SA: Zwidofhela SO: Veronica Others: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Strong wind bothered us during the first half of the night with wind speeds reaching 55 km/h but despite this we stayed open and managed to observe ten science blocks with different priorities. Science data taken for: 2026-1-SCI-019 P0 RSS (Understanding the nature of changing look AGNs) 2024-2-LSP-001 P2 RSS (Followup of Transients) 2024-2-LSP-002 P3 RSS (x2) (Pan-African AGN survey using SALT/IFS: tracing the properties of AGN and their host galaxies) 2026-1-SCI-014 P3 RSS (What galaxies cause odd radio circles (ORCs)?) 2026-1-SCI-018 P3 RSS (Measuring distances to the largest known radio galaxies to understand how black hole jets grow.) 2026-1-SCI-007 P3 RSS (Observations of Rare and Fast Transients and their Hosts) 2026-1-MLT-003 P4 RSS (x2) (RSS longslit observations of Hickson Compact Groups) 2026-1-MLT-007 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic study of BLAP candidates) ------------------------------------------------------------------------
SALT Astronomy
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Night Log 2026-10-13
SA: Alexei SO: Austun Others: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ => Stable dark time night with moderate and good seeing. Even with some technical problems we were able to observe seven blocks with five of them high priorities. Science data taken for: 2026-1-MLT-008 P1 RSS (Studying nearby starburst galaxies and LIRGs with the SALT IFU) 2026-1-SCI-015 P2 RSS (x2) (Investigation of activity among main-belt objects) 2024-2-LSP-002 P2 RSS (x2) (Pan-African AGN survey using SALT/IFS: tracing the properties of AGN and their host galaxies) 2026-1-SCI-008 P3 RSS (x2) (Determining mass of 2 Brown Dwarfs orbiting WD stars using Radial Velocities) ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Night Log 2026-10-12
SA: Alexei SO: Austun Others: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ => The night was lost with bad weather No science data taken. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, October 12, 2026
Night Log 2026-10-11
SA: Alexei SO: Austun Others: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ => Good dark night at the beginning finished with heavy clouds. We were closed by clouds after midnight, but observed many high priority blocks during first half. Science data taken for: 2026-1-SCI-010 P1 RSS (High cadence spectroscopy of white dwarf pulsar J191213-44) 2024-2-LSP-001 P1 RSS (x2) (Followup of Transients) 2024-2-LSP-001 P1 HRS (Followup of Transients) 2025-2-MLT-011 P3 RSS (Obtaining dynamical information and constraining galaxy cluster merger geometries and timescales) 2025-2-MLT-004 P3 HRS (Radial Velocity Monitoring and Atmospheric Parameters Study of Yellow Symbiotic Giants) 2025-2-MLT-001 P4 RSS (Toward a complete census of void galaxy properties in the Local Volume) ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, October 11, 2026
Night Log 2026-10-10
SA: Alexei SO: Austun Others: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ => Nice stable dark time night with very good seeing. Many high priority blocks were observed. Science data taken for: 2025-2-MLT-011 P0 RSS (x2) (Obtaining dynamical information and constraining galaxy cluster merger geometries and timescales) 2024-2-LSP-001 P0 HRS (Followup of Transients) 2026-1-SCI-021 P1 HRS (Charcaterizing eclisping binaries that have experienced unstable mass transfer) 2026-1-MLT-008 P1 RSS (Studying nearby starburst galaxies and LIRGs with the SALT IFU) 2026-1-SCI-015 P2 RSS (x2) (Investigation of activity among main-belt objects) 2024-2-LSP-002 P2 RSS (Pan-African AGN survey using SALT/IFS: tracing the properties of AGN and their host galaxies) 2025-2-MLT-002 P3 RSS (Study of ionized gas in star-forming dwarf ring galaxies) 2025-2-MLT-004 P3 HRS (Radial Velocity Monitoring and Atmospheric Parameters Study of Yellow Symbiotic Giants) 2025-2-LSP-001 P3 HRS (Defining a new chemically peculiar star catalogue) ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Night Log 2026-10-09
SA: Alexei SO: Austun Others: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ => Very stable dark night with very good seeing. Many high priority blocks were observed. Science data taken for: 2024-2-LSP-001 P0 RSS (Followup of Transients) 2025-2-MLT-011 P0 RSS (x3) (Obtaining dynamical information and constraining galaxy cluster merger geometries and timescales) 2026-1-SCI-010 P1 RSS (High cadence spectroscopy of white dwarf pulsar J191213-44) 2026-1-SCI-023 P1 RSS (Exploring accretion modes of GRGs to gain insights into their feedback mechanisms.) 2026-1-MLT-008 P1 RSS (Studying nearby starburst galaxies and LIRGs with the SALT IFU) 2024-2-LSP-002 P2 RSS (Pan-African AGN survey using SALT/IFS: tracing the properties of AGN and their host galaxies) 2025-2-MLT-002 P3 RSS (x2) (Study of ionized gas in star-forming dwarf ring galaxies) 2026-1-MLT-006 P4 RSS (Search for new Galactic symbiotic stars) 2026-1-SCI-011 P4 RSS (Optical spectroscopy of three stellar merger candidates) ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, October 9, 2026
Night Log 2026-10-08
SA: Alexei SO: Austun Others: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Summary ------------------------------------------------------------------------ => Good dark night with mostly stable weather and moderate and good seeing. Many high priority blocks were observed. Science data taken for: 2026-1-MLT-008 P0 RSS (x2) (Studying nearby starburst galaxies and LIRGs with the SALT IFU) 2024-2-LSP-001 P1 RSS (x2) (Followup of Transients) 2024-2-LSP-002 P2 RSS (Pan-African AGN survey using SALT/IFS: tracing the properties of AGN and their host galaxies) 2025-2-MLT-006 P2 RSS (Study of galaxy properties of galaxy group HIPASS 1059-09) 2025-2-MLT-002 P3 RSS (Study of ionized gas in star-forming dwarf ring galaxies) 2023-2-MLT-005 P4 RSS (Monitoring the activity of Be/X-ray binaries in the southern hemisphere) 2025-2-MLT-007 P4 RSS (Spectroscopic monitoring of a unique red (?) supergiant in the LMC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------