UCI Astronomy Remote Observing Room

Remote Observing Instructions and Policies

Lick Remote Observing Instructions

Summer 2020 update: Lick currently has a limited capability for supporting at-home observing. You can find information about this here:

 

As of October 2021, the new Linux workstation has been set up for Lick observing but has not yet been tested extensively. Make sure to do a test connection before your observing run.

Lick Remote Observing Instructions:

To request remote observing, you must specify it on your proposal or submit a request to Lick Observatory. Detailed instructions for this are given in the Lick remote observing policies and procedures page.  You must also be previously checked out on the instrument that you’ll be using.  To be checked out on an instrument you must observe on-site at Mt. Hamilton and go through training with a support astronomer.

Before each Lick remote observing run, you’ll need to schedule a remote system checkout to make sure that the zoom and instrument VNC connections are working properly.

It is absolutely critical that you should not start up the instrument control software or do any instrument configuration until you’ve gotten permission from the Lick day crew.   There is a danger of damage to people or to the instrument if you accidentally started initializing the instrument while the day crew was working on it. When you start up the instrument VNC windows, there will be a pane telling you whether the instrument is ready for use or not. If the instrument is not yet ready for use, DO NOT start up any instrument controls.

Checklist for Lick remote observing:

  • Read the remote observing policies and follow all directions there.
  • If this is your first time using the UCI remote observing room, contact the room managers to get the login information and to schedule a quick demonstration.
  • If you did not specify remote observing on your proposal but wish to do remote observing, contact the Lick Associate Director to request the change.
  • Observers must be previously checked out on the instrument at Mt. Hamilton.
  • If this is your first time doing remote observing at Lick, you must schedule a remote checkout with a support astronomer at Lick. Note that support astronomers are not available every day, and it’s very important to plan this well in advance with the Lick staff.
  • Make sure that the UCI remote room will be available for the date of your run.  Keck observing has higher priority, so if a UCI group will be doing Keck remote observing on the same night, then you will not have access to the remote observing room for Lick observing.
  • Observing runs should be listed on the Google calendar well in advance.
  • Before the run, make sure you have login information for the local workstation and for the VNC connection to Lick. You’ll also need to check out a key to the remote room.
  • Make sure that you have the correct Zoom connection number for the Lick 3m. You can get this in advance from the support astronomer. It is also probably saved in the list of saved Zoom connections on the Mac Mini.
  • On the afternoon of your observing run: start up the Zoom and VNC connections. DO NOT start instrument controls until you are told that it’s safe to do so.

Instructions for starting the VPN and VNC session on the NUC workstation:

  • See the General Instructions page for an outline of how to start up the Zoom session and observing workstation.
  • Before starting the VNC sessions, you will need to enable the VPN connection to Lick. To do this: on the Linux workstation, look for the network icon near the right side of the top menu bar on the primary monitor (next to the time and date display).  Click on the network icon, and at the bottom, you’ll see a submenu for VPN Connections.  Point the cursor to that item, and you’ll see a VPN connection called “UCIMachine…”.  This is the VPN connection that needs to be enabled to connect to Lick. Click on this to enable it. When you do, you will see a yellow padlock appear over the network icon to indicate that the VPN is active.
  • If the VPN certificates have recently been renewed, you may need to configure the network settings.  You will know this is the case if you activate the VPN connection, and then find you have no internet connection.  To fix the problem, open Network Connections in the system menu.  There will be an entry for the VPN, with a small settings button next to it.  Click that button, then tab over to “IPv4 Settings.”  At the bottom of that tab is a button labeled “Routes.”  Click that button, then make sure the box that says “Use this connection only for resources on its network” is checked.  Save settings, and re-test the connection.
  • IMPORTANT: at the end of your observing run, you need to disconnect the VPN. Do this by going back to the network icon menu and un-selecting the UCIMachine VPN connection from the VPN Connections submenu. You’ll see the yellow padlock go away when it’s disconnected.
  • VNC startup scripts are in the lickRemoteObserving subdirectory in the remote users account. Start up a terminal window, go into that directory, and run the start_shane_viewer or start_nickel_viewer script. Enter the VNC password when prompted.

See the General Instructions page for end-of-night shutdown instructions.

After your run:

  • If you checked out a temporary key to the remote room, return it after your run.
  • Make sure to include the remote room acknowledgement (listed on the Policies page) when you publish your results.

In the event that there are problems with the NUC workstation, the Mac Mini can be used as a backup option for observing. The VPN and VNC configurations for Lick observing are installed on the Mac Mini, but have not been extensively tested. Tunnelblick is used to enable the VPN connection, as described on the Lick remote observing github page.  You can connect the Mac Mini to the large monitor: there is a spare USB-C cable connected to the monitor that can be connected to a USB-C port on the Mac Mini. Then, just change the monitor input to USB-C, and the Mac Mini will display to the TV and the LG monitor at the same time, so you can have the Zoom display on the TV and the observing VNC windows on the big monitor. This setup is only to be used as a backup option in the event that something goes wrong with the NUC workstation.