Pipeline config

Many options in the pipeline and its products are set in the config file, pest_pipeline_config.txt .  The pipeline expects this to be in your ~/bin directory.

General

Any line that starts with the character ‘#’ is treated as a comment and ignored.

Parameters are set in the form keyword = setting

Settings are case sensitive, so if the comment says ‘Yes’ or ‘yes’ will work, don’t enter ‘YES’.  Some settings have a default outcome which is used unless a valid contrary value is entered.  For example the default date type is ‘BJD’ and the only valid alternative is ‘HJD’.  So ‘date_type = XXX‘ will have the same effect as ‘date_type = BJD‘.  Only ‘date_type = HJD‘ results in HJD being used.

At the bottom is text from the config file I use, with additional notes below.

Notes

  1. If you are not doing work as demanding as for TESS, use ‘simple_mode = Yes‘.  This turns off outlier star lightcurve plots, detrending, plate-solving and Gaia checking, and will speed things up considerably.  Finder charts will also not be produced.  But you will still get the ability to run MagPy and do ensemble photometry.  For example I used this for observations to find the rotational period of a star.  These were short observations each night but the same target over many nights.  Given this objective the only product needed was target photometry data.
  2. The observatory, telescope and camera names are only used for filling out TESS reports.
  3. Gaia checking requires an internet connection.  If you are working off-line, switch this off.
  4. De-trending is not of much use at the moment.  I would switch this off until this facility is better developed.

 

###################################################################################
# Master switch that will turn off outlier LC plots, detrending, plate-solving,
# and Gaia checking.
# Yes or yes will result in ‘simple’ mode. Anything else for the default which is No
###################################################################################
simple_mode = No

 

###################################################################################
# Observatory info
###################################################################################

# observatory name will be used in reports, plots and filenames
# Must not contain any spaces
observatory = PEST

# telescope name
telescope = 0.3m

# camera
camera = ST-8XME

# plate scale in arcsec/pixel
scale = 1.233

###################################################################################
# Observer info
###################################################################################

# TESS user name
tess_user = tan

# AAVSO observer code. Put in a dummy code if not used.
aavso_obs_code = TTG

# The signature at the bottom of the observation report. To insert a newline use \n
# If there are any spaces, the whole line must be enclosed in quotes
signature = “TG Tan \nhttp://pestobservatory.com/”

###################################################################################
# Software environment
###################################################################################

# The muniwin Projects directory, where the .pht files are found
proj_dir = /home/tgtan/Public/pestdata/Projects/

# Muniwin catalog directory, where the target XML file is
catalog_dir = /home/tgtan/Public/pestdata/Catalogs/

# where to put the parameters file for MagPy – makes it easier to do repeat MagPy runs
magpy_param_path = /home/tgtan/Desktop/

###################################################################################
# Processing and reporting options
###################################################################################

# Sets whether the date type to be used in reporting is HJD or BJD
# Default is BJD.  Setting to anything other than HJD results in BJD being used
date_type = BJD

# These govern PESTphot’s behaviour in auto adding stars to the selection
# Stars are only added if the no of selected stars are < min_stars
# The total number of stars selected will not exceed star_limit
# The number of stars that PESTphot will try to add each time it is run is add_stars
# set to 0 to turn off
add_stars = 25
min_stars = 20
star_limit = 35

# the distance in min within which to check for NEBs
proximate_dist = 2.5

# the distance in min out to which to plot on the zoomed finder and on the dmag/SD chart
plot_dist = 2.5

# magnitude to be subtracted from dmag before doing the NEBdepth calc
# allowance for any difference in dmag between observed band and TESS band
dmag_buf = 0.5

# The factor to apply to the outlier identification routine.  1.0 is default
# The smaller the number the more points will be identified as outliers
outlier_threshold = 1.0

# Set to No if you don’t want PESTphot to rotate field images so North is up,
# Yes, or in fact anything else, for the default behaviour which is North up.
plot_north = Yes

###################################################################################
# Plate solve and Gaia data lookup options
###################################################################################

# Set to No to switch off plate-solving.  Will also switch off production of finder charts,
# proximate star lightcurves, the neighbourhood EB check files, and Gaia checking.
# Yes, or in fact anything else, for the default behaviour which is to all of above functions.
# *************************************************************************************************
# If you don’t need all the fancy products required by TESS, switching this off saves a lot of time!
# *************************************************************************************************
plate_solve = Yes

# Set to No if you don’t want PESTphot to check for Gaia stars, eg if working offline
# Yes, or in fact anything else, for the default behaviour which is to check Gaia.
check_gaia = Yes

# max_theta is the max separation in arcsec between the coords of a Gaia star and
# the plate-solved coords of a detected star for PESTphot to call them the same star.
max_theta = 4.0

# max_delta_mag is the max diff in magnitude between the g_mag of a Gaia star and
# the measured magnitude of a detected star for PESTphot to call them the same star.
max_delta_mag = 2.5

###################################################################################
# Settings for detrending
###################################################################################

# overall switch for detrending.  Set to No to turn off, anything else will be taken as Yes
detrend = Yes

# individual detrend parameters to be used.  Set to No to turn off, anything else will be taken as Yes
# will only have effect if detrend=Yes
# detrend on radial distance from centre of CCD
detrend_rad = Yes
# on FWHM
detrend_fwhm = Yes
# on airmass
detrend_airmass = Yes
# on CCD sky level
detrend_sky = Yes

# turn off plotting of un-detrended and detrended lightcurves. Only relevant if detrending is on.
# should normally leave this off unless de-bugging, or checking on detrending behaviour
detrend_plots = No

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