MDM Observatory 2.4m Telescope Observer's Report for 2006 Aug 31

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

Instrument: modspec + echelle CCD

Worked for 8 hours (most of the night)
Conditions were Mixed most of the night.
Problems were encountered, see the separate trouble report for details.

Seeing and Weather:
   Beg: Patchy Clouds, Winds Light & Variable
   Mid: Seeing 1 arcsec, Clear, Winds Light & Variable
   End: Seeing 1 arcsec, Clear, Winds Light & Variable

Observing Summary:

Spectacular cloudscapes at sunset generated by scattered Tstorms,
including a whopper about 30 mi to SW on Mexican border.  These
threw moisture into the upper atmosphere, forming clouds that were
carried over the observatory by a vigorous high-altitude SW flow -
very interesting-looking on the time-lapse satellite photos.  All
this dissipated enough to open by 9 PM, and by midnight it was
basically perfect.  Seeing was consistently very good, too.

Telescope tracking was intermittently problematic, see trouble 
report.  Negligible time lost.

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Submitted on 2006 Sep 1 [6:00:53]