Merge pull request 'Point this repository at its new home in astrophotography' (#18) from moved-notice into main

Merged into git.discworld.casa/laurence/astrophotography on 2026-07-21,
where it lives on as the itelescope/ directory alongside the processing
pipeline, with both histories preserved.

The notice goes in CLAUDE.md as well as README.md deliberately: under the
Default Workflow a session reads CLAUDE.md first, and the drain campaign
is live with runs most nights, so a concurrent session needs to see the
redirect before it starts work rather than after it has committed.

Not archiving yet. The campaign runs until 10-12 Aug and nothing should
break mid-flight; archive once it closes.

CAMPAIGN.md

@@ -23,9 +23,30 @@ Update after every run: date, scope, target, imaging minutes, points charged
 
 | Date | Scope | Target | Plan file | Imaging | Est. pts | Actual pts | Notes |
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-| 2026-07-19 | T33 | 47 Tuc | ngc104-test.txt | 17 min | 0 (free) | | first-light test |
+| 2026-07-19 | T33 | 47 Tuc | ngc104-test.txt | 17 min | 0 (free) | DID NOT RUN | reservation 749228 expired unused: no images, no logs on T33 (checked 20 Jul); grid shows reschedule=No despite the flag being set at booking |
-| 2026-07-19 | T59 | NGC 6744 | ngc6744-t59.txt | 180 min | ~240 | | first paid run |
+| 2026-07-19 | T59 | NGC 6744 | ngc6744-t59.txt | 180 min | ~240 (0% moon disc. until 21 Jul) | **381** | SUCCESS (txn 851148): ran 00:05:22-03:29:56 SSO, Time Used 3h24m32s, 0% moon disc. Full dataset on scope server: L 15x300s BIN1, RGB 7x300s each BIN2; previews checked, round stars, galaxy clean: no refund case. Effective rate ~112 pts/hr of WALL time (not the 80/hr imaging-time estimate: see NOTES rate correction) |
-| 2026-07-20 | T33 | NGC 6752 | ngc6752.txt | 17 min | 0 (free) | | |
+| 2026-07-20 | T33 | NGC 6752 | ngc6752.txt | 17 min | 0 (free) | DID NOT RUN | reservation 749229 expired unused: no images, no logs (checked 20 Jul 20:30 UTC, after window) |
+| 2026-07-21 | T32 | Centaurus A | cena-t32.txt | 120 min | ~350 (x1.6 model) | **160** | SUCCESS (txn 851344): ran 18:50:24-21:16:19 SSO local (08:50-11:16 UTC), Time Used 2h25m55s, 25% moon discount. Images present: /images/qisback/T32/NGC5128 on t32.itelescope.net:8032. Came in at 0.46x the x1.6 model, i.e. LESS than the original estimate: see the rate correction below |
+
+Cumulative spend: 541. Balance after (verified GetAccountStatus 2026-07-21
+11:40 UTC): **2,097**.
+
+**Rate correction (2026-07-21, supersedes the 2026-07-20 x1.6 warning).** Two
+paid runs now bracket the question, and both bill EXACTLY the plan's imaging
+minutes, not wall-clock:
+
+| Scope | Plan imaging | Wall (Time Used) | Billed | Points per imaging hour |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| T59 | 180 min (36x300s) | 3h24m32s | 381 | **127** (0% moon) |
+| T32 | 120 min (24x300s) | 2h25m55s | 160 | **80** (25% moon) |
+
+381 = 3.00 h x 127 and 160 = 2.00 h x 80, both to the point. So billing is on
+imaging time as originally documented, and the wall-clock theory is dead. What
+is wrong is the rate card in NOTES.md: it lists T59 at 80/hr (actual 127) and
+T32 at 146/hr (actual 80 even after the 25% moon discount, so a base near
+107/hr). The two look transposed, but two samples cannot prove that. **Do not
+apply a blanket multiplier.** Derive each scope's effective rate from its first
+actual bill, and treat any not-yet-observed scope's card rate as +/-60%.
 
