Night Log 2012-11-29

SA: Petri
SO: Siphelo
Others: Eben, Keith

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Most of the night lost to clouds. And the only 2hrs of clear
sky to out-of-limits wind ... No science data.

Night Log 2012-11-28

SA: Petri
SO: Siphelo
Others: Charl

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Cirrus with full moon and variable and poor seeing made
observations very difficult. Science for:

2012-2-RSA_UKSC-004
2012-2-UKSC-002
2012-2-RSA_OTH_UKSC-003 (x3)

Night Log 2012-11-27

SA: Encarni
SO: Siphelo
Others: Lisa, Petri, Janus, Charl.

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Good seeing night with thin cirrus.

Science data for:
2012-2-GU-002
2012-2-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 (x2)
2012-2-RU-007
2012-2-RSA-007
2012-2-RSA_OTH_UKSC-003

Night Log 2012-11-26

SA: Encarni
SO: Siphelo
Others: Charl, Jonathan for a quick visit

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Clear night with variable seeing.

Science data for:
2012-2-POL-006
2012-2-UKSC-002
2012-2-RSA_UKSC-003
2012-2-RU-007

Night Log 2012-11-25

SA: Encarni
SO: Siphelo
Others:

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At last, a clear night with good seeing!

Science data for:
2012-2-RSA_UKSC-001 (x4)
2012-2-POL-006
2012-2-RSA_UKSC-003
2012-2-POL-003
2012-2-RU-007
2012-2-HET_OTH-001

Night Log 2012-11-23

SA: Encarni
SO: Siphelo
Others: Charl, Jonathan.

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Very windy night with poor seeing.

Science data for:
2012-2-RSA_UKSC-001 (x3)
2012-2-DC_RSA-001
2012-2-RSA-001 (x4)
2012-2-GU-001

Night Log 2012-11-22

SA: Encarni
SO: Siphelo
Others: Steve C, Charl, Mauritius visitors Nalini and Dinesh.

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Cirrussy night with variable seeing.

Science data for:
2012-2-RSA_OTH-005
2012-2-RSA_UKSC-001 (x2)
2012-2-UW-004 (x2)
2012-2-RSA-001 (x3)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-002

Night Log 2012-11-21

SA: Encarni
SO: Siphelo
Others: Steve C, Charl.

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Clear night with SE wind and mostly horrible seeing. Forced to close at 3am due to high humidity.

Science data for:

2012-2-RSA_UKSC-001 (x2)
2012-2-GU-001
2012-2-DC_RSA-001
2012-2-UKSC-002
2012-2-RSA-002 (x3)

Night Log 2012-11-20

SA: Alexei
SO: Fred
Others: Steve C, Encarni, Charl.

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=> Cloudy night with high humidity. Were closed about 23:00 by humidity.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2012-RSA_UKSC-001
2012-2-UKSC-004
2012-2-UW-004

=> References spectra are taken on request to check
efficiency of new liquid light guide

Night Log 2012-11-19

SA: Alexei
SO: Fred
Others:

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=> Amazing night with 1" seeing during the whole night.

=> Slitmask mechanism problems. Only one mask was available during the night.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2012-2-RSA_OTH-015
2012-2-AMNH-003
2012-2-POL-004
2012-2-RSA_POL-001
2012-2-RSA_OTH-004

Night Log 2012-11-18

SA: Alexei
SO: Fred
Others:

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=> Dark night with very good seeing, but four hours were lost due to problems
with RSS slitmask Mag.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2012-2-POL-003 (x3)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-004
2012-2-GU-001

Night Log 2012-11-17

SA: Alexei
SO: Fred
Others:

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=> Dark night with variable seeing.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2012-2-UW-004
2012-2-RSA_OTH-004
2012-2-RSA-005
2012-2-RSA_OTH-016
2012-2-HET_GU-001
2012-2-RSA_POL-001

Night Log 2012-11-16

SA: Alexei
SO: Fred
Others:

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=> Dark night with high humidity and good seeing.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2012-2-RSA-005
2012-2-RSA_RU_UKSC-001 (x3, MOS)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-005
2012-2-RSA_OTH-004
2012-2-RSA_OTH-015
2012-2-GU-001

Night Log 2012-11-15

SA: Alexei
SO: Fred
Others:

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=> Very unstable dark night. It started from very strong wind,
but started much better later.

=> Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-RSA_OTH-005
2012-2-RSA_RU_UKSC-001 (x2, MOS)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-015 (x3)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-004
2012-2-RSA-002

Night Log 2012-11-14

SA: Alexei
SO: Fred
Others: NRF Board from the evening, Charl, Chris, David

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=> Dark night with good seeing. Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-POL-004
2012-2-UW-001
2012-2-GU-001
2012-2-RSA_POL-001 (x2)

Night Log 2012-11-13

SA: Amanda
SO: Thea
Others: Alexei, Fred, Charl, Patricia, Dave C.

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. Dark night. Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-POL-004 (x2)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-005
2012-2-RSA_RU_UKSC-001
2012-2-HET_OTH-001
2012-2-RSA_008
2012-2-RSA_OTH-017

Night Log 2012-11-12

SA: Amanda
SO: Thea
Others: Marissa, Anthony, David M.

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. Dark night with some cloud. Closed due to high humidity at 01:00. Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-RSA_OTH-004 (x2)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-005 (x2)
2012-2-RSA_UKSC-001
2012-2-RSA-005

Night Log 2012-11-11

SA: Amanda
SO: Thea
Others: Barry, Marissa, Antony, Charl, Vic

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. Last night for BVIT PI Barry Welsh -- the instrument reinstallation and operation went smoothly and we got some science data, so it was a successful trip! We can safely say it won't be the same without you.

. Dark night with thin cloud and decent seeing (1-2.5"). Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-RSA_OTH-005 (x4)
2012-2-GU-001
2012-2-RSA_OTH-017 (x2)
2012-2-RSA_OTH-015
2012-2-RSA_POL-001

Night Log 2012-11-10

SA: Amanda
SO: Thea
Others: Barry, Marissa, Anthony, Charl

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. Dark night with primarily good seeing (1-2"). Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-POL-004
2012-2-RSA_OTH-017 (x2)
2012-2-HET_OTH-001
2012-2-RSA_RU-UKSC-001 (MOS!)
2012-2-UC-003
2012-2-AMNH-003

Night Log 2012-11-09

SA: Amanda
SO: Thea
Others: Marissa, Anthony, Barry

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. Clear night with mostly good seeing (~1", up to 2+ at end), dark to gray.

. Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-RSA_OTH-001
2012-2-RSA_OTH-017 (x3, BVIT!)
2012-2-HET_GU-001
2012-2-RSA_UKSC-001
2012-2-GU-002 (slotmode!)
2012-2-RU-007 (FP!)

SALT Science Meeting

The SALT Science meeting was held at SAAO on 6 November.   In addition to updates on the status of SALT, partners presented some of their science results.   Some of the highlights of the talks include searches for planets, investigation of unique objects, studies of planetary nebula, and next generation instrumentation.     The talks are available on the science wiki along with highlights from the work of the SALT Science Committee from the board meeting.

Night Log 2012-11-08

SA: Amanda
SO: Thea
Others: Marissa, Ant, Barry, AVG, Keith

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. First few hours were cloudy, during which we carried out engineering tests (timing on RSS slotmode and BVIT), thin cloud the rest of the night.

. Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-HET_GU-001
2012-1-RSA_OTH-001
2012-2-RSA_OTH-017
2012-2-RSA_POL-001
2012-2-HET_OTH-001

Night Log 2012-11-07

SA: Amanda
SO: Thea
Others: Barry, Marissa, various TechOps for a brief visit

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. First light for the refurbished BVIT! Everything went well, and we even took some science data. Yee-haw.

. Cirrusy night with high wind and moderate to poor seeing (2"-3.5"+). Closed due to high humidity at ~01:45. Data taken for the following programs:
2012-2-GU-002
2012-2-RSA_POL-001
2012-2-RSA_OTH-017 (BVIT recommissioning)
2012-1-RSA_OTH-002

Night Log 2012-11-06

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Stephen, Barry, Anton, Pierre, Amanda, Marissa, Eben, Amanda G

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- no science data tonight, clouded out.

