Saturday, May 31, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-30

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Etienne, Thea, David dB, Nimrod

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Summary
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A mostly clear night but plagued by technical problems and high humidity at times.

Data taken for:
2014-1-RSA_OTH-009 P1 RSS [Tracing the stellar mass build-up of brightest cluster galaxies via mergers]
2014-1-POL-004 P2 RSS [Spectra of faint Planetary Nebulae to study chemical composition.]
2014-1-AMNH-003 P2 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-HET-004 P3 RSS [magnetic activity in 3 Gyr M dwarfs]

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-28

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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High humidity, thick clouds and some rain. Did not open.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-27

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Lisa, Ockert, Garith, Brent, Fred, Martin

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Summary
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- a cold front moved in this evening. we did not open due to strong winds and clouds.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-26

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Martin, Garith

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Summary
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- had a late start to the evening due to some clouds. had mediocre seeing, but it was a productive night nevertheless.

- obtained data for the following programs:
- 2014-1-IUCAA-001 x2 (Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)) P1
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 (Investigating the activity in the not-red-and-dead brightest cluster galaxies) P1
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-002 (Investigating the history of star formation in colliding galaxies) P3
- 2014-1-RSA-007 (Study the evolution of the Local Group Irregular galaxy) P2
- 2014-1-UW-001 x2 (Measuring the metal content of GRB host galaxies) P2
- 2014-1-RSA-005 (Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs) P2

Monday, May 26, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-25

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: David dB, Garith

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Summary
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- a long productive night with no tech issues. only aligned the mirror at the start of the night. seeing mostly stayed below 1.6''. all around a good night for observing.

- 2014-1-IUCAA-001 (Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)) P1
- 2014-1-IUCAA_UW-001 (Probing the absorption line variability in quasar outflows) P1
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-009 x4 (Tracing the stellar mass build-up of brightest cluster galaxies via mergers) P1
- 2014-1-AMNH-002 x2 (Searching for evidence of a previous nova eruption of BV Cen) P1, P2
- 2014-1-UW-001 x3 (Measuring the metal content of GRB host galaxies) P1, P2, P1
- 2014-1-UKSC_OTH-001 (Enshrouded exoplanetary systems) P2

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-24

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: David dB, Garith

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Summary
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- the night was cut short by high wind speeds and high humidity.

- obtained data for 2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 (Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries) P3

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-23

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Lisa, Luke, David

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Summary
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- tonight's conditions were far from ideal. we had strong winds and bad seeing with some clouds at times. did only low priority targets at the end of the night.

- 2014-1-RSA-001 (PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage) P0
- 2014-1-GU-001 (Line profile variations in WPVS 48) P1
- 2014-1-IUCAA-001 (Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)) P1
- 2014-1-RU-004 (Study of SN 2014ad) P0
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 (Investigating the activity in the not-red-and-dead brightest cluster galaxies) P1
- 2014-1-DC-002 x2 (Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs) P2, P3
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-005 x2 (Spectral study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies) P4

Friday, May 23, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-22

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Martin, Lisa, Eric, David, Ted, Ockert, Eben, Paul

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Summary
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- lost the first couple of hours to technical issues. had fairly good seeing for most of the evening, we did not have photometric conditions though.

- obtained data for the following programs:

- 2014-1-DC-002 (Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs) P2
- 2014-1-RSA_UKSC_OTH-002 (Looking for new optical counterparts of X-ray sources from Chandra) P1
- 2014-1-RSA-006 (Multi-tomography of an eclipsing magnetic cataclysmic variable) P0
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-005 (Spectral study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies) P4
- 2014-1-RSA_POL-001 x3 (Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars) P2

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-21

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Chris, Encarni, Steve, Petri, Brent, Luke, Lisa, Eric, Christian, David, Martin

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Summary
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- had a very busy start to the evening with the rest of astro-ops visiting. had thin clouds throughout the night and good seeing. had some tech issues, but no show stoppers.

- obtained data for the following programs:
- 2014-1-IUCAA_UW-001 (Probing the absorption line variability in quasar outflows) P1
- 2014-1-HET_UC-001 (Searching for the Earth-mass planet around alpha Cen B) P1
- 2014-1-UNC-002 (Gaseous Disks Around White Dwarf Stars) P1
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-002 (Investigating the history of star formation in colliding galaxies) P1
- 2014-1-IUCAA-001 (Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)) P2
- 2014-1-RSA_UKSC_OTH-002 (Looking for new optical counterparts of X-ray sources from Chandra) P3
- 2014-1-DC-001 (Gravitational redshifts in planetary nebulae and white dwarfs and spectra of dwarf galaxies) P1
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 (Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries) P3
- 2014-1-RSA_POL-001 x2 (Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars) P2

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-20

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Chris, Deneys, Paul, Garith

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Summary
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Entire night lost to high relative humidity.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-19

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Chris and Deneys.

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Summary
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Entire night lost to fog.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-17

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Deneys, Lisa and Luke.

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Summary
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The night started cold and windy but nicely clear, but we were forced us to close before midnight due to high humidity.

Obtained science data for:
2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 - understanding the evolution of brightest cluster galaxies
2014-1-UW-001 - metallicity of host galaxies of gamma ray bursts
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 - mass transfer in X-ray binaries
2014-1-RSA-001 - what does a circumstellar disk do during close approach in a pulsar system?
2014-1-AMNH-005 - long term monitoring of accreting white dwarf binaries
2014-1-GU-001 - Determining the mass of the supermassive black hole in the core of a galaxy
2014-1-RU-004 - Follow-up of a supernova

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-16

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Luke and Lisa

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Opened up only for about an hour at the beginning of the night, but the humidity caught up with us. Took some calibrations and test data with salticam in slotmode (fast-speed).

