Night Log 2015-12-16

SA: Marissa
SO: Veronica
Others: Enrico

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On this day of Reconciliation we celebrate our shared journey as a diverse South African nation, dedicated to overcoming the divisions of our past and to building a future in which we all can thrive.

Non-photometric night with relatively decent seeing.

Data taken for:

2015-2-SCI-040 P0 RSS (SALT ToO observation)
2015-2-SCI-045 P1 HRS (Radial velocity study of gamma-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 )
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x3) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-029 P3 RSS (x3) (Spectroscopy of Kepler K2 White Dwarfs)

Night Log 2015-12-15

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Enrico, Marissa and Thabelo.

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The seeing was good tonight, although there was a lot of thin cirrus about and the humidity forced us to close at 2am.
We didn't have RSS tonight due to a problem with the slitmask magazine, so science data for:

2015-2-SCI-038 P2 HRS (Study of evolution in outflows from outburst)
2015-2-SCI-044 P3 HRS (Confirm the first detection of pulsations in a K dwarf star )
2015-2-SCI-016 P3 HRS (x3) (Investigation of variability of absorption lines due to ISM towards vela SNR. )

Night Log 2015-12-14

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Timmy, Jonathan, Keith, Thabelo. Hitesh remotely.

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Dark night with some thin cloud around most of the time. A few technical issues and science data for:

2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-045 P1 HRS (Radial velocity study of gamma-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 )
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-041 P2 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of candidate magnetic cataclysmic variables in the CRTS)
2015-2-SCI-032 P2 RSS (Multi-object spectra of known Halpha emission line stars in Trumpler 14.)
2015-2-SCI-033 P2 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)

Night Log 2015-12-13

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Cloudy then humid tonight. Attempted two science blocks but only accepted one of them for:

2015-2-SCI-029 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of Kepler K2 White Dwarfs)

(and even that one may not be good enough!)

Night Log 2015-12-12

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Simon W.

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Too humid tonight - could not open. Took some close dome calibrations and ran a few engineering tests instead.

Night Log 2015-12-11

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Ana, Liam, Simon W. and Steve. Timmy and Hitesh for the alignment troubles.

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Dark night with very variable seeing (from sub-arcsecond to silly) and thin cloud. Technical problems at the beginning of the night with the mirror alignment system and high relative humidity at the end of the night cut our short summer night a bit shorter. Obtained science data for:

2015-2-MLT-004 P1 RSS (Unraveling ring galaxies)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-038 P2 HRS (Study of evolution in outflows from outburst)

Night Log 2015-12-10

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Ana, Liam, Simon W. Timmy and Thabelo to help with a wayward mirror segment.

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Another dark, clear night with sub-arcsecond seeing - we could get used to this! :)

We had a slow start due to a technical problem but the rest of the night was pretty much smooth sailing. We took our first block for RSS polarimetry science verification and science data for:

2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (x2) (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-SCI-026 P1 RSS (Probing the time variability of QSO absorption line)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)
2015-2-SCI-041 P2 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of candidate magnetic cataclysmic variables in the CRTS)

Night Log 2015-12-09

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Ana, Liam, Stephen and Simon W. Thabelo for a quick hello. :)

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Dark, clear night with decent seeing - even sub-arcsecond at times. No technical problems. Science data for:

2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (x2) (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-SCI-026 P1 RSS (Probing the time variability of QSO absorption line)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)
2015-2-SCI-041 P2 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of candidate magnetic cataclysmic variables in the CRTS)

Night Log 2015-12-08

SA: Petri
SO: Fred
Others: Paul, Encarni, Christian, Veronica, Simon W.

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Another excellent and productive night, great seeing and clear all along.
Lost a mere 10 mins for a minor problem, otherwise was just chugging
through the night taking data for:

2015-2-SCI-045 P1 HRS (Radial velocity study of gamma-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 )
2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (x2) (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-035 P1 RSS (Identifying new ultracompact binary star systems through their spectral characteristics)
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-SCI-060 P1 RSS (Study of OVI emissions as a function of optical brightness state in two SSS.)
2015-2-SCI-030 P2 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)

Night Log 2015-12-07

SA: Petri
SO: Fred
Others: Paul, Simon F., Simon W., Sami Sillanpaa

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The night started out very cloudy, we got going around 10.30pm, and even
then only with bright stars. But it then cleared up after midnight, and the
seeing was good all along. Minimal technical downtime. Science for:

2015-2-SCI-017 P1 SCAM (Dark energy and the expansion rate of the Universe from quasar monitoring.)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-046 P2 RSS (A spectral study on low-mass T Tauri stars in the high mass star forming regions RCW 34 and NGC 2626)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-022 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of early-type barred disk galaxies to investigate an ansae phenomena.)
2015-2-SCI-007 P3 RSS (x2) (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-12-06

SA: Petri
SO: Fred
Others: Paul, Simon W.

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And another great night. Clear, dark, mostly good seeing, humidity gave
a scare by rising to closing limit at 2am, but then dropped back. No time
lost whatsoever. Engineering time spent on polarimetry again, and many
science blocks done:

2015-1-COM-002 P0 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-2-SCI-045 P1 HRS (Radial velocity study of gamma-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 )
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-052 P1 RSS (x2) (Detecting star forming galaxies in two distant, massive galaxy clusters.)
2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)

Night Log 2015-12-05

SA: Petri
SO: Fred
Others: Paul, Hitesh, Dan McIntosh, Simon Westerlund

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Night started with bad seeing, but the latter part saw even sub-arcsec
values. Dark and clear for most of the night as well, with no technical
problems. Thus, very productive, got some spectropolarimetry on-sky
commissioning done together with many science blocks:

2015-1-COM-002 P0 RSS (x2) (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-SCI-045 P1 HRS (Radial velocity study of gamma-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 )
2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-052 P1 RSS (x2) (Detecting star forming galaxies in two distant, massive galaxy clusters.)

Happy 98th Independence Day Finland!

Night Log 2015-12-04

SA: Petri
SO: Fred
Others: Paul, Lisa, Thea, David

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Reasonably good night, dark and clear. However, seeing started out
horribly bad, though got better later. Couple of sudden humidity and
temperature jumps ruined alignments and at least one observation.
Eventually had to close due to humidity 1.5h before twilight. Data for:
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-MLT-004 P1 RSS (Unraveling ring galaxies)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-056 P3 HRS (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)
2015-2-SCI-022 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of early-type barred disk galaxies to investigate an ansae phenomena.)
2015-2-SCI-049 P4 RSS (Monitoring the X-ray bright sgB[e] stars in Magellanic Clouds)

A stunning night in Sutherland!

