Sunday, January 31, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-30

SA: Alexei
SO: Veronica
Others: Ivan, Yulia and Tamara for a while. Petri with family during evening.

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Summary
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=> Very good night at the beginning, where at the end seeing started to be very bad. Otherwise, clear and photometric.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-MLT-004 P1 RSS (x2) (Unraveling ring galaxies)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-063 P3 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions)
2015-2-SCI-030 P3 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-043 P4 RSS (x8) (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-29

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

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Summary
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=> Clear and stable night with good enough seeing.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-2-SCI-063 P3 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions)
2015-2-SCI-009 P3 HRS (x2) (Searching for circumbinary planets)
2015-2-SCI-028 P3 SCAM (Confirmation and redshift determination of galaxy clusters)
2015-2-SCI-018 P3 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2015-2-SCI-030 P3 RSS (x2) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-043 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)

Friday, January 29, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-28

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

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Summary
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=> Very stable night with clear sky and good seeing.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-2-MLT-004 P1 RSS (Unraveling ring galaxies)
2015-2-SCI-054 P1 HRS (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-030 P3 RSS (x3) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-007 P3 RSS (x2) (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )
2015-2-SCI-056 P3 HRS (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)
2015-2-SCI-009 P3 HRS (Searching for circumbinary planets)
2015-2-SCI-043 P4 RSS (x3) (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-27

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

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Summary
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=> Full night of observations. Clear sky, but seeing increased drastically during first half of the night and goes down after while.

=> Data were taken for the following programs:
2015-2-MLT-001 P0 RSS (Followup spectroscopy of transients)
2015-2-SCI-054 P1 HRS (Exploring the limits of HRS for measuring Exoplanet Radial Velocities)
2015-2-MLT-006 P1 RSS (Characterising Strong Gravitational Lensing systems)
2015-2-SCI-019 P2 RSS (x2) (Searching for binaries in unusual central stars of planetary nebulae )
2015-2-SCI-007 P2 RSS (x3) (Spectroscopic classification of pulsating stars. )
2015-2-SCI-030 P3 RSS (x2) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-038 P3 HRS (Study of evolution in outflows from outburst)
2015-2-SCI-056 P4 HRS (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)
2015-2-SCI-043 P4 RSS (x3) (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-26

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Anastasia

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Summary
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Thick clouds at the start of the night. But then.. the clouds parted at around 10:30ish and the sky looked beautiful!!! Sadly, it didn't last. The relative humidity shot up and forced us to close at midnight without completing a long block. So, only one short P4 block to show for the WHOLE WEEK! Not a happy SALT astronomer.

And the winner is:

2015-2-SCI-043 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables) - Congratulations! ;)

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-25

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Anastasia

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Summary
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Another entire night lost to fog. No science data taken.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-24

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Anastasia

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Summary
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Another night lost to bad weather.
Oh the plus side, T=the weather forecast is good for tomorrow night - toes crossed!

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-23

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Yet another night of rain and fog. If it keeps on like this, we're going to have to swim to the telescope!
So.. no science data taken tonight either.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-22

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Anastasia

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Summary
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Horrible weather tonight - rainy and foggy - I'm even wearing winter clothes!! :o
Needless to say, no science data taken.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-21

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Anastasia

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Summary
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Cloudy and humid conditions with some rain. No science data taken tonight.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-20

SA: Encarni
SO: Veronica
Others: Anastasia

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Summary
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Entire night lost to humidity, clouds and general bad weatherness. No science data taken.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-19

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Encarni

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Summary
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- We were closed at the beginning of the night due to clouds. Opened up and observed until we had to close due to high humidity.

- Obtained data for the following programs:

2015-2-SCI-018 P1 HRS (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-030 P3 RSS (x3) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2015-2-SCI-043 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)
2015-2-SCI-056 P4 HRS (Tracing the chemical history of our galaxy)

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-18

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- Had a short amount time available for science. We were closed most of the night due to clouds.

- Obtained data for:
2015-2-MLT-001 P0 RSS (x2) (Followup spectroscopy of transients)

Monday, January 18, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-17

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- Another night lost to high humidity and clouds.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-16

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- Had rain at the start of the night. The rain abated, but it remained cloudy for the rest of the night.
- No data taken.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-15

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- High humidity kept us closed the whole night. No data taken.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Night Log 2016-01-14

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- Did not open due to high humidity and cloudy conditions.