Uniquely designed with two 8.4m mirrors, a 22.8m interferometric baseline, and the collecting area of an 11.8m telescope, the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO), has a narrow window of opportunity to exploit its status as the “first” of the ELTs. Prompted by urgency to maximum scientific output during this favorable interval, we undertook a multi-year project to reshape the user experience. The initial stage, implementing a new suite of software to facilitate proposal submission, script creation, binocular planning, and nighttime execution, is nearing completion. Reuse and adaptation of existing software, particularly Gemini Observatory’s cross-platform PIT and OT, proved critical, although as expected, we encountered many challenges presented by our one-of-a-kind binocular design and operations. We hope to leverage our success in the early phases of this project toward further improvement of our science operations model, specifically, augmenting our nighttime operations to include observatory-led observing. We plan to focus this observing mode primarily on instruments that require block scheduling and/or superb and rare conditions such as our newly commissioned GLAO system, ARGOS. In this paper, we outline our workflow, describe lessons learned, and present our resulting software products. We also detail future development toward our ultimate goal, improved efficiency and user interactions throughout every step of the observing experience.

The Laser Traffic Control System (LTCS) of the Paranal Observatory is the first component of the Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF, [8]) entering routine operations: a laser beam avoidance tool to support operations of an observatory equipped with five lasers and several laser-sensitive instruments, providing real-time information about ongoing and future collisions. LTCS-Paranal interfaces with ESO's observing tools, OT and vOT. Altogether, this system allows the night operators to plan and execute their observations without worrying about possible collisions between the laser beam(s) and other laser-sensitive equipment, aiming at a more efficient planning of the night, preventing time losses and laser-contaminated observations.

To achieve highly efficient observatory operations requires continuous evaluation and improvement of facility and instrumentation metrics. High quality metrics requires a foundation of robust and complete observatory telemetry. At the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO), a variety of telemetry-capturing mechanisms exist, but few tools have thus far been created to facilitate studies of the data. In an effort to make all observatory telemetry data easy to use and broadly available, we have developed a suite of tools using in-house development and open source applications. This paper will explore our strategies for consolidating, parameterizing, and correlating any LBTO telemetry data to achieve easily available, web-based two- and three-dimensional time series data visualization.

The Large Binocular Telescope Observatory is a collaboration between institutions in Arizona, Germany, Italy, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Virginia. The telescope uses two 8.4-m diameter primary mirrors mounted sideby- side on the same AZ-EL mount to produce a collecting area equivalent to an 11.8-meter aperture. Adaptive optics loops are routinely closed with natural stars on both sides for sided and combined beam observations. Rayleigh laser guide stars provide GLAO seeing improvement. With the telescope now in operation for 10 years, we report on various statistics of telescope performance and seeing-limited image quality. Statistics of telescope performance are reported in the areas of off-axis guiding, open-loop mount tracking, active optics and vibration. Delivered image quality is reported as measured by the DIMM and several guide cameras as a function of other parameters such as temperature and wind velocity. Projects to improve image quality and dome seeing are underway.

In this paper we detail the process the LBTO followed to chose software for reuse and modification to support binocular queue operations. We outline the survey of initial candidate solutions, how and why the final selection was made, and describe our requirements gap analysis for LBTO binocular use. We provide details of our software development approach including a project road map and phased release strategy. We provide details of added LBTO functionality, discuss issues, and suggest some reuse lessons learned. We conclude with discussion of known desired enhancements to be addressed in future release cycles.

The Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO), a joint scientific venture between the Instituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft (LBTB), University of Arizona, Ohio State University (OSU), and the Research Corporation, is one of the newest additions to the world's collection of large optical/infrared ground-based telescopes. With its unique, twin 8.4m mirror design providing a 22.8 meter interferometric baseline and the collecting area of an 11.8m telescope, LBT has a window of opportunity to exploit its singular status as the "first" of the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). Prompted by urgency to maximize scientific output during this favorable interval, LBTO recently re-evaluated its operations model and developed a new strategy that augments classical observing with queue. Aided by trained observatory staff, queue mode will allow for flexible, multi-instrument observing responsive to site conditions. Our plan is to implement a staged rollout that will provide many of the benefits of queue observing sooner rather than later - with more bells and whistles coming in future stages. In this paper, we outline LBTO's new scientific model, focusing specifically on our "lean" resourcing and development, reuse and adaptation of existing software, challenges presented from our one-of-a-kind binocular operations, and lessons learned. We also outline further stages of development and our ultimate goals for queue.

Step 1 (Veillet et al.1), after a review of the development of the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO from the early concepts of the early 80s to mid-2014, outlined a six-year plan (LBT2020) aimed at optimizing LBTO's scientific production while mitigating the consequences of the inevitable setbacks brought on by the considerable complexity of the telescope and the very diverse nature of the LBTO partnership. Step 2 is now focusing on the first two years of implementation of this plan, presenting the encountered obstacles, technical, cultural and political, and how they were overcome. Weather and another incident with one of the Adaptive Secondaries slowed down commissioning activities. All the facility instruments should have been commissioned and offered in binocular mode in early or mid-2016. It will happen instead by the end of 2016. On a brighter side, the first scientific publications using the LBT as a 23-m telescope through interferometry were published in 2015 and the overall number of publications has been raising at a good pace. Three second generation instruments were selected, scheduled to come on the telescope in the next three to five years. They will all use the excellent performance of the LBT Adaptive Optics (AO), which will be even better thanks to an upgrade of the AO to be completed in 2018. Less progress than hoped was made to move the current observing mode of the telescope to a whole LBT-wide queue. In two years from now, we should have a fully operational telescope, including a laser-based Ground Layer AO (GLAO) system, hopefully fully running in queue, with new instruments in development, new services offered to the users, and a stronger scientific production.

The Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO) Telescope Control System (TCS) is comprised of fifteen subsystems and accepts commands from the operator, as well as from six pairs of instruments. To the operator the TCS presents as a high-level set of GUIs with each GUI corresponding to one specific subsystem and providing full state information and varying degrees of control. The TCS GUIs not only provide the operators with broad control over all aspects of the telescope, but each individual GUI also reports problems within its domain through the use of color-coded messages and widgets indicating the seriousness of the issue. While there is significant problem reporting available to the operator, until recently there was no centralized and persistent visual indication or "annunciator" display for issues. In order to provide a way to present problems in a centralized and persistent fashion with "on-the-spot guidance" to ease the job of the operator and to have an acknowledge capability, the LBTO project decided to leverage an existing Alarm Handler which is a GUI client application associated with the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS)(1). This paper briefly describes the TCS sources of problem reporting information and how the EPICS Alarm Handler supplements the current system.

. The Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO) Telescope Control System (TCS) is comprised of fifteen subsystems and accepts commands from the operator, as well as from six pairs of instruments. To the operator the TCS presents as a high-level set of GUIs with each GUI corresponding to one specific subsystem and providing full state information and varying degrees of control. The TCS GUIs not only provide the operators with broad control over all aspects of the telescope, but each individual GUI also reports problems within its domain through the use of color-coded messages and widgets indicating the seriousness of the issue. While there is significant problem reporting available to the operator, until recently there was no centralized and persistent visual indication or “annunciator” display for issues. In order to provide a way to present problems in a centralized and persistent fashion with “on-the-spot guid-ance” to ease the job of the operator and to have an acknowledge capability, the LBTO project decided to leverage an existing Alarm Handler which is a GUI client application associated with the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) 1 . This paper briefly describes the TCS sources of problem reporting information and how the EPICS Alarm Handler supplements the current system.

