From: "Noel Camron Hastings" Subject: 3.5-m Night Log 2000.05.09 Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 05:32:54 -0700 ******************************************************************* * APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY * * 3.5-m Telescope Observing Log * * Tuesday, May 9, 2000 * ******************************************************************* ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT DATE START FINISH -------------------------------------------------------------------- L.Hobbs L.Hobbs Echelle 5/09 19:40 01:00 C.Gronwall C.Gronwall DIS-Med 5/10 01:00 05:20 & C.Papovich INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOTUSED I/RS/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B -------------------------------------------------------------------- UC06/R 20:50 01:00 - 0 - 0 - 4.2 0 - 0 JH05/S 01:00 05:09 0 0 0 0 3.4 0.7 0 0 0 note: times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- 1st Half Observing Specialist: Russet McMillan The telescope was opened at 19:40 under clear skies. The sky remained clear throughout first half, and our seeing was moderate (1.1 to 1.5 arcsec) -- comparable to DIMM but at times distinctly worse than the 2.5m measurements. The NA2 guider was removed due to shutter problems and a coolant leak. We set the TCC to ignore the guider when initializing an NA2 instrument. There were some additional problems on startup when the rotator refused to make a move (but later recovered and behaved normally). The PMSS vacuum was borderline low, not quite at the point where it would set off an alarm; the PMSS pressure was normal. While the echelle was in use, we saw some examples of elongated images, with the condition persisting for many minutes (see slitviewer images in the vicinity of /export/images/guider/gimg0649.fit). Clearly, this problem cannot be ascribed to the NA2 rotator, but the long persistence time is unusual for PMSS problems, which would be the next most likely cause. 2nd Half Observing Specialist: Camron Hastings Started second half with excellent pointing and good weather. All ran smoothly. Telescope was pointing consistently within 2 arcseconds all night. Very good night, high efficiency. At 04:40 or so the rotator died. I killed the motors and re-init'ed the axes and all was fine after that. ****** OBSERVER COMMENTS ****** --------------- INSTRUMENT FOCUS LOG ----------------- Wind Time Instrument Focus Az El #Temp Dir MPH filt FWHM" --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20:20 Echelle 127(013) -73 68 14.1/15.8 213 15 ND2 1.3" 00:00 Echelle 185(???) 141 53 13.5/13.0 212 17 ND2 1.2" 01:10 DISslit 200(955) +268 54 12.9/12.9 268 18 none 1.0" #First temp is air, second temp is telescope structure. ------------- WEATHER CONDITIONS ------------ Wind Precip. or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions -------------------------------------------------------------------- 17:01 70 30 6 237 (WSW) 1782 clear none 18:01 64 29 10 238 (WSW) 1720 clear none 19:01 64 25 14 234 (SW) 1753 clear none 20:01 57 25 13 214 (SW) 1962 clear none 21:01 57 24 14 214 (SW) 2244 clear none 22:01 56 24 15 205 (SSW) 2074 clear none 23:01 56 25 15 209 (SSW) 1863 clear none 00:01 56 25 17 214 (SW) 1860 clear none 01:01 56 25 18 215 (SW) 1724 clear 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