategy and forecast for the future decades given the aging of the Observatory and the need to keep the Very Large Telescope (VLT) competitive in the era of ELT.

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 ESO’s Paranal observatory 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 summarize the current VLT(I) STS model and outline ongoing efforts of optimizing the scientific return of both the VLT(I) and future ELT. We 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 optimize the scheduling; changing STS to be more ‘dynamic’ to consider medium-term scheduling constraints. We present specific results comparing how machine learning predictions of the seeing can improve STS efficiency when compared to the current model of using the last 10 min median of the measured seeing for observation selection.

This document presents the hardware, software, and human resource requirements needed to implement a dynamic scheduling system for the Sardinia Radio Telescope. After reviewing a number of scheduling solutions presently adopted in other radio astronomical facilities, we reasoned about a possible system tailored specifically for the peculiar characteristics of the SRT. An all-encompassing architecture is designed based on a careful top-down approach. A complete system is presented, in which the weather tools, proposal tools, scheduling system, observing system and telescope management tools are all integrated together. The role of the various human actors involved is also analyzed.

This document presents a picture of the Optimizer, that will be the core component of the dynamic scheduling system, going to be developed for the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT). It will consist of a series of algorithms whose purpose will be to analyze the information stored in a database and then release two schedules: the long-term semester schedule and the short-term (72h) schedule. Optimizer’s computation engine is going to be based on a set of varying parameters, like weather conditions or technical constraints. The core calculation will take place inside the optimizer, and it will be required that the software runs continuously, as it would have to respond in near real time to any changes that may occur in the system. It will consist of several subcomponents, to properly evaluate the weather conditions, to calculate the observations priority, to predict the long-term status and to produce the short-term schedules. Moreover, a simulator will be built to properly calibrate and validate 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 standard NOIRLab bi-annual proposal calls. The other approximately 50% of WIYN science time is available to WIYN institutional partners. NEID entered full science operations in 2021B and is operated in queue mode, with a team of dedicated NEID Queue Observers carrying out nighttime operations. Currently, the NEID queue makes up approximately 70-80% of the available WIYN telescope time, with the other approximately 20-30% of the time made up of a combination of classically and queue scheduled time on other instruments. Operating NEID in queue mode is crucial for executing high cadence programs such as the publicly available NEID Standard Star program. 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.

In this paper, we introduce the scheduler for Radial Velocity (RV) measurements at the TNG telescope which is currently under development. The scheduler is a web-based application designed to optimize RV observations for GAPS community science projects. Additionally, it will be made available to all other follow-up RV programs that wish to benefit from it. We will detail the process of inputting, prioritizing, and selecting targets for observation with HARPS-N and GIANO-B at the TNG, while ensuring appropriate allocation, respecting the timing and constraint, among all the programs that use this scheduler to optimize their measurements. This fully automated software will be able to flank the observer with a night-by-night ordered list of optimal targets, as well as optimal backups in case observing conditions change, enabling users to adapt to rapid changes due to weather conditions that require a swift response, without compromising the optimization process, ensuring high-quality observations. We foresee to provide the scheduler with a web-based panel that interrogates the underlying application programming interfaces to load/reload/edit the calculated OBs list and export them for execution by the telescope operator.

We present the tool qcFlow designed to handle the quality control process at ESO’s LaSilla-Paranal Observatory in the ELT era. We highlight the top-level requirements and the way they are implemented in the tool. We also describe the supporting data flow software that allows the quality control process for a large suite of different astronomical instruments to be efficient and automated to a high degree.

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.

SALT is a 10-m class optical telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa and has been in operations for almost 20 years. 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. It has been an exhausting time for the team due to breakdowns of some of the sub-systems. One key performance metric of the telescope is telescope downtime which needs to remain below five percent. We are very fortunate to have a team that works well together to ensure systems are operational in as short a time as possible. However, due to the high staff turnover, knowledge is lost, and new staff take time to understand the various systems. Planning asset renewal projects is challenging when key staff are involved with some of the more complex problem-solving tasks. Documentation and drawings for some of these systems are incomplete, which has an impact on efficiency and maintenance of the telescope. This has happened due to ineffective, or outdated, processes. Gathering information about the telescope requires a considerable amount of time from the team. We decided that the only way to overcome these challenges is by creating special campaigns to improve our processes and maintenance plans, and to determine the resource requirements at SALT.

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 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. 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 all-sky 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 close/open 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 Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory target for its Mid Telescope science availability is high (§2). It emphasises quality of delivery and can drive high operating & maintenance cost. There is substantial evidence that indicates that the physical well-being of any asset and the financial cost to keep such an asset in its operational well-being are interrelated, and keeping any asset operating efficiently requires efficient and cost-effective maintenance. This paper describes the observatory acquisition and operations establishment approach for realising SKA Observatory Mid Telescope science availability at optimised cost. It shares interim results, challenges and focus areas for SKA-Mid Telescope Construction and Operations establishment. It provides insight in SKA engineering operations collaboration with science operations, the SKA-Mid Acquisition Project, Mission Assurance, Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) and Health, Safety, Security and Environmental (HSSE) Management towards this objective.

