MDM Observatory 1.3m Telescope Observing Report for 2026 Jan 08

Observer(s): John Thorstensen
Institution(s): Dartmouth

Instrument: Templeton direct

No Observing (see comments below)
Conditions were Mixed most of the night.
Problems were encountered, see the separate trouble report for details.

Seeing and Weather:
   High Humidity all night.

Observing Summary:

A wild night, starting with fog, heavy rain, high winds, and
some snow, with rapidly dropping temperatures.  But by about 1 AM
it was clear, and by 2:30 the humidity dropped past 85 per cent
and I opened.  The dark hatch had been left closed (wisely) so
I picked my way down over the icy driveways to open it, and
noticed the dome slit had apparently not quite opened all the
way - though I could have been mistaken.  I then went back to 
the 2.4m and once that was going tried to acquire the first 
target with the 1.3m. 

It didn't work.  The dome threw a  fatal follow error , and the 
camera showed it hadn't budged.  I figured it might be locked
in ice, and I wasn't going to solve it myself, so I closed back
up for the night. 

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Submitted on 2026 Jan 9 [3:57:21]