Subject: 3.5m Night Log 20161225 From: mcmillan@apo.nmsu.edu Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2016 14:21:57 +0000 (UTC) Apache Point Observatory 3.5m Telescope Night Log Sunday, December 25, 2016 ACTUAL ASTRONOMER OBSERVER(S) INSTRUMENT START FINISH -------------------------------------------------------------------- V.Woolf G.Wallerstein Echelle 17:30 18:45 19:25 19:40 J.Findlay J.Findlay DIS 19:45 00:20 J.Findlay J.Findlay ARCTIC 00:50 06:40 INST SCHEDULED WEATH EQUIP OBS NOT USED I/ROW/DN START FINISH D B D B D B D B ---------------------------------------------------------------- UW09/R 17:13 19:43 0.7 0 0 0 1.8 0.0 0 0 DD04/R 19:43 00:10 0 0 0 0 4.5 0.0 0 0 DD04/R 00:10 06:55 0 0 0.2 0 4.2 2.4 0 0 note: scheduled times listed include instrument change time ------------- ACTIVITY LOG -------------- Observing Specialist: R.McMillan An eventful night, although not quite as hectic as the 2.5m had. The dome was clear of snow in the afternoon, but humidity was borderline and also very bouncy for the first part of the night. Every time I made a decision based on humidity I regretted it within a few minutes. I delayed opening until a little after sunset, and I closed after less than an hour, and then I reopened again less than an hour after that. Seeing was also very bouncy, with measurements from 1.1 to 2.6 arcsec (I didn't get all of them recorded, sorry!) While we were closed for humidity ARCTIC had a warmup and soft-vacuum incident, which recovered by itself. There were some other temperature oscillations later on but eventually it settled down. It looks like a previous incident where the cryotiger needed a gas recharge; Mark will do this tomorrow or soon. Later while the telescope was stopped for cals but the dome was still open, wind pushed the telescope enough to trigger a collision interlock. I didn't count this as EQUIP time since it was correct interlock behavior. ARCSAT wanted a computer reboot at the same time as the wind collision. When I switched to ARCTIC there was a problem with the filter wheel controller, and I did count some time lost for this. I did not restart the ICC since everything else was working. Eventually I positioned the filter wheel by hand - if necessary, I can do the same tomorrow night although I hope maybe it can be fixed at the same time as the cryotiger? Maybe? When not chasing weather conditions or equipment problems or observer education, I enjoyed some of my Christmas presents and conversation with good company. Other entertainment included a game of Flashpoint (the team nearly burned up because I kept running upstairs) and a viewing of The Two Towers (last night was Fellowship and tomorrow will be Return of the King). Christmas menu (which fortunately I did not have to cook since the beginning of the night was very busy): Green salad Russian potato salad German potato salad Gingerale-glazed carrots Cranberry relish Hawaiian sweet rolls Ham with bourbon/mustard glaze and gingersnap crust Cherry pie ------- FAILURE LOG ------- PROG INST FAILURE MODE TIME (SEDFNVOG) TI/SHU START FINISH DESCRIPTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DD04 R I/H 00:35 00:45 ARCTIC FW not moving ---------------- FOCUS LOG --------------- Time Instrument Focus Az El Temp Strc Prim Sec Air filt FWHM -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17:41 ecamera 612(-1113) 229 40 -6.3 -4.0 -1.4 -3.9 -0.1 Clear 2.61 19:32 ecamera 771(-1087) 245 72 -6.5 -6.0 -4.7 -6.1 -0.1 ND1 1.43 ------------- WEATHER LOG ---------------- Wind Precip.or Time Temp F Dewp F MPH Direction Dust Sky Conditions ------------------------------------------------------------------ 16:00 22 15 12 309 (NW) 173 clear none 17:00 21 16 13 265 (W) 353 clear humid 18:00 22 6 14 278 (W) 127 clear humid 19:00 20 13 9 273 (W) 182 clear humid 20:00 20 13 12 282 (WNW) 226 clear none 21:00 20 12 10 225 (SW) 213 clear none 22:00 20 11 17 254 (WSW) 224 clear none 23:00 26 5 22 281 (W) 303 clear none 00:00 26 1 21 258 (WSW) 257 clear none 01:00 26 1 17 271 (W) 258 clear none 02:00 26 0 15 278 (W) 225 clear none 03:00 27 -1 15 257 (WSW) 275 clear none 04:00 28 -6 14 279 (W) 233 clear none 05:00 28 -8 12 265 (W) 198 clear none 06:00 28 -14 19 269 (W) 193 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: 1.2.2 Current TUI version: 2.6.0