From: Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20100914 Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:13:53 +0000 (UTC) Apache Point Observatory 3.5m Telescope Night Log Tuesday, September 14, 2010 ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT START FINISH -------------------------------------------------------------------- M.Huber M.Huber,S.Gezari, DIS 19:45 01:03 T.Grav H.Chen H.Chen DIS 01:05 03:20 04:00 05:40 INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS NOT USED I/ROW/DN START FINISH D B D B D B D B ------------------------------------------------------------------ JH05/R 19:19 01:05 0 0 0 0 1.3 4.5 0 0 UC02/R 01:05 06:39 0.8 0 0 0 4.8 0 0 0 note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- Observing Specialist: R.McMillan Nearby rain cleared out before sunset and we were able to open as soon as it was dark enough to focus. A few waves of thin clouds passed through during first half but didn't cause too much extinction. Seeing was quite good, although DIS was not the best instrument to judge it with, but apparently the spectra benefited. Humidity rose gradually until it reached the limit in the middle of second half; the observer took some cals and started to muse about quitting, and the humidity promptly dropped. I recommend discussing quitting in the chat window as a possible weather-amelioration method. A resonance built up on the azimuth axis at UT 08:31 while tracking peacefully in the southwest (the same part of the sky where we had been for many hours). It was audible as a hum over the intercom and visible on telescope telemetry, but there was no detectable effect on the science. I was about to stop the telescope as the hum was getting louder, but then it damped out by itself. No further difficulties arose during the night. Spicam 1800 190.2K 0600 184.7K ------- FAILURE LOG ------- PROG INST FAILURE MODE TIME (SEDFNVOG) TI/SHU START FINISH DESCRIPTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- FOCUS LOG --------------- Time Instrument Focus Az El Temp Strc Prim Sec Air filt FWHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20:01 dis-slit 25( 533) -101 56 14.8 18.3 16.2 16.9 16.3 1.40 21:57 dis-image 50( 426) 44 50 14.3 15.5 14.8 14.3 14.5 1.00 01:09 dis-slit 118( 405) 329 52 13.8 13.8 14.1 13.4 13.7 1.00 04:08 dis-slit 159( 415) 318 39 13.2 12.7 13.2 12.4 12.9 1.02 ------------- WEATHER LOG ---------------- Wind Precip.or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions ------------------------------------------------------------------ 16:00 68 51 6 196 (SSW) 555 mstly cldy none 17:00 65 49 7 203 (SSW) 505 ptly cldy none 18:00 64 49 7 211 (SSW) 489 ptly cldy none 19:00 59 49 6 199 (SSW) 526 mstly clr none 20:00 59 48 2 200 (SSW) 582 clear none 21:00 59 47 2 199 (SSW) 589 mstly clr none 22:00 58 48 2 244 (WSW) 583 ptly cldy none 23:00 57 48 5 267 (W) 602 mstly clr none 00:00 56 49 3 254 (WSW) 682 clear none 01:00 57 50 6 237 (WSW) 759 clear none 02:00 56 50 8 215 (SW) 1121 clear none 03:00 55 51 7 197 (SSW) 1803 clear humid 04:00 56 50 7 244 (WSW) 1581 clear humid 05:00 56 49 7 269 (W) 1022 clear none 06:00 56 50 9 301 (WNW) 935 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 Telescope drives operational. Current TCC version: 2.13.0 Current TUI version: 1.8.1