MDM Observatory 2.4m Telescope Observer's Report for 2008 Aug 19

Observer(s): Jules Halpern
Institution(s): Columbia U.

Instrument: Templeton

Worked for 9.5 hours (all night)
Conditions were Photometric most of the night.
No equipment or software problems were encountered.

Seeing and Weather:
   Beg: Seeing 1.0 arcsec, Clear, Winds Light & Variable
   Mid: Seeing 1.6 arcsec, Clear, Winds Light & Variable
   End: Seeing 1.2 arcsec, Clear, Winds Light & Variable

Observing Summary:

It's not poetry, but . . .

Tonight there was not a single asynchronous read in
1300 exposures!  I am conducting an essay contest
with prizes for the best explanation why.  First
prize will be dinner at an exclusive restaurant on
a spectacular mountaintop in southern Arizona.
Second prize will be night lunch.
   Entries must be received by 3:55pm MST on Friday so
that the observatory staff can attend the award ceremony.
MDM observers and staff, their spouses or children,
and anyone else who has downloaded fits files from the
internet, are not eligible for an award.

   Next week's contest will be a lottery: Predict
on what day and time the 2-inch shutter will fail
due to metal fatigue, and win a glossy DS9 photo of
your favorite superhumping cataclysmic variable
and its comparison star signed by Joe Patterson.
Don't know any CV's by name?  No problem.
You can chose the entire Digitized Sky Survey on
CD ROM instead, or the analog one on photographic paper.
SAO star catalog not included.  One entry per household.

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Submitted on 2008 Aug 20 [5:22:20]