How is APT different for Roman?
Roman observations are primarily organized as surveys to cover large samples of objects, large areas of the sky, or for time-domain monitoring. To aid in the design and implementation of surveys, APT for Roman has a number of new features to enable these observations. APT version 2024.2 is the most current release that has Roman features enabled.
Overview
Roman is designed to be a survey telescope which can efficiently execute large programs. New features have been added to Roman APT to provide users more effective "building blocks" that are put together to construct large and complex survey schemes. APT for Roman does a number of optimizations behind the scenes that provides flexibility in the actual implementation of large programs over the course of the mission. The results of optimization steps provide greater flexibility to be responsive to change during the execution of the program over a long period of time. While many of these features are designed to support the creation of very large surveys, observations conceptually similar to those used most commonly for JWST or HST are also feasible.
The Quick Start Guide is designed to help users understand how APT for Roman is used to design large observational programs.
Target Entry
Users familiar with using APT for JWST or HST are used to the concept of the standard Fixed Targets, and these are also allowed in APT for Roman. Fixed Targets are specified via a set of fixed sky coordinates for each observation and the coordinates can be resolved from a Name Server or input manually. When planning survey programs for Roman, however, this form of entry may be cumbersome. There are two features in APT for Roman that help in the planning and implementation of Roman surveys: the Target Importer and Region Targets.
Target Importer
Some Roman surveys may require a large number of individual targets that would be tedious to input individually. While not a new feature in APT for Roman, the Target Importer tool is anticipated to be important for Roman's observational programs. The Target Importer allows a user to load a table of individual target positions using a variety of common file formats. APT will parse the file and allow the user to assign their input columns to the data that APT requires to define the target. All of the imported targets will now appear under the Target listing in the left side of the APT window.
Region Targets
Some Roman surveys will want to cover a contiguous area of the sky. To enable this, APT has a new target option called Region Targets. Region Targets are specified via coordinates that define a polygon on the sky. The user can input how they want to partition regions of the sky and APT will then determine how to fill the sky region with segments of the size and orientation requested by the user. The central coordinates of each Segment, functionally, operate as a Fixed Target for the purposes of other observation planning in APT, but the user is able to modify the size and shape of segments en masse.
A New Observation Development Phase: Plans
To implement large programs, APT for Roman breaks large programs into several layers of scheduling components that are, from largest to smallest: surveys, passes, and segments. The user sets up these units as Survey Plans, Pass Plans, and Segment Plans through forms in APT that tie together targets, observation patterns on the sky, and instrument configurations (filters and multi-accumulation tables). Once selected by the user, APT expands these inputs into passes and segments that can be executed (e.g., execution plans) to complete the large program over time. Thus, what is entered into APT for Roman is slightly more abstracted from the actual execution of the program in comparison to the same process for to JWST and HST. A single Roman program could be constructed in APT through a number of different paths through the APT software, some of which are more complex and abstract that others.
The Quick Start Guide is designed to help users understand how APT for Roman is used to design large observational programs.
Submitting Proposed Roman Investigations
For JWST and HST, the documents to propose investigations are submitted for peer review through APT, which includes documents for various scientific and/or technical materials alongside the specifications of the observations performed using APT. For Roman, observations are still planned in APT, but the proposal materials for investigations will be submitted using the Roman Telescope Proposal System (RTPS) at the Roman Science Support Center (SSC) at IPAC.
Proposal Submission to the Science Support Center
For Roman, observations are still planned in APT, but proposals for investigations will be submitted using the Roman Telescope Proposal System (RTPS) at the Roman Science Support Center (SSC) at IPAC. The SSC will also organize all elements of proposal review and approval. Proposers who request new observations with Roman will need to include the APT file with their submission to RTPS. More detailed instructions for the RTPS will be provide with the Call for Proposals.
As more details become available, they will be provided in the Submission article.
Observation Program Submission to the Science Operations Center
Approved programs for new observations will submit observing programs through APT for review and scheduling at the Roman Science Operations Center (SOC) at Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Both Core Community Survey and Calibration Survey programs will also be submitted through APT.
As more details become available, they will be provided in the Submission article in the RAUG.