Thursday, July 31, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-30

SA: Encarni
SO: Thea
Others: Luke and Eric remotely to help with HRS

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Summary
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Beautiful, clear, stable and productive night.

Science data for:

2014-1-POL-001 P1 HRS (Searching for circumbinary planets)
2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 P1 RSS (x3) (Investigating the activity in the not-red-and-dead brightest cluster galaxies)
2014-1-HET_UC-001 P1 HRS (Searching for the Earth-mass planet around alpha Cen B)
2014-1-RSA_OTH-004 P2 RSS (Measuring dark matter in clusters using the brightest cluster galaxies)
2014-1-RSA_OTH-002 P3 RSS (x2) (Investigating the history of star formation in colliding galaxies.)

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-29

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others: Encarni, Solene

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Summary
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- a very long night of hit and miss. had to reject a number of observations due to various reasons. conditions were clear and photometric.

- obtained data for the following programs:

2014-1-RSA_OTH-018 P1 RSS (Tracing the History of the Dark Matter Substructures in Abell 3827)
2014-1-IUCAA_UW-001 P1 RSS (x2) (Probing the absorption line variability in quasar outflows)
2014-1-UNC-001 P1 RSS (Emission line kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies for tracing dark matter)
2014-1-UKSC-002 P1 HRS (High time resolution spectroscopic study of chemically peculiar Ap stars)
2014-1-RU-003 P2 RSS (Investigating the H alpha Emission of a Bow Shock in SN1006)
2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS (x2) (Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs)

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-28

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others: Martin for a little while. Ettienne

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Summary
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- It was a clear and photometric night with good seeing. We could not take advantage of the conditions unfortunately, had a number of technical issues.

- we managed to obtain data for the following programs:

2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 P1 RSS (x2) (Investigating the activity in the not-red-and-dead brightest cluster galaxies)
2014-1-RSA_OTH-018 P1 RSS (Tracing the History of the Dark Matter Substructures in Abell 3827)
2014-1-IUCAA_UW-001 P1 RSS (Probing the absorption line variability in quasar outflows)
2014-1-HET_OTH-001 P2 RSS (Follow-up spectroscopy of recently discovered supernova explosions)
2014-1-IUCAA_UKSC_RSA-001 P2 RSS (Studying X-ray binaries in supernovae)

Monday, July 28, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-27

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- did not open due to high humidity.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-26

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- Did not open due to rainy and wet conditions.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-25

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- Did not open tonight. Had strong winds, cloudy conditions and some snow.

Friday, July 25, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-24

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- opened for a short while at the beginning of the night, but had to close due to high humidity and strong winds.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-23

SA: Paul
SO: Fred
Others:

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Summary
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- a long and productive night. we had thin clouds for most of the night which interfered with our inefficiency in getting guidance set up quickly. the seeing was >2'' the whole night.

- obtained data for the following programs:

- 2014-1-AMNH-003 P1 SCAM [Studying the long-term behavior of classical novae after their eruptions]
- 2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS [Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs]
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-004 P2 RSS [Measuring dark matter in clusters using the brightest cluster galaxies]
- 2014-1-DC-006 P0 RSS [Classification of possible supernovae]
- 2014-1-DC-001 P2 HRS [Gravitational redshifts in planetary nebulae and white dwarfs and spectra of dwarf galaxies]
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-004 P2 RSS [Measuring dark matter in clusters using the brightest cluster galaxies]
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-003 x2 P1 RSS [Investigating the activity in the not-red-and-dead brightest cluster galaxies]

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-22

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others: Paul

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Summary
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Night started with some technical problems that prevented us for the first hour or so to observe. But then, they were solved, and we could observe quite a few programs.
We gathered data for the following programs :
2014-1-UW-001 P2 RSS [Measuring the metal content of GRB host galaxies]
2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS [Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs]
2014-1-HET-004 P2 RSS [magnetic activity in 3 Gyr M dwarfs]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-004 P2 RSS [Measuring dark matter in clusters using the brightest cluster galaxies]
2014-1-DC-003 P1 RSS [Ionized Gas Kinematics for CO-detected Obscured Quasars]
2014-1-RSA_UKSC-003 P4 RSS [Monitoring the spectrum of the Luminous Blue Variable S18]

