Week 29 of the Early Operations system optimization period
On-sky observations with the Simonyi Survey Telescope resumed on 11 May, following a period of unscheduled engineering downtime from 2 May through 10 May. From 11-13 May, the majority of on-sky observations were pre-LSST visits, with a similar distribution of delivered image quality as compared to recent weeks.
As Rubin Observatory prepares for steady state survey operations, the team is moving towards longer contiguous periods of sustained pre-LSST observations, with new feature deployments and targeted on-sky engineering activities, primarily for the Active Optics System (AOS), scheduled on specific designated nights. This week, the team deployed and validated an update to more accurately model height variations across individual sensors on the focal plane as part of the optical wavefront estimation pipeline. The team also continued full-array-mode observations alternating between two telescope elevations or two Camera rotator angle positions to directly measure differential changes in the optical state across the full focal plane at the two telescope positions.
The Simonyi Survey Telescope was off sky for unscheduled engineering downtime on 14 May to conduct maintenance on the Top End Assembly. The team is currently preparing to recommence on-sky testing 15 May.
A filter swap to remove y and install u occurred on 12 May such that the currently installed filter set is ugriz.