Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 05:42:53 -0600 (MDT) From: John Barentine Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20040429 Apache Point Observatory 3.5m Telescope Night Log Thursday, April 29, 2004 ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT START FINISH -------------------------------------------------------------------- N.Chanover N.Chanover Echelle --:-- --:-- M.Drosback M.Drosback Echelle --:-- --:-- M.Agueros M.Agueros,S.Anderson DIS 03:10 05:25 INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS DAY NOT USED I/RO/DN START FINISH D B D B D B USE D B --------------------------------------------------------------------- NM02/R 20:41 21:53 0 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 CU04/R 21:53 01:00 0 3.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 UW07/R 01:00 05:19 0 2.2 0 0.3 1.4 0.5 0 0 0 note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- Observing Specialist: J.Barentine Overcast skies, high winds and grossly elevated dust counts kept us closed for most of the night. Toward 03:00 I was satisfied that the winds wer down and staying there and that the dust counts, while hovering near our closure limit, were unlikely to spike. I elected to open. Shortly after opening, as I went to focus, the mirror cover petal closest to the NA1 port failed to open on an automated "cov open" move. Tried actuating it several times but each time it failed. I went upstairs to have a look; after parking the telescope with a stop button in, I hauled it down by hand to a comfortable altitude to watch the actuation from manually. The altitude at the time of the automated failure was 80 degrees, and I probably pulled it down 10-15 degrees. After running it a few times manually, the stuck cover grudgingly opened. A few more times running it manually with the cover opening and then I put it back into automatic and ran it open and closed several times under the automation. Winds rose, of course, after we opened but flirted with closing condition gusts only briefly. ------- FAILURE LOG ------- PROG INST FAILURE MODE TIME (SEGDFVO) TI/SHU START FINISH DESCRIPTION ----------------------------------------------------------------------- UW07 D T/H 03:20 03:35 Mirror cover automation failed ---------------- FOCUS LOG --------------- Air/Truss Wind Time Instrument Focus Az El Temp-C Dir MPH filt FWHM --------------------------------------------------------------------- 03:41 DISslit -125(892) 196 80 4.2/5.9 263 29 - 2.24 03:42 NA2gdr 485(47485) 197 79 4.2/5.9 270 30 R 1.59 ------------- WEATHER LOG ---------------- Wind Precip.or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions ------------------------------------------------------------------ 16:01 52 27 27 231 (SW) 6101 MstlyCldy none 17:01 50 25 25 217 (SW) 0 MstlyCldy none 18:01 49 24 24 219 (SW) 5 MstlyCldy none 19:01 48 25 27 212 (SSW) 0 Overcast none 20:01 48 22 30 214 (SW) 16 Overcast none 21:01 48 21 28 236 (SW) 1 Overcast none 22:01 47 21 25 246 (WSW) 45 Overcast none 23:01 46 22 29 250 (WSW) 66 Overcast none 00:01 45 22 22 250 (WSW) 0 Overcast none 01:01 44 19 26 256 (WSW) 18 Overcast none 02:01 41 18 15 257 (WSW) 0 MstlyCldy none 03:01 40 16 15 267 (W) 0 PtlyCldy none 04:01 39 18 27 264 (W) 27 MstlyClr none 05:01 38 19 21 258 (WSW) 2 MstlyClr 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 Telescope drives operational. Current Remark version: 2.85b Current guide software version: guider v4.1b4 Current TCC version: 2.7.2 Current TUI version: TUI-0.843