Validation of Target Lists

Validation items

An input target list is validated against the following items.

Filetype

The input file must be in the CSV (comma-separated values) or ECSV (enhanced character-separated values) formats.

Errors are raised in the following cases

• When the Validate or Simulate button is clicked without selecting an input file, an error notification will be shown.
• When the input file cannot be read, an error notification will be shown. This is likely to be caused by wrong formats in cells.

Column names

The names of columns in the input list are checked against the required and optional keys except for flux-related ones.

Errors message is raised as follows for required columns

• A required keyword key name is missing.

Warning message is raised as follows for missing optional columns

• Optional column key name is missing. The default value, default value, will be used.

Info messages are shown as follows for detected columns

• Required column key name is found.
• Optional column key name is found.

String values

String values are validated whether they contain only allowed characters, [A-Za-z0-9_-+.]. Along with the comments, a table is shown for rows with invalid values.

Error message is raised as follows for required columns

String values must consist of [A-Za-z0-9_-+.]. The following entries must be fixed.

Info message is shown as follows for successful validation

All string values consist of [A-Za-z0-9_-+.]

Data ranges

Value of ra, dec, priority, exptime, and resolution are checked whether they are in the allowed ranges. Along with the comments, a table is shown for rows with invalid values.

Following checks are conducted and errors are raised when violations are detected

• \(0 \le \mathrm{ra} \le 360\).
• \(-90 \le \mathrm{dec} \le 90\).
• priority must be an integer in \([0, 9]\).
• exptime must be positive.
• resolution must be either L or M.
• reference_arm must be one of b, r, n, and m.
• reference_arm must not be r when resolution is M, while reference_arm must not be m when resolution is L.

Error message is raised as follows

Invalid values are detected for the following columns in the following entries.

Info message is shown as follows for successful validation

All values of ra, dec, priority, exptime, and resolution satisfy the allowed ranges.

Flux columns

Flux columns are validated against conditions described in the Flux Information Section.

Error message is raised as follows

No flux information found in the following ob_codes. Detected filters are the following: <detected filter columns>

Info message is shown as follows

All ob_codes have at least one flux information. The detected filters are the following: <detected filter columns>

Suspicious flux values

Flux values are checked to identify potential unit errors (magnitude vs. nano-Jansky). If a significant fraction (≥90%) of flux values fall in the range 10-30, a warning is issued as this range is typical for magnitudes but suspicious for nJy values.

Warning message is raised as follows

Significant fraction (XX.X%) of flux values are in the suspicious range (10 and 30). Please verify that the flux values are in the unit of nano Jansky (nJy), not, e.g., magnitude.

Info message is shown as follows

Flux values can be regarded as properly provided with the unit of nano Jansky (nJy).

This is a warning-only check

This validation does not prevent submission. It serves as a reminder to verify that flux values are provided in nJy, not in other units such as magnitudes, Jy (Jansky), or mJy (milli-Jansky).

Flux range

Flux values are additionally checked against flux/magnitude limits to identify targets that may be too bright or too faint for observations. The current bright magnitude limits are set to 16 AB mag for queue-mode targets and 17 AB mag for filler-mode targets in all provided filters.

Warning message is raised as follows

N/M flux values are brighter than AB magnitude XX.X / fainter than AB magnitude XX.X / outside AB magnitude range [XX.X, XX.X]. Please verify that these targets are intended to be outside this range.

Info message is shown as follows

All flux values are within AB magnitude range [XX.X, XX.X] / not brighter than AB magnitude XX.X / not fainter than AB magnitude XX.X.

This is a warning-only check

This validation does not prevent submission. It serves as a reminder to verify that targets outside the specified magnitude range are intentional. However, targets with flux values outside the specified range may be removed during the observation planning process. See the Observation page of the PFS web site for details.

Target visibility

Target visibility is checked by comparing the requested exposure time is shorter than the time when the target elevation is more than 30 degrees above the horizon between 18:30 and 5:30+1day. The data range can be configured in the config tab in the sidebar. Only visible targets will be considered for the pointing simulation. Along with the error and warning messages, invalid rows will be displayed.

Error message is raised when no ob_code is visible

None of ob_codes in the list is visible in the input observing period.

Warning message is raised when one or more ob_codes are not visible

N ob_codes are not visible in the input observing period

Info message is shown when all ob_codes are visible

All ob_codes are visible in the input observing period

Duplicated ob_code and (obj_id, resolution)

Duplication of ob_code and obj_id

ob_code and (obj_id, resolution) are checked not to have duplicates. Along with the error message, invalid rows will be displayed.

Errors are raised in the following case

Each ob_code and (obj_id, resolution) must be unique within a proposal, but duplicate ob_code and/or (obj_id, resolution) are detected in the following targets.

Info message is raised for successful validation

All ob_code and (obj_id, resolution) are unique.

Duplication by coordinates

Duplication within the target list is checked by comparing coordinates (ra, dec) of targets with the same resolution mode. If two or more targets are found within 1 arcsecond, they are considered as potential duplicates. If internal duplicates are detected, a warning message will be displayed along with invalid rows.

Warning message is raised in the following case

Targets with identical coordinates or with nearby coordinates are detected in the following entries. Please verify if these targets are not duplicates.

Info message is shown for successful validation

No internal duplication is detected.

Validation Results

An example output after the validation.

Home tab in the side panel (left)

Select an input CSV file

Press the "Browse" button to select a CSV or ECSV file to be validated.

Select an operation

Validate

A validation process starts if pressed.

Simulate

A PFS pointing simulation starts if pressed. Validation of the input file will be carried out before proceeding to the simulation.

Submit

Submit the input target list and pointing lists to the observatory. The button will be active after successful validation.

Validation status

One of the following validation results will be shown to indicate the validation status.

✅ Success

Validation is successful without any errors and warnings

⚠️ Success with warnings

Validation is successful with warnings. Warnings can be ignored, but please make sure whether they are acceptable or not.

🚫 Failed

Validation is failed. Please check error messages carefully and modify the input target list accordingly.

Summary table

Numbers of objects and fiberhours for each priority are displayed for the L and M resolutions separately.

Config tab in the side panel (left)

You can set the observing period for visibility check. By default, the dates are set to the next semester.

Main panel (right)

The details of the validation results are shown in the main panel. First, errors are shown, followed by warnings. The successful checks are shown at the bottom. Tables containing invalid rows are also shown for each validation process. Please modify them to make them acceptable for the uploader.