Binospec@MMT: A Database Driven Model of Operations, from Planning of Observations to Data Reduction and Archiving

Binospec is a new optical multi-object spectrograph operated at the 6.5-m MMT at Mt.Hopkins, Arizona since Nov/2017. Here we describe the Binospec software system driven by the PostgreSQL relational database that covers all stages of the instrument operations from the slit mask design to the data reduction pipeline and archiving and distribution of raw and reduced datasets. We developed a web application to design slit masks, which submits configurations directly into the database and sends them to the mask cutting facility. When masks are being installed in the spectrograph, the process is logged in the same database that also connected to the MMT telescope scheduler and Binospec instrument control software. We record metadata for all exposures collected with Binospec in real time, then automatically reduce the data with a dedicated pipeline, then ingest the metadata of reduced datasets and finally distribute data products to the PIs. Using currently available technologies and very limited manpower we built a complete database driven software system similar to those deployed by major space missions like Chandra, XMM, and HST.