Summer's well on its way so we've had a few really gorgeous nights during the past week!  While observing dwarf novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud last night, Petri & Fred snagged a set of images through 3 of the Sloan filters (u, g & r).  Combining these has produced one of SALT's most beautiful colour-composite images to date.  The combination of 1" seeing & a freshly stacked primary shows what the telescope's capable of under good conditions.  If only Darragh could see this kind of image quality!

A SALTICAM view of the Large Magellanic Cloud, through Sloan u, g & r filters

Night Log 2015-12-03

SA: Petri
SO: Fred
Others: Paul

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A very productive clear night with great seeing, between 1 and 1.5" for most
of the time. Stable temperatures, and no other difficulties either. Lots of
high priority science done for such a short summer night. Data for:

2015-2-SCI-040 P0 RSS (SALT ToO observation, Magellanic Be X-ray binaries)
2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (x2) (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-030 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))

Night Log 2015-12-02

SA: Petri
SO: Fred
Others: Paul, Simon, Hitesh, Thea

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Spent time doing engineering work in the beginning, under cirrusy clouds,
after which we were able to squeeze in two science observations before
humidity rose too high around mid-night. Data for:
2015-2-SCI-048 P1 RSS (DIBs towards the Red Rectangle)
2015-2-SCI-007 P3 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-12-01

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Petri, Fred

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- Cloudy weather prevented us from obtaining any data tonight.

Night Log 2015-11-30

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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- Had a very productive night in good weather conditions. Some technical issues crept in at the end of the night.

- Obtained data for the following programs:

2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-024 P1 RSS (Fabry-Perot observations to trace the narrow line regions in nearby Seyfert 2s)
2015-2-SCI-036 P2 RSS (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-030 P2 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-059 P3 RSS (RESOLVE survey kinematics observations)

Night Log 2015-11-29

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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- Another productive night at the telescope. We did have some more technical difficulties tonight, no show stoppers however.

- Obtained data for the following programs:

2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (x4) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-053 P3 RSS (Probing why hot stars can pulsate in the low-metal environment of the LMC.)
2015-2-SCI-056 P4 HRS (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)

Night Log 2015-11-28

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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- Had a productive night with some minor technical issues that cost us some time. The seeing was good, at least < 2'', and it was mostly clear.

- Obtained data for the following programs:

2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x3) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-036 P2 RSS (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-2-SCI-035 P3 RSS (Identifying new ultracompact binary star systems through their spectral characteristics)
2015-2-SCI-022 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of early-type barred disk galaxies to investigate an ansae phenomena.)
2015-2-SCI-007 P3 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-11-27

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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- Had a productive evening with minor technical issues. The seeing was mediocre to poor for most the night and the conditions were not photometric.

- Obtained data for the following programs:

2015-1-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-2-SCI-036 P2 RSS (x2) (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-044 P3 HRS (Confirm the first detection of pulsations in a K dwarf star )
2015-2-SCI-049 P4 RSS (Monitoring the X-ray bright sgB[e] stars in Magellanic Clouds)

Night Log 2015-11-26

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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- We were closed the whole night due to high humidity.
- No data taken.

Night Log 2015-11-25

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Chris, Ockert, Johnathan at the start of the night.

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- Had a productive night with no technical issues. Seeing was mediocre, around 2.5'' for most of the night.
- Did long science blocks so the list of programs observed is pretty short:

2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-036 P2 RSS (x4) (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)

Night Log 2015-11-24

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others: Paul, James, Thea

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A productive night tonight with good weather and good conditions.
We could get data for the following programs:
2015-2-SCI-036 P2 RSS (x3) (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-2-SCI-037 P3 RSS (Spectrum of ultraluminous X-ray source nebula)

Night Log 2015-11-23

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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A rather difficult night. We had some problems with software at the beginning of the night, and then some technical problem with the tracker.

But we could observe for the following programs:
2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-036 P2 RSS (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)

Night Log 2015-11-22

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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A productive night, with good conditions.
We have observed a high priority program at the beginning of the night, then switched to HRS for targets not bothered by the moon. We finished by a first for me : LR Fabry-Perot observations, with a dither!

We have obtained data for the following programs:
2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (x4) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-003 P1 HRS (Determining the distances to massive dusty stars that may be emitting microwave lasers)
2015-2-SCI-014 P2 RSS (Mapping the velocity structure of hydrogen in N113)
2015-2-SCI-009 P3 HRS (Searching for circumbinary planets)

Night Log 2015-11-21

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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The night started bad with clouds, then high humidity for most of the time.
But humidity dropped for the last hour of the night, so we could get data for :
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-007 P2 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-11-20

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Weather prevented us from opening at all. First it was the high winds, then, clouds, and then humidity.

The only data we obtained are calibrations for HRS.

Night Log 2015-11-19

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Despite weather conditions not being ideal, it was a productive night.
We could observe the following programs:

2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-060 P1 RSS (Study of OVI emissions as a function of optical brightness state in two SSS.)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-056 P4 HRS (x2) (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)
2015-2-SCI-049 P4 RSS (x2) (Monitoring the X-ray bright sgB[e] stars in Magellanic Clouds)

Night Log 2015-11-18

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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A beautiful night, but the seeing was not that great.
We could get data for science programs, but also do some important tests that will be used to monitor the performances of the telescope.

We have observed data for the following programs:
2015-2-SCI-036 P1 RSS (x2) (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-2-SCI-030 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-003 P1 HRS (Determining the distances to massive dusty stars that may be emitting microwave lasers)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )

Night Log 2015-11-17

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others:

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Telescope out of operation. RSS pump down has started, as agreed between Astro Ops and Tech Ops.

The forecast for the night was for high humidity and it is indeed a night we would have lost due to humidity anyway.

No data taken.

Night Log 2015-11-16

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others: Enrico

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Clear night with good seeing. Observed both P0 ToOs that were added after 7:30pm. A productive night all around.

Data taken for:
2015-2-MLT-001 P0 RSS (x2) (Followup spectroscopy of transients)
2015-2-MLT-004 P1 RSS (Unraveling ring galaxies)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-030 P1 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-SCI-017 P1 SCAM (Dark energy and the expansion rate of the Universe from quasar monitoring.)
2015-2-SCI-007 P2 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-11-15

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others: Enrico, Nick

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Clear night with variable seeing and fast rising humidity that forced us to close around midnight.

