SALT Astronomy
Thursday, February 5, 2026
Night Log 2026-02-04
SO: Austun
Others:
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Summary
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=> Night was lost due to bad weather. No any science data were taken.
No science data taken.
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Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Night Log 2026-02-03
SO: techops
Others: JC is the operator, Brian, Austun and Alexei (handover)
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Summary
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Clouds and humidity kept us closed tonight
No science data taken.
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Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Night Log 2026-02-02
SO: techops
Others: JC is the operator, E10 and Michael for basically everything!
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Summary
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We had a rather eventful evening, with detector failures, problems with the dome control software, and a close call as humidity levels approached the operational limits.
Science data taken for:
2025-2-MLT-010 P1 HRS (SA-China Exoplanet Collaboration PASTA)
2025-1-MLT-001 P2 RSS (x2) (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2025-2-LSP-001 P4 HRS (Defining a new chemically peculiar star catalogue)
2025-2-SCI-004 P4 HRS (x2) (observations of ssrAp stars)
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Monday, February 2, 2026
Night Log 2026-02-01
SO: techops
Others: JC is the SO, E10 (SDC)
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Summary
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We had another full night with some technical issues sprinkled in.
Science data taken for:
2025-1-COM-001 P1 HRS (HRS HS Commissioning )
2024-1-MLT-010 P3 HRS (Stellar Characterisation of Ariel mission targets: derivation of N and O abundances)
2025-2-SCI-003 P3 HRS (Cosmic dance of massive triple)
2025-2-SCI-009 P3 HRS (High resolution spectrocopy of Type II Cepheids)
2025-2-SCI-004 P3 HRS (x2) (observations of ssrAp stars)
2024-1-LSP-001 P3 NIR (x2) (Study of star formation quenching in post-starburst galaxies)
2025-2-SCI-018 P3 NIR (Near-infrared (and one optical) spectra of AGN)
2025-2-LSP-001 P4 HRS (x2) (Defining a new chemically peculiar star catalogue)
2020-1-MLT-008 P4 RSS (Obtaining redshifts for G4Jy sources - the brightest radio galaxies in the southern sky)
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Sunday, February 1, 2026
Night Log 2026-01-31
SO: techops
Others: E10 (tracker), Sunnyboy (NIRWALS), JC is the SO
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Summary
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We had some technical gremlins which made the night interesting, we managed to complete 12 blocks, among them a P0.
Science data taken for:
2024-2-LSP-001 P0 HRS (Followup of Transients)
2024-2-COM-002 P1 RSS (x2) (This is a commissioning proposal)
2025-1-MLT-001 P2 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2025-2-MLT-013 P3 RSS (Searching for double hydrogen-deficient stars)
2025-2-SCI-005 P4 HRS (Observing, how disc-atmosphere inhomogeneities are rotating around the forming star)
2020-1-MLT-008 P4 RSS (Obtaining redshifts for G4Jy sources - the brightest radio galaxies in the southern sky)
2025-2-LSP-001 P4 HRS (x4) (Defining a new chemically peculiar star catalogue)
2023-2-MLT-005 P4 RSS (x2) (Monitoring the activity of Be/X-ray binaries in the southern hemisphere)
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Saturday, January 31, 2026
Night Log 2026-01-30
SO: techops
Others: JC is the SO, Michael for mirror, E10 for HRS
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Summary
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WE had another full night with some technical issues, of which the majority was caused by a unexplained mirror burst.
Science data taken for:
2025-1-MLT-001 P0 RSS (x3) (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2025-2-SCI-003 P3 HRS (Cosmic dance of massive triple)
2025-2-SCI-018 P3 NIR (Near-infrared (and one optical) spectra of AGN)
2025-2-MLT-013 P3 RSS (Searching for double hydrogen-deficient stars)
2025-2-DDT-001 P4 RSS (Spectropolarimetry of NGC 1346 following its recent optical transition)
2025-1-MLT-004 P4 RSS (Near-UV and visible spectroscopy of the primitive asteroids)
2025-2-LSP-001 P4 HRS (x2) (Defining a new chemically peculiar star catalogue)
2020-1-MLT-008 P4 RSS (Obtaining redshifts for G4Jy sources - the brightest radio galaxies in the southern sky)
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Friday, January 30, 2026
Night Log 2026-01-29
SO: techops
Others: Ant, Shamiel (4 click move test), Moses for NIRWALS, E10 for TPC, JC is the SO
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Summary
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We had a full night with little technical downtime.
Science data taken for:
2024-2-LSP-001 P0 HRS (Followup of Transients)
2024-2-SCI-025 P2 HRS (Looking for proto hot Jupiters)
2025-1-MLT-001 P2 RSS (Observations of supernovae, near and far.)
2025-2-SCI-003 P3 HRS (x6) (Cosmic dance of massive triple)
2025-2-LSP-003 P3 RSS (Investigating the polarised nature of TeV-emitting blazars)
2025-2-SCI-018 P3 NIR (Near-infrared (and one optical) spectra of AGN)
2025-2-MLT-013 P3 RSS (Searching for double hydrogen-deficient stars)
2025-2-SCI-009 P3 HRS (High resolution spectrocopy of Type II Cepheids)
2025-2-LSP-001 P4 HRS (x3) (Defining a new chemically peculiar star catalogue)
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