 ## Planned allocation (~2,600 points, adapt as scopes/weather allow)
 
@@ -49,13 +70,145 @@ Update after every run: date, scope, target, imaging minutes, points charged
   Chile scopes (T71 106/hr, T73 224/hr) if they return from maintenance: Tarantula
   and NGC 1313 preferred. Aim to land the balance under ~50 points.
 
+## Booked reservations (all with plan attached + reschedule flag)
+
+| ID | Scope | Night of (SSO/obs local) | Slot | Plan | Est. pts | Status (2026-07-20) |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| 749227 | T59 | 19 Jul | 00:05-03:45 | ngc6744-t59.txt | ~240 | COMPLETED, billed 381 |
+| 749228 | T33 | 19 Jul | 00:05-00:50 | ngc104-test.txt | 0 | EXPIRED unused (no run, no auto-reschedule) |
+| 749229 | T33 | 20 Jul | 00:05-00:50 | ngc6752.txt | 0 | EXPIRED unused (no run, no auto-reschedule) |
+| 749230 | T8 | 26 Jul | 21:35-23:55 | catspaw-t8.txt | ~146 (25% moon disc.) | still booked |
+| 749302 | T32 | 21 Jul | 18:50-21:50 | cena-t32.txt | ~350 (x1.6 rate, 25% moon disc.) | COMPLETED, billed 160. EVENING slot: T32 has a 35 deg elevation floor and Cen A culminates ~17:10 before dark, sinking to 11 deg by the old 00:35 slot (which could never have run). Ran 18:50-21:16, finishing 34 min early (plan complete, not a fault); images landed under /images/qisback/T32/NGC5128 |
+| (id not captured) | T8 | 22 Jul | 21:45-00:45 | cra-t8.txt | ~250 | booked + MySummary-verified 2026-07-21 11:45 UTC. This is queue #2 finally placed: see the resolution note below. Runs 11:45-14:45 UTC 22 Jul |
+| (id not captured) | T32 | 22 Jul | 18:50-19:50 | hdrcore-t32.txt | ~25 | **CANCELLED 2026-07-21 ~15:00 UTC, never ran, 0 points spent.** Booked to fix a saturated Cen A nucleus; the nucleus is not saturated (see the correction below). Deleted from MySummary with the other three reservations verified intact afterwards; quota back to 6:05/8:00 |
+| 749314 | T33 | 21 Jul | 00:05-00:50 | ngc104-test.txt | 0 (free) | booked + grid-verified 2026-07-21 08:55 UTC. 47 Tuc first-light retry, third attempt. Runs 14:05-14:50 UTC 21 Jul. Reschedule flag again No (free scopes never rebook) |
+
+The T33 first-light test is now on its THIRD booking (749314); the two prior free
+reservations expired unused. If this one also fails to run, the problem is not the
+booking but the auto-start on free scopes: escalate to walk-in (POST plan.asp per
+plans/README.md) or drop the free-imaging objective.
+
+## Booking queue (blocked by the rolling 8-hour reservation allowance)
+
+Book in order as quota frees (a session completing releases its hours). Exact
+New.aspx parameters; all plans already uploaded and verified on their scopes.
+Verify every booking via Edit.aspx?id= probing (sequential ids), NOT the grid.
+
+| # | Scope id | start | end | start sel | end sel | Plan | Est. pts |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| 1 | BOOKED as 749302 (see table above); the original 00:35 slot was an error, Cen A is an EVENING target (35 deg floor on T32) | | | | | cena-t32.txt | ~350 |
+| 2 | BOOKED 2026-07-21 for the night of 22 Jul, 21:45-00:45 (see table above); the 01:35 slot was blocked by hajo and low anyway | | | | | cra-t8.txt | ~250 |
+| 3 | GRAS059 | 2026-07-25T20:35:00 | 2026-07-25T23:55:00 | 8:35 PM | 11:55 PM | ngc6188-haoiii-t59.txt | ~120 (disc.) |
