Friday, March 31, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-30

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Started out with good seeing but deteriorated later with rather thick patches of cloud.

Data taken for:

2016-1-MLT-007 P0 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2016-2-LSP-001 P0 RSS (Observing optical counterparts of transient objects)
2016-2-SCI-038 P2 RSS (x2) (Identifying galaxies in massive clusters in the early Universe)
2016-2-SCI-034 P3 HRS (x3) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)
2016-2-SCI-035 P3 RSS (Unveiling powerful hidden black holes: spectroscopy of WISE-selected obscured quasars)
2016-2-SCI-001 P3 HRS (Measuring the masses of the stars in an eclipsing binary system.)
2016-2-SCI-027 P3 RSS (Lya halo around RLQSOs.)
2016-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-29

SA: Brent
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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A warm dark night with very good seeing of mostly 1-1.5 arcsec. Data taken for:

2016-2-LSP-001 P0 RSS (Observing optical counterparts of transient objects)
2016-2-SCI-017 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-COM-001 P1 RSS (Polarimetry test proposal)
2016-2-SCI-002 P2 HRS (x2) (High resolution spectroscopic abundance measurements of RGBs in NGC 6584 and NGC 7099)
2016-2-SCI-038 P2 RSS (x4) (Identifying galaxies in massive clusters in the early Universe)
2016-2-SCI-034 P3 HRS (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)
2016-2-SCI-021 P3 RSS (Line profile variations in PKS 1020-103)
2016-2-SCI-047 P4 RSS (Monitoring the line emission in Southern Galactic Be/X-ray binaries)

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-28

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others: Brent, Petri

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Summary
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The telescope was back online tonight, and we could observe a lot of high priority programs.
We spent the first two hours of the night checking that everything was working, and we could confirm that it did.
We have obtained data for:
2016-2-SCI-053 P0 RSS (Classification of possible supernovae)
2016-2-LSP-001 P0 RSS (x3) (Observing optical counterparts of transient objects)
2016-2-MLT-005 P1 HRS (Investigating the chemical composition of bright star beta Pic and its nearby circumstellar material)
2016-2-SCI-038 P2 RSS (x2) (Identifying galaxies in massive clusters in the early Universe)
2016-1-MLT-005 P2 RSS (x2) (Multi-slit spectroscopy of edge-on galaxies)
2016-2-SCI-017 P2 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-27

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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No observations tonight

Monday, March 27, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-26

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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No observations tonight

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-25

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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No observations tonight.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-24

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others: Janus, Chris, Ockert, Paul, Keith

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Summary
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No observations tonight. Weather and technical issues prevented us from gathering any science data.
We have taken some calibration data.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-23

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others: Janus, Eben, Paul, Ockert, Chris, Jonathan

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Summary
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No observations tonight. Weather and technical misbehaviours prevented us from opening.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-22

SA: �ric
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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Weather and technical problems prevented us from getting any observation tonight.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-19

SA: Rudi
SO: Fred
Others: Keith, Thabelo, Johan

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Summary
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The whole night was lost due to telescope technical errors.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-18

SA: Rudi
SO: Fred
Others: Thabelo, Janus (VNC), Deneys (VNC)

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Summary
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Technical downtime with the telescope and weather conditions prevented us from taking any data tonight.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-17

SA: Rudi
SO: Fred
Others: Thabelo (for the tracker issues)

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Summary
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A night that had everything. Really good weather at the start with sub arcsecond seeing, telescope technical errors in the middle and clouds towards the end.

Data taken for:

2016-2-SCI-023 P2 SCAM (Confirmation and redshift determination of galaxy clusters.)
2016-2-SCI-008 P2 HRS (Analyzing chemically peculiar subdwarfs and searching for the heavy-metal stars. )
2016-2-SCI-008 P4 HRS (Analyzing chemically peculiar subdwarfs and searching for the heavy-metal stars. )
2016-2-SCI-034 P4 HRS (x7) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)

Friday, March 17, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-16

SA: Rudi
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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Some technical problems prevented us from making full use of the excellent conditions tonight. We did manage to get some good data though.

Data taken for:

2016-2-SCI-057 P3 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions )
2016-2-SCI-018 P3 HRS (Spectral observations of B stars with the aim of deciphering their evolutionary paths. )
2016-1-MLT-002 P4 HRS (Analysis of metallicity gradient and local chemical composition heterogeneity in the Galactic disk)
2016-2-SCI-058 P4 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions )
2016-2-SCI-056 P4 HRS (The search for Black Holes in binaries that will eventually merge.)
2016-2-SCI-034 P4 HRS (x4) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-15

SA: Rudi
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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A really stable night with good seeing and almost perfect conditions.