Ongoing improvement and roll-out of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) best practices continue to be a key priority at the NSF 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 for employees, the scientific user community, and our communities where facilities are located. NOIRLab continues to build upon its foundational DEIA Strategic Plan. The DEI Officer leads the DEI Committee, which continues to strengthen the infrastructure of DEIA at the center. The flagship program of DEIA is the Broadening Participation program, which invites all 500+ staff at NOIRLab to spend up to 3% of their work time on DEIA or community engagement 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. We overview the work undertaken by the DEI Committee and allies throughout NOIRLab and Rubin to build DEIA into everything we do, aligning ourselves with the recommendations of the Astro2020 decadal survey, especially focusing on creating a new community astronomy model. Community astronomy recognizes astronomy participation as a two-way street, where the communities in which we occupy land and sites have equal participation in the science being done, and a culture of shared leadership is defined. We will also update on the establishment of the DEI Programs Manager position and an office of DEIA at NOIRLab.

In the last decade, some detailed analyses of peer-review schema applied to the evaluation of observing proposals showed that the outcome of these review processes were affected by significant biases, especially gender-related ones. 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. Here, we present the first results of our analysis that compares observing proposal success rates as a function of the proposer’s gender and career status, before and after the introduction of dual anonymous reviews, and we evaluate the impact that this approach is having on the outcome of the process.

The W. M. 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 the scheduled program’s principal investigator and their collaborators anywhere in the world in near real-time. Data files and their associated metadata are streamed to a user’s desktop machine moments after they are written to disk and archived in KOA. The ODAP User Interface is built in React and uses the WebSocket protocol to stream data between KOA and the user. This document describes the design of the tool, challenges encountered, shows how ODAP is integrated into the Keck observing model, and provides an analysis of usage metrics.

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, and counting, 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. All data in the ESO Science Archive are distributed according to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).

The ESO Data Processing System (EDPS) is a new software infrastructure to run the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) science data processing modules (“pipeline recipes”). These recipes are used for quality control at the telescope, unsupervised production of science and calibration products for ESO’s science archive, and for interactive data reduction by external science users. EDPS can be used to address all these use cases and therefore replaces individual dedicated systems that have been in use ESO up to now.

The ESO Science Archive is a powerful scientific resource for the entire astronomical community, contributing up to 45% to the overall ESO scientific output, as quantified by refereed publications in international journals. It stores and preserves the raw data generated by all ESO facilities and instruments, and an always growing variety of processed products. It allows the browsing and retrieval of all these data from the La Silla-Paranal Observatory, as well as from ALMA. The processed products come primarily from ESO Public Surveys, Large Programmes, and from the bulk processing of selected instruments carried out by ESO as part of the quality control process. 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 Phase 3 process, which provides the channel to publish reduced data, is to delegate data reduction to experts while providing the astronomical community at large with ready-to-use products and securing their long-term preservation in the ESO Science Archive. This collaborative effort between the archive and the scientific teams has been in operation since 2011 and delivers numerous benefits to the scientific community and data providers, including enhanced data visibility through Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), quality certification, long-term data preservation, improved metadata/data characterization and the possibility of providing services and capabilities on top of a homogeneous data archive. In this contribution we highlight the way in which a curated data archive increases the legacy value of the products. We are going to illustrate the Phase3 process and the ESO Science Data Product Standard, a data interface document to which the reduced products must adhere. This standard ensures a uniform data and metadata format. We also present the automated audit process to verify compliance with the standard and the role that the archive team plays in assisting data providers in preparing the products and organizing their submission. We wish to share our experience in involving the community, in providing user support, how the system has been improved and our lessons learned. We conclude by providing an outline of the foreseen future developments.

CIGALE∗ means Code Investigating GALaxy Emission. This open-source code is developed in Python 3 and parallelized. It is built to study the evolution of galaxies by statistically comparing modelled galaxy Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) to observed ones. CIGALE can handle data from the X-rays and far ultraviolet to the far infrared and radio through several modules that model the emission of stars, gas, dust and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). In a recent evolution of CIGALE, we added the possibility to use both and simultaneously photometric and spectroscopic data (line fluxes, equivalent widths). In the most recent version of CIGALE, we modified the code to make it compatible with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRSpec instrument. More instrumental setups are being added for other space-borne (e.g. JWST/MIRI and JWST/NIRISS) and ground-based instruments (e.g. SUBARU/PFS, VLT/MOONS or ELT/MOSAIC). This now allows to analyze the resolved emission of local galaxies to the emission of the most distant ones at z ⪆10 in a very efficient way: a simple fitting analysis can be performed for about 1200 NIRSpec spectra in three hours. CIGALE is also able to create model spectra and to predict flux densities and emission line fluxes. We show that CIGALE might be one of the fastest fitting codes on the market. It is often written in papers that SED fitting codes are much slower than machine learning. Beyond this kind of naive and not fully tested claim on the variety of fitting codes, we 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-learning methods on very large galaxy samples.