+| 4 | GRAS059 | 2026-07-27T20:35:00 | 2026-07-27T23:05:00 | 8:35 PM | 11:05 PM | ngc6188-sii-t59.txt | ~90 (disc.) |
+| 5 | GRAS008 | 2026-08-08T02:35:00 | 2026-08-08T06:05:00 | 2:35 AM | 6:05 AM | smc47tuc-t8.txt | ~390 |
+| 6 | GRAS032 | 2026-08-09T03:05:00 | 2026-08-09T06:05:00 | 3:05 AM | 6:05 AM | tarantula-t32.txt | ~365 |
+| 7 | (T70, blocked: server unreachable) | night TBD before 5 Aug | ~2.5h | | | scorpius-t70.txt (in scratch, re-upload needed) | ~238 |
+| 8 | WITHDRAWN: booked then cancelled 2026-07-21, premise was wrong (see below) | | | | | hdrcore-t32.txt | 0 |
+
+### CORRECTION (2026-07-21): the Cen A nucleus was never saturated
+
+An earlier entry here claimed the 21 Jul Cen A data came back with a saturated
+nucleus, and booked a short-exposure core set on that basis. **The claim was
+wrong and the booking has been cancelled without running, at a cost of zero
+points.**
+
+The 65313 ADU figure came from taking the maximum pixel inside a 300 x 300 px
+box centred on the frame. That measures the brightest thing near the middle of
+the image, which is not the same as measuring the galaxy: it was a foreground
+star 128 px (69 arcsec) from the nucleus, sitting inside the box. Median
+filtering the inner 800 x 800 px to remove stars leaves the galaxy peaking at
+**1944 ADU**, about a thirtieth of the clip level, with **not one star-free
+pixel above 30000 ADU**. The core looked blown in the first processed image
+because of the display stretch, whose white point was set by field stars, and
+re-rendering the same data with a second tone curve scaled to the galaxy
+recovered it fully.
+
+**The habit that IS worth keeping, in corrected form:** before booking extra
+time to fix a saturated core, *measure whether it is saturated* - median-filter
+the inner region to remove stars first, and check where the frame's bright
+pixels actually are. The check costs a minute. 47 Tuc and the SMC (queue #5)
+may still genuinely saturate, a dense cluster core being the fastest thing there
+is to clip, so run the same measurement on their data before assuming either
+way. plans/hdrcore-t32.txt stays in the repo (and on T32) as a ready-made
+ladder if one of them turns out to need it.
+
+### Session 2026-07-21 ~08:55 UTC (booking round run early, before Cen A ran)
+
+Done this session: free T33 47 Tuc retry booked as 749314 (grid-verified). NOT
+done, both correctly deferred:
+- **Cen A verify**: 749302 had not run yet (starts 08:50 UTC, this session ran at
+  08:48). Verify after 11:50 UTC.
+- **cra-t8 (#2)**: blocked twice over. (1) Quota: Cen A holds 3h until it
+  completes ~11:50 UTC; with Cat's Paw (2h20m) + Cen A (3h) + T33 (45m) held,
+  under ~1h55m is free, not enough for a 3h slot. (2) Conflict: user hajo holds
+  T8 00:25-02:25 SSO local (res 749207), overlapping our planned 01:35-04:35.
+
+**cra-t8 resolution options** (pick with a live grid re-check when quota frees):
+- (a) Shift to 02:25-05:25 after hajo. Downside: Corona Australis culminates
+  ~22:30 SSO local, so by 02:25-05:25 it is 4-6.5h past meridian and low; poor.
+- (b) PREFERRED: move cra-t8 to the NEXT night, 2026-07-23T01:35-04:35 (night of
+  22 Jul SSO), same clock time, avoids hajo, keeps decent altitude. Re-check that
+  night's T8 grid first. One night's slip is fine inside the drain window.