Friday, May 16, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-15

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Deneys, Luke and Lisa.

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Summary
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Too humid all night - could not open up.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-14

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Deneys

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Summary
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Slightly cloudy, full Moon night with OK seeing.

Science data for:
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 (P3) x5 - mass transfer in x-ray binaries
2014-1-IUCAA-002 (P3) x2 - studying a white dwarf binary system
2014-1-IUCAA-003 (P3) - flaring in a heavyweight neutron star
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 (P2) x3 - hunting for long-period interacting binary stars
2014-1-RSA-009 (P4) - determining rotational velocities of stars
2014-1-UKSC_OTH-001 (P3) - looking for planet indicators
2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 (P3) - star formation history of galaxies

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-13

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Encarni, Deneys. Luke over skype, and help from Lisa.

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Summary
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Night started with clouds making first observations difficult, and some HRS trouble, but then cleared up by midnight. Got some solid observations done until humidity went too high at 3.30am.
2014-1-HET_UKSC_OTH-001 (precision study of elements in a binary star)
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 (mass transfer in xray binaries)
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 (x4) (searching the Galaxy for symbiotic stars)
2014-1-IUCAA-003 (flaring in a heavyweight neutron star)
2014-1-IUCAA-002 (more phases of a white dwarf binary system)

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-12

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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An excellent stable clear night with superb sub-arcsec seeing all along. And without a hitch. Unfortunately bright moon so couldn't go for the deep stuff... Full science night with data for:
2014-1-IUCAA-002 (x3) (variability in a future supernova)
2014-1-IUCAA-003 (flares in the eccentric heavyweight neutron star)
2014-1-UKSC_OTH-001 (x2) (enshrouding gas in host stars of close-in exoplanets)
2014-1-RSA-003 (x5) (studying the coolest brown dwarfs)
2014-1-RU-004 (following-up a peculiar supernova)
2014-1-DC-001 (white dwarf)
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 (searching the Galaxy for symbiotic stars)

Monday, May 12, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-11

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Chantal and Eben. Paul, Deneys, Anthony over phone.

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Finally could open. Lost couple of hours with tech.probs in the beginning, but after that a very nice productive night. Bright moon with cirrus, which cleared for the latter part of the night, with decent seeing too. Data for many programs:
2014-1-RSA-001 (what does a circumstellar disk do during close approach in a pulsar system?)
2014-1-IUCAA-002 (x2) (a future supernova?)
2014-1-GU-001 (the flickering of an active galaxy nucleus)
2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 (evolution of bulges in lenticular galaxies)
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 (x3) (searching for supernova progenitors)
2014-1-IUCAA-003 (x2) (flaring as a supergiant meets a neutron star)
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 (mass transfer in x-ray binaries)
2014-1-RSA-003 (checking up the coldest of coolest dwarf stars)
2014-1-DC-001 (and a white dwarf)
2014-1-DC-006 (a recent Supernova in a nearby spiral galaxy)

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-10

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others:

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Finally getting rid of rain and clouds, but humidity still stayed high. Did not open.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-09

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others:

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Rain, clouds. Did not open.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-08

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others:

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Whole night lost to high winds, high humidity.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-07

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Keith

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Lost the night to humidity, after the first hour was lost to tech.problems.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-06

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Petri, Luke, Lisa, Eric

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Heavy clouds tonight. Further engineering tests with the telescope.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-05

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Lisa, Luke, Eric

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Telescope offline for component throughput tests. No observations taken.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-04

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Luke

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Night lost to high humidity and clouds. No observations taken.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-02

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Luke, Etienne (near twilight)

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Summary
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Another productive dark night with some relatively thick cloud cover at times. Stopped early around 04:15 with mirror alignment system problems. Data taken for
2014-1-DC-002 (x4)
2014-1-RSA_OTH-022
2014-1-IUCAA-002
2014-1-HET_UC-001
2014-1-UKSC_OTH-001 (x2)
2014-1-RSA_POL-001

Friday, May 2, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-01

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Lisa, Luke, Janus, Eddy, Bruce and Josh, Jean-Luc

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First official night of the 2014-1 semester. Night was dark and clear with mostly good seeing but worsening towards the end. Data taken for
2014-1-RU-004
2014-1-UKSC-005
2014-1-RSA-001
2014-1-HET_UC-001
2014-1-RSA-006
2014-1-UKSC_OTH-001
2014-1-IUCAA-002
2014-1-RSA_POL-001

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Night Log 2014-04-30

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Lisa, Luke, Eddy, Janus, French visitors

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Last night of the 2013-2 semester! Dark and good seeing night that was reasonably productive. Spent a good fraction of the night with HRS observations to test the new HRS control software to be used by the SALT astronomers. Had to test it while Eddy was still at the telescope. Some other RSS and SCAM data were taken. Data taken successfully for

2014-1-RSA_HET-002
2013-2-POL-003
2013-2-RSA_OTH-011
2013-2-RSA-003
2014-1-HET_OTH-002
2014-1-UKSC-002
2013-2-UKSC-013
2013-2-DC_RSA-001
2014-1-UW-005