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-21

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Quite productive night. Weather conditions were good : no clouds, no stong wind. Seeing not so good, but we could observe plenty of programs, both with HRS and RSS.
12 programs will receive data tomorrow morning (South African Time):
2013-2-RSA_RU_UC_UKSC_OTH-001 P3 RSS
2014-1-RSA-001 P3 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
2014-1-HET_UC-001 P1 HRS [Searching for the Earth-mass planet around alpha Cen B]
2014-1-HET_UC-001 P1 HRS [Searching for the Earth-mass planet around alpha Cen B]
2014-1-HET_OTH-002 P3 HRS [To determine if C enhanced Metal-poor stars without heavy element enhancement is due to binarity.]
2014-1-HET_OTH-002 P3 HRS [To determine if C enhanced Metal-poor stars without heavy element enhancement is due to binarity.]
2014-1-AMNH-006 P4 HRS [Determining the rotation rate of O stars in Wolf Rayet/ O star binary.]
2014-1-DC-001 P1 HRS [Gravitational redshifts in planetary nebulae and white dwarfs and spectra of dwarf galaxies]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
2014-1-RSA_RU_UC_UKSC_OTH-001 P2 RSS [SALT Study of Strong Gravitational Lenses Discovered by the Herschel Space Observatory]
2014-1-RSA_UKSC-003 P4 RSS [Monitoring the spectrum of the Luminous Blue Variable S18]
2014-1-UKSC-003 P2 RSS [Optical spectroscopy of star forming regions in N81, N88 and N113]

Monday, July 21, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-20

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Quite good night, with relatively good conditions.
Unfortunately, we had some technical problems that prevented us from observing all night long.

But we gathered data for the following programs:

2014-1-POL-001 P2 HRS [Searching for circumbinary planets]
2014-1-UKSC-001 P2 HRS [Detailed studies of rapidly varying A type stars]
2014-1-DC-001 P2 HRS [Gravitational redshifts in planetary nebulae and white dwarfs and spectra of dwarf galaxies]
2014-1-UW-004 P1 RSS [Determining galaxy group member redshifts ]

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-19

SA: Hannah
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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The humidity and the wind finally dropped for the second half of the night.

Data obtained for:
2014-1-HET_OTH-002 [Investigating the nature of the mysterious CEMP-no stars]
2014-1-UKSC-005 [Fundamental Properties of Peculiar Hot Subdwarfs]
2014-1-IUCAA_UKSC_RSA-001 [Characterizing X-ray binaries in Supernovae]
2014-1-RSA_UKSC-003 [Observational Constraints on the Nature of the Extreme Luminous Blue Variable S18]

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-18

SA: Hannah
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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No observations due to high humidity and strong winds.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-17

SA: Hannah
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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No observations tonight due to wild, wet & windy weather.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-16

SA: Hannah
SO: Veronica
Others: Paul R, David dB, Keith

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Summary
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Winds gusting up to 90 km/h tonight - didn't open the dome.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-15

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- was a very long and busy night. conditions degraded towards the end of the night. we closed a bit earlier due to strong winds and cloud

- we obtained data for the following programs:

- 2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS [Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs]
- 2014-1-RU-001 P2 RSS [Observations of supernovae, near and far.]
- 2014-1-RU_RSA-001 P3 RSS [RINGS: The RSS Imaging spectroscopy Nearby Galaxy Survey]
- 2013-2-AMNH-002 P4 RSS
- 2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
- 2014-1-RSA_UKSC-003 P4 RSS [Monitoring the spectrum of the Luminous Blue Variable S18]
- 2014-1-UKSC-003 P2 RSS [Optical spectroscopy of star forming regions in N81, N88 and N113]
- 2014-1-RSA_UKSC-003 P4 RSS [Monitoring the spectrum of the Luminous Blue Variable S18]

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-14

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: David

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Summary
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- No weather interruptions tonight, but we did experience a number of tech issues. The weather was clear and conditions photometric, the seeing was fair.

- we obtained data for the following programs:

- 2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS x3 [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
- 2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS x3 [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
- 2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 P3 RSS [Star formation histories of Pseudobulges.]
- 2014-1-IUCAA_UKSC_RSA-001 P3 RSS [Studying X-ray binaries in supernovae]

Monday, July 14, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-13

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: David

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Summary
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- congratulations to Germany for winning the soccer world cup!

- had clear and photometric conditions for most of the night. closed around 02:00 due to high humidity and opened up again at 04:30. forced to close just before twilight due the humidity.

- did some engineering observations and obtained data for the following programs:

- 2014-1-RSA-001 P3 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
- 2014-1-IUCAA-003 P2 RSS [Orbital studies of high mass X-ray binary IGRJ17544-2619]
- 2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS x2 [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
- 2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-12

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- We were closed for most of the night due to high humidity. Went on-sky just before 03:00. conditions were clear and photometric.

- obtained data for the following programs:
- 2014-1-HET_OTH-001 P2 RSS ["Follow-up spectroscopy of recently discovered supernova explosions"]
- 2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS x2 [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
- 2014-1-UKSC-003 P3 RSS [Optical spectroscopy of star forming regions in N81, N88 and N113]
- 2014-1-DC-001 P2 RSS [Gravitational redshifts in planetary nebulae and white dwarfs and spectra of dwarf galaxies]

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-11

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: David

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Summary
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- the night was spent doing mostly engineering observations. had some clouds at the start, but they moved off after 20:00. conditions were clear and photometric with good seeing. humidity shot up by 30% at the end of the night.

