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Loading ODF and Plotting the Slits

You can only plot the slits and spectra for a single mask at a time. If the ODF catalog has changed on the disk you may bring your ODF window up to date by pressing the “Reload Catalog” button. To load and plot the slits for a particular mask:

  1. From the main menu of Skycat, select "GMMPS-Plugin", then either “GMOS” or “Flamingos-2”, then select “Load Mask Definition File”, then choose either “*.cat ODF Catalog...” or “*.fits ODF Catalog (convert to .cat then load)...”
  2. Chose which mask file you wish to open e.g. mask_OTODF1.cat (or .fits depending on which format you choose to open) and click "OK".
  3. This will bring up a window similar in appearance to the catalog window but with a blue menu bar, see below. The window only contains the columns required to make the masks. Only the objects selected for this mask are displayed.

    [ODF catalog window]

To display the slits and spectra for each object, click on the "Plot Slits" button - the button's name will then change to “Clear Slits.” The lines shown on the image represent important features of the mask as follows:

  • The red line outlines the field of view
  • The white box show the edge of the spectrum 
  • The vertical yellow lines shows the position of the slit.
  • The vertical red line shows the estimated position of the central wavelength in on the detector.

The other buttons function as follows:

  • The "Plot GMOS Gaps" button will mark on the image the position of the gaps between the CCDs and the position of the barcode used to identify the mask when it is in the instrument (blue rectangle on the right side of the image). To clear the lines representing the gaps and the barcode from the image click on "Clear GMOS Gaps".
  • The "Plot Bands" button will mark on the image the position of the bands if the mask is a Nod & Shuffle mask.
  • The "Reload Catalog" button will reload the .cat file from the disk. This is useful when iterating on mask designs.
  • The "Close Catalog" button will close that ODF catalog window.

Last update June 5, 2013; Mischa Schirmer and Bryan Miller
In original form February 10, 2003; Dione Scheltus


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