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A Spitzer Space Telescope observer interfaces with the Observatory and the
instruments by means of Astronomical Observation Templates (AOTs). An AOT,
one for each of the eight Spitzer observing modes, permits the user to
unambiguously define the parameters of their observing program. The AOT is
a central design concept to Spitzer Science Operations. An observation
that has been fully defined by supplying parameter values for an AOT is
known as an "Astronomical Observation Request" (AOR). Observers use Spot to enter the target information and
the observation details into the AOT to create AORs, and ultimately to
submit their proposal along with their AORs.
An AOR can be thought of as a list of parameters that (when properly
interpreted) describe completely an observation. The completed AORs are
deposited into the Spitzer databases. Specially designed software expands
each AOR into activities and an uplink sequence for transmission to the
spacecraft. It is important to realize that the process of creating
commands to carry out an observation based on the AOR parameters is done
by software, not by support astronomers at the SSC.
AORs (and related engineering requests) are the basic building blocks for
Observatory scheduling. AORs also define unit data sets for pipeline data
processing and science archiving.
There is generally no need for observers to modify AORs after submission
with the observing proposal (note that Spitzer has a single phase
proposal submission process for the most part; see the
current CP for more details).
Modification of AORs can be made, however,
if the observer receives less observing time than requested, or because of
changes in Observatory performance.
The Eight Spitzer AOTs:
The IRAC AOT is used for simultaneous imaging at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0
microns, over the two ~5.2 by ~5.2 arcminute fields of view.
The IRS staring mode is used for low-resolution long-slit spectroscopy
(R= ~60-120) from 5.3 to 40 microns and high-resolution spectroscopy
(R=~600) from 10 to 37 microns. It also returns images from the IRS
peak-up array, which has a field-of-view of approximately 1 arcminute
square and two filters covering 13.5-18.5 microns and 18.5-26 microns.
The IRS Staring mode also supports raster mapping.
The IRS Scan AOT is used to perform slit scanning spectroscopy
for fields up to a few arcminutes in extent.
The IRS Peak-Up Imaging (PUI) AOT provides imaging only using the Peak-Up
array, which has a field-of-view of approximately 1 arcmin square and two
filters covering 13.5-18.5 microns and 18.5-26 microns.
The MIPS Photometry and Super Resolution AOT is used for imaging
photometry and high resolution imaging at 24, 70 and 160 microns.
The MIPS Scan Map AOT is used for large field maps at 24, 70 and 160
microns. The maps are constructed using slow telescope scanning, combined
with motion compensation using a cryogenic scan mirror. Maps are built up
of ~5 arcminute wide strips between 0.5 and 6 degrees in length.
The MIPS Spectral Energy Distribution AOT is used for very low resolution
(R=15-25) spectroscopy covering 55-95 microns using the MIPS 70 micron
Ge:Ga array.
The MIPS Total Power Mode AOT provides zero-level-reference
observations for absolute brightness of extended sources.
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