- obtained data for the following program:
- 2014-1-UNC-001 P2 RSS [Emission line kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies for tracing dark matter]

Friday, July 11, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-10

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others: Chris

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Summary
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- partly cloudy conditions made for a frustrating night. had to abort a couple of science observations due to the clouds. did some HRS engineering observations and attempted one HRS science program. Seeing measurements from the guide probe showed the seeing to be >2.5'' for most of the night.

- obtained data for the following programs:

- 2014-1-RSA_OTH_UKSC-001 P3 RSS [Long term monitoring of circumstellar disk in Be X-ray binaries]
- 2014-1-UKSC-001 P1 HRS [Detailed studies of rapidly varying A type stars]

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-09

SA: Paul
SO: Thea
Others:

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Summary
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- a cold, long productive night. had a couple of gaps in the schedule. had clear and photometric conditions, the seeing was mediocre, around 2.3'' for most of the night.

- obtained data for the following programs:

- 2014-1-RU-001 P0 RSS [Observations of supernovae, near and far.]
- 2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS x4 [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
- 2014-1-RSA-001 P3 RSS [PSRB1259-63 during the 2014 periastron passage]
- 2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 P3 RSS [Star formation histories of Pseudobulges.]
- 2014-1-IUCAA_RSA_OTH-001 P2 RSS [Star formation histories of Pseudobulges.]
- 2014-1-RSA_OTH-022 P0 RSS [Following the outburst of the unusual X-ray binary SXP1062.]
- 2014-1-IUCAA_UKSC_RSA-001 P2 RSS [Studying X-ray binaries in supernovae]

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-08

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others: Paul

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Summary
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Technical problem force us not to open tonight.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-07

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Quite a productive night. A bit of struggle in the middle of the night, due to humidity, but overall, a good night, with reasonnable seeing.
Data taken for:

2014-1-DDT-001 P1 RSS [Very strong X-ray outburst in HE 1136-2304]
2014-1-POL-004 P3 RSS [Spectra of faint Planetary Nebulae to study chemical composition.]
2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars] x2
2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS [Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs] x2
2014-1-UNC-001 P1 RSS [Emission line kinematics of RESOLVE galaxies for tracing dark matter]

Monday, July 7, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-06

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Weather was bad most of the night. When it was not, technical problems prevented us from completing the programs we started to observe.
But we could get partial data for one program:
2014-1-IUCAA_UW-001 : the program aims to obtain high signal to noise spectra of 14 Low Ionization Broad absorption line quasars spectra

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-05

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Entire night lost to weather : humidity, snow, wind, we got them all again!

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-04

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Entire night lost to weather.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-03

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others:

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Summary
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Night started without any clouds. Seeing was not so good, due to some strong winds.
Could get data for the following programs, before havintg to close due to a mechanical failure.
2014-1-DDT-001 P1 RSS [Very strong X-ray outburst in HE 1136-2304]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-02

SA: �ric
SO: Veronica
Others: Veronique

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Summary
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Night started with clouds. Then it cleared up, but the seeing was not so good.
Could get data for the following programs:
2014-1-IUCAA-001 P3 RSS [Optical preparatory survey for Cold HI 21-cm Absorption Line Survey (CHITALS)]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-018 P1 RSS ["Tracing the History of the Dark Matter Substructures in Abell 3827"]
2014-1-RSA_POL-001 P3 RSS [Searching the galaxy for new symbiotic stars]
2014-1-RSA_RU_UC_UKSC_OTH-001 P2 RSS [SALT Study of Strong Gravitational Lenses Discovered by the Herschel Space Observatory]

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Night Log 2014-07-01

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Eric, Veronique, Martin

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Summary
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Mostly cloudy night, managed only two successful blocks in slightly
better periods. At least they were high-priority ones including the first
successful Fabry-Perot block for a long time. Data for:
2014-1-RSA_OTH-019 P1 RSS [Observing Pluto -- rotationally resolved spectra]
2014-1-RSA_OTH-010 P1 RSS [Investigating the history of a core-less ring galaxy]

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Night Log 2014-06-30

SA: Petri
SO: Thea
Others: Martin

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Summary
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Started with cirrus and high winds, then cleared up for some time with
average seeing, but clouded totally before 4 am. Data a mix of
bright targets and more normal dark time science:

2014-1-RSA_OTH-012 P3 RSS [Deriving the mass of the central super-massive black hole in the core of active galaxies]
2014-1-RSA-005 P2 RSS [Determining the fraction of Luminous Red Galaxies in merging pairs]
2014-1-POL-004 P2 RSS [Spectra of faint Planetary Nebulae to study chemical composition.]
2014-1-DC-002 P2 RSS [Finding the redshift and ionization of WISE-selected QSOs]
2014-1-RSA-007 P3 RSS [Study the evolution of the Local Group Irregular galaxy.]
2014-1-RU-003 P2 RSS [Investigating the H alpha Emission of a Bow Shock in SN1006]
2014-1-RSA-003 P3 RSS [Studying brown dwarfs and the coolest stars] x2
2014-1-POL-004 P2 RSS [Spectra of faint Planetary Nebulae to study chemical composition.]