Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 05:15:06 -0700 (MST) From: Russet McMillan Subject: 3.5m Night Log 981025 Content-Length: 3439 Sunday, October 25th 1998 APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY 3.5-meter Observing Log ACTUAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT DATE START FINISH ---------------------------------------------------------------------- J.Lutz J.Lutz DIS 10/25 18:42 23:55 D.Zucker D.Zucker DIS/SPIcam 10/25-26 00:25 04:53 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOTUSED I/RS/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WS02/R 18:42 00:10 2.9 0.8 0 0 0 1.8 0 0 0 UW07/R 00:10 04:53 4.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -------- ACTIVITY LOG -------- 1st half observing specialist: Camron Hastings The telescope was opened this evening at 18:20 MST to partly cloudy skies. The humidity has dropped from previous days, though still high. No instrument problems to report. High winds and clouds plagued us most of the evening. Rain kicked in at around 22:00 to make things better. SPIcam has condensed and frosted up thoroughly in the 100% humidity, and the cloud cam took the first hit of the rain storm. It remains to be seen if there was any damage. 2nd half observing specialist: Russet McMillan The rain stopped shortly after midnight, but we had continued high humidity, high winds, and heavy clouds for the remainder of the night. I examined SPIcam's window at midnight and found heavy condensation on it, so I turned on the gaseous nitrogen venting that was cobbled together. After 5 hours of gentle nitrogen feed, the condensation was not significanty improved, probably because the nitrogen being fed in was too cold to evaporate the water efficiently. Some other system will be required to control the condensation problem.* note: a * indicates that a problem report has been issued. FOCUS LOG October 25th 1998 Best Telescope Temp Wind Seeing Time Instrmt Focus Az El Air/Truss Dir MPH filter FWHM" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 19:43 DIS +060(6657) -106 42 9.8/9.9 181 22 none 1.5" 19:53 Guider 55420(6660) -106 42 9.8/9.9 172 19 none 1.5" WEATHER LOG October 25th 1998 Wind Time Temp-F Dewp-F MPH Direction Dust Sky Precip ------------------------------------------------------------------ 11:01 49 48 15 216 (SW) 200 Ptly Cldy None 16:01 52 38 16 206 (SSW) 76 Ptly Cldy None 17:01 50 38 22 193 (SSW) 92 Ptly Cldy None 18:01 49 38 24 192 (SSW) 69 Ptly Cldy None 19:01 49 40 24 199 (SSW) 79 Very Cldy None 20:01 50 42 28 177 (S) 112 Very Cldy None 21:01 50 42 26 179 (S) 97 Very Cldy None 22:01 48 44 18 175 (S) 119 Very Cldy Rain 23:01 45 45 16 202 (SSW) 2994 Very Cldy Rain 00:01 46 46 21 192 (SSW) 142 Very Cldy Rain 01:01 46 46 25 204 (SSW) 96 mstly cldy none 02:01 46 45 26 201 (SSW) 162 ptly cldy none 03:01 45 45 27 206 (SSW) 136 mstly cldy none 04:01 45 44 23 205 (SSW) 108 mstly cldy none 05:01 45 44 31 227 (SW) 3797 mstly cldy none note: the wind was coming from the azimuth listed. The convention used is north=0 degrees, east=90 degrees. The dust count is for the particles > 1 micron per 0.1 cu.ft. TELESCOPE STATUS Primary, secondary, and tertiary mirrors in place and collimated. Primary support system operational. Mirror ventilation system in place. Telescope drives operational. Current Remark version: 2.42a Current guide software version: GIm Ctrl v3.0b 15.out - Camron Hastings, Russet McMillan