From: Russet McMillan Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20000512 Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 02:28:01 -0600 (MDT) ******************************************************************* * APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY * * 3.5-m Telescope Observing Log * * Friday, May 12, 2000 * ******************************************************************* ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT DATE START FINISH -------------------------------------------------------------------- Yamada E.Turner GRIM II 5/12-13 20:40 23:25 INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOTUSED I/RS/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B -------------------------------------------------------------------- DD02/R 20:53 05:06 1.4 4.3 0 0 0 2.5 0 0 0 note: times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- 1st Half Observing Specialist: Camron Hastings We opened under the threat of possible evacuation tonight! Mark Klaene remained on site all night to help make any preparations necessary. Weather conditions here were good at sunset though, so we decided to open. We were prepared to close immediately upon the wind shifting, which might indicate the fire headed our way. All systems ran smoothly until the wind changed direction to the N/NE around 21:15 MDT. I closed the telescope at 23:25 due to the wind shifting directly to the East. I could smell smoke and see large particulate matter in the flashlight beam. The dust counters rose above limits as well. 2nd Half Observing Specialist: Russet McMillan The particle counts rose to record levels by 1am, though no fire was visible from the catwalk. The smoke was thick enough to max out the 0.3-micron dust counts and affect the function of the dewpoint sensor. After the wind strength picked up, the smoke thinned a little bit but remained far above the closure limits. After 2 am, with the particle counts still high and conditions appearing unpromising, I declared the night over and headed away from the smoke. ****** OBSERVER COMMENTS ****** --------------- INSTRUMENT FOCUS LOG ----------------- Wind Time Instrument Focus Az El #Temp Dir MPH filt FWHM" --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20:40 GRIM II 127(736) +088 58 9.3/10.3 181 04 f/5-k' 1.3" #First temp is air, second temp is telescope structure. ------------- WEATHER CONDITIONS ------------ Wind Precip. or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions -------------------------------------------------------------------- 16:01 62 14 10 270 (W) 1586 clouds none 17:01 56 11 9 330 (NNW) 1898 ptly cldy none 18:01 58 12 5 275 (W) 1871 clear none 19:01 55 10 11 278 (W) 1936 clear none 20:01 49 5 6 257 (WSW) 2047 clear none 21:01 49 5 10 180 (S) 2575 clear none 22:01 48 4 10 157 (SSE) 2911 clear none 23:01 48 3 5 116 (ESE) 3040 smoke none 00:01 47 1 11 83 (E) 8817 vry smokey none 01:01 45 13 12 85 (E) 203964 what sky? none 02:01 44 5 20 78 (ENE) 28940 smoke none 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: 2.55b5. Current guide software version: GIm Ctrlv3.0b27. Current TCC version is 2.2.5. - Russet McMillan, Camron Hastings