+- (c) Earlier slot 21:25-00:25 (before hajo) is astronomically best but starts
+  11:25 UTC, before Cen A releases quota at 11:50; not bookable in time.
+
+The scheduled 12:13 UTC job (ae3af497) fires after Cen A completes: it should
+verify Cen A + bill, then book cra-t8 by option (b) unless the grid has changed
+(hajo may cancel, opening option (a)/original). At corrected (x1.6) rates the
+full remaining queue runs ~2,530 vs 2,257 balance (~270 over): once actual bills
+for Cen A and CrA land, trim Phase 3 (shorten Tarantula #6 or the SMC slot)
+to land the balance near zero.
+
+### Session 2026-07-21 ~11:40 UTC (Cen A verify + cra-t8 booked)
+
+Ran ahead of the 12:13 UTC scheduled job, after Cen A had finished at 11:16 UTC.
+
+- **Cen A verified**: completed, billed 160, NGC5128 images on the scope server.
+  Ledger and rate model updated (the x1.6 model is withdrawn: see the rate
+  correction above).
+- **cra-t8 booked**, but on a better slot than the deferred option (b). Probing
+  New.aspx for the original 01:35-04:35 returned "Conflicting reservation. Start
+  time must be later than 2:25 AM" (hajo, as predicted), confirming that option
+  (a) was all that remained on the night of 21 Jul, and it puts Corona Australis
+  3.5-6.5 h past the meridian. Instead the run went to the EVENING of the next
+  night: **2026-07-22T21:45 - 2026-07-23T00:45 SSO local**, which brackets the
+  ~22:30 culmination, so the whole 115 min of imaging happens near the zenith.
+  This is option (c)'s geometry on option (b)'s night; the reason (c) was
+  unbookable earlier (quota held by Cen A) had expired by the time Cen A
+  completed. Grid probing showed no conflict on either side of the slot.
+  Verified in Reservation/MySummary.aspx; quota now 6:50 / 8:00.
+- Moon on the night of 22 Jul is ~57% illuminated, the last usable night before
+  the bright-week narrowband phase. LRGB on a dust complex under a half moon is
+  a compromise, but the alternative is slipping a Phase 1 broadband target into
+  the bright week, which is worse.
+- Reservation id NOT captured: the confirm response carries only
+  `ModalStatic.result("OK")` and MySummary does not print ids. Nothing depends
+  on the id unless the booking must be edited or deleted, in which case find it
+  by probing Edit.aspx?id= around the current sequence (749314 was issued
+  ~08:55 UTC on 21 Jul).
+- Budget: 2,097 left, 19 nights to 10 Aug. Remaining queue at card rates is
+  roughly 1,300, which UNDER-spends by ~800. With the x1.6 model withdrawn, the
+  next planning session should add work rather than trim it: candidates are a
+  second narrowband night on T59 (observed 127/hr, the only scope with a
+  trustworthy rate), or extending the Phase 3 SMC and Tarantula runs, both of
+  which have the sky time to absorb longer plans.
+
+Substitution rules: if T71 returns to service, move #2 and #7 to T71 (faster
+f/2.8 optics, cheaper 106 pts/hr; re-cut the plans for 1.55"/px). If T70's
+server returns, book #7 as-is. Check the go.itelescope.net status line before
+each booking round. After #6, allocate the remaining balance (~450 pts) to a
+final deep session on the best-performing scope, sized to land under 50 pts.
+
 **10 Aug: verify balance is near zero, download ALL data from data.itelescope.net,
 then (with explicit user confirmation) cancel via MyAccount/Cancel.aspx.**
 