Data taken for:

2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-030 P2 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-022 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of early-type barred disk galaxies to investigate an ansae phenomena.)
2015-2-SCI-059 P3 RSS (RESOLVE survey kinematics observations)
2015-2-SCI-007 P3 RSS (x2) (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-11-14

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others: Enrico

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This mostly clear night, with very good seeing, was used as productively as possible. The early morning got cloudy, but we could remain open and did shorter blocks to cloud-dodge if necessary.

Data taken for:

2015-2-SCI-013 P0 RSS (Classification of possible supernovae)
2015-2-SCI-017 P1 SCAM (Dark energy and the expansion rate of the Universe from quasar monitoring.)
2015-2-SCI-030 P1 RSS (x4) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-007 P3 RSS (x8) (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )
2015-2-SCI-022 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of early-type barred disk galaxies to investigate an ansae phenomena.)

Night Log 2015-11-13

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others: Enrico

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Friday the 13th was a beautifully clear, dark night with good seeing. Humidity rose steadily throughout and eventually we closed in the morning hours after successfully doing several high priority ToO observations.

Data taken for:
2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (x3) (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-SCI-031 P1 RSS (Connecting QSO absorption line systems with the associated galaxies)
2015-2-SCI-030 P1 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))

Night Log 2015-11-12

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others:

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Cloud dodging tonight lead to some rejected blocks. But data were nevertheless taken for:

2015-2-SCI-027 P0 HRS (Anchoring the extragalactic distance scale with an LMC eclipsing binary star)
2015-2-SCI-007 P3 RSS (x5) (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-11-11

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others:

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Closed all night due to thick cloud.

No data taken.

Night Log 2015-11-10

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Marissa and Enrico

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Summary
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Variable seeing and lots of clouds tonight - not our favourite night.
We took lots of engineering data for polarimetry and dual-etalon HR Fabry-Perot modes and science data for:

2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-1-COM-002 P1 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-2-SCI-022 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of early-type barred disk galaxies to investigate an ansae phenomena.)
2015-2-SCI-049 P4 RSS (Monitoring the X-ray bright sgB[e] stars in Magellanic Clouds)

Night Log 2015-11-09

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Another amazing start to the night with sub-arcsecond seeing in clear dark skies. And, deja-vu - at around midnight the fluffy invaders dirtied our beautiful sky and some blocks fell in the line of duty. But we waited a bit taking some polarimetry calibration data and the nasty stuff went away, to end the night with clear skies and sub-arcsecond seeing!

Science data for:

2015-2-SCI-060 P1 RSS (x2) (Study of OVI emissions as a function of optical brightness state in two SSS.)
2015-2-SCI-024 P1 RSS (x2) (Fabry-Perot observations to trace the narrow line regions in nearby Seyfert 2s)
2015-1-COM-002 P1 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-2-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)

Night Log 2015-11-08

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Chantal

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Summary
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A bit of a weird night. Started perfect, clear with good seeing, but then the seeing started varying, then we got cloud, and then it all magically vanished and we ended up with clear skies and sub-arcsecond seeing!

Many attempted (and rejected) science blocks, and accepted blocks for:

2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-054 P1 HRS (x2) (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-2-SCI-007 P2 RSS (x3) (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )

Night Log 2015-11-07

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Finally! A nice, clear, dark night with decent seeing, even sub-arcsecond at times. Ok, ok, there were a few random clouds here and there, but who's counting?! We'll place the same order for tomorrow, please.

Obtained science data for:

2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (x2) (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-SCI-031 P1 RSS (Connecting QSO absorption line systems with the associated galaxies)

Night Log 2015-11-06

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: E10 and Johan at the beginning of the night, then Keith later on for SALTICAM

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Summary
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We were closed tonight, first due to a technical problem, then the clouds came in at about 12:30pm. No science data.

Night Log 2015-11-05

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Lost most of the night to cloud and drizzle. Opened up in the middle of the night for about 1 hour and managed to take one science block before the clouds forced us to close again.
Lots of calibration data gathered for dual-etalon high-resolution Fabry-Perot and for Polarimetric modes of RSS operation.
The science block was for:

2015-2-SCI-048 P1 RSS (DIBs towards the Red Rectangle)

Night Log 2015-11-04

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Gordon

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A partly cloudy night with OK seeing - and despite the clouds, we managed to gather science data for:

2015-2-SCI-027 P0 HRS (Anchoring the extragalactic distance scale with an LMC eclipsing binary star)
2015-2-MLT-003 P1 RSS (x2) (Redshift measurements of distant massive ACT galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-007 P2 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )
2015-2-SCI-025 P3 RSS (Unveiling powerful hidden black holes with spectra of obscured quasars)
2015-2-SCI-059 P3 RSS (RESOLVE survey kinematics observations)

Night Log 2015-11-03

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Encarni, Chantal, Briehan, Willie, Hannah, Gordon

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Clear night with variable seeing.

Data taken for:

2015-2-SCI-061 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their spectral properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-2-SCI-040 P0 RSS (SALT ToO observation)
2015-2-MLT-001 P0 RSS (x2) (Followup spectroscopy of transients)
2015-2-SCI-033 P1 SCAM (Observations of Dwarf Novae in the Large Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-SCI-007 P2 RSS (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )
2015-2-SCI-029 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of Kepler K2 White Dwarfs)
2015-2-SCI-059 P3 RSS (x2) (RESOLVE survey kinematics observations)
2015-2-SCI-022 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of early-type barred disk galaxies to investigate an ansae phenomena.)

Night Log 2015-11-02

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


First data for semester 2015-2 taken in sub-arcsecond seeing during the first part of a beautifully clear, freezing night. Unfortunately our productive start was cut short by high humidity after midnight.

Data taken for:

2015-2-SCI-040 P0 RSS (SALT ToO observation)
2015-2-SCI-036 P1 RSS (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-2-SCI-008 P1 HRS (Determining the period of a multi-periodic pulsating binary system.)
2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-054 P1 HRS (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-2-SCI-003 P1 HRS (Determining the distances to massive dusty stars that may be emitting microwave lasers)

Night Log 2015-11-01

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Closed all night due to dense cloud-cover.

No data taken.

Night Log 2015-10-31

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Enrico (shadowing Fred)

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Happy Halloween!

Solid cloud-cover kept us closed the entire night.
No data taken on this final night of semester 2015-1.

Congratulations All Blacks on winning the Rugby World Cup. Excellent performance, Australia.

Night Log 2015-10-30

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Enrico (shadowing Fred)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


The Springboks secured 3rd place in the Rugby World Cup! Our hearts are in it and we're proud of them.

Clear, bright first half of the night, but clouds rolled in shortly after midnight.

