MDM Observatory 2.4m Telescope Observer's Report for 2002 Nov 15

Observer(s): Zosia Krusberg
Institution(s): Dartmouth College

Instrument: Echelle

Worked for 7 hours (first half of the night)
Conditions were Mixed most of the night.
Problems were encountered, see the separate trouble report for details.

Seeing and Weather:
   High Winds from 22:00 until 3:30.
   Beg: Seeing 1.3 arcsec, Clear, Winds Moderate
   Mid: Seeing >2 arcsec, Clear, Winds High, 35 mph
   End: Seeing >2 arcsec, Patchy Clouds, Winds Calm

Observing Summary:

Sky looked great until around 11 when there was a steady wind 
of around 25 mph with regular gushes of 35-40 mph, making guiding
impossible.  I closed the dome for an hour and a half until the 
wind subsided.  Was able to take some exposures (albeit with 
high seeing) for about an hour until 30 mph winds hit again,
preventing good observations, at which point I closed the dome 
again.  At the very end of the night we got some clouds so I 
decided to close down relatively early at 5:00.

Yesterday's noises were definitely not wind related.  However, it
became fairly obvious from tonight's observations that the noises 
seemed to happen whenever telescope was at an hour angle between
-4 and 0 (roughly).  The noise doesn't happen when telescope is 
moving. The noise is often accompanied by a drift in RA (usually of 
about 10m).


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Submitted on 2002 Nov 16 [5:40:47]