 ## Operational notes
 
-- Every paid session follows plans/README.md (walk-in when idle; same ACP flow as
+- Sessions are now RESERVED, not walk-in: upload the plan to the scope, then book
-  the free scopes). Upload plans the day before where possible.
+  it at reservations.itelescope.net with the plan attached (procedure in
+  plans/README.md); iTelescope auto-starts the plan at reservation start and the
+  reschedule flag retries weather losses. Claude sessions monitor rather than
+  drive. T59 moon discount correction: 0% until 21 Jul, 25% from 22 Jul.
 - Cron jobs live only in an open Claude session; if a day's session has no live
   session to fire it, the user prompts "run today's drain session" and any session
   picks it up from this file plus state/TODO.md.

CLAUDE.md

@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> **This repository has moved.** Since 2026-07-21 it lives on as the
+> `itelescope/` directory of
+> **[astrophotography](https://git.discworld.casa/laurence/astrophotography)**,
+> merged with the processing pipeline. Both histories were preserved.
+>
+> **Do new work there, not here.** This copy is kept read-only-in-spirit until
+> the drain campaign closes (10-12 Aug 2026), because sessions are running most
+> nights and nothing should break mid-campaign. Anything committed here after
+> the merge will be stranded.
+
 # Default Workflow
 
 This file is the entry point for any Claude Code session working under the Default

README.md

@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+> [!IMPORTANT]
+> **This repository has moved.** Since 2026-07-21 it lives on as the
+> `itelescope/` directory of
+> **[astrophotography](https://git.discworld.casa/laurence/astrophotography)**,
+> merged with the processing pipeline. Both histories were preserved.
+>
+> **Do new work there, not here.** This copy is kept read-only-in-spirit until
+> the drain campaign closes (10-12 Aug 2026), because sessions are running most
+> nights and nothing should break mid-campaign. Anything committed here after
+> the merge will be stranded.
+
 # itelescope
 
 Reference and review of the [iTelescope.net](https://www.itelescope.net/) remote

plans/README.md

@@ -63,3 +63,38 @@ stop well before dawn.
 
 Abort path if something looks wrong: the web UI exposes an abort on the console
 page; locate it live before starting exposures (not yet mapped).
+
+## Reservations (verified working 2026-07-18)
+
+Reservations live at http://reservations.itelescope.net ("Reservations Pilot"),
+reached from each scope's /ac/MenuItems/reservation-edit.asp iframe as
+`?t=<scope-id>&u=<username>` (scope ids look like GRAS059 for T59, GRAS033 for
+T33; full list in the resources JSON on go.itelescope.net/Reservation/Overview.aspx,
+whose embedded DayPilot events also show everyone's bookings, roof/sun times, and
+the moon discount per night). No separate login: it trusts the u= parameter once a
+session cookie exists.
+
+Creating one is a three-step WebForms dance against
+`New.aspx?start=<ISO local>&end=<ISO local>&r=<scope-id>` (times are OBSERVATORY
+LOCAL): (1) GET the form, (2) POST tokens + DropDownStartTime/DropDownEndTime
+(e.g. "12:05 AM"/"3:45 AM") + PlanToRunListBox=<plan file> + RescheduleCheckbox
++ ButtonRefreshPlans=Refresh Plans, which re-renders with Confirm enabled,
+(3) re-POST the fresh tokens with the same fields + ReservationOKButton=Confirm
+Reservation. Success = response script `ModalStatic.result("OK")` AND the booking
+appearing in the grid: the modal also says "OK" on silent failure, so ALWAYS
+re-fetch the grid and look for the reservation id + username.
+
+Availability probing (2026-07-21): a plain GET of
+`New.aspx?start=...&end=...&r=...` is a cheap, side-effect-free conflict check.
+The form comes back with the two time dropdowns populated for +/-60 min around
+the requested times, and if the slot collides with someone else's booking it
+also renders "Conflicting reservation. Start time must be later than H:MM AM".
+No message plus a full pair of dropdowns means the window is clear. This beats
+reading the DayPilot grid, whose event divs do not survive a plain
+Invoke-WebRequest fetch (they are rendered client-side).
+
+Rules learned: maximum reservation length 4:00; recommended duration 1.5x total
+imaging time; the attached plan is auto-started by iTelescope at reservation
+start (no walk-in POST needed); RescheduleCheckbox auto-rebooks the identical
+timeslot on the first available night of the next 30 if the run does not happen.
+Delete/edit via Edit.aspx?id=<reservation id> from the grid.

