FAQs: Spot and Leopard

See also Spot User's Guide, Leopard User's Guide, and Spot/Leopard software download page.

Q:   Why does Spot/Leopard give me a "Net Down" error?

A:   Often, the Net Down error indicates that you have an out of date version of Spot/Leopard on your machine. To check that you have the correct version go to the toolbar on Spot/Leopard to Help -> About to check which version of Spot/Leopard you are using. The version number you have should match the version number at the Spot/Leopard software page.

Occasionally there are also instances in which there are network interruptions that cause your machine to not be able to query our Spot/Leopard servers. We have a normally scheduled archive server blocktime on Tuesday mornings, so you won't be able to access our servers during that time. If you believe that there is a real problem, and the network doesn't come back up in an hour or so on its own, please notify us via the helpdesk at help@spitzer.caltech.edu.

Q:   How do I update Spot/Leopard?

A:   Most of the time, if you have "Options/Use Automatic Version Update" selected, then the updates are done automatically.

If you decide to do a clean install (or if the most recent release requires a fresh installation), you need to delete or uninstall everything in the installation directory. On unix/linux, if Spot resides in the directory /home/you/spot, the spot directory should be deleted. From there follow the instructions for a new installation given at the Spot software page.

Q:   I downloaded the newest version of Spot/Leopard but when I run it, the old version starts instead. Why is this happening?

A:   In almost every case this is because an alias was created for Spot/Leopard that points to the directory of the older version. Use "which spot" or check your .aliases file to confirm that it contains the path to the newest version of Spot/Leopard.

Q:   How sure are you that the proposal submission system isn't going to collapse right before the deadline?

A:   We do not expect our system to go down. If you want to be sure of getting your proposal in, submit a version as soon as possible. You can update it as many times as you would like before the deadline; the updating procedure is less database-intensive than the initial submission, and therefore you stand a better chance of getting through during the last-minute crunch.

Q:   Why is Spot/Leopard not able to overlay an AOR on my MSX or my own personal image?

A:   Spot relies on the WCS coordinate information in the FITS header in order to display information. If there is anything wrong with these keywords, Spot will have a problem.

Q:   Which version of Spot should I use to submit my GO-5 proposal?

A:   The Spot version to use for GO-5 proposals is version 16. Make sure you turn on auto-update, as there have been patches released.

Q:   When I try to run Leopard I get this odd error about "Word too long" and Leopard does not start. How can I fix this?

A:   This can be fixed pretty easily. We've found that some machines have an older patch to Solaris that has limitations on the number of allowable characters in a string when using the c-shell. To work around this, open up the leopard script in your directory using your favorite editor. You should see a first line that reads "#!/bin/csh -f." If you modify the "csh" in that line to "tcsh," i.e., the t-shell (edit the line to read "#!/bin/tcsh -f"), then leopard should be able to run from the command line.

Q:   Why does Spot not let me visualize an AOR on the date it was executed? The data were taken early in the mission.

A:   There are two things that create this effect. In either case, if your object was observed at the edge of its visibility window, you might not be able to visualize it.
(1) To allow faster slews, we changed the definition of the OPZ in early 2004. It reduced by 2.5 degrees -- the inner limit changed from 80 to 82.5 degrees.
(2) As we proceed with the mission, Spitzer's location in orbit changes, so the Operational Pointing Zone (OPZ) changes slightly in time. This 'creep' in the orbit as Spitzer moves further away from the Earth manifests itself by a shifting OPZ within Spot. Users will start to notice that if they try to visualize AORs in Spot for targets very near the OPZ back in say Dec 2003 or Jan 2004 (when perhaps, their observations actually occurred) that Spot may now not let them. The target may now be outside the CURRENT OPZ of Spitzer.

The only alternative is to visualize the AOR at a date as close to the observation date as Spot allows. The SSC will look into how we can, if possible, allow users to visualize things 'back then.' Observers can still use Spot to get background estimates of the target on a specific date whether or not Spitzer can actually see the target at that time.

Q:   Is there any way to have Spot/Leopard visualize a whole set of AORs at one time, rather than choosing them individually?

A:   Yes, you can select multiple AORs and visualize them all at once.

Q:   Is there any way to visualize AORs for the time it was actually observed?

A:   If you visualize an AOR that was already observed in Leopard, it will display it for the date on which the AOR was actually observed.

Q:   If I want to upload an entire target list for duplication check in Leopard, how do I do that without typing all individual target names and executing the query 100 times?

A:   You can use the File->Position List Query in Leopard, which will read in a text file of targets and query the database for all relevant AORs for each target. See the Leopard User's Guide, section 7.2.7 and 7.2.8 for proper syntax.

Go back to FAQ page.