Data taken for:

2016-2-MLT-005 P1 HRS (Investigating the chemical composition of bright star beta Pic and its nearby circumstellar material)
2016-1-MLT-006 P2 HRS (Orbital period search of possible binary system)
2016-1-MLT-007 P2 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2016-2-SCI-034 P3 HRS (x3) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)
2016-2-SCI-034 P4 HRS (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)
2016-2-SCI-008 P4 HRS (x2) (Analyzing chemically peculiar subdwarfs and searching for the heavy-metal stars. )
2016-2-SCI-056 P4 HRS (The search for Black Holes in binaries that will eventually merge.)
2016-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)
2016-2-SCI-047 P4 RSS (x2) (Monitoring the line emission in Southern Galactic Be/X-ray binaries)

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-14

SA: Rudi
SO: Fred
Others: Blain at start for a quick visit, Etienne for SPS error. Petri and the Swedish Delegation also visited.

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Summary
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A relatively frustrating night, with weather conditions on the limits for most of the night. We battled strong winds and clouds all night.

Data taken for:

2016-2-SCI-047 P4 RSS (Monitoring the line emission in Southern Galactic Be/X-ray binaries)

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-07

SA: Rosalind
SO: Veronica
Others: Etienne for cable wrap, Petri and Ted via Skype for FP, Simon briefly

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Summary
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We've come to the end of a completely clear week with decent seeing every night! Thanks Sutherland! :) Thanks very much to Veronica for all the long nights, to Etienne for coming up for the cable wrap tonight and Ted and Petri for joining for the FP observations.

Data taken for:
2016-2-SCI-017 P2 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-SCI-023 P2 SCAM (Confirmation and redshift determination of galaxy clusters.)
2016-2-SCI-027 P2 RSS (Lya halo around RLQSOs.)
2016-2-SCI-057 P3 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions )
2016-2-SCI-008 P3 HRS (Analyzing chemically peculiar subdwarfs and searching for the heavy-metal stars. )
2016-2-SCI-047 P4 RSS (Monitoring the line emission in Southern Galactic Be/X-ray binaries)
2016-2-SCI-034 HRS (2xP3, 1xP4) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-06

SA: Rosalind
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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A very productive night with no technical downtime and good seeing. Thanks tech team! Moving into bright time, so lower priorities, but also 3 P0s.

Data taken for:
2016-2-LSP-001 P0 HRS (Observing optical counterparts of transient objects)
2016-2-LSP-001 P0 RSS (Observing optical counterparts of transient objects)
2016-2-DDT-007 P0 HRS (Searching for dormant black holes in the LMC)
2016-2-SCI-034 HRS (P3x2, P4x2) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)
2016-2-SCI-021 P3 RSS (Line profile variations in PKS 1020-103)
2016-2-SCI-008 P3 HRS (Analyzing chemically peculiar subdwarfs and searching for the heavy-metal stars. )
2016-2-SCI-017 P3 RSS (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-SCI-018 P3 HRS (x2) (Spectral observations of B stars with the aim of deciphering their evolutionary paths. )
2016-2-SCI-007 P4 RSS (x3) (Looking at chromospheric emission in stars which host exoplanets)
2016-2-SCI-047 P4 RSS (Monitoring the line emission in Southern Galactic Be/X-ray binaries)

Monday, March 6, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-05

SA: Rosalind
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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A clear night with a mix of different priority science, mostly reasonable seeing increasing towards the end, and some technical issues. We had trouble with the guidance system tonight - see Veronica's screenshots. No trouble with the tracker on the high priority block at the start of the night :)

Data taken for:
2016-2-DDT-007 P0 HRS (Searching for dormant black holes in the LMC)
2016-2-SCI-017 RSS (P1x1,P2x1,P3x1) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-SCI-034 P3 HRS (x3, P4x1) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)
2016-2-SCI-018 P3 HRS (Spectral observations of B stars with the aim of deciphering their evolutionary paths. )
2016-2-SCI-009 P3 RSS (x2) (Spectroscopy of K2 White Dwarfs)
2016-2-SCI-046 P4 RSS (Monitoring the X-ray bright sgB[e] stars in Magellanic Clouds cc. @astro_Liz)

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-04

SA: Rosalind
SO: Veronica
Others: Petri and Ted via skype, Eben

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Summary
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Another clear productive night with good seeing. We had a few technical troubles but also had a good FP and P0. Please reset the etalon controller tomorrow, fix the cable wrap and look into the tracker error at the start of the night, which happened similarly a few weeks ago. Thanks to Eben for coming up and Petri and Ted for skyping in.