plans/catspaw-t8.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; Cat Paw NGC 6334 in Ha on T8 - phase 2 narrowband
+; Ha 9x600s Bin1. 90 min imaging. Bright moon OK.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 9
+#interval 600
+#binning 1
+#filter Ha
+NGC6334	17.340000	-36.116667
+#shutdown

plans/cena-t32.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; Centaurus A (NGC 5128) on T32 for qisback - drain campaign phase 1
+; L 12x300s, RGB 4x300s each. 120 min imaging.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 12,4,4,4
+#interval 300,300,300,300
+#binning 2,2,2,2
+#filter Luminance,Red,Green,Blue
+NGC5128	13.424333	-43.019139
+#shutdown

plans/cra-t8.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; Corona Australis dust complex on T8 for qisback - drain campaign phase 1
+; L 8x300s Bin1, RGB 5x300s each Bin2. 115 min imaging.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 8,5,5,5
+#interval 300,300,300,300
+#binning 1,2,2,2
+#filter Luminance,Red,Green,Blue
+CrA-complex	19.030000	-36.955000
+#shutdown

plans/hdrcore-t32.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+;
+; Centaurus A (NGC 5128) HDR core set on T32 for qisback - drain campaign
+; Companion to cena-t32.txt (2026-07-21, 24x300s LRGB BIN2), whose nucleus is
+; saturated: the core reaches 65313 ADU in a single 300s luminance sub.
+; This is the short-exposure ladder to blend under that core.
+; L 8x60s, 8x15s, 8x5s spans a 60x range below 300s; RGB 5x30s gives the
+; nucleus colour. BIN2 throughout so the frames register to the deep stack
+; without rescaling. 18.2 min imaging total.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 8,8,8,5,5,5
+#interval 60,15,5,30,30,30
+#binning 2,2,2,2,2,2
+#filter Luminance,Luminance,Luminance,Red,Green,Blue
+NGC5128	13.424333	-43.019139
+#shutdown

plans/ngc6188-haoiii-t59.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; NGC 6188 Fighting Dragons on T59, session A: Ha + OIII - phase 2 narrowband
+; Ha 6x600s, OIII 6x600s. 120 min imaging. Bright moon OK.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 6,6
+#interval 600,600
+#binning 1,1
+#filter Ha,OIII
+NGC6188	16.669167	-48.796667
+#shutdown

plans/ngc6188-sii-t59.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; NGC 6188 on T59, session B: SII + extra Ha - phase 2 narrowband
+; SII 6x600s, Ha 3x600s. 90 min imaging. Bright moon OK.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 6,3
+#interval 600,600
+#binning 1,1
+#filter SII,Ha
+NGC6188	16.669167	-48.796667
+#shutdown

plans/scorpius-t70.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; Scorpius tail super-wide (Prawn/Cat Paw region) on T70 for qisback - phase 1
+; L 10x300s, RGB 4x300s each. 110 min imaging.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 10,4,4,4
+#interval 300,300,300,300
+#binning 1,1,1,1
+#filter Luminance,Red,Green,Blue
+Scorpius-tail	16.916667	-40.000000
+#shutdown

plans/smc47tuc-t8.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; SMC + 47 Tucanae in one T8 frame - phase 3 signature shot
+; L 8x300s Bin1, RGB 6x300s each Bin2. 130 min imaging. Dark of moon.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 8,6,6,6
+#interval 300,300,300,300
+#binning 1,2,2,2
+#filter Luminance,Red,Green,Blue
+SMC-47Tuc	0.650000	-72.500000
+#shutdown

plans/tarantula-t32.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+;
+; Tarantula Nebula NGC 2070 on T32 - phase 3
+; L 10x300s, RGB 5x300s each. 125 min imaging. Pre-dawn rising target.
+;
+#largepreviews
+#tiff
+#count 10,5,5,5
+#interval 300,300,300,300
+#binning 2,2,2,2
+#filter Luminance,Red,Green,Blue
+NGC2070	5.643333	-69.100000
+#shutdown

