Monday, June 30, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-29

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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Somewhat frustrating night with thin and thick cirrus all over until about
4 am. In addition to losing 3h totally, had to do mostly do brighter
objects until the morning hours. Nevertheless, science for:

2014-1-GU-001 P1 RSS [Line profile variations in WPVS 48]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-012 P2 RSS [Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies]
2014-1-RSA-001 P3 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-IUCAA-003 P2 RSS [Orbital studies of high mass X-ray binary IGRJ17544-2619]
2014-1-RSA-009 P4 RSS [Obtaining rotationally broadened spectral lines of hot stars.]
2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars] x2
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS [Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs] x2
2014-1-UNC-001 P1 RSS [Emission line kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies for tracing dark matter]

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-28

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: David dB

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Summary
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Another dark clear and stable night, though seeing was not as good
as last night, now mostly in between 1.5 and 2 arcsec after a better
start. Many RSS blocks done for:

2014-1-IUCAA-001 P1 RSS [Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-009 P1 RSS [Tracing the stellar mass build-up of brightest cluster galaxies via mergers] x2
2014-1-RSA_OTH-002 P1 RSS [Investigating the history of star formation in colliding galaxies.] x2
2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS [Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs] x2
2014-1-UNC-001 P1 RSS [Emission line kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies for tracing dark matter]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-019 P1 RSS [Observing Pluto -- rotationally resolved spectra.]
2014-1-RSA-007 P3 RSS [Study the evolution of the Local Group Irregular galaxy.]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-018 P1 RSS [Tracing the History of the Dark Matter Substructures in Abell 3827]

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-27

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Etienne, Timmy

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Summary
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A clear stable dark night with good to excellent seeing, around an arcsec
for hours. Full night of RSS science (HRS is offline), data for:

2014-1-RU-001 P0 RSS [Observations of supernovae, near and far.] x2
2014-1-IUCAA-001 P1 RSS [Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)] x3
2014-1-RSA_OTH-002 P1 RSS [Investigating the history of star formation in colliding galaxies.]
2014-1-RSA_UKSC_OTH-002 P2 RSS [Looking for new optical counterparts of X-ray sources from Chandra]
2014-1-HET_OTH-001 P2 RSS ["Follow-up spectroscopy of recently discovered supernova explosions"]
2014-1-HET-004 P2 RSS [magnetic activity in 3 Gyr M dwarfs]
2014-1-RU-003 P2 RSS [Investigating the H alpha Emission of a Bow Shock in SN1006]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-018 P1 RSS ["Tracing the History of the Dark Matter Substructures in Abell 3827"]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-022 P0 RSS [Following the outburst of the unusual X-ray binary SXP1062.]

Friday, June 27, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-26

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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While night lost to humidity and clouds

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-25

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: only the wind .. and clouds

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Summary
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Lost the entire night to clouds and later to humidity as well.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-24

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Petri

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Summary
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Just like last night, the night started clear with Ok seeing but by 3am the clouds were too thick.

Science data for:

2014-1-HET_UC-001 P1 HRS [Searching for the Earth-mass planet around alpha Cen B]
2014-1-GU-001 P1 RSS [Line profile variations in WPVS 48]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-009 P1 RSS [Tracing the stellar mass build-up of brightest cluster galaxies via mergers]
2014-1-IUCAA-001 P1 RSS [Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-019 P1 RSS [Observing Pluto -- rotationally resolved spectra.]
2014-1-HET_UC-001 P1 HRS [Searching for the Earth-mass planet around alpha Cen B]
2014-1-RU-003 P2 RSS [Investigating the H alpha Emission of a Bow Shock in SN1006]
2014-1-RU_RSA-002 P2 RSS [Spectroscopy of ACT mm-band selected sources and clusters]

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-23

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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A good start to the night with clear skies and good seeing, that become cloudy enough to force us to stop at around 3:30am.

