MDM Observatory 2.4m Telescope Observing Report for 2009 Aug 29

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

Instrument: modspec+echelle CCD

Worked for 9 hours (most of the night)
Conditions were Mixed most of the night.
No equipment or software problems were encountered.

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

Observing Summary:


There was a lot of spotty, heavy high cloud at first, enough to
stop observing for a little while, but it cleared off quickly and
remained good all night (though it was probably never really 
photometric).  Seeing was good and became excellent in the last 
hour.  Light cirrus was prevalent at dawn.  

The telescope and instrument functioned well, but I've been 
noticing that the pointing seems to go stale during the night 
rather more quickly than I remember.  The telescope does keep
its pointing very well during the day -- if I re-zero the 
coordinates last thing, it hits the first star dead-on the 
next night.  So whatever is causing it (assuming the issue is
real and not my imagination) is triggered by the telescope 
actually moving, as it does all night

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Submitted on 2009 Aug 30 [5:56:08]