From: Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20100823 Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:09:50 +0000 (UTC) Apache Point Observatory 3.5m Telescope Night Log Monday August 23, 2010 ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT START FINISH ------------------------------------------------------------------- M.Klaene R.McMillan SH 21:15 22:15 01:45 02:00 PROG SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS NOT USED I/ROW/DN START FINISH D B D B D B D B ------------------------------------------------------------------ EN01/W 19:48 06:24 0 9.6 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- Observing Specialist: R.McMillan SPIcam temp 177.5K @ 18:45 Spicam temp 176.5K @ 22:15 Spicam temp 177.1K @ 05:15 We had rain nearby at the start and end of the night, and varying clouds throughout the middle. Not too long after sunset there was a hole that I thought would be usable, but I didn't expect it to last very long. Since it was early and the telescope was still warm and the fans had not been running, I opted to run the test of focus and collimation as the telescope cools, using the Shack-Hartmann. I chose a bright star to try to work quickly and foil possible clouds, and perhaps that was a mistake; although I made sure it wasn't saturated on the instrument, it was too bright for me to focus accurately on the guide camera. The data I obtained wouldn't reduce properly in realtime (because of bad focus? bad collimation? or seeing variations during the short exposures?), but perhaps careful checking and massaging can make something from it. Next I called Bill to come in and help me adjust the Shack-Hartmann orientation, but thick clouds closed in just as we got started on the task, so I had to close the telescope. After midnight the clouds started to tease us by dissipating and then re-forming overhead. Finally I fell for one of these sucker holes, but as soon as I was ready to start a pointing model, the clouds thickened again and rain appeared on the radar nearby. An hour after I closed, the rain reached the site and I decided it was time to give up. ------------- FAILURE LOG -------------- PROG INST FAILURE MODE TIME (STEDFNVOG) TI/SHU START FINISH DESCRIPTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- FOCUS LOG --------------- Time Instrument Focus Az El Temp Strc Prim Sec Air filt FWHM ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 21:21 SHACK 100( 1299) 37 52 17.2 19.1 18.1 17.9 17.9 1.00 ------------- WEATHER LOG ---------------- Wind Precip.or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions ------------------------------------------------------------------- 16:00 68 52 9 77 (ENE) 811 cloudy none 17:00 68 50 6 63 (ENE) 628 cloudy none 18:00 67 50 1 253 (WSW) 646 mstly cldy none 19:00 62 52 1 34 (NE) 1736 mstly cldy none 20:00 62 51 7 29 (NNE) 1333 mstly cldy none 21:00 62 51 1 21 (NNE) 1041 ptly cldy none 22:00 63 50 8 359 (N) 858 mstly cldy none 23:00 64 50 9 350 (N) 756 mstly cldy none 00:00 63 50 4 336 (NNW) 765 ptly cldy none 01:00 62 47 9 19 (NNE) 956 ptly cldy none 02:00 60 47 5 17 (NNE) 403 mstly cldy none 03:00 58 50 24 68 (ENE) 565 mstly cldy lt rain 04:00 57 48 15 77 (ENE) 461 mstly cldy none 05:00 53 51 23 68 (ENE) 696 mstly cldy 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 TCC version: 2.13.0 Current TUI version: 1.8.1