Plan GBT mapping

On-the-fly mapping with the GBT is done by driving the telescope along one coordinate axis to scan one stripe, then step in the orthogonal direction for the next stripe. The procedures are named "RALongMap" (scanning in the RA or longitude direction), or "DecLatMap" (scanning in the Dec or latitude direction).

Given the desired integration time per pixel, number of pixels per beam, and total size of the area to be mapped, this figures out the scanning rate, number of stripes, and total time required.

Note also its a good idea to increase the map width about 10% in the direction of scanning to avoid scan startup effects.

Receiver Obs.Freq. Integration per pixel Pixels per beam Map: X width Map: Y width
GHz sec arcmin arcmin