state/NOTES.md

@@ -52,6 +52,28 @@ T73 224, T74 295, T75 202, T80 119.
 Standouts: T59 at 80/hr is the value big scope (20" CDK, square 37 arcmin
 field, 900 s subs); T5 at 68/hr the cheapest paid; T26 at 394/hr the dearest.
 Billing is per minute of imaging (exposure) time, so overhead is not billed.
+
+**RATE CORRECTION (2026-07-20, from the first real bill):** the paragraph above
+underestimates. T59 session 851148: 180 min of exposure, wall clock 00:05:22 to
+03:29:56 (3h24m34s), history "Time Used" 3h24m32s = WALL time, billed 381 points
+at 0% moon discount. That is ~112 pts/hr of wall time or ~127 pts/hr of exposure
+time, vs the 80/hr the card predicted. So either Time Used (wall clock) is what
+gets billed, or the card's data-default-rate is stale. Consequence: estimate
+sessions at rate x reserved-slot-length (slots run ~1.15-1.5x imaging time), i.e.
+multiply old exposure-based estimates by ~1.6 until more bills confirm the model.
+
+**RATE CORRECTION 2 (2026-07-21, second bill; SUPERSEDES the x1.6 rule above).**
+T32 session 851344: 120 min of exposure, Time Used 2h25m55s, 25% moon discount,
+billed 160. 160 = 2.00 h x 80 exactly, and the T59 bill is 381 = 3.00 h x 127
+exactly. Both land on the plan's IMAGING minutes to the point, and neither lands
+on wall time. So the wall-clock theory is dead and the original "billed per
+minute of exposure" documentation was right; what is wrong is the card's
+per-scope numbers. Observed effective rates: **T59 127/hr** (card said 80),
+**T32 80/hr even after a 25% moon discount**, implying a base near 107/hr (card
+said 146). The pair looks transposed, but two samples cannot prove it. Rules:
+do NOT apply any blanket multiplier; derive each scope's rate from its first
+real bill; until then treat a card rate as +/-60%; and compute estimates from
+the plan's exposure total, never from the reserved slot length.
 Paid imaging needs no reservation when a scope is idle: same walk-in ACP flow
 as the free scopes, points just deduct. Reservations (to guarantee a slot) go
 through lookup.itelescope.online, which is Cloudflare-protected: Playwright

state/TODO.md

@@ -13,22 +13,68 @@
   from lat 51.5°N), matched to Q62/X07 scopes, seasonal booking calendar, and a
   July-August starter campaign (T33 free, T71 narrowband, T73 galaxy, T8 LMC later).
 
+## Done (recent)
+
+- 2026-07-20: NGC 6744 on T59 SUCCEEDED (reservation 749227, txn 851148): full
+  LRGB dataset on the scope server (L 15x300s BIN1, RGB 7x300s each BIN2),
+  previews verified clean. Billed 381 pts (est was ~240: see the rate
+  correction in NOTES.md). Balance now 2,257. Ledger updated in CAMPAIGN.md.
+
+## Done (recent)
+
+- 2026-07-21 ~08:55 UTC: free T33 47 Tuc retry booked as reservation 749314
+  (grid-verified), third attempt at the first-light test, runs 14:05-14:50 UTC
+  21 Jul, costs 0.
+
+## Done (recent)
+
+- 2026-07-21 11:40 UTC: Cen A on T32 verified COMPLETE (billed 160, NGC5128
+  images on the scope server), and queue #2 (Corona Australis on T8) booked for
+  the night of 22 Jul, 21:45-00:45 SSO local, which brackets the target's
+  culmination instead of chasing it down the western sky. Rate model rebuilt
+  from two actual bills. Details in the CAMPAIGN.md session note.
+
 ## In progress
 