HERMES Pathfinder is a constellation of six 3U nano-satellites mainly funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and also by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program. The nano-satellites host simple but innovative x-ray detectors to monitor cosmic high energy transients such as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB). A seventh HERMES detector is aboard the Australian mission SpIRIT (Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal), launched in December 2023. HERMES Science Operation Center (SOC) is hosted by the ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC), which is a multi-mission science operation, data processing and data archiving center. 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 of the tasks under the responsibility of the SOC and the HERMESDAS (HERMES Data Analysis Software) software package to generate calibrated and cleaned scientific data from raw telemetry data. HERMESDAS is designed as a collection of software modules each dedicated to a single function. HERMEDAS makes use of open-source software, is designed for portability on most UNIX platforms, and adheres to NASA OGIP standards. HERMES science data archive will be accessible at www.asi.ssdc.it.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array remains the largest mm radio interferometer observatory world-wide. It is now conducting its 11th observing cycle. 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 an update of our results refining our proposed adjustments to the scheduling and quality assurance processes. In particular we present new results on ways to assess the uv coverage of a given observation efficiently, methods to define and measure the maximum recoverable angular scale, and on the robustness of the deconvolution in the final interferometric imaging process w.r.t. defects in the uv coverage. Finally, we present the outline of a design for integrating uv coverage assessment into the control and processing loop of observation scheduling. The results are applicable to all radio interferometers with more than approx. ten antennas.

The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is the world’s largest ground-based facility 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 established the ALMA 2030 development program to improve ALMA’s capability to avoid obsolescence for the next decade. The Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) project, the first initiative of the ALMA 2030 development program, will replace the entire digital processing system, which includes the 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 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 road to address the definition of the AIVC concept and the corresponding AIVC plan of the WSU project.

LOFAR is a high-throughput data facility that has been operational since 2012 and is currently undergoing a major upgrade towards LOFAR 2.0. Operating such a state-of-the-art facility for the first time has given us the chance to optimize our tools, processes, and operational model with respect to the complexity of this groundbreaking telescope. The upgrades in LOFAR 2.0 will enable the simultaneous usage of the low and high band antennas, alternatively doubling the survey speed in one of the observing bands. The correlator with a fully commensal functionality will provide interferometric and tied array beam data products at the same time. The new observing regime will require high performance not only on the correlator, but also on the specification, scheduling, and quality assessment of the observations. Processing to produce science-ready data to be made available to the community will be performed in the long-term archive infrastructure. This will come with a cost in terms of computing and storage resources, as well as tackling challenges in terms of pipelines and algorithms developments and optimization and control of complex chains of data processes. In this talk, I will describe how the lessons learned in several aspects of LOFAR operations (from telescope calibration to data storage and discovery) have triggered important technological, operational, and policy advancements that will pave the path towards LOFAR 2.0 and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced some ALMA Observatory’s teams to change their working models from observatory on-site or office-based to fully remote. The performance results obtained by the groups during this emergency evidenced that a hybrid working model would be suitable to be implemented in the long term, especially for the teams that concentrate 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 lessons learned from this experience which contributed to establishing a permanent hybrid model. The ALMA Software group, consisting of 18 engineers, transitioned in this direction taking into consideration all the knowledge learned during the pandemic and developing a smooth and successful experience by maintaining productivity levels and cohesive team spirit despite the physical location of the group members. This paper provides an overview of key considerations, challenges, and benefits associated with the shift towards a hybrid working model. Factors/challenges such as technological infrastructure, communication and collaboration, collaborators' well-being and performance metrics are analyzed from the manager/supervisors' point of view. The paper also describes the challenges that the group will face shortly, and the actions developed to mitigate the risks and disadvantages of the new working environment.

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-based tools are standard: using nothing more than a browser, astronomers can 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 at LBT; not only for single operations, but also for procedure scripting. In this contribution we describe our best practices and present two recent, orthogonal use cases: an in-place professional use for exoplanetary transit follow-ups, and the first remote control of the telescope from a Japanese high school, allowing students to independently observe, in their daytime, globular clusters.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA), with its geographically distributed telescopes in Australia and South Africa, faces unique challenges in achieving and maintaining high availability. This paper explores how Engineering Management plays a critical role in overcoming these challenges in remote environments. Meeting ambitious availability targets is impacting design, investment, and ongoing costs. Precursor telescope data informs reliability and maintenance strategies, while a digital twin concept is introduced for proactive decision-making. Extreme temperatures necessitate meticulous design considerations, and remote operation demands a non-traditional, precisely organized maintenance model with optimized staffing. Cost-effectiveness and technological currency are key drivers, achieved through integrating Reliability Availability and Maintainability (RAM) analysis with logistics and configuration management. This paper discusses the challenges of ensuring high availability of remote telescopes located in Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) sensitive area.

The Aperture Array Verification System, or AAVS, is a series of incremental proof-of-concept Square Kilometre Array (SKA) low-frequency stations. They have been deployed at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, recognizing and acknowledging the Wajarri Yamaji 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 Observatory directly and was implemented as a way to investigate the performance of different antenna layouts within a station (randomized, Vogel and perturbed Vogel). SKAO Science Operations has embraced this opportunity to enable early engagement with the prototype to test and explore aspects of telescope operations, including scheduling and observing, as well as monitoring and processing the subsequent data (together with the System Science and Commissioning teams). In this paper we provide a description of the AAVS3 system, developments on site in Australia, the observations undertaken with AAVS3, and the learning and development for scientific operations that has been enabled by the AAVS system. There is also a forward look more broadly to science operations and verification, including the timeline and upcoming array assembly schedule.

