AO operations at the W. M. Keck Observatory

Abstract

Natural Guide Star (NGS) and Laser Guide Star (LGS) Adaptive Optics (AO) have been offered for routine science operations to the W. M. Keck Observatory community since 2000 and late 2004, respectively. The AO operations team is now supporting ~100 nights of AO observing with four different instruments, including over fifty nights of LGS AO per semester. In this paper we describe improvements to AO operations to handle the large number of nights and to accommodate the recent upgrade to the wavefront sensor and wavefront controller. We report on the observing efficiency, image quality, scientific productivity, impact analysis from satellite safety procedures and discuss the support load required to operate AO at Keck. We conclude the paper by presenting our plans for dual LGS AO operations with Keck I - Keck II LGS, starting in 2009.