Instrument user manual

This manual describes CLASSI as a complete telescope instrument. It follows the lifecycle of a spectroscopic observation rather than repository boundaries and is intended for observers, operators, instrument scientists, and people reducing CLASSI data.

Begin with the system overview. The later chapters cover observation planning, optional detector-level simulation, instrument operation, reduction, and the full observation lifecycle. Package pages are implementation references and are linked where they add useful detail.

Note

CLASSI is still being characterized. Values that depend on the as-built alignment, focus, throughput, or observing environment should be marked as measured only after commissioning data establish them. Until then, catalog specifications and model predictions are planning inputs rather than final instrument performance guarantees.

• Instrument overview
  • Purpose and scope
  • System at a glance
  • Operational subsystems
  • Primary data products
  • Where to go next
• Instrument and software architecture
  • Physical signal path
  • Control and data boundaries
  • Scientific data flow
  • Instrument model
  • Fiber geometry
  • Hardware-control boundary
  • Configuration ownership
• Planning an observation
  • Inputs
  • Throughput accounting
  • Recommended workflow
• Simulating detector data
  • Inputs and units
  • Detector sampling
  • Optical geometry
  • Image formation
• Operating the instrument
  • Before the night
  • Startup and health check
  • Development versus deployment
  • Science exposures
  • Calibrations
  • Focus and alignment checks
  • End of night
  • Fault handling
  • ACE Alpaca bridge
  • Operational caution
• Reducing spectrograms
  • Core workflow
  • Masks and uncertainties
  • Trace extraction
  • Output rebinning and quicklooks
  • Multi-fiber products
  • Validation with the simulator
• Observation lifecycle
  • Before the night
  • At the telescope
  • After acquisition
  • Reproducibility