Small updates to HET's Target Submission Language

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Steven Janowiecki

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Feb 28, 2023, 5:54:56 PM2/28/23

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Dear HET PIs and partner TAC chairs,

I wanted to let you know about an improvement we've made to HET's Phase II TSL parser. As requested in most recent HET Users Committee meetings, we have added the keyword:

MOONDOWN

This keyword can be used to tell us that your visit requires the moon below the horizon (and the sun below 18 degrees).

This is an optional TSL parameter, so you don't have to specify it in your TSL file if you don't care about the moon. If unspecified, it will default to "N", meaning that your target can be observed whether or not the moon is below the horizon.

This keyword has been added to our documentation, as well:

https://hydra.as.utexas.edu/?a=help&h=80#moondown

and

https://hydra.as.utexas.edu/?a=help&h=79#moondown

Additionally, we will now treat the "SKYBRIGHT" keywords as literally sky brightnesses. Previously "21" was a magic number that indicated moon below horizon.

Lastly, I wanted to remind everyone that in 4 months' time (for the 23-3 trimester) we plan to start using Collecting Efficiency ("CE") instead of Sky Transparency (SKYTRANS). There is documentation available about CE and the type of data we are providing to help users make this transition. More reminders will be coming closer this spring as we move closer to that goal!

Please let us know if you have any questions about MOONDOWN, SKYBRIGHT, or CE, or if you have other suggestions about how to make the HET work better for your science!