Data taken for:

2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2014-2-MLT-001 P3 RSS (x2) (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)

Night Log 2015-10-29

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Enrico (shadowing Fred)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Cloudy night. Science from midnight in highly variable seeing and scattered clouds. Got the observation for the DDT proposal that was activated today.

Data taken for:

2015-1-DDT-008 P1 RSS (The recoiled counterpart to PSR B0525-66?)
2015-1-SCI-003 P3 HRS (Searching for circumbinary planets)
2014-2-MLT-001 P3 RSS (x2) (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)

Night Log 2015-10-28

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Enrico (in training)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Technical difficulties caused a late start. We decided to continue without HRS in order to try to get some science using SCAM and RSS. But in the end this partly cloudy, warm, bright night has as many rejected blocks as accepted ones.

Data taken for:

2014-2-MLT-001 P3 RSS (x2) (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)
2015-1-MLT-002 P3 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)

Night Log 2015-10-27

SA: Encarni
SO: Fred
Others: Keith, Timmy, Jonathan, Marissa and Enrico. John B. for a quick visit.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Clear night with mostly decent seeing. Technical problems had us closed until ~1am, and then we took science data for:

2015-2-SCI-036 P1 RSS (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-045 P3 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae)
2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)

Night Log 2015-10-26

SA: Encarni
SO: Fred
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Ridge cloud all night - we only managed to get some standard star observations before we were closed by the relative humidity.

Night Log 2015-10-25

SA: Encarni
SO: Fred
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Frustrating night with very variable seeing, from really good to wow that's awful! Attempted several observations but only obtained data for:

2015-2-SCI-036 P1 RSS (Spectrophotometry of Magellanic symbiotic stars)
2015-2-SCI-040 P2 RSS (SALT ToO observation)

Night Log 2015-10-23

SA: Encarni
SO: Fred
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Very frustrating night with lots of clouds. Closed at ~2:10 due to clouds and showers.

Science data for only one program for very poor conditions:

2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (x2) (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)

Night Log 2015-10-22

SA: Encarni
SO: Fred
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Clear night with really poor seeing. Humidity forced us to close just before 1:30am.

Science data for:

2015-2-SCI-040 P0 RSS (SALT ToO observation)
2015-1-COM-002 P1 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2014-2-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-2-SCI-056 P3 HRS (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)

Night Log 2015-10-21

SA: Encarni
SO: Fred
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A beautiful clear night with unfortunately high humidity, so we were forced to close early. Science data only for one block:

2015-2-SCI-056 P3 HRS (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)

Night Log 2015-10-20

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others: Encarni, Fred and Ivan

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


=> Nice and stable weather with moderate seeing.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-1-COM-002 P0 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-033 P1 RSS (Testing a new method to discover peculiar extragalactic binary stars)
2015-1-SCI-071 P2 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)
2015-1-SCI-013 P2 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-044 P2 RSS (Mapping the velocity fields of N88)
2015-1-SCI-053 P3 RSS (x2) (Multi-wavelength classification of unidentified Blazar-like Fermi-2LAC catalogue sources)

=> Burst throughput measurements were done

Night Log 2015-10-19

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others: Ivan Katkov and Tamara for a while

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


=> Unstable night with high humidity and moderate seeing. Were closed by humidity in the middle of the night and continue observations later.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-037 P2 HRS (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-1-SCI-053 P3 RSS (Multi-wavelength classification of unidentified Blazar-like Fermi-2LAC catalogue sources)
2015-1-MLT-004 P4 RSS (Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies)

Night Log 2015-10-18

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


=> Very unstable night with field of clouds regularly coming and thunderstorm lighting on the horizon.

=> No useful observations were done with many attempts.

Night Log 2015-10-17

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others: Ivan Katkov and Tamara for a while

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


=> Some thick clouds from the evening that altogether with moon make problems for observations. Started to be much better later, but have some technical issues at the end of the night.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-1-SCI-071 P1 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)
2014-2-MLT-001 P2 RSS (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)
2015-1-SCI-065 P2 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-035 P2 RSS (x2) (Spectroscopy of ACT mm-band selected sources and clusters)
2015-1-SCI-027 P4 RSS (Kinematics of Bulge Miras)

Night Log 2015-10-16

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others: Ivan Katkov, Tamara for a while

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


=> Clear stable night with moderate seeing. Observed the whole night, but have some technical issues as well.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-1-COM-002 P0 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-1-DDT-007 P1 RSS (AGB star in NGC6822)
2015-1-SCI-046 P1 RSS (Redshift determination of newly confirmed galaxy clusters)
2015-1-SCI-071 P1 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)
2015-1-SCI-052 P2 RSS (Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs)

Night Log 2015-10-15

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others: Dr. Ivan Katkov

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


=> Some clouds from the evening and clear night after that. Humidity rised and closed us finally in the second half of the night.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-1-COM-002 P0 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-071 P1 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)
2015-1-SCI-052 P2 RSS (Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs)

=> First observations of Polarimetry test proposal were done tonight

SALT Status update for October 2015

Recent Scientific Papers
========================

The 2015 calendar year will top the number of 31 refereed SALT publications from 2014.  While waiting for the final tally, here is a list of SALT papers that have appeared since our last update in July:

* Brosch et al. study an "empty ring galaxy" using RSS/Fabry-Perot observations finding a past merger of disc galaxies and current star formation in a regularly spinning gas ring.  http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.451.4114B

* Coe & Kirk present a catalogue of Be/X-ray binary systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud including H-alpha measurement using RSS. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.452..969C

* Gvaramadze et al. combine Spitzer Space Telescope and RSS data to characterize the blue Galactic supergiant MN18 and its bipolar circumstellar nebula. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.454..219G

* Hajduk et al. combine X-Shooter spectra with RSS data to conclude that [JD2002]11 is the ninth symbiotic star known in total, and only the 2nd known dusty symbiotic star in the Small Magellanic Cloud. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AcA....65..139H

* Karachentsev, Kniazev & Sharina present RSS spectroscopy of a globular cluster in the center of the nearby isolated dwarf spheroidal galaxy KKs3. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AN....336..707K

* Katkov, Kniazev & Sil'chenko show, using RSS spectra of isolated lenticular galaxies, that there is a large range in their formation epochs and that their gas is likely externally accreted by minor mergers. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015AJ....150...24K

* Macfarlane et al. present the overview and first results of the large OmegaWhite survey at ESO/VST for short-period variable stars, including follow-up spectroscopy with SALT/RSS. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.454..507M

* Menzies, Whitelock & Feast study AGB variables in the Local Group galaxy IC 1613 and their RSS spectra demonstrates on-going "hot bottom burning" in an Oxygen-rich Mira variable. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.452..910M

