Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 05:12:50 -0600 From: tia@tycho.apo.nmsu.edu (Tia Hoyes) Subject: 3.5m obslog 980812 WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12, 1998 APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY OBSERVING LOG ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER INSTRUMENT DATE START FINISH York Richards DIS 8/12 ---- ---- Turner Hoyes SPICAM 8/12 ---- ---- Zucker Zucker SPICAM 8/12 ---- ---- INST SCHEDULED OBS WEATH EQUIP DAY NOTUSED I/RS/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B UC03/R 21:22 01:10 0 0 1.9 1.9 0 0 0 0 0 PU01/S 01:10 02:00 0 0 0 0.8 0 0 0 0 0 UW03/R 02:00 04:55 0 0 0 2.9 0 0 0 0 0 (note: times listed include instrument change time) ACTIVITY LOG The telescope was not opened tonight due to heavy downpours, rain, fog, high humidity, and overcast skies. The first half of the evening, Gordon Richards used DIS to test calibrations and bias levels. Comments:First night back after shutdown for me was rained out, so I did some engineering type things. Unfortunately, I must report that despite my previous claims, the RN on the red side of DIS is still a problem. I found that the RN was 10.8 ADU (about 21.2 electrons) and that a histogram of the bias values was double-peaked again. Tia power-cycled DIS with the hope that that might help fix the problem; however, instead it merely resulted in the red bias histograms having 3 peaks instead of 2. Clearly something is still wrong. Also, I should note that the histogram for every frame looks nearly identical. I'd be worried that I am making some mistake at this time of night, but the blue side shows no such pattern, so I think that the problem is real. Also, there is a 0.2 degree tilt in the 2 arcsec slit, this should be adjusted. Gordon Lens Monitoring was shut out by the weather, as was UW03. Forecast:(4:30am) TODAY...A FEW SHOWERS THIS MORNING. MOSTLY CLOUDY THIS AFTERNOON WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN IN THUNDERSTORMS. .TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MIDNIGHT THEN A FEW SHOWERS LATE. .FRIDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY AND A LITTLE WARMER. A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. (* means a trouble report has been issued or appended to) FOCUS LOG AUGUST 12, 1998 Best Telescope Wind Seeing Time Inst Focus Az El Temp# Dir MPH filter FWHM " -----NO FOCUS DATA----- # The first temp is air, the second is truss, both in degrees C. WEATHER AUGUST 12, 1998 Wind Time Temp F Dewp. MPH. Dir. DUST Sky Precip. 16:01 56 48 13 116 (ESE) 808 cloudy drizzle 17:01 62 48 5 119 (ESE) 719 mostly cloudy none 18:01 60 48 10 123 (ESE) 872 mostly cloudy none 19:01 58 48 10 139 (SE) 747 mostly cloudy sprinkles 20:01 56 48 11 107 (ESE) 727 overcast sprinkles 21:01 56 47 7 127 (SE) 695 overcast downpours 22:01 51 51 2 35 (NE) 431 overcast downpours 23:01 53 48 1 87 (E) 622 overcast sprinkles 00:01 53 46 4 260 (W) 463 overcast none 01:01 52 50 11 7 (N) 525 overcast rain 02:01 51 49 13 324 (NW) 494 overcast fog,rain 03:01 49 49 6 278 (W) 387 overcast fog,rain 04:01 48 48 8 187 (S) 146 overcast fog,rain 05:01 49 47 10 296 (WNW) 105 overcast fog,rain note: the wind was coming from the azimuth listed. The convention used is north=0 degrees, east=90 degrees. The dust count is 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 -Tia