Documents: Spot hints, tips, and tricks

Hints and Tips

• Let the mouse cursor linger briefly over Spot text or icons. A "Tool Tip" will pop up showing useful information (definitions, units, suggestions, etc.)
• Save your AORs and targets often by going to "File --> Save AORs and Targets" or click on the disk icon in the Spot toolbar.
• To ensure that you have the most recent version of Spot, check that the "Use Automatic Spot Version Update" feature is enabled under the "Options" menu.
• If "Options --> Use Automatic Spot Version Update" is enabled, you can force Spot to check for an update by performing an action requiring contact with the SSC servers (e.g., recalculate AOR time estimates).
• To see the allowed range of values for each AOT parameter, go to "Help --> AOT Field Descriptions".
• To edit an individual AOR, you can double click on the AOR in the list in the main Spot window.
• Modifying a target in the Target List (e.g., to change the RA or dec) will NOT change the parameters in an AOR that already contains that target. Instead, use "Modify Target" from within the AOR window.
• To undo the last action, press ctrl-Z or the "Undo" button (a curved blue arrow) on the icon toolbar.
• To report a new bug in Spot (check known bugs at http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/propkit/spot/spotbugs.txt), email the following to help@spitzer.caltech.edu:
  1. description of the problem,
  2. the AORs you were using,
  3. computer, operating system, and window manager versions
  4. versions for Spot, AOR file, Java, and AOR Estimator and Visibility servers from the "Help --> About" window.
• "Files --> View Programs" displays the AORs of any approved program for reference; you can find complete program names or ID numbers in the Reserved Observations Catalog (http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/roc/).
• Interactive tools to aid in planning observations, including Performance Estimation Tools (PETs) for sensitivity calculations, are available online (http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/tools/).
• Visualization images available in Spot are useful for examining background morphology, but precise estimates of IR background levels require the "Background" button in Spot's Target windows because zodiacal light has been subtracted from the ISSA/IRAS images.
• IRS Staring Mode gives you TWO observations per cycle with your target at positions 1/3 and 2/3 from one end of the slit, resulting in twice the requested exposure duration.
• Use caution when selecting a "Both" slit order option in IRS Mapping Mode because the target coordinates are placed in the dead zone between the orders.
• When target flux or other factors preclude a target peakup (moving or not), obtaining an IRS spectrum may be best achieved by performing a small Mapping Mode grid across the target.
• Use caution when selecting array coordinates and both fields of view for any odd-tiled (1x1, 3x5, ...) IRAC map because the target coordinates are placed midway between the two IRAC fields of view.
• Without an ephemeris for a moving target, you cannot obtain time estimates, visibility windows, or AOR visualizations, or enter timing constraints. Spot willautomatically retrieve the Horizons ephemeris for known moving targets.
• Target sensitivity estimates are not yet available in Spot; instead, use the interactive Performance Estimation Tools (PETs) available at http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/tools/.
• A visualized orbital track for a moving target can be saved as an ascii-format ephemeris using the "Save Table" feature in the visualization object list window.
• When you submit changes to an approved program, do NOT use the Proposal Submission Tool! Instead, use "Check-In Program" from Spot's "File" menu. You will need your program username and password.
• "File --> View Program" will not immediately reflect submitted changes to a program. Changes require human inspection and approval at the SSC - check "View Program" a few working days after submitting changes to see the modified program.
• You can calculate the visibility windows for all targets in your target list by selecting "Calculate Visibility Windows for All Targets" under the Targets menu.
• You can calculate the sky backgrounds for all targets in your target list by selecting "Calculate Background for All Targets" under the Targets menu.
• Images from the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) Archive are available under the Images menu.
• You can overlay additional moving targets on images when visualizing the track of your primary moving target by using the "Add Moving Target under the Overlays menu.
• To see what moving targets may also lie within your AOR on your planned observation date or range of dates, select the "Show All Known Moving Objects on a Date" overlay under the Overlays menu.
• It is always a good idea to check for bright objects that could be within your AOR by selecting the "Spitzer Bright Objects for AOR" under the Overlays menu.
• You can calculate sky backgrounds at a given wavelength for a list of targets or target positions by inputing the list into Spot via the "Compute Backgrounds from File" utility under the Tools menu. See the Spot User Guide for file format.
• Be sure to input manually the total number of hours you are requesting for your observations into the "Hours" field in the Proposal Submission Tool.
• You can input your own choice for the proprietary period for the data from your observations by inputing the number of days into the "Proprietary Period" field in the Proposal Submission Tool.
• If your proposal consists of studying resolved stars in nearby galaxies, you should select "extragalactic stellar studies" under the Galactic science category in the "Science Category Information" pulldown in the Proposal Submission Tool.
• If your Spitzer proposal will include observations from other observatories offering joint time, you should insert the observatory name in the ""Add Joint Observatories" dialog in the Proposal Submission Tool.
• You can update your submitted Spitzer proposal right up until the deadline by selecting "Update proposal at SSC" under the Submit menu in the Proposal Submission Tool.
• The SSC encourages observers to use the MIPS Photometry Enhanced 160 micron mode, which provides significant improvement in photometric results for point-like sources in this band.
• It is highly recommended that observers using one or more of the high resolution modules obtain accompanying off-source background measurements. Spot can generate a companion AOR in which you can specify an offset position for the background.
• You can determine the depth of coverage for your imaging AOR in IRAC, MIPS, or IRS by selecting the "Show Depth of Coverage Maps on Current Image" under the Overlays menu.
• You should always visualize your AORs, once you have constructed them, to be sure they adequately cover your targets and are not covering extremely bright infrared sources or resulting in a duplication.
• If you need the same orientation on the sky for several adjacent AORs, set group within or similar constraints, to ensure you don't wind up with gaps in your data.
• Visualize your IRAC AOR to ensure that infrared bright stars are not within the stray light avoidance boxes for each channel pair.
• Check the background around your target at the relevant wavelengths, when constructing an IRS AOR using the short-low (SL) module. Avoid saturating the two peak-up arrays, also on the SL detector.
• Don't forget to include the proper motion for your 2MASS peak-up star, when using IRS in Staring or Spectral Mapping mode. You will need to look up the proper motion outside of Spot.
• Visualize your MIPS scan AOR to ensure that it provides uniform coverage across the intended target area.
• You can make three-color composite image overlays in Spot, from either the Images menu or Image Overlays option under the Overlays menu, and save these as either FITS, JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG (under the File memu).
• When peaking up on an extended source for either an IRS Staring or Spectral Mapping AOR, be sure to check the "Extended Source" box in the "Peak-Up Settings" portion of the IRS AOT.
• Use the Crop Tool to crop an image you are visualizing.
• Use the Slice Tool to trace the flux between two points on an image you are visualizing.
• Table uploads in Spot require use of IPAC Table Format. To reformat your input table, IRSA offers a tool at http://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/applications/TblReformat/.
• In the AOR Table you can select under the Options menu to first sort the Position column by DEC first, then RA, rather than by RA first, and then DEC.
• When you place a Group Within, Follow On, or Shadow constraint on two or more AORs, try to keep the constraint name short (currently 40 characters or less).
• When you use Search Programs under the File menu, you can dictate which AOTs or wavelengths you want returned by the search.
• The minimum search radius for Search Programs is 1 arcmin.
• You can save to disk any image or overlay visualization as a FITS, JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG file. Look under the File menu.
• You can increase the size of the image and overlay control i cons in the Image window by selecting Use Large Control Icons under Options menu.
• The FITS header of an image you are visualizing in the Image window can be viewed by clicking on the Base Image control icon.

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