* Silverman et al. include RSS data in their study of high-velocity features of calcium and silicon in a large sample of Type Ia SN spectra. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.451.1973S

* Zinchenko et al. present oxygen abundance distributions in six late-type galaxies based on RSS spectra of regions of ionized hydrogen in these galaxies. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015A%26A...582A..35Z

Too Large A Black Hole in the news
==================================

And in another new publication, Jacco van Loon from Keele University and Anne Sansom from the University of Central Lancashire used SALT to study a significantly over-sized nuclear black hole in a modest-mass early-type galaxy.   This result was featured on CNN along with the Espresso morning TV show here in South Africa.  For more details, see:
 On ADS: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015MNRAS.453.2341V
 SALT Press Release:  http://www.salt.ac.za/news/too-large-a-black-hole/
 CNN:  http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/26/world/black-hole-is-30-times-expected-size/index.html


Record number of Blocks Observed
================================

We don't know what the final number will be yet, but this semester has seen a record number of blocks observed!   Eric Depagne and Thea Koen passed the old record of 798 blocks on 3 October.  See how they celebrated the accomplishment of passing 800 observed blocks!
SALT Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/SATelescope
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SALT_Astro/status/650423292818550786


Laser Frequency Comb at SALT
============================

We have been fortunate to be approached by researchers from the University Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh, the Department of Photonics and Quantum Science, asking SALT to provide an on-sky test for their prototype laser frequency comb. These instruments provide an incredibly precise method to calibrate spectroscopy using tens of thousands of lines with well known wavelengths.  Currently, only HARPS at ESO is equipped with such an instrument, and with such a calibrator it regularly delivers precision down to a few cm/s.

The frequency comb is expected to be installed on the telescope for a three month period and provide HRS with a high stability calibration source. It will be installed, commissioned and tested as soon as it arrives in January 2016, and will be available for HRS science during the second quarter of 2016. For more information, and if you have ideas of how to make use of the capability on HRS in this limited time period, please contact us at salthelp@salt.ac.za.


SALT polarimetry update
=======================

The RSS polarimetry beamsplitter was returned to its US manufacturer in 2013 after problems were discovered with leaking coupling fluid. An alternative coupling "gel" was used in the repair and the beamsplitter was successfully re-installed into RSS in June 2015. The recommissioning of the mechanical and electrical mechanisms and control software associated with the polarimetry mode has been ongoing over the past few months. As of October 2015, closed dome re-commissioning tests are almost complete. On-sky commissioning and calibrations are scheduled to begin in October/November 2015.  We hope some of the polarimetry modes will be ready to be advertised for the SALT 2016-1 Semester Call, but at this point we are not certain yet. We will keep users informed. For more information about RSS polarimetry, please send any queries to salthelp@salt.ac.za.


RSS Guider
===========

A new RSS guider project is progressing well with proof-of-concept hardware for the motion stage and stand-alone control system on its way and concept designs of all the major components under way. This new two-probe design will be able to deliver rotation guidance (which especially MOS mode users will appreciate) and automatic focus feedback (which the observers will greatly appreciate), while delivering significantly improved performance with much fainter stars, reaching the same V~20 mag in 15 sec sensitivity as the current FIF guider. It is expected to be ready for integration with the telescope towards the end of 2016.


Tracker Upgrade
===============

Last week, the telescope was taken offline for the installation of the new Y-drive motors. The installation went smoothly and the telescope was back online and in operation after only two nights of down time.  The final stage of the upgrade is expected to be carried out in April 2016 and will result in a much better performing and capable tracker for the telescope.   Congratulations to the TechOps team for successfully carrying out this major milestone!

Phase II updates for 2015-2

** As a reminder, the Phase II deadline is 23 October 2015 **


Tips for Creating your Phase II proposal
========================================

Tips for creating your phase II proposal:

When creating your phase II proposal for next semester, there is no need for you to retype all the maximum lunar phases you chose in your phase I proposal. You can instead use version 4.7 of the PIPT to copy the phase values, as described at the bottom of

http://astronomers.salt.ac.za/proposals/tips-and-tricks/

This new version of the PIPT is now available, and can be downloaded from

http://astronomers.salt.ac.za/software/

You don't have to use this version for submitting your proposal. However, if you are planning to use pools in your proposal, you'll at least have to update to version 4.6 of the PIPT.

If you are a Mac user and have upgraded to El Capitan already, you might notice that the PIPT GUI is rather wonky. This seems to be an issue with Java 6, and upgrading to Java 8 should solve the problem.


Fabry-Perot Status
==================

As already communicated to FP users directly, the coatings of the Medium Resolution MR etalon have unfortunately degraded resulting in significant loss of spectral resolution.  We have removed it from the telescope and are in the process of determining both costs and timescales for repairs - but we do not expect it will be returned to the telescope for several months.

On the positive side, LR is working well, and the HR etalon has been inserted and we are working to commission the dual etalon HR mode in November.  If this effects your program, please contact salthelp@salt.ac.za for more information.


New P4 Policy
=============

There is a new policy on P4 Blocks allowing any accepted program to enter P4 targets to the queue, above their time allocation. These are to be used as filler targets in case we have nothing else available at a given time.  If you are unsure what it means, first read the bits about P4 time in the Intro and Section 11.4 of the http://pysalt.salt.ac.za/proposal_calls/current/ProposalCall.html and discuss with your Liaison Astronomer. Note that using optional targets in pools is more useful in general.


Block Probability
=================

Before the 2015-2 Semester starts, there will be a new 'Block Probability' number on the Web Manager attached to each active  Phase II block.  The intention is to indicate roughly the chances of a block getting done.  The number takes into account Moon phase and Seeing constraints, the 'Observability' i.e. how tight the requested track is within its visibility window, and Competition from all other Blocks in that same window taking into account their Priorities.  Note that in case of multiple visits the number refers to the binomial probability of finishing *all* the requested visits taking into account the available tracks over the semester.

The system is live, so you can see the effects when e.g. changing seeing and lunar phase constraints.  It also means that the numbers before at least the great majority of Phase II blocks are active do not mean much since the competition calculation will be unrealistic.

Disclaimer: This is our first stab at providing this functionality and
it may still contain bugs. Please let us know if you think your nubmers
are showing anomalous behaviour.

Night Log 2015-10-14

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


=> No any observations because weather.

Night Log 2015-10-13

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Alexei, Ivan

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- We were only able to observe the first half of the night before we were forced to closed due to high humidity. Spent the rest of the night doing engineering tests.