- BVIT installation is complete, will start functional testing tomorrow. good luck to the commissioning team!

SALT MeerKAT collaboration meeting

On 5 November, the SALT-MeerKAT collaboration meeting was held at the Pineland offices of SA SKA.  The meeting looked at the interactions and potential collaborations between the large astronomy facilities available in South Africa including SALT, MeerKAT, and HESS.   It brought together members of the different communities to discuss current and future directions of the different projects.   Talks for the meeting and the programme for the meeting have been made available for those interested and weren't able to to attend.   The meeting had some interesting and exciting results and one of the main outcomes was the formation of a group to explore future capabilities at SAAO to support the large key MeerKAT science projects.   

Night Log 2012-11-05

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Barry, Anton. Keith and Eben early in the evening to help with closing up the NRS.

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- clouded out for most of the night. opened up after 01:00. seeing again was very good, <= 1''. tried a few proposals but was not successful since the cloud returned shortly after opening.
- no data for tonight.

Night Log 2012-11-04

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: keith, barry, anton

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- night started out very cloudy. most of the heavy clouds cleared by midnight after which we had moonlit cirrus till we closed. seeing was sub-arcsec for most of the night.

- obtained data for the following programs:
- 2012-2-UKSC-001
- 2012-2-HET_GU-001
- 2012-2-RSA_OTH-005
- 2012-2-DC-002
- 2012-2-RSA_UKSC-001
- 2012-2-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001
- 2012-2-RSA_POL-001 x2

Night Log 2012-11-03

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: David B, Brian Chaboyer, David G, Keith for a quick CCAS fix

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- cloudy for most of the night. the thick clouds cleared just before 02:00 when we opened to <1'' seeing. stack was not that great and we could not take full advantage of the seeing.

- obtained data for the follwing programs:
- 2012-2-UKSC-001
- 2012-2-HET_GU-001
- 2012-2-RSA_POL-001

Night Log 2012-11-02

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Keith, Pierre, David G.

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- clouded out for more than the first half of the night. got on sky just before 02:00 . seeing was good for a change, sub-arcsecond for a while.

- obtained data for :
2012-2-POL-006 x2
2012-2-RSA_POL-001

A new SALT asteroid publication

A manuscript describing the physical and dynamical characterization of a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA; 190491 aka 2000 FJ10) has recently been accepted for publication in A&A. Photometric data were obtained at SALT, which were combined with photometric and spectroscopic data taken at other telescopes. An absolute magnitude of 21.54 +/- 0.1 was derived, equating to a diameter of 130 +/- 20 m – in the transition zone between a gravitationally-bound rubble pile and a monolithic body. The data suggest that this is an S-type asteroid, which means that it is unlikely to be primitive. Numerical simulations of the NEA's orbit were carried out in order to investigate its dynamical history and predict future locations. The large size of the NEA, combined with its slow rotation (>2 hours) and its orbit, make it a suitable candidate for a human mission. Within the next one hundred years, the optimal launch window was found to be 2047-2059.

Tolis Christou (Armagh Obs., UK) lead the effort. The work involved researchers from a range of international institutions, including A. Mickiewicz University in Poland, the South African AStronomical Observatory, the University of Arizona in the USA, and the University of Kent and Queen's University Belfast in the UK. A copy of the article is posted online at http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.3486

Figure 1. Lightcurve of 190491 from SALTICAM in the r' filter (bottom) and an SDSS comparison star (top). There are no periodic variations during a 20 minute period with peak-to-peak amplitude > 0.05 mag. The slope in the linear fit is insignificant, and the scatter of the points is caused by residual effects of the flat fielding procedure. (Figure 2 from Christou, et al., Physical and dynamical characterisation of low ∆V NEA (190491) 2000 FJ10, A& A, accepted 2012.)

Night Log 2012-11-01

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Keith, Francois, David G

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- dismal start to the semester. had some tech issues, then clouds which was followed by high humidity.
- no science data taken tonight.

Night Log 2012-10-31

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Chris, Charl, Francois + visitor

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- slow start to the night, closed early due to rising humidity.
- accepted one proposal visit for 2012-1-UKSC-004