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 develop over the course of the last five years, as we adapted to the ways that telescope usage evolved. The science program consists of a mix of large Survey projects (through a once-off call for proposals), open time proposals solicited through yearly calls, Director’s 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 South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) has launched a strategic upgrade program named the Intelligent Observatory (IO), aiming to advance SAAO into the so-called fourth industrial revolution. Over the past two years, this initiative has achieved a significant milestone: all three of SAAO’s primary telescopes have been upgraded to support remote operations from anywhere in the world, with one telescope now fully automated. This enhancement in operational capabilities significantly bolsters support for all scientific endeavors, especially in the domains of transient and time-domain science, the core focus areas of the IO. Moreover, these upgrades open new avenues for synergistic integration with other hosted telescopes on the Sutherland plateau, as well as with additional ground-based and space-based observatories. In our ongoing quest for efficiency and responsiveness, we are developing sophisticated algorithms capable of adapting observational strategies in real-time based on dynamic weather patterns. Additionally, the creation of a comprehensive science archive is underway, which will offer fully reduced data products from all telescopes and instruments.

South African Astronomical Observatory has been spearheading an effort to modernize the optical/IR observing facilities in the country and also from across the African continents to network them to form an Intelligent Observatory (IO), operating robotically from a centralized control brain. To achieve such an ambitious system, one need to be equipped with modern technologies, computation capabilities, real-time coordination between observers and observatory, autonomous trigger management system etc. The primary objective is to enable a comprehensive facility for the follow up observations triggered by the most sophisticated global facilities like LSST, ROMAN, zTF, CTA etc. in near future. The recent developments at SAAO, the Observatory Control System (OCS) has proven to be an integrated sub-component of the complex IO architecture. The OCS, because of a simplistic fragmentation in terms of the definitions of the various components: such as telescopes, instruments, observations, logging; helped the IO architecture uniquely to integrate very old telescope and instruments, originally not designed for the automated operations. The OCS has reduced a lot of burden of the observatory management team by providing a communicable database for managements and data visualization.

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 (Observatory 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 weather alarm 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 (GN) 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. The damage consisted in two stress-induced conchoidal fractures located on the outer perimeter and the underside of the M1, one approximately 300 by 200 mm and the other approximately 100 x 50 mm. In addition to mitigating the glass damage, the repairs required relocation and modification of one of the lateral pads of the M1 support system. A multidisciplinary team was assembled to repair the GN M1, led by NOIRLab Engineering Services. The repairs were successfully accomplished without affecting the optical performance of the Telescope. 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. No noticeable decrease in optical or mechanical performance of the mirror has been detected.

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 science 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 developed and implemented 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 operational procedures and processes.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a prominent astronomical observatory known for its detailed imaging capabilities. Efficient scheduling of ALMA’s data processing tasks, especially those involving complex pipeline executions, is crucial for maximizing operational productivity. This paper addresses the challenge by developing a predictive model that estimates the runtime of these tasks, enabling more effective scheduling and resource management. Our approach employs the Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM) and Quantile Forest models to predict processing times and quantify uncertainties. The use of these models is innovative, as it not only provides accurate predictions but also offers insights into the variability of processing times. This is particularly beneficial for handling the dynamic nature of the data processing workload at ALMA. We enhance the model’s performance and reliability by incorporating variable scaling and logarithmic transformations. To determine the best model, we comprehensively evaluated seven different machine-learning techniques. Our results show that the LGBM model and quantile estimation outperform traditional methods in predicting task durations. This leads to more efficient scheduling, as it allows the system to account for potential delays and optimize the sequencing of jobs. The quantile approach, in particular, offers a robust method for dealing with the inherent uncertainty in processing times. Our predictive tool has demonstrated a substantial reduction in overall flow time, decreasing it by 5.7%. Further improvements were achieved using stochastic scheduling techniques, which leverage the uncertainty estimates provided by our model. This research highlights the potential of machine learning to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of large-scale observatories like ALMA, providing a scalable and practical solution for managing complex data processing tasks.

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 2 in the seeing-enhanced wide field (WFM-AO) observations and deliver image quality down to 50-60 milliarcsecond (mas) 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 paper, we present the commissioning activities, the procedure developed to switch between 4LGS and 3LGS mode, and the performance characterization of the MUSE-NFM AO degraded mode.

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. In this paper we present an update on all observatory performance metrics since the start of full science operations in late 2011, including science time, weather and technical downtime, and time used for planned engineering activities and our new instruments commissioning. We analyze key statistics describing the science output of SALT, the completion fractions of scheduled observations per priority class, and analyze the more than 500 refereed papers to date since first light based on SALT data. We discuss our latest telescope metrics and the results of our analysis of our acquisition times, what steps we are taking to make significant improvements to our metrics, our metrics dashboard and hiring of a new ‘salt efficiency software developer’. Some of these projects, along with the latest developments in software, instrumentation and engineering projects, are presented in detail in other SPIE papers. We also highlight that significant effort has also been placed on the improvement of our data reduction pipelines. The SALT refereed paper output has continued to increase steadily at a pace comparable to other large telescopes when counted from the start of science operations and when scaled by the number of telescopes. When scaled by operations costs (where known), SALT is still clearly very cost-effective compared to most other large telescope operations. We also highlight that in terms of citations and impact, SALT again at a comparable level to other large telescopes. We also discuss the exciting arrival of the Near IR spectrograph, which expands the telescope's wavelength range into the NIR, and the addition of a laser frequency comb to calibrate the High Stability mode of our High-Resolution Spectrograph, in line with strategic vision for exoplanet science. We also briefly discuss our plans for SALT as an important component of the SAAO in an “Intelligent Observatory” framework aiming to network a suite of telescopes and instruments on the observing site.