The LBTO software and IT group was originally responsible for development of the Telescope Control System (TCS) software, and build-out of observatory Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. With major construction phases of the observatory mostly completed, emphasis is transitioning toward instrument software handover support, IT infrastructure obsolescence upgrades, and software development in support of efficient operations. This paper discusses recent software and IT group activities, metrics, issues, some lessons learned, and a near-term development road-map for support of efficient operations.

The control software of the Large Binocular Telescope's (LBT) double prime focus cameras (LBC) has been in use for a decade: the software passed acceptance testing in April 2004 and is currently in routine use for science. LBC was the first light instrument of the telescope. Over the last decade of use, the control software has changed as operations with the telescope have evolved.The major updates to the LBC control software since 2004 are described, including details for the upgrade to a single control computer from the current five computer architecture.

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Telescope Control System (TCS) records about 10GB of telemetry data per night. Additionally, the vibration monitoring system records about 9GB of telemetry data per night. Through 2013, we have amassed over 6TB of Hierarchical Data Format (HDF5) files and almost 9TB in a MySQL database of TCS and vibration data. The LBT telemetry system, in its third major revision since 2004, provides the mechanism to capture and store this data. The telemetry system has evolved from a simple HDF file system with MySQL stream definitions within the TCS, to a separate system using a MySQL database system for the definitions and data, and finally to no database use at all, using HDF5 files.

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) has eight Acquisition, Guiding, and wavefront Sensing Units (AGw units). They provide guiding and wavefront sensing capability at eight different locations at both direct and bent Gregorian focal stations. Recent additions of focal stations for PEPSI and MODS instruments doubled the number of focal stations in use including respective motion, camera controller server computers, and software infrastructure communicating with Guiding Control Subsystem (GCS). This paper describes the improvements made to the LBT GCS and explains how these changes have led to better maintainability and contributed to increased reliability. This paper also discusses the current GCS status and reviews potential upgrades to further improve its performance.

The Large Binocular Telescope Observatory is a collaboration between institutions in Arizona, Germany, Italy, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Virginia. The telescope uses two 8.4-m diameter primary mirrors mounted side-by-side on the same AZ-EL mount to produce a collecting area equivalent to an 11.8-meter aperture. Many science observations collect the light from the two sides separately. With the arrival of the second copy of the near-infrared spectrometer and the second copy of the optical spectrometer, the telescope is observing with both apertures a significant fraction of the time. The light from the two primary mirrors can be combined to produce phased-array imaging of an extended field. This coherent imaging along with adaptive optics gives the telescope the diffraction-limited resolution of a 22.65-meter telescope. Adaptive optics loops are routinely closed with natural stars on both sides of the telescope for combined beam observations. Twin laser guide star constellations have recently been installed for ground layer adaptive optics observations. Commissioning of new instruments and focal stations for high resolution spectroscopy and near-infrared phased-array imaging is underway.

For the LBT Observatory, the next couple of years promise to be both exciting and challenging. Exciting as the long awaited suite of first generation instruments and GLAO become available for binocular operations, while regular interferometric observations will make LBT the first operational ELT. Challenging because LBTO will have to handle maintenance and upgrades of instruments or key components like its adaptive secondaries about which it has much to learn. Step1 will outline a plan optimizing LBTOs scientific production while mitigating the consequences of the inevitable setbacks the challenges will bring.

The Laser Traffic Control System (LTCS) is a software solution to the problem of laser beam avoidance, using priority based collision resolution and an optional built-in laser shutter command interface. LTCS uses static site survey information, dynamic telescope pointing and control data, and a configurable "rules" scheme, to monitor laser beam geometry (Rayleigh and LGS) and warn or prevent undesired emission at participating institutions. LTCS was developed for use on Mauna Kea in 2001, but through collaborative efforts with multiple institutions, has since been enhanced and installed at several sites around the world. Functional implementations, either operational or in prototype form, exist for Mauna Kea, La Palma, Cerro Pachon, Cerro Paranal, and Haleakala. Since the last LTCS SPIE update in 2006, many important features have been added. There has also been some new site testing activity that has resulted in lessons learned and the development of new analysis/test tools. Finally, an important lasing operations paradigm shift has emerged on Mauna Kea and is anticipated for Paranal. The trend is clearly away from static collision priority rule determination, toward dynamic "negotiated" priority determination. The implications of this paradigm shift, discussion of forced collision test results and lessons learned, and a status update on development activities since the last update will be presented in the paper.

