A comprehensive tool for planning Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations.
The EVN Observation Planner determines source visibility, estimates sensitivity, and calculates resolution for VLBI observations. While designed for the European VLBI Network (EVN), it supports:
!!! tip “Online Version” Use PlanObs directly at planobs.jive.eu — no installation required!
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Visibility Plots | See when sources are observable by each antenna |
| Sensitivity Estimation | Calculate expected RMS noise levels |
| Resolution Calculation | Estimate angular resolution for your array |
| Scheduling | Generate pySCHED-compatible .key files |
| Multiple Interfaces | GUI, CLI, and Python API |
The planobs command is organised into six modes:
| Mode | Command | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Observe | planobs -b 6cm -t 'M87' --network EVN |
Plan a VLBI observation |
| Fringe Finders | planobs fringefinders -s Ef Hh Mc -e '2025-03-15 08:00' -d 8 |
Find bright calibrators for fringe detection |
| Phase Calibrators | planobs phasecals 'M87' -b 6cm |
Find compact calibrators near a target |
| Source | planobs source '3C273' |
Look up source information |
| Antenna | planobs antenna Ef |
Look up antenna information |
| Server | planobs server |
Launch the web GUI |
=== “Python API”
```python
from astropy.time import Time
from astropy import units as u
from vlbiplanobs import cli
obs = cli.main(band='6cm', networks=['EVN'], targets=['J1230+1223'],
start_time=Time('2025-03-15 20:00', scale='utc'), duration=8*u.h)
print(obs.thermal_noise())
```
Full programmatic control for custom workflows.
PlanObs is developed at JIVE as the successor to the EVN Calculator. It is open source under the GPL-3.0 license.
Author: Benito Marcote (marcote@jive.eu)