The ESO Paranal Observatory is the site of the UT4 YEPUN telescope, which accommodates four TOPTICA-MPB Laser Guide Star Units (LGSUs) within its Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF). Additionally, three similar laser systems are scheduled for installation, with each telescope housing one laser unit, resulting in a total of seven lasers at Paranal. Preparations are underway at the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) to integrate six more lasers. Recently we have introduced innovative strategies to guarantee the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of operations and technical maintenance. Pivotal initiatives include enhancing real-time monitoring of systems and subsystems. This approach enables a comprehensive evaluation of system usage, leading to optimized strategies and a 20% increase in the lifespan of critical components. Furthermore, the implementation of automated monitoring for critical system parameters has effectively decreased the necessity for visual inspections, thereby optimizing staffing allocation. The meticulous monitoring of environmental parameters within the telescope, coupled with the development of AI tools, facilitates the timely detection of deviations from technical specifications, triggering warnings and alarms. The AI tools also exhibit the potential to predict dangerous variations in the environment that affect system performance, enabling proactive measures to reduce troubleshooting time and ensuring data-driven interventions. The development of tools for comprehensive data analysis, covering health checks and operational logs of laser units, has resulted in a remarkable 25% reduction in staffing allocation for this activity. This streamlined process expedites fault analysis and facilitates the swift identification of the root cause of critical issues. Through the implementation of these strategic initiatives, we are not only enhancing the performance and longevity of the 4LGSF but also securing its sustained contribution to the scientific community. These efforts underscore our commitment to advancing technological capabilities and operational efficiency in astronomical research.

The search for the electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) events has been rapidly gathering pace in recent years. Difficulties remain, however, in detecting these counterparts due to their inherent scarcity, faintness and rapidly evolving nature. To find these counterparts, it is important that one optimises the observing strategy for their recovery. This can be difficult due to the large number of potential variables at play. Such follow-up campaigns are also capable of detecting hundreds or potentially thousands of unrelated transients, particularly for GW events with poor localisation. Even if the observations are capable of detecting a counterpart, finding it among the numerous contaminants can prove challenging. Here we present the Gravitational wave Electromagnetic RecovRY code GERry to perform detailed analysis and survey-agnostic quantification of observing campaigns attempting to recover electromagnetic counterparts. GERry considers the campaign's spatial, temporal and wavelength coverage, in addition to Galactic extinc

Thanks to the advent of sensitive Gravitational Wave (GW) and neutrino detectors, Multimessenger (MM) astronomy will deeply transform our understanding of the Universe contents and evolution over cosmological times. To fully exploit the forthcoming GW and neutrino discoveries, it is crucial to detect as many Electromagnetic (EM) counterparts as possible, but up to now, only one event has been detected by both GW detectors (Ligo/Virgo) and electromagnetic detectors (Fermi/GBM (Gamma ray Burst Monitor) and Integral), the short gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A/GW 170817 associated with the merger of a binary neutron star. To help improving the rate of joint MM events, it is crucial for the EM detectors in particular at high-energy in space to observe all the sky with a decent sensitivity. To do so, we propose the development of 3U Transat (TRANsient sky SATellites) project. 3U Transat is a constellation of nano-satellites offering a full sky coverage with a limited investment. The goal of this article is to present the 3U Transat project and its main scientific drivers as well as its current status. We will also describe our dynamic simulator used to optimize the scientific performances of the constellation. We will show highlights of the expected performances in term of detection and localization capabilities as a function of the number of satellites in the constellation.

The 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 arcsec× 20 arcsec, (ii) seeing-enhanced imaging over fields of up to 85 arcsec×85 arcsec, and (iii) 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 multimessenger 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 Astronómico Nacional en San Pedro Martir, Instituto de Astronomía- 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 of such tools, highlighting their role in effective solution exploration and validation. For enhanced operational safety and efficiency, particularly crucial to remote control room operations in dynamic environments.

The Dogu Anadolu 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, equipped with secondary (0.76m) and tertiary mirrors which furnish the telescope with two Nasmyth foci. Since 2015, the project has seen the crucial contribution of EIE GROUP in the Design, Production and on-site Installation of the 4m class optical/near-infrared telescope (DAG Telescope) in contract with AMOS company. EIE GROUP is also the main contractor of the 18.6m-diameter Rotating Building (DAG Dome) at an altitude of 3170m asl on the Erzurum Plateau, Turkey. The telescope was completely pre-assembled and successfully tested at the Integration Area Facilities of the EIE GROUP. Subsequently disassembled and transported to the final installation site. Despite the serious effects of the pandemic, the EIE GROUP, in agreement with its final Customer, has adopted a telescope assembly strategy integrated with the final assembly phases of the Dome. This allowed EIE to mount the entire telescope, in a single summer season, in total safety (thanks to the special measures adopted). This paper focuses on the development of this on-site assembly EIE activities of DAG Telescope, which at present have exceeded the 95% of completion. The main critical issues and related engineering solutions will be analyzed, with emphasis on both managerial and erection approaches adopted by EIE GROUP for this integrated phase of the project completion.

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.