- We obtained data for the follow programs:

2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-065 P3 RSS (x2) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-027 P4 RSS (x2) (Kinematics of Bulge Miras)

Night Log 2015-10-12

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- Had another productive night with good seeing for most of the night. The seeing went up at the end of the night. Had no tech issues tonight.

- Obtained data for the following programs:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (x3) (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-039 P1 RSS (DIBs in emission)
2015-1-SCI-071 P1 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)
2015-1-SCI-065 P3 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)

Night Log 2015-10-11

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Garith

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- Had clear weather and a productive night with minimal issues.

- Obtained data for:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-046 P2 RSS (Redshift determination of newly confirmed galaxy clusters)
2015-1-SCI-065 P2 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-071 P2 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)

Night Log 2015-10-10

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Garith

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- Had some interesting weather conditions tonight. Wind speed was low and the humidity was highly variable. Seeing was good for most of the night.

- Got data for the following programs:
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-DDT-007 P1 HRS (AGB star in NGC6822)
2015-1-SCI-065 P2 RSS (x2) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-053 P3 RSS (Multi-wavelength classification of unidentified Blazar-like Fermi-2LAC catalogue sources)
2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)

Night Log 2015-10-09

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Garith

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- A clear night with good seeing. Could not take full advantage of the conditions due to a strong wind which affected mirror alignments. Had some technical issues as well.

- Obtained data for the following programs:
2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-065 P2 RSS (x2) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-035 P2 RSS (Spectroscopy of ACT mm-band selected sources and clusters)
2015-1-SCI-021 P3 RSS (Connecting QSO absorption line systems with the associated galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-053 P3 RSS (Multi-wavelength classification of unidentified Blazar-like Fermi-2LAC catalogue sources)

Night Log 2015-10-08

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Garith, Eben and Keith

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- The tracker is still out of commission. Did not observe tonight.

Night Log 2015-10-07

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Garith

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- The tracker Y-drive upgrade is still in progress. Did not observe tonight.

Night Log 2015-10-06

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others: Paul

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A rather productive night, despite some technical difficulties here and there during the night.
We could observe the following programs :
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-006 P1 SCAM (Dark energy and the expansion rate of the Universe from quasar monitoring.)
2015-1-SCI-030 P2 RSS (Compact star clusters near optical centers of dwarf galaxies)
2015-1-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-1-SCI-065 P2 RSS (x2) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 RSS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)
2015-1-SCI-053 P3 RSS (Multi-wavelength classification of unidentified Blazar-like Fermi-2LAC catalogue sources)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (x2) (We aim to study a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)

Night Log 2015-10-05

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A very productive night. We could observe all night long, with no problem at all.
Mostly high priority programs, and we finished the night with a lower priority program.
We gathered data for:
2015-1-SCI-070 P1 HRS (x2) (High resolution spectroscopic abundance measurements of RGBs in NGC 6681 (M70))
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (x3) (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-033 P1 RSS (Testing a new method to discover peculiar extragalactic binary stars)
2015-1-SCI-006 P1 RSS (Dark energy and the expansion rate of the Universe from quasar monitoring.)
2015-1-SCI-013 P2 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (We aim to study a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)

Night Log 2015-10-04

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A fairly productive night.
High winds prevented us from opening at the beginning of the night, but then, all went smoothly.
We could observe three high priority programs, all dedicated to observe newly discovered supernovae.

We gathered data for :
2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (x2) (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-013 P2 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-065 P3 RSS (x2) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)

Night Log 2015-10-03

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others: Petri and Minna to celebrate the 800th block

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A very good night. We could observe a lot of programs, and this has allowed us to pass for the first time above the 800 blocks observed in a semester (and the end of the semester is still 3 weeks away).

Have a look at our facebook/twitter webpages to see how we did celebrate that milestone!

We have obtained data for the following programs :

2014-2-MLT-002 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for new Supernova Remnants in the Small Magellanic Cloud)
2015-1-SCI-041 P1 RSS (Superwinds in luminous starburst galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-051 P2 RSS (Redshifts of gravitationally lensed arcs in El Gordo)
2015-1-SCI-065 P3 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)
2015-1-SCI-062 P4 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (x2) (We aim to study a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)

Night Log 2015-10-02

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


We could observe at the beginning of the night, but then, heavy clouds came and forced us to close.

We could observe the following programs:
2015-1-SCI-046 P3 SCAM (Redshift determination of newly confirmed galaxy clusters)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (We aim to study a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)
2015-1-SCI-027 P4 RSS (Kinematics of Bulge Miras)

Night Log 2015-10-01

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A relatively productive night, despite heavy clouds at the beginning of the night.
We could observe the following programs:

2015-1-SCI-037 P2 HRS (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-1-MLT-004 P4 RSS (Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-062 P4 SCAM (x2) (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (x3) (We aim to study a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)
2015-1-SCI-027 P4 RSS (x3) (Kinematics of Bulge Miras)

Night Log 2015-09-30

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Weather prevented us from opening.

Southern African Large Telescope reveals too large a black hole

The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), Africa’s most powerful eye on the sky, has been used to discover a supermassive black hole in the centre of a modest galaxy, SAGE0536AGN. All but the smallest galaxies are thought to harbour a black hole, but in this case the black hole was found to be thirty times more massive than what one would have expected for this size galaxy. It leaves scientists scratching their heads in pursuit of an explanation.

The presence of a black hole was suspected when the infrared emission from its dusty environs was discovered in 2009 using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Now, scientists from the United Kingdom SALT Consortium, Jacco van Loon from Keele University and Anne Sansom from the University of Central Lancashire used the SALT to take a spectrum of the galaxy. The spectrum showed emission at particular wavelengths related to hydrogen gas, but shifted to redder wavelengths than on Earth due to the large recession velocity of the galaxy, placing it at a distance from which light took 1.86 billion years to reach us. This already indicated that the central engine of the galaxy must be very luminous. The spread in wavelength of the hydrogen emission betrayed gas moving very rapidly in the strong gravitational field of the black hole, and from this the mass of the black hole was determined to be 350 million times that of the Sun. For comparison, this is a hundred times more massive than the black hole that lives in the centre of our own Milky Way. However, when they also measured the mass of the galaxy itself, from the absorption of light by heavier atoms, they were surprised to find the galaxy’s mass to be a mere 25 billion times that of the Sun, less than that of the Milky Way!

Says Jacco van Loon: “For a long time, scientists have been trying to explain the good observed relationship between the mass of the black hole and the mass of the galaxy host. Now they will need to start explaining how some systems can deviate so much from this relationship.”