Science data for:
2014-1-DC-002 P2 RSS [Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-019 P1 RSS [Observing Pluto -- rotationally resolved spectra.]
2014-1-HET_UC-001 P1 HRS [Searching for the Earth-mass planet around alpha Cen B]
2014-1-RU-003 P2 RSS [Investigating the H alpha Emission of a Bow Shock in SN1006]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-018 P1 RSS ["Tracing the History of the Dark Matter Substructures in Abell 3827"]

Monday, June 23, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-22

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Mostly clear but very windy night with rubbish seeing.
Took some engineering data and science data for:

2014-1-AMNH-001 P0 RSS [Observation of transiting exoplanet WASP 43b]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-012 P2 RSS [Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies]
2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-DC-002 P3 RSS [Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs]
2014-1-DC-002 P2 RSS [Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs]
2014-1-RSA-007 P2 RSS [Study the evolution of the Local Group Irregular galaxy.]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-002 P3 RSS [Investigating the history of star formation in colliding galaxies.]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
2014-1-UNC-001 P3 RSS [Emission line kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies for tracing dark matter]

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-21

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Another beautiful clear night. Science data for:

2014-1-RSA-001 P0 [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-009 P1 [Tracing the stellar mass build-up of brightest cluster galaxies via mergers]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-009 P1 [Tracing the stellar mass build-up of brightest cluster galaxies via mergers]
2014-1-IUCAA_UW-001 P2 [Probing the absorption line variability in quasar outflows]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-019 P1 [Observing Pluto -- rotationally resolved spectra.]
2014-1-AMNH-003 P2 [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-019 P1 [Observing Pluto -- rotationally resolved spectra.]
2014-1-UW-004 P1 [Determining galaxy group member redshifts ]
2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 P3 [Star formation histories of Pseudobulges.]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-010 P1 [Investigating the history of a core-less ring galaxy]
2014-1-RSA_UKSC-003 P4 [Monitoring the spectrum of the Luminous Blue Variable S18]

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-20

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Jonathan to fix CCAS. Paul R. to help with the structure. Laure and Steve C remotely to help with TimDimm.

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Summary
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Beautiful clear night plagued with technical problems, which forced us to close early as well.

Science data only for one program:

2014-1-DC-002 P2 [Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs]

Friday, June 20, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-19

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Clear, fairly productive night.
Science data taken for:

2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-GU-001 P1 RSS [Line profile variations in WPVS 48]
2014-1-HET_OTH-001 P0 RSS ["Follow-up spectroscopy of recently discovered supernova explosions"]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-009 P1 RSS [Tracing the stellar mass build-up of brightest cluster galaxies via mergers]
2014-1-HET-004 P2 RSS [magnetic activity in 3 Gyr M dwarfs]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-005 P4 RSS [Spectral study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.]
2014-1-UW-004 P1 RSS [Determining galaxy group member redshifts ]
2014-1-UW-004 P1 RSS [Determining galaxy group member redshifts ]
2014-1-UW-004 P1 RSS [Determining galaxy group member redshifts ]

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-18

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Luke, Eric. John Caldwell and Juan Carlos Morales for a quick visit.

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Summary
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Entire night lost to rain, wind and high humidity.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

SALT Board and Science day at UNC

The SALT board meeting was at UNC this June.  Below are some of the papers reported during the course of the meeting including the board papers, Collateral Benefits programs, and updates on science with SALT.

Board Papers


Collateral Benefits  Papers

Science  Papers


Night Log 2014-06-17

SA: Brent
SO: Thea
Others: Encarni, Eben, Luke, Eric, Christopher

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Summary
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Heavy cloud, tracker problem debugging (now resolved) and high humidity limited observing possibilities tonight.

Data taken for:

2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-DC-002 P3 RSS [Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-005 P4 RSS [Spectral study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-16

SA: Brent
SO: Thea
Others: David dB and family, Jonathan

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Summary
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A clear night with no moon at the start. Some science data taken under difficult technical conditions with the tracker before closing up at 11pm due to high humidity.


Data taken for:

2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-AMNH_OTH-001 P2 RSS [Measuring the metallicities of three supernova-hosting dwarf galaxies]
2014-1-AMNH_OTH-001 P3 RSS [Measuring the metallicities of three supernova-hosting dwarf galaxies]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]

Monday, June 16, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-15

SA: Brent
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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Clouds and high humidity all night. No observations tonight.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-14

SA: Brent
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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Night lost to high humidity, clouds and rain. No observations tonight.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-13

SA: Brent
SO: Thea
Others: David dB + Thea's mum, Paul and Johan at start of night

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Summary
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Clear bright night with high winds. Some RSS observations in the first half of night, while the second half involved mostly telescope engineering tests with SCAM.