Astronomers and observatory operators often find themselves in a situation where they can hardly differentiate the signal of interest from the noise. Furthermore, they might experience system and instrument failures - permanent or temporary- whose root-cause might not be 100% clear. This is where the electric power grid and the grounding of the instruments and the observatory itself step onto the scene. The structure of the electric power grid that supplies astronomical observatories differs from that of a standard power grid. Observatories are not integrated into widespread mesh-type power grid configurations, but rather located at the end of so-called stub power lines or cables. Therefore, disturbances in the observatory cannot be properly compensated for by the grid. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) may be able to mitigate power quality issues such as over- or undervoltage phenomena, but they only address the symptoms and not the root cause or improper engineering of the power grid and power supply of the observatory. Previous studies have measured Power Quality parameters on site, which has led to further research on Power Quality at astronomical observatories. This study will answer the research question of whether a new approach to Power Quality measurements can provide additional information, particularly for remote power grids. The method confidently measures numerous voltage and current signals using a high-speed measurement setup that is commonly used in high-power high-voltage measurements. This setup can accurately identify both the symptoms, such as deviations in voltage or current signals, and the underlying causes that occurred beforehand. The tests are conducted at the Renewable Power Systems Laboratory of Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences. The high-bandwidth current sensors adapted to the recorder make for a novel setup. The benchmark measurements, setup, and results have been previously presented at conferences. This contribution highlights the need for further research on power grid disturbances and their proper mitigation. To mitigate high-frequency interference signals that may originate from power electronics, appropriate grounding techniques should be implemented for observatories.

This research aims to analyze the atmospheric conditions related to the annual pathlength fluctuations at the ALMA site, focusing on the impact of atmospheric dynamics, particularly the formation of Lee waves. Using weather data from 2017 to 2023 and satellite imagery from the GOES-16 satellite, we investigated the correlation between pathlength variations and atmospheric variables such as relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and temperature. Our findings reveal significant seasonal and diurnal patterns in pathlength variability, delivering evidence of the formation of Lee waves that affect the atmospheric stability when wind speeds exceed 5 m/s. Our study explores the impact of the weather variables in the pathlength variation, identifying the atmospheric conditions that should be considered in an under-development pathlength forecast model that will help to enhance ALMA observation.

To test the potential 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 at raising 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 present here the results of the experiment, which may further be used to inform decision-makers regarding the use of AI in the proposal review process. We find that the ChatGPT-adjusted proposals tend to receive lower grades compared to the original proposals. Moreover, ChatGPT 3.5 can generally not be trusted in providing correct scientific references, while the most recent version makes a better, but far from perfect, job. We also studied how ChatGPT deals with assessing proposals. It does an apparent remarkable job at providing a summary of ESO proposals, although it doesn’t do so good to identify weaknesses. When looking at how it evaluates proposals, however, it appears that ChatGPT systematically gives a higher mark than humans, and tends to prefer proposals written by itself.

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 Open MCT 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 nighttime operations are all conducted remotely from our base facilities located approximately one hour from the summits. Science Operations is responsible for the routine operation of the established instruments and is heavily involved in the commissioning phases of 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 and meet the challenges of the nightly/daily science operations.

The preparation of the long-term telescope schedule follows the submission and scientific review of new proposals. At the European Southern Observatory (ESO) this process entails scheduling the scientific proposals according to 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. After the recent overhaul of the phase one proposal submission software, ESO started the development of a new telescopes time allocation and scheduling tool. The new tool makes the scheduling process more efficient while optimizing 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 opens the possibility for dynamic re-scheduling of the telescopes, which is a pre-requisite to implementing a yearly “Call for Proposals” along with the “Fast Track Channel” at ESO.

The near-infrared spectrum encompasses three primary atmospheric transmission windows corresponding to the wavelengths J, H, and Ks. This paper introduces a practical automated remote-control system based on Web technology, which utilizes NIR sky brightness measurements for calibrating astronomical observational data. The system enables remote control, automated observation and data visualization. EPICS serves as the connection layer between the microcontroller and the server, implementing the underlying event loop. The web server leverages the Tornado framework to efficiently manage automated observational tasks and performs a real-time correction of the Ks device's detector response using a blackbody radiative source. The system provides a client interface constructed with the Vue framework and utilizing the Element UI component library, allowing users to remotely control instruments, monitor and configure observation tasks, as well as visualize data using the Plotly charting tool via a web browser.

After 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 walk between the landing platform at the Elevator Tower and the dome landing platform. These platforms meet only at two discrete angles of the dome and the 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, one of the double doors installed at the landing platform was unlocked and the dome was pointed away from the angle where the platforms are passable. In this paper, we will cover the unique structure of the dome access of Subaru Telescope, the accident investigation, the temporary measures, 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 and flight 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.

In the current context of the large-scale of astronomical equipment, the complexity of equipment structures, and the diversification of observation demands, the utilization of computers and networks to achieve autonomous control of astronomical telescopes becomes increasingly important. However, with the deep involvement of computer networks and software, as well as the increase in the overall complexity of system operation and maintenance, astronomical observation control systems are facing growing threats from malicious network attacks and unauthorized user operations. The Mozi Large Sky Survey Telescope, as the most powerful optical temporal survey device in the northern hemisphere, highlights the importance of access and permission management in its observation control system. This paper aims to introduce the use of token-based system access control, access permission management based on the RBAC model, and interface request rate limiting based on the leaky bucket algorithm to enhance the flexibility and security of identity authentication and permission management in observation control systems, effectively reducing the risks of unauthorized access, unauthorized operations by users, and network replay attacks.

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 three 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 measurements 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. Chilled water/glycol is run throughout the building from a central plant on the first floor with a condenser that ducts outside air across the heat exchanger and out the exhaust ports. Air inside the observatory building is likewise ducted to the exhaust ports. 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. Since these measurements are made on a moment-by-moment basis, the immediate impact of adding or removing equipment or modifying airflow throughout the building is readily available. 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 cloud 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.