Because the galaxy was only found by accident in the distant background of a survey meant to study a very nearby dwarf galaxy, surveys aimed at finding extragalactic supermassive black holes may have missed more systems like SAGE0536AGN. SALT may thus have opened a new window, and a new view of how galaxies and their central engines have grown over time.

An image of the galaxy SAGE0536AGN, from the Vista Magellanic Clouds survey. The galaxy is the elliptical object in the centre of the image. (Credit: Vista Magellanic Clouds survey)

Night Log 2015-09-29

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others: Chris, Eben, Eric, Mexican delegation

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Summary
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Extensive heavy clouds tonight. No observations possible.

Night Log 2015-09-28

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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A frustrating night with a lot of cloud. Managed to take data for:

2015-1-SCI-037 P2 HRS (x2) (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-1-SCI-045 P3 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae)
2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (x2) (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)

Night Log 2015-09-27

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others: Lunar eclipse!!

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Too humid to observe tonight. The lunar eclipse was magnificent!

Night Log 2015-09-26

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Night lost to bad weather.

Night Log 2015-09-25

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Mostly clear, bright night with around 2 arcsec seeing. Clouds rolled over around 2:30 forcing us to close.

Data taken for:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-028 P1 HRS (Looking for evidence of massive white dwarfs in symbiotic novae)
2015-1-SCI-037 P2 HRS (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-1-SCI-011 P3 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-045 P3 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae)
2015-1-SCI-005 P3 RSS (Time variability of emerging BAL QSOs.)

Night Log 2015-09-24

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others: evil brommers everywhere

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A rather busy bright clear night with mostly very good seeing. Some engineering data taken as well as data taken for:

2015-1-DDT-006 P1 RSS (DDT request)
2015-1-SCI-065 P1 RSS (x2) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-028 P1 HRS (Looking for evidence of massive white dwarfs in symbiotic novae)
2015-1-SCI-037 P2 HRS (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 RSS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)

Night Log 2015-09-23

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others: Elias for a short visit

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Summary
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A productive night with stretches of thin cloud at times and seeing mostly less than 2 arcsec.

2015-1-SCI-071 P1 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-038 P1 RSS (Determining galaxy group member redshifts )
2015-1-SCI-006 P1 SCAM (Dark energy and the expansion rate of the Universe from quasar monitoring.)
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (x3) (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-005 P3 RSS (Time variability of emerging BAL QSOs.)
2015-1-SCI-065 P3 RSS (x2) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (x2) (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)

Night Log 2015-09-22

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others: Elias and Sudhanshu

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Summary
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A frustrating night with a lot of regular thick clouds interrupting all attempts at observing during middle of night. Managed to get some data at start and end of night for:

2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-052 P2 RSS (Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs)
2015-1-SCI-013 P2 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 SCAM (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)

Night Log 2015-09-21

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others: Chris, Paul, Keith, Etienne, Johan

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Tracker rho drive repaired at start of night, then awful seeing for the rest of the night (routinely 3-5 arcsec). Still managed to take data for:

2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-065 P3 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)

Night Log 2015-09-20

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Rain and clouds early in the evening dissipated early on, resulting a productive night with seeing mostly below 2 arcsec and data taken for:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-038 P1 RSS (Determining galaxy group member redshifts )
2015-1-SCI-046 P1 RSS (Redshift determination of newly confirmed galaxy clusters)
2015-1-SCI-071 P1 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (x2) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-065 P2 RSS (x3) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-056 P2 RSS (Watching Pluto for changes in its spectrum as it rotates.)

Night Log 2015-09-19

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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A frustrating night with wind changes, poor seeing and later clouds that forced us to close early.

Data taken for:

2015-1-SCI-038 P1 RSS (Determining galaxy group member redshifts )
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-065 P3 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 HRS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)

Night Log 2015-09-18

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Windy night with high humidity and clouds hitting us early in the evening. Managed to do a block for one program before closing:

2015-1-SCI-017 P3 HRS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)

Then thick clouds and high humidity the rest of the night.

Night Log 2015-09-17

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others: Ted and visitors

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Summary
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Night lost to bad weather.

Night Log 2015-09-16

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Mostly clear for first half of night but with rapidly varying temperatures and humidity with mediocre seeing. Closed soon after midnight due to ridge cloud.

Data taken for:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)

Night Log 2015-09-15

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Brent, Enrico

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Sub-arcsec seeing through scattered clouds at the start of the evening. It cleared around midnight and stable seeing continued, leading to a productive night. We especially gave attention to the UNC program involving a student thesis.


Data taken for:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-025 P1 RSS (Trying to confirm existence of new dwarf Galaxy )
2015-1-SCI-005 P1 RSS (Time variability of emerging BAL QSOs.)
2015-1-SCI-065 P2 RSS (x7) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)

Night Log 2015-09-14

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Enrico

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Scattered thunder showers kept us closed.

No data taken.

Night Log 2015-09-13

SA: Marissa
SO: Fred
Others: Enrico, Keith & Eben

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Summary
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A challenging night of observing through a uniform haze of thin high cloud. Technical difficulties at the start of the night and also toward the end, limited science time.

Data taken for:

2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-054 P2 RSS (Tracing the merger histories of luminous red galaxies as a function of their environment)
2015-1-SCI-071 P2 RSS (Observing candidate Lyman Alpha Nebulae at z~2)

Night Log 2015-09-12

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- Did not open due do cloudy and humid conditions

Night Log 2015-09-11

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- It wasn't a productive night at the telescope. We closed for a while due to high humidity. Opened a while later to cloudy conditions which made observations difficult. Attempted a number of observations but only managed to get data for the following programs:

2015-1-SCI-065 P1 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2014-2-MLT-001 P2 RSS (Study of the evolution of lenticular galaxies.)

Night Log 2015-09-10

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- Attempted an observation at the start of the night, but clouds and high humidity forced us to close early. Did not open again.

Night Log 2015-09-09

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- Did not open tonight due to bad weather conditions.
- No data taken

Night Log 2015-09-08

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Fred

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- Stable weather conditions and no technical issues made for a very productive night. The average seeing was around 1.5''.

- Obtained data for the following programs:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-MLT-004 P0 RSS (Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-065 P1 RSS (x4) (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-041 P1 RSS (Superwinds in luminous starburst galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-054 P2 RSS (Tracing the merger histories of luminous red galaxies as a function of their environment)
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 SCAM (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (We aim to study a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)

Night Log 2015-09-07

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Keith

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Summary
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- Rainy and wet conditions meant no data was taken tonight.

Night Log 2015-09-06

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- Did not observe tonight due to a technical problem with the tracker.
- No data taken.

