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Contiguous observations

As explained in § 7.2 gif and 8.3§ gif observations of more than tex2html_wrap_inline2386  ks duration are typically split up in smaller observing intervals; the number of such intervals is arbitrary and it is impossible to predict in general into how many intervals an observation of some given length will be subdivided. Some specific types of observations may lose their scientific usefulness if split up into too many subintervals. The contiguous observation constraint allows the guest investigator to specify the maximum number of data intervals (in the ``Maximum Number of Data Intervals'' entry) and hence to prevent his observations from being split up into too many observing intervals. The requested observing time will then be allocated in no more than the specified number of observing intervals. Guest investigators wishing to have contiguous data should carefully consider the maximum possible number of data intervals. The number of viewing opportunities with lengths in excess of 3 ks is quite small and therefore insisting on too many long observing intervals can make a requested observation unschedulable.



Michael Arida
Tue Jun 11 16:18:41 EDT 1996