MDM Observatory 2.4m Telescope Observing Report for 2009 Jul 19

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

Instrument: modspec+echelle+Andor guide cam

Worked for 5 hours (most of the night)
Conditions were Mixed most of the night.
No equipment or software problems were encountered.

Seeing and Weather:
   Beg: Overcast, Winds Light & Variable
   Mid: Seeing 2 arcsec, Patchy Clouds, Winds Light & Variable
   End: Seeing 1 arcsec, Cirrus, Winds Calm

Observing Summary:

Continued work with the Andor camera assessing its suitability
as a guide camera.  It's looking good!  Also took spectra of
CVs.  

Night started cloudy with spectacular lightning far to north, 
but it gradually cleared after 10 PM.  Seeing was bad but 
improved to decent later in the night.

There was a thunderstorm in the afternoon which yielded a fair
amount of rain; coverage was pretty good, too.  There was no 
evidence at all of smoke or fire tonight, but at times there was
a smell similar to a doused campfire -- it looks like the fire
was pretty much extinguished by the rain. 

Speaking of smells,I was troubled by a faint putrid odor in the 
control room -- turned out there was a dead mouse in the trap 
under the agung monitor table, and it was getting pretty ripe.  
I took it out, but it left a pool of grossitude on the floor
next to the wall by the door to the outside.

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Submitted on 2009 Jul 20 [5:29:04]