Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 08:36:53 -0700 (MST) From: Charles Corson Subject: 3.5m obslog 971215 MONDAY DECEMBER 15, 1997 APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY 3.5m OBSERVING LOG ACTUAL ASTRONOMER INSTRUMENT DATE START FINISH Chanover AOTF 12/15 16:50 19:25 Chanover AOTF 12/15 Johnson DIS 12/15 19:45 21:30 Wyse Grim 12/15 21:35 4:15 Turner Spi 12/15 04:15 06:25 INST SCHEDULED OBS WEATH EQUIP DAY NOTUSED I/RS/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B NM10/O 16:59 18:27 1.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NM10/0 18:27 19:24 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NM09/R 19:24 21:27 0 1.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 JH01/O 21:27 04:15 0 7.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 UW02/O 04:15 05:31 0 1.3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ACTIVITY/FAILURE LOG The dome was opened to clear skies and excellent seeing. Nancy Chanover et al., obtained a complete data cube for Venus. The telescope tracked incredibly well, only 5arc-sec over ~15min, to elevations of 10deg or less. Joni Johnson then observed with DIS, spectral mode. Observing conditions were good, but the efficiecny was not as it should have been; Observing Specialist and observer related overhead. Rosie Wyse and Gerry Gilmore followed with their continued survey for eclipsing binaries. Observing was very efficient, though the seeing degraded quickly. Temperature variations also caused a degradation of image quality as the focus drifted in and out. It was hard to keep up. The Gamma Ray Burster was again observed in J-Band and R-band tonight. The J-Band data is good, moderate seeing, but the R-band data is marginal at best. The bright star created unsurmountable scattered light, the seeing was poor, and the telescope focus drifted considerably. As the latest estimates for position are closer to the 8.5mag star, spicam observations will be particularly difficult. USERS COMMENTS: Nancy Chanover: We could not have asked for a better night! The weather was totally clear and the seeing was good, and our observations of the Venus night side using the GSFC AOTF camera were highly successful. We were very impressed with the way the telescope tracked a non-sidereal source using velocity offsets. Special thanks to Charles Corson, our Observing Specialist, who worked closely with our team to expedite all telescope operations. Joni Johnson: Good clear weather, seemed to be good seeing though that didn't matter too much for our spectra. We obtained high resolution spectra of Nova Cas 1995 at two different position angles. We wanted 3 or 4, but there were difficulties at the beginning with DIS, so we lacked the time. However we did see the effects we were after at the different angles. We're happy with our data! Rosie Wyse & Gerry Gilmore: All went smoothly. aided by excellent support from TO. FOCUS LOG DECEMBER 15, 1997 Time Inst Focus Az El Temp Wind Filter FWHM deg C dir mph arc-sec 19:35 DIS -30(6355) 335 64 4.0/4.1 314 13 r 1.1 19:35 GDR 54000(6277) 335 64 4.0/4.1 314 13 r 0.98 21:35 Grim -10(6338) 11 64 3.7/3.9 360 9 J 0.81 21:35 Grim -10(6338) 11 64 3.7/3.9 360 9 K' 0.74 00:20 Grim -100(6129) 165 81 1.7/2.0 327 12 J 0.72 02:15 Grim -10(6230) 256 66 2.4/1.5 350 17 J 1.3 03:30 Grim -100(6199) 25 49 1.3/1.4 - - J 1.4 04:30 Spi -90(60140) 342 54 1.8/1.4 0 12 R 1.6 WEATHER LOG DECEMBER 15, 1997 Time Temp Dewpt Windspeed Dir Dust Sky Precip. 16:01 43 -10 10 273 (W) 48 clear none 17:01 39 -13 9 299 (WNW) 26 clear none 18:01 38 -11 8 327 (NNW) 66 clear none 19:01 40 -11 17 315 (NW) 56 clear none 20:01 39 -6 10 341 (NNW) 63 clear none 21:01 39 -4 16 321 (NW) 50 clear none 22:01 39 -4 11 336 (NNW) 49 clear none 23:01 38 -3 9 334 (NNW) 39 clear none 00:01 36 1 14 329 (NNW) 83 clear none 01:01 34 5 11 348 (NNW) 80 clear none 02:01 35 0 17 355 (N) 103 clear none 03:01 34 -2 16 6 (N) 121 clear none 04:01 34 2 19 6 (N) 143 clear none 05:01 37 -1 13 347 (NNW) 87 clear none 06:01 39 -5 9 342 (NNW) 47 clear none 07:01 39 4 3 3 (N) 70 clear none 08:01 39 4 1 235 (SW) 85 clear none TELESCOPE STATUS Operational: Configured for normal left Nasmyth operation. Current Software: GRIM ICC: grimII.coma(2.5), Remark: 2.36, TCC: 2.0 Guider: GIm Ctrlv3.0b11 Charles