Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1998 06:05:21 -0700 (MST) From: Russet McMillan Subject: 3.5m Night Log 981224 Apache Point Observatory, Sunspot, NM Wednesday, December 24th, 1998 3.5-meter Night Observing Log Actual ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT DATE START FINISH ----------------------------------------------------------------------- E.Turner C.Hastings SPIcam 12/24 18:31 19:21 N.Miller N.Miller DIS 12/24-25 19:21 00:10 J.Holtzman J.Holtzman SPIcam 12/25 00:10 05:35 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOTUSED I/RS/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PU01/S 18:31 19:21 - 0 - 0 - 0.8 0 - 0 NM07/R 19:21 00:10 0 0 0 0 3.5 1.3 0 0 0 NM11/R 00:10 05:35 0.9 - 0 - 4.5 - 0 0 - -------------- Activity Log -------------- 1st Half Observing Specialist: Camron Hastings I opened the dome at 16:40 for cooling. Sky was clear with clouds to the south. Everything was in order when I completed the 'holiday' checklist, including the draining of the compressor system. I would like to note the fact that the LN2 gauge on the transfer dewer to the echelle sticks. I have observed this a couple of times, and a couple raps with your palm dislodges the needle. Today it said 3/4 when it was actually around 1/2 full. Make sure you tap it before walking off! Another issue is the scale under the DIS transfer dewer, it is sticking so bad that I at times cannot get it to function. I will talk with Gretchen and see if I can run to Alamogordo this next week and purchase a new scale. Neal Miller observed from Princeton for NM07. When beginning NM07's run DIS began misbehaving. I tried to take an exposure but I received an error that seemed to say that the shutter was already open. I tried to close it without success then just rebooted the micro. This took care of the problem. The rest of the night was uneventful, except for the yule log.... 2nd Half Observing Specialist: Russet McMillan Second half started out clear, then some clouds showed up around 02:30, gradually getting thicker. The wind was gusty and variable, ranging from 5 to 30mph in almost any fifteen minute period. I closed at 04:40 due to clouds and the observer's judgment that he wasn't getting any useful data. When I inserted the full baffle for NM11, I dislodged some rings from the near part of the rotator (just beyond the fan). I think I got them re-inserted correctly, but I don't see why they're made to be so flimsy. I filled the echelle this morning after closing. I also noticed some strange behavior in the tank gauge. I tapped the gauge several times before filling, and it settled at about 3/8 of a tank. A few minutes after I began the fill, the gauge dropped to read 1/4. I was told that this gauge was not dependent on pressure, but I don't know what else could have caused it to change that quickly. OBSERVER COMMENTS N.Miller (NM07): The evening went very smoothly. Pointing and tracking both seemed to be very good, and I obtained spectra for 8 target radio galaxies in the cluster A400. Losing time due to the gamma ray burst observations over the preceding two nights did create a slight loss in efficiency. With Spicam on the telescope both before and after this run, I needed to take some calibration frames which I would have rather taken during non- dark time. Aside from this, the evening was successful. As usual, I would like to thank Camron for his help in making this a smooth run. J. Holtzman (NM11): I was using SPICAM to driftscan tonight. It behaved as it did last week, i.e. I needed to use a fudge factor (2000) to get driftscans to come out with roughly circular images. It also did the same thing of doing a rotation (of 90 degrees I think), and then a rotation back when starting a scan, even though I was correctly rotated before starting the scan. This does not seem to be proper behavior to me - it would be nice to get these items improved, or at least explained. Unfortunately, seeing wasn't great and it was variable, and clouds were coming in towards the end of the night. FOCUS LOG December 24th 1998 Best Telescope Temp Wind Seeing Time Instrmt Focus Az El Air/Truss Dir MPH filter FWHM" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 18:05 SPIcam -310(5649) 220 53 -3.1/-2.0 003 11 g' 1.01" 18:10 Guider 48982(5649) 224 52 -2.9/-2.2 037 10 none 1.11" 18:30 SPIcam -290(5664) 228 50 -3.3/-2.5 033 09 g' 1.04" 18:35 Guider 48965(5664) 229 50 -3.4/-2.7 002 13 none 1.47" 19:30 DIS -110(5842) 152 61 -1.3/-3.1 029 22 none 1.12" 00:45 SPIcam -90(5802) 98 67 -1.6/-2.5 23 17 V 1.1 WEATHER LOG December 24th 1998 Wind Time Temp-F Dewp-F MPH Direction Dust Sky Precip ------------------------------------------------------------------ 16:01 29 -2 11 314 (NW) clear none 17:01 27 -4 13 2 (N) clear none 18:01 27 -13 13 5 (N) clear none 19:01 26 -5 20 21 (NNE) clear none 20:01 30 -15 20 20 (NNE) clear none 21:01 29 -15 16 30 (NNE) clear none 22:01 28 -8 17 27 (NNE) clear none 23:01 26 -1 8 344 (NNW) clear none 00:01 29 -11 4 355 (N) clear none 01:01 29 -10 18 17 (NNE) clear none 02:01 31 -15 14 345 (NNW) mstly clr none 03:01 31 -13 19 357 (N) ptly cldy none 04:01 30 -15 10 357 (N) mstly cldy none 05:01 27 -13 23 12 (NNE) ptly cldy none 06:01 30 9 22 32 (NNE) mstly clr 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 - NCH, RM