The ESO Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF) will transform UT4 of the VLT into a laser driven adaptive telescope in which the corrective optics, specifically the deformable secondary mirror, and the four Laser Guide Star units are integrated. Three instruments, with their own AO modules to provide field selection capabilities and wavefront sensing, will make use of this system to provide a variety of observing modes that span from large field IR imaging with GLAO, to integral field visible spectroscopy with both GLAO and LTAO, to SCAO high Strehl imaging and spectroscopy. Each of these observing modes carries its specific demands on observing conditions. Optimal use of telescope night-time, with such a high in demand and versatile instruments suite, is mandatory to maintain and even improve upon the scientific output of the facility. This implies that the standard VLT model for operations must be updated to cover these partly new demands. In particular, we discuss three key aspects: (1) the need for an upgrade of the site monitoring facilities to provide the operators with real-time information on the environmental conditions, including the ground layer strength, and their evolution throughout the night; (2) a set of tools and procedures to effectively use these data to optimize the short-term scheduling (i.e. with granularity of one night) of the telescope and (3) the upgrade of the current laser beam avoidance software to better cope with the AOF operational scheme, where the four laser units are continuously operated as long as the atmospheric conditions allow.

With the much anticipated delivery of the Lockheed Martin Coherent Technology Quasi-CW laser, the W. M. Keck Observatory was able to complete the installation and integration of the Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics System on the Keck I telescope. The Keck I LGSAO system was developed to provide redundancy for the Keck II system as well as balancing the instrumentation load between the two telescopes and interferometers. With the improved sodium coupling efficiency of the laser and a center launching system, the Keck I laser performance is expected to exceed those on the Keck II system.We present the challenges of integrating the Keck I Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics System on an operational telescope. We will present issues and performance data related to the primary subsystem components such as the laser itself, the Selex Galileo Avionica launch telescope, the Mitsubishi fiber transport, and the Adaptive Optics System. The paper will also focus on the integration and testing performed at the W. M. Keck headquarters as well as the summit of Mauna Kea. We will present initial first light performance of the Keck I LGSAO System and compare those to the existing Keck II LGSAO System.

The operations model of the Keck Observatory and the factors that allow it to operate with unprecedented scientific success while maintaining the lowest operating cost to capital ratio of the 8m-10m class of telescopes are examined. We describe matching of resources to operating requirements and steps taken to optimize the effectiveness of the overall operation. We describe how strategic goals, operating philosophy and detailed planning mesh to match science objectives with technological capability. We conclude by examining how operations design drives both long term operating cost and realization of the potential inherent in the initial capital investment.

The Egg Nebula has been regarded as the archetype of bipolar proto-planetary nebulae, yet we lack a coherent model that can explain the morphology and kinematics of the nebular and dusty components observed at high-spatial and spectral resolution. Here, we report on two sets of observations obtained with the Keck Adaptive Optics Laser Guide Star: H to M-band NIRC2 imaging, and narrow bandpath K-band OSIRIS 3-D imaging-spectroscopy (through the H2 2.121micron emission line). While the central star or engine remains un-detected at all bands, we clearly resolve the dusty components in the central region and confirm that peak A is not a companion star. The spatially-resolved spectral analysis provide kinematic information of the H_2 emission regions in the eastern and central parts of the nebula and show projected velocities for the H_2 emission higher than 100 km/s. We discuss these observations against a possible formation scenario for the nebular components.