-- T33 first-light test: ngc104-test.txt (47 Tuc, ~24 min LRGB) uploaded to
+- T33 first-light test on its THIRD booking (749314), which had NOT yet run as of
-  /plans/qisback/ on T33 and verified. Run window: 2026-07-19 roughly 14:00-19:30
+  11:40 UTC 21 Jul: it starts 14:05 UTC. Verify after 14:50 UTC (images and logs
-  UTC when 47 Tuc clears the 20 degree limit. Procedure in plans/README.md.
+  on t33.itelescope.net:8033 were still empty/stale at 11:40, as expected). The
-  Remaining: live-run the plan (confirm the plan.asp POST and any scope-connect
+  two prior free reservations (749228, 749229) expired unused with reschedule=No;
-  step), monitor via console, pull images/logs, record outcome in NOTES.
+  if 749314 also fails to run, stop rebooking and either walk it in (POST
-- Second free session scheduled for 2026-07-20 same window: runs
+  plan.asp per plans/README.md) or drop the free objective.
-  plans/ngc6752.txt (uploaded to T33, verified) if the 47 Tuc test succeeded,
+- The T32 HDR core set (plans/hdrcore-t32.txt) was booked and then CANCELLED on
-  otherwise retries ngc104-test.txt. Whichever session runs must record its
+  2026-07-21 without running: the Cen A nucleus is not saturated, the earlier
-  outcome here and in NOTES so the other knows.
+  claim having measured a foreground star. See the correction in CAMPAIGN.md.
+  Zero points spent. The plan file remains available on T32 if a genuinely
+  saturated target turns up.
+- The 21 Jul Cen A data has been fully processed off-repo, in the user's
+  Downloads\NGC5128\20260721\stacked folder: masters, plate solution (0.27
+  arcsec on 237 stars), an LRGB composite, a globular cluster survey (289
+  candidates, 62% catalogue-confirmed, density falling 10.5x outward), surface
+  photometry (Sersic n = 4.27, Re = 400 arcsec, total G = 6.56, which matches
+  the catalogued brightness and so validates the photometric chain), and a
+  transient/moving-object search (both null, with measured limits). METHODS.md
+  there documents the lot. Nothing from that analysis needs to come back into
+  this repo, but two results affect FUTURE sessions and are recorded here:
+  **(a)** measure saturation properly before buying short subs, and **(b)** the
+  faint outer halo in that stack is limited by the sky-plane subtraction
+  (-17.9 ADU/px of real halo light absorbed), not by exposure time, so more
+  integration alone would not have gone deeper.
+- CrA on T8 runs 11:45-14:45 UTC 22 Jul. Verify after 14:45 UTC: images under
+  /images/qisback/T8/ on t8.itelescope.net:8008, then the actual bill from
+  account/history.aspx into the ledger. This is the first T8 bill, so it also
+  fixes T8's effective rate (card says 130/hr; trust nothing until observed).
 - DRAIN CAMPAIGN ACTIVE (see CAMPAIGN.md): spend the full balance by 10 Aug,
   then cancel before the 12 Aug renewal (user confirmation required for the
-  cancel itself). First paid run: NGC 6744 on T59 (plans/ngc6744-t59.txt,
+  cancel itself). 541 of 2,638 spent; 2,097 remain. The x1.6 estimate multiplier
-  uploaded and verified), scheduled 2026-07-19 after the free test, ~240 pts.
+  is WITHDRAWN: billing is on plan imaging minutes, and per-scope rates must come
-  Update the CAMPAIGN.md ledger after every session from account/history.aspx.
+  from actual bills (T59 127/hr, T32 80/hr observed; the NOTES rate card is
+  unreliable). On current numbers the campaign UNDER-spends by ~800: plan extra
+  or longer runs, do not trim. Reschedule flag never sticks (grid always shows
+  No): treat every reservation as one-shot and verify the morning after.
+  Download the NGC 6744 and NGC 5128 data from data.itelescope.net before the
+  10 Aug cancellation sweep. Update the CAMPAIGN.md ledger after every session
+  from account/history.aspx.
 
 ## Pending