Night Log 2015-09-05

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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Tracker still off-line.

No data taken.

Night Log 2015-09-04

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others: Paul Rabe, Timmy, Thabelo (&Jnr), Luke Tyas (and 26 UCT students in afternoon)

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Summary
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Entire night lost to tracker being offline.

No data taken.

Night Log 2015-09-03

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others: Thabelo

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


We add just enough time to do a DDT ToO at 20:30 (which was activated 18:40) before we had to close for high humidity.

Data taken for:

2015-1-DDT-005 P0 RSS (Possible counterpart of an X-ray and a neutrino detection )

Night Log 2015-09-02

SA: Marissa
SO: Thea
Others: Enrico

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Summary
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Ice cold, high humidity night with dense fog.

No data taken.

Night Log 2015-09-01

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others: Marissa, Enrico, Ockert

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Summary
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We could observe only half a target this night, before the weather forced us once again to close, and we could not open again during the night.

Night Log 2015-08-31

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Could not observe anything tonight, weather prevented us from opening.

Night Log 2015-08-30

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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We could not open at all tonight, the weather (rain and humidity) prevented us to do so.

No data obtained tonight.

Night Log 2015-08-29

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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We could only obtain calibration data at the very beginning of the night, and then, weather forced us to close for the whole night.

Night Log 2015-08-28

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others: Kai and Linda for a visit.

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Summary
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A relatively good night. We were closed part of the night because of high humidity, but we could then open around 22:00. Clouds prevented us from observing for the rest of the night, but we could get data for the following programs :

2015-1-SCI-002 P1 HRS (Determining the distances to massive dusty stars that may be emitting microwave lasers)
2015-1-SCI-028 P1 HRS (Looking for evidence of massive white dwarfs in symbiotic novae)
2015-1-SCI-011 P2 RSS (Searching the Milky Way for symbiotic stars)
2015-1-SCI-062 P4 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions)
2015-1-SCI-059 P4 RSS (Long term monitoring of the SMC LBV S18 and LMC sgB[e] star S134)
2015-1-SCI-027 P4 RSS (Kinematics of Bulge Miras)

Night Log 2015-08-27

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


No observations tonight.

Night Log 2015-08-26

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others: Nimrod on the phone

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Weather prevented us to observe for the largest part of the night.
We could obtain data for the following programs:

2015-1-SCI-017 P3 HRS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)
2015-1-SCI-027 P4 RSS (Kinematics of Bulge Miras)

Night Log 2015-08-25

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Rajin, Eric, Timmy and Etienne

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Quite a frustrating night. Weather was great, clear with good to excellent
seeing. Several technical difficulties were encountered though, so could
observe only part of the night. During those times data were taken for:

2015-1-MLT-002 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-1-SCI-013 P2 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 HRS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)
2015-1-SCI-016 P3 RSS (RINGS: The RSS Imaging spectroscopy Nearby Galaxy Survey)
2015-1-SCI-036 P3 HRS (Metal abundance of extremely metal poor candidates with high S/N and high resolution spectra.)
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 RSS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)

Night Log 2015-08-24

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Rajin

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


A fabulous clear night with stable 1.5-1.7" seeing, occasionally even better.
No problems either until 4 am, when lost some time to tech issues but could
still continue observing until dawn. Science data gathered for:

2015-1-SCI-063 P0 RSS (SALT follow-up of type Ia supernovae to study their properties at targeted redshifts)
2015-1-SCI-065 P1 RSS (FP Halpha kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (x3) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-056 P2 RSS (x2) (Watching Pluto for changes in its spectrum as it rotates.)
2015-1-SCI-005 P3 RSS (Time variability of emerging BAL QSOs.)
2015-1-SCI-036 P3 HRS (Metal abundance of extremely metal poor candidates with high S/N and high resolution spectra.)
2015-1-MLT-002 P3 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 SCAM (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)
2015-1-SCI-046 P3 SCAM (Redshift determination of newly confirmed galaxy clusters)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (x2) (Study of a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)

Night Log 2015-08-23

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Rajin

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Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


First part of the night lost to spectacular thunder and lightning. But it then
cleared up and last hours of the night were spent on science, finally.
In fact doubled the number of science blocks taken during our week..
Data for:
2015-1-SCI-013 P1 HRS (x4) (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds )
2015-1-SCI-053 P3 RSS (Multi-wavelength classification of unidentified Blazar-like Fermi-2LAC catalogue sources)
2015-1-SCI-017 P3 RSS (Observations of evolved massive stars revealed with Spitzer and WISE)

Night Log 2015-08-22

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Rajin

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


No science observations, could not open due to thick clouds and rain
later. But night full of calibrations for the RSS spectrograph.

Night Log 2015-08-21

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Rajin, Eric on phone

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Most of the night lost to humidity again. But got a few science blocks done
before closing:
2015-1-SCI-018 P2 HRS (Accretion in Young Binary Star Systems)
2015-1-SCI-016 P3 RSS (RINGS: The RSS Imaging spectroscopy Nearby Galaxy Survey)
2015-1-SCI-045 P3 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (studying candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)

Night Log 2015-08-20

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Rajin

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Night lost to high humidity again. Managed just spectroscopic standards
after opening and aligning. No science data taken.

Night Log 2015-08-19

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Rajin

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Nearly the full night lost to high humidity and ridge cloud. Got two
science blocks done right in the beginning, and then the rest of the
night spent on closed-dome calibrations. Data for:

2015-1-SCI-053 P3 RSS (Multi-wavelength classification of unidentified Blazar-like Fermi-2LAC catalogue sources)
2015-1-SCI-012 P3 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))

Night Log 2015-08-18

SA: Paul
SO: Veronica
Others: Keith, Petri, Rashin

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- Attempted one science program before we close due to clouds and high humidity.

- No science data taken.

Night Log 2015-08-17

SA: Paul
SO: Veronica
Others:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary
----------------------------------------------------------------------


- A long night at the telescope. We had stable seeing conditions of around 1.5'' even though we had thin cirrus the whole night. Technical issues prevented us from taking full advantage of the weather conditions.

- We obtained data for the following programs:

2015-1-SCI-018 P0 HRS (Accretion in Young Binary Star Systems)
2015-1-SCI-021 P1 RSS (Connecting QSO absorption line systems with the associated galaxies)
2015-1-SCI-041 P1 RSS (Superwinds in luminous starburst galaxies)
2015-1-MLT-002 P2 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2015-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (x2) (We aim to study a number of candidate ultracool objects, which should include new brown dwarfs.)