Data taken for:

2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-HET-004 P3 RSS [magnetic activity in 3 Gyr M dwarfs]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-012 P3 RSS [Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies]
2014-1-HET_OTH-001 P0 RSS ["Follow-up spectroscopy of recently discovered supernova explosions"]
2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 P3 RSS [Star formation histories of Pseudobulges.]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]

Friday, June 13, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-12

SA: Brent
SO: Thea
Others: Ockert (RSS Hero), Etienne, David dB, Martin, Jonathan, Eben

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Summary
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A smooth bright night until a bit after midnight when a water pipe burst in the control room, severely flooding much of the surrounding area. Some RSS observations were attempted after cleanup, but many were too faint for the bright moon conditions.

Data taken for:

2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-012 P2 RSS [Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies]
2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-RU-004 P0 RSS [Study of SN 2014ad]
2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
2014-1-RU-001 P2 RSS [Observations of supernovae, near and far.]
2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-11

SA: Brent
SO: Thea
Others: Martin, Jonathan

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Summary
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A clear bright night with seeing mostly around 2 arcsec. Both RSS and HRS offline tonight, so observed a few SCAM targets where we could.

Data taken for:

2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-020 P3 SCAM [Rapid photometry of magnetic Cataclysmic Variables]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-10

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others: Brent

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Summary
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=> Bright clear night with not very good seeing

=> Some data were taken for the following programs:
2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-GU-001 P1 RSS [Line profile variations in WPVS 48]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-AMNH-005 P4 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
2014-1-HET-004 (x2) P3 RSS [magnetic activity in 3 Gyr M dwarfs]
2014-1-IUCAA-002 P3 RSS [Understanding the recurrent nova IMNor in quiescence.]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 P3 RSS [Star formation histories of Pseudobulges.]
2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 P1 RSS [Investigating the activity in the not-red-and-dead brightest cluster galaxies]

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-09

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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=> High humidity, some snow and heavy clouds. Temperature is below zero. No observations tonight.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-08

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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=> Strong wind, high humidity and heavy clouds.
No observations tonight.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-07

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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=> Night with many cirrus and strong wind.
=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2014-1-RSA-001 P0 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-020 P2 SCAM [Rapid photometry of magnetic Cataclysmic Variables]
2014-1-HET_OTH-001 P0 RSS ["Follow-up spectroscopy of recently discovered supernova explosions"]
2014-1-DC-002 P3 RSS [Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs]
2014-1-IUCAA-001 P2 RSS [Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-020 P2 SCAM [Rapid photometry of magnetic Cataclysmic Variables]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-005 P4 RSS [Spectral study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 P1 RSS [Investigating the activity in the not-red-and-dead brightest cluster galaxies]
2014-1-HET_GU-001 P3 RSS [Monitoring of AKN 557]

Friday, June 6, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-05

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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=> High humidity and heavy clouds. Temperature is below zero.
No observations tonight.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-04

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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=> Rain, snow, high humidity and temperature is below zero. No observations tonight.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-03

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Janus by phone, Alexei, Tim F, Eben, Hamish, Veronica, Laure and visitors

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Summary
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A windy few hours at start of night spent mostly getting the fibre feed for HRS successfully back online. Completed one RSS block before closing up due to strong winds, then the clouds and rain came along.

Data taken for:

2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-02

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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High humidity all night. Did not open.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-01

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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High humidity and temperature hit below zero. No observations tonight.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Night Log 2014-05-31

SA: Brent
SO: Fred
Others: Keith, Janus and Etienne over the phone

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Summary
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A very windy night (Kuyavuthuza!!!!) and poor seeing made for a complicated night of observing. Still managed to get some science data successfully for:

2014-1-GU-001 P1 RSS [Line profile variations in WPVS 48]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-RSA-001 P3 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-005 P4 RSS [Spectral study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.]