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 present a look at how the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope 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 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 optimized operations workflow and dynamic scheduling with TMSS.

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 (CFHT) has been a leader in modernizing the scientific operations model of ground-based observatories, including queued service observing and remote operations. Now, as CFHT approaches 45 years in operation, we are reconstructing, from the ground up, our entire queued service observing infrastructure backbone, and reimagining the user experience. This will result in a unified web application that encompasses the complete QSO process, from proposal creation to data access - a system known as Kealahou; a word from Ōlelo Hawaiʻi, the indigenous language of the Hawaiian Islands, meaning “the new way”. Kealahou utilizes the modern web framework Angular for the user-facing web application, which is paired with a Java-based application layer and associated API. The databases are built upon the open-source MariaDB which, along with the application servers, are all run in ‘dockerized’ virtual machines. Software releases to these systems utilize a full Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipeline. This pipeline is currently being transitioned to a fully self-hosted environment that takes advantage of custom containers for each development stage. This ensures consistency across the application. Additionally, Kealahou runs in parallel with CFHT’s legacy QSO applications and databases. This parallelization allows for continual incremental improvements, in the CI/ CD model, while supporting ongoing CFHT science operations. Lastly, through the use of custom database bridges, Kealahou has full access and control of both its internal database and the legacy application databases, effectively merging the user and program repositories. The power of these intermediary configurations allow CFHT to conduct a vast redevelopment with far less resources than otherwise would be required, maintaining CFHT’s leading place among ground-based observatories.

During the M1 re-coatings leading up to 2022 at the VLT, the M1 Handling Tool (M1HT) 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.

The Deformable Secondary Mirror (DSM), a vital component in Very Large Telescope (VLT) adaptive optics systems, is responsible for correcting optical aberrations in high-resolution imaging. During February 2023 it was affected by an unusual condition that led it to a critical failure. This paper presents an extensive analysis of such critical failure and the application of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodology to systematically identify and rectify the underlying issues. The RCA process seeks to uncover the core reasons that allowed a problem to manifest, looking into various contributing factors such as human error, equipment failure, organizational issues, or procedural shortcomings. By understanding and addressing the root cause of a problem, organizations can implement more effective solutions, improving processes, systems, and preventing similar issues from occurring in the future. The goal is not just to fix immediate problems but to institute changes that create more resilient and reliable systems. This investigation employed an array of advanced diagnostic methods, data acquisition, and fault tree analysis to pinpoint the root causes of the failure. This in-depth research aims to prevent similar failures in the future and, ultimately, enhance the reliability and performance of the DSM within the domain of adaptive optics. As a result of this research, distinct risk mitigation methods were suggested to safeguard against potential future failures, and several personnel training recommendations were given. These methods will be integrated into the DSM's operational protocols and maintenance procedures, thereby minimizing the risk of new failures, and ensuring the uninterrupted operation of adaptive optics systems in 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 addressed 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.

Ground-based astronomy requires the implementation of growingly bigger, and thus more complex, instrumentation. A fitting example is represented by the instruments that are being developed for the ESO Extremely Large Telescope, as they pose new challenges under every aspect of their design. 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. The PLC modular solution allows for an easy characterization of the individual topology, based on the needed functionalities. An interesting additional aspect of the PLC-based solution is the possibility to employ modules that are specifically developed for safety applications, and especially for the implementation of functions designed to protect humans from harm, e.g. during maintenance operations. While this solution is already commonly employed in industrial automation applications, it is still relatively new in the field of astronomical instrumentation. For the previous generations of instruments and telescopes, a fully hardware-based implementation of safety functions has been the norm. With the increasingly common implementation of more automation-oriented components in the design of control electronics, a new baseline for safety applications can be considered. In this paper the safety PLC solution is described and its application to astronomical ground-based instrumentation is analyzed. 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.

The aim of this research is to present the optical turbulence and meteorological parameters at the surface layer, wind speed in the level of tropopause as well as precipitable water vapor above the Maidanak observatory in Uzbekistan. The paper presents an analysis of the atmospheric conditions focusing on factors affecting optical astronomical observations. The surface layer turbulence and its impact on astronomical seeing were evaluated. The seeing in the surface layer has a moderate correlation with wind speed and weaker one with temperature gradients. The wind speed at the 200mB level demonstrates weak seasonal variations with the median value of 28.4 m/s, however, does not almost change in long-term period. Maidanak observatory has relatively low amount of PWV with yearly average of 6.2 mm. There are significant seasonal variations in precipitable water vapor, with the highest levels occurring during the summer months.

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.

Users of astronomical observatories rely on Exposure Time Calculators (ETC) to prepare their proposals and then their observations. The ETC is therefore a crucial element in an observatory’s data workflow and in particular is key to optimize the use of telescope times. This is also true for the La Silla Paranal Observatory and ESO has therefore embarked in a project to modernize its ETC, based on a python back-end and an angular-based front-end, while also providing a programmatic interface. This ETC 2.0 has now been implemented for all the new Paranal and La Silla instruments (CRIRES, ERIS, HARPS/NIRPS, and 4MOST) and work is ongoing to implement it for MOONS. All the current ESO La Silla and Paranal instruments will also be migrated progressively, and the first one has been FORS2. The new ETC2 is based on the instrument packages, which should allow in the future a smooth interaction with the Phase one and Phase two observation preparation tools. Moreover, the ETC 2.0 framework has recently been upgraded and makes now use of the NgRx/Store technology in the front-end.

