MDM Observatory 1.3m Telescope Observer's Report for 2002 Mar 10

Observer(s): Eric Miller
Institution(s): Michigan

Instrument: Echelle

Worked for 11 hours (all night)
Conditions were Mixed most of the night.
Problems were encountered, see the separate trouble report for details.

Seeing and Weather:
   High Winds from 12 am until dawn.
   Beg: Seeing 1.4 arcsec, Cirrus, Winds Moderate
   Mid: Seeing 1.5 arcsec, Clear, Winds Moderate
   End: Seeing ~2 arcsec, Clear, Winds High

Observing Summary:

The start of the night saw high thin cirrus, which moved out by 9 
pm MST.  Observing was fine until 12 am, at which point I was 
tracking my object into the northwest and the wind began to pick
up.  10-20 mph wind entering the slit from the northwest buffeted
the telescope and caused image smearing, even with guiding on.
Eventually the winds reached 20 mph sustained with gusts to 30
mph, at which point I switched to taking blank sky frames in the
east.  Pointing was much more stable with the slit pointing out
of the wind.

The highest sustained winds were 25-30, with no gusts above 35,
and subsided somewhat toward sunrise, so I didn't feel the need
to shut down early.  I found a trash can blown out onto the deck,
so things might have blown around a bit in the dome.

Had problems with network connection (no loss to observing) and
very brief power loss (no loss to observing there, either).
See the trouble reports.


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Submitted on 2002 Mar 11 [5:10:05]