The Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU) also worked to ensure that OpR4 data could be rapidly transformed into usable survey products.
“The OpR4 campaign was intense, but ultimately successful...The 4MOST pipelines are now ready, let the science begin.” - Nic Walton and David Murphy (CASU)
With OpR4 complete, 4MOST now moves into the Survey Programme Validation (SPV) phase, as we move even closer to the start of survey operations!
“For me the most impressive thing to see was the enthusiasm, competence, and hard work of everyone involved. We have been planning for this moment for the last decade - everyone was present and keen on making it work” - Jakob Walcher (4MOST Operations Manager)
OpR4 is a month-long dress rehearsal to test every process of the survey, from live observations of the night sky to science-ready data products, and all of the infrastructure in between!
“Seeing on the first night of OpR4 how one [observing block] gets executed, producing data, while the next one already appears by magic in the execution sequence has been hugely satisfying for everyone involved” - Jakob Walcher (4MOST Operations Manager)
During this phase, teams worked to ensure that 4MOST can automatically generate Observing Blocks and select targets, while also adapting for live observing conditions at Paranal.
After a successful commissioning process, 4MOST has reached the next major milestone before the full survey begins: Operations Rehearsal 4 (OpR4) ✨
Image: Carlos la Fuente launching the first observation for OpR4 (Credit: Jakob Walcher)
#4MOST #astronomy #astrophysics
We are delighted to share that Dr Lara Cullinane has been awarded a prestigious Leibniz Junior Research Group based at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (@aippotsdam.bsky.social).
Image Credit: AIP/Spikermann
#4MOST #astronomy #astrophysics
Operations Rehearsal 4 (OpR4) has now concluded, marking a major milestone towards routine survey operations!
Image: Automatically generated and queued OBs during OpR4 (Credit: Jakob Walcher)
#4MOST #astronomy #astrophysics
Lara’s project, titled “Chronicling the Clouds: Chemodynamics of the Most Massive Dwarf Galaxies”, will use 4MOST to explore how these dwarf galaxies formed, evolved, and interacted over billions of years.
Check out the full press-release here: www.4most.eu/cms/news/202...