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 timescales (one to two hours) and long timescales (up to three 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 coupled with an atmospheric seeing analytical model, facilitates seeing forecasts for a long-time scale. Concurrently, the RNN establishes a relationship between observed meteorological parameters and seeing, enabling short time-scale predictions of atmospheric seeing at the site. Experiments conducted at target astronomical observatory demonstrate the reliability of our proposed forecasting strategy.

The NIRWALS instrument is the first near-infrared integral field unit on the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). Various changes were made to the telescope, its software and operations to enable the efficient operation of the instrument. The target acquisition will be done in the optical, and software to support target acquisition, fiber placement and finder chart creation has been developed. Telescope offsets and exposures are defined as arrays to facilitate an operations mode where offsets are a commonplace and are performed automatically by the instrument control software. Observing blocks were defined in a way to simplify the use of the instrument for users who are inexperienced in near-infrared spectroscopy. This philosophy was carried over to the design of the instrument control software interface, which displays and handles the instrument configuration, detector configurations and offsets. Calibration procedures were developed, and the data pre-processing and data reduction software is being developed. And the data flow was designed whereby raw data taken with the detector is automatically processed, reduced, and available to users the following day after observations.

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.

The European Space Agency (ESA) currently operates several ground-based observatories dedicated to observations of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), including the Test-Bed Telescopes in La Silla, Chile and in Cebreros, Spain, the Schmidt telescope at Calar Alto, Spain and telescope time at the Optical Ground Station in Tenerife, Spain. To improve NEO survey capabilities, ESA is currently building the first Flyeye telescope in the Northern Hemisphere and designing a second one for the Southern Hemisphere. These facilities conduct low-elongation surveys and targeted follow-up observations, with a focus on detecting potential imminent impactor asteroids. For the Flyeye telescope network, a custom tasking software has been developed 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 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, JPL Scout and NEOfixer, 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.

Three different techniques for washing bare aluminum-coated telescope optics are studied by analyzing specular and diffuse reflectance data from two 4-meter class telescopes. The established “contact” wash method involves dabbing the mirror’s first surface with natural sponges and detergent, which subjects the coating to some level of abrasion. While this method proves effective at removing contaminants, it is more labor intensive, increases risk to the optics, and induces contact of the first surface. The industry established CO₂ “snow” wash to clean the optics at an increased regular interval. This method utilizes thermal properties and pressure to clean the first surface, and is well documented throughout the industry. An alternate “contactless” approach has been recently employed utilizing only pressurized water to mechanically agitate contaminants. This reduces the amount of labor and the risk to the optics, although the effectiveness of this method is yet to be determined. A comparison of these three wash methods is presented using long-term specular and diffuse reflectance data from two 4-meter class telescopes. Data taken from multiple telescopes offers the opportunity to gain generalized insights into each wash method’s performance. Despite challenges of comparing data from different mirrors, coatings, and environments, we attempt to establish trends of their relative results independent of the unique degradation profile of each mirror and coating.

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 Blanco (Cerro Tololo, Chile) and SOAR (Cerro Pachón, Chile), both NOIRLab facilities. Using imaging data acquired with DECam (Blanco) and Goodman High-Throughout Spectrograph (SOAR), we are constructing an extensive dataset comprising observational data 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 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 science calibration pipeline for JWST data. Software tools for managing and facilitating the daily operations of the pipeline are discussed, while the first two years of pipeline processing and reprocessing of JWST data are assessed against technical requirements.

We present an analysis of seeing, temperature, humidity and wind speed measurements taken over the last ten years with the MaunaKea Atmospheric Monitor (MKAM) located at the summit of Maunakea. The instrument has been functional since 2009, taking several measurements of seeing every night it was in operation. It was graciously provided to the Maunakea Observatories by the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). We also report on seasonal and long-term trends of weather and seeing and explore the influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on temperature and seeing variation at the summit of Maunakea.

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 (LTA) as well as to balance resource usage across data centers by re-distributing archived files. It provides a demonstration of practices to be implemented in production for future LTA management. As part of the LDV project, the following topics are described in this paper: Data curation: An effort to assure metadata completeness of tens of millions of files archived over fifteen years of telescope operations called for thorough screening of the content and consistent annotation of the information throughout the data collection catalog. We will show how this challenge was tackled over the first year of LDV operations. Data editing: The data collection of tens of petabytes consists of a broad spectrum of file sizes and data product types. For editing these collections, a suite of workflows has been developed and operated to reduce required storage resources by many petabytes. The first phase main goals of the LDV project that are presented are aimed at improving sustainability of operations as well as user data access experience. Data placement: Handling petabyte-scale data transfers is both time and effort consuming. To make transfer processes more manageable, we have used two services: the LOFAR Stager service, responsible for staging LOFAR data, and the SURF-operated File Transfer Service (FTS). FTS is responsible for bulk data transfers while allowing users to monitor and debug problems. As part of the LDV project, these systems have been used to transfer over one petabyte of LOFAR data so far and are planned to be used to transfer at least three more petabytes. This paper will present the achieved results and provide the next steps for valorizing the LOFAR archive data collection.