Data taken for:

2016-2-DDT-006 P0 SCAM (The nature of the eclipsing white dwarf WD1202-024)
2016-2-SCI-029 P1 RSS (x2) (A kinematic study of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas in the galaxy NGC 5775)
2016-2-SCI-010 P2 RSS (RINGS: The RSS Imaging spectroscopy Nearby Galaxy Survey)
2016-2-SCI-003 P2 HRS (Evolved binaries in the Magellanic Clouds)
2016-2-SCI-027 P2 RSS (Lya halo around RLQSOs.)
2016-2-SCI-057 P3 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions )
2016-2-SCI-017 RSS (P3 x2, P2 x1) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-SCI-009 P3 RSS (Spectroscopy of K2 White Dwarfs)
2016-2-SCI-058 P4 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions )

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-03

SA: Rosalind
SO: Thea
Others: Petri and Ted via VNC for FP, Tristan (UCT student), Etienne for slitmask error

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Summary
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Lovely stable seeing around 1" all night. We took a successful Fabry-Perot observation, a DDT P0 slotmode observation and a good mix of other science. Thanks to Ted, Petri and Etienne for their help.

Data taken for:
2016-2-DDT-006 P0 SCAM (The nature of the eclipsing white dwarf WD1202-024)
2016-2-SCI-010 P1 RSS (RINGS: The RSS Imaging spectroscopy Nearby Galaxy Survey)
2016-2-SCI-029 P1 RSS (A kinematic study of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas in the galaxy NGC 5775)
2016-2-SCI-009 RSS (P2x2, P3x2) (Spectroscopy of K2 White Dwarfs)
2016-2-SCI-017 RSS (P1x2, P2x1) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-SCI-058 P4 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions )

Friday, March 3, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-02

SA: Rosalind
SO: Veronica
Others: Petri and Ted via vnc for FP

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Summary
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A lovely clear night with good stable seeing. Unfortunately we couldn't get Fabry-Perot to cooperate, but otherwise a productive night of science.

Data taken for:

2016-2-SCI-029 P1 RSS (x2) (A kinematic study of extraplanar diffuse ionized gas in the galaxy NGC 5775)
2016-1-MLT-005 P1 RSS (Multi-slit spectroscopy of edge-on galaxies)
2016-2-SCI-009 P2 RSS (Spectroscopy of K2 White Dwarfs)
2016-2-SCI-017 P3 RSS (P1x1, P2x3, P3x1) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-SCI-035 P3 RSS (Unveiling powerful hidden black holes: spectroscopy of WISE-selected obscured quasars)

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Night Log 2017-03-01

SA: Rosalind
SO: Veronica
Others: Etienne for cable wrap connection error

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Summary
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A fairly productive start to the week, with mostly reasonable seeing. Some technical trouble with the waveplate detente again, resulting in both science and sky polarimetry blocks rejected, and some technical downtime for loose wires connecting to the cable wrap. Thanks very much to Etienne for coming up!

Data taken for:

2016-2-SCI-051 P1 RSS (Measuring galaxy redshifts for the MeerKAT Laduma survey.)
2016-2-SCI-017 P1 RSS (x2) (Searching for high redshift quasars for the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (MALS))
2016-2-MLT-005 P1 HRS (Investigating the chemical composition of bright star beta Pic and its nearby circumstellar material)
2016-2-SCI-009 P2 RSS (x2) (Spectroscopy of K2 White Dwarfs)
2016-2-SCI-021 P2 RSS (Line profile variations in PKS 1020-103)
2016-2-LSP-001 P3 RSS (Observing optical counterparts of transient objects)
2016-2-SCI-034 P3 HRS (x2) (Searching for evolved binary stars with long orbital periods)
2016-2-SCI-058 P4 SCAM (Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions )
2016-2-SCI-007 P4 RSS (Looking at chromospheric emission in stars which host exoplanets)

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Night Log 2017-02-28

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Ros and Veronica for handover

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Summary
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Battled with thick clouds most of the night, but did get some (shortish)
observations in the bag through more patchy bits. Data for:

2016-2-SCI-009 P2 RSS (x2) (Spectroscopy of K2 White Dwarfs)
2016-1-MLT-002 P3 HRS (Analysis of metallicity gradient and local chemical composition heterogeneity in the Galactic disk)
2016-1-MLT-002 P4 RSS (Analysis of metallicity gradient and local chemical composition heterogeneity in the Galactic disk)
2016-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic observations of bright RR Lyrae variables)
2016-2-SCI-047 P4 RSS (x2) (Monitoring the line emission in Southern Galactic Be/X-ray binaries)