Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 06:46:51 -0600 (MDT) From: Jack Dembicky Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20010926 APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY 3.5m Telescope Night Log Wednesday, September 26th, 2001 ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT START FINISH ------------------------------------------------------------------- E. Turner J.Dembicky,J.Barentine SPICam 19:25 20:20 E.Ellingson E.Ellingson, DIS-Low 19:45 01:00 J.Walawender DIS-Med 01:00 06:25 INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOTUSED I/RO/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B -------------------------------------------------------------------- PU03/O 19:47 20:32 0 0 0 0 0 0.7 0 0 0 CU01/O 20:32 06:02 0 0 0 0 3.7 5.9 0 0 0 note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- Observing Specialist: John Barentine, Jack Dembicky We opened the telescope at 19:10. We were training Colorado observers tonight on the Echelle and they also continued their observations from the previous night with DIS. The first approximately one hour of observations was dedicated to the 2237 lens project. Observations proceded normally until about 05:00 when the guider monitor indicated a rapidly enlarging stellar profile. We attempted a small focus correction which seemed to solve the problem at first. Over the next 45 minutes the problem became worse and the stellar profiles on the DIS slit viewer were seen to enlarge and elongate, appearing rather comatic, but we we were sure the focus was reasonable at the time. The observers decided to abandon the last ~15 minutes of their run due to this problem, which we note was concurrent to a spike in the 0.3um dust count and an abrupt shift in wind direction and speed. Check the last few slitviewer images for the night for examples. ---------------- FOCUS LOG --------------- Air/Truss Wind Time Instrument Focus Az El Temp-C Dir MPH filt FWHM" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 19:37 SPIcam -70(1074) 107 31 13.1/16.8 261 2 g' 1.31 20:27 Echelle -50( ) 44 36 12.8/15.4 194 2 ND2 1.44 02:48 DIS-Low 70(768) -146 54 12.1/11.6 244 3 none 1.45 03:07 NA2gdr 879(56879)-139 52 12.1/11.7 264 4 R 1.03 --------------- WEATHER LOG ---------------- Wind Precip.or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions ------------------------------------------------------------------ 16:01 65 36 3 259 (W) 299 Clear None 17:01 62 32 6 262 (W) 323 Clear None 18:01 58 32 0 260 (W) 316 Clear None 19:01 55 31 1 248 (WSW) 290 Clear None 20:01 56 29 2 184 (S) 344 Clear None 21:01 55 25 4 179 (S) 322 Clear None 22:01 55 25 1 119 (ESE) 290 Clear None 23:01 55 25 0 199 (SSW) 313 Clear None 00:01 56 22 0 297 (WNW) 297 Clear None 01:01 55 24 0 293 (WNW) 264 Clear None 02:01 54 2 0 215 (SW) 305 Clear None 03:01 54 14 4 264 (W) 205 Clear None 04:01 53 14 2 348 (NNW) 176 Clear None 05:01 56 18 4 75 (ENE) 248 Clear None 06:01 58 10 5 110 (ESE) 216 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 > 1u per 0.1 cubic feet. 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: 2.62. Current guide software version: GIm Ctrlv4.1b2. Current TCC version: 2.5.5 Current MC version: v1_7_3. _______________________________________________ apo-staff@mail.apo.nmsu.edu - On-site APO staff and visitors http://mail.apo.nmsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/apo-staff