The SOXS scheduler for remote operation at LaSilla:Concept and design

TL;DR

The paper introduces the SOXS Scheduler, a web-based tool designed to optimize remote astronomical observations at LaSilla, efficiently managing transient detections, prioritization, and dynamic scheduling for the NTT-ESO over five years.

Contribution

It presents the design and implementation of a scalable, API-driven scheduler that dynamically manages observation schedules considering weather, ToO events, and proposal sharing.

Findings

Enables efficient management of transient observations.

Supports dynamic, night-by-night scheduling adjustments.

Integrates modern API and container technologies for scalability.

Abstract

In this paper we present the SOXS Scheduler, a web-based application aimed at optimising remote observations at the NTT-ESO in the context of scientific topics of both the SOXS Consortium and regular ESO proposals.This paper will give details of how detected transients from various surveys are inserted, prioritised, and selected for observations with SOXS at the NTT while keeping the correct sharing between GTO time (for the SOXSConsortium) and the regularly approved observing time from ESO proposals. For the 5-years of operation ofSOXS this vital piece of software will provide a night-by-night dynamical schedule, allowing the user to face rapid changes during the operations that might come from varying weather conditions or frequent target of opportunity (ToO) observations that require a rapid response. The scheduler is developed with high available and scalable architecture in mind and it implements the state-of-the-art technologies for API Restful application like Docker Containers, API Gateway, and Python-based Flask frameworks.