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Night Reports 2020
In the tables below, Observing, Weather and Technical refer to time spent observing, time lost to bad weather, and time lost because of technical problems. Note that Observing includes time spent on calibration observations and, occasionally, scheduled on-sky test observations; Technical does not include scheduled downtime (e.g. for planned engineering work).
The Night Duty Officer estimates whether the night was photometric or non-photometric (spectroscopic) based on satellite imagery and SkyCam data obtained through the night. This is a qualitative assessment only and may not always be entirely accurate. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT, ON OCCASION, OBSERVATIONS REQUIRING PHOTOMETRIC CONDITIONS ARE ACQUIRED IN NON-PHOTOMETRIC CONDITIONS. Users should check the quality of their data carefully. Good, average and poor seeing refers to inferred zenith seeing of < 1.0 arcsec, 1.0-2.0 arcsec, and > 2.0 arcsec, respectively. Calima refers to a warm wind that occasionally blows over from the Sahara and brings a lot of fine dust forcing a shutdown to protect the optics.
SKYCAM MOVIES AND ATMOSPHERIC TRANSMISSION
Below we also provide links to Movies constructed from a sequence of optical images obtained with either SkyCam-A (covering the whole sky), SkyCam-T (now showing a 9 degree field centred on each target; was 21 deg pre-21 Oct) or SkyCam-Z (1 degree field). Images are obtained every minute or so throughout the entire night. These movies can usually be used to establish, qualitatively at least, how clear or cloudy a given night was. On bright nights (i.e. when the moon is up), the smaller-field camera's T and Z are often more useful than the full-sky camera A. Additional movies and still images are available from the Skycam Archive. Plots of SkyCamZ Zero Point data are also provided. Zero points here are defined with respect to APASS 10 < r < 13 with no colour term. These indicate to first order periods of thin or thick cloud. A clear night usually results in a flat distribution of ZP values, while thick cloud causes a dip in the ZP level. 'A', 'T' and 'Z' in the SkyCam columns refer to the camera from which the data were acquired.
June 2020
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 2 Jun | 0.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 | High humidity. IO:I offline. | - | - - - |
| 1 Jun | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/poor seeing. IO:I offline. | T | A T - |
May 2020
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 31 May | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. IO:I offline. | T | A T - |
| 30 May | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average seeing. IO:I offline. | T | A T - |
| 29 May | 5.3 | 1.8 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good seeing. Time lost due to cloud. IO:I offline | T | A T - |
| 28 May | 0.0 | 7.1 | 0.0 | Thick cloud. | T | A T - |
| 27 May | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. IO:I offline. | T | A T - |
| 26 May | 7.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. IO:I offline. | T | A T - |
| 25 May | 7.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average/good seeing. IO:I offline. | T | A T - |
| 24 May | 6.7 | 0.0 | 0.6 | Non-photometric. Seeing good. IO:I warmed-up so unavailable. | T | A T - |
| 23 May | 6.7 | 0.0 | 0.6 | Non-photometric. Seeing good. SYS ALERT interrupted observations. | T | A T - |
| 22 May | 7.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing average/poor. IO:I and Frodospec Blue unavailable. | T | A T - |
| 21 May | 7.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Seeing average. IO:I unavailable. | T | A T - |
| 20 May | 7.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Seeing good. | T | A T - |
| 19 May | 6.7 | 0.0 | 0.6 | Photometric. Average seeing. SYS ALERT interrupted observations | T | A T - |
| 18 May | 7.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Good to average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 17 May | 7.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-Photometric. Good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 16 May | 7.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Good Seeing. | T | A T - |
| 15 May | 7.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | Photometric, Good to Average seeing. Closed mid night erroneously due to bad DWSE reading. | T | A T - |
| 14 May | 0.0 | 7.5 | 0.0 | No Observing. High Humidity all night. | T | A T - |
| 13 May | 6.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average to poor seeing. | T | A T - |
| 12 May | 5 | 2.5 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. Closed for high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 11 May | 6.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. Closed for high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 10 May | 4.6 | 3.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. Closed for high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 9 May | 7.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 8 May | 7.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 7 May | 7.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 6 May | 7.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | Briefly closed for poor weather at start of the night. Non-photometric, average/good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 5 May | 5.4 | 2.4 | 0.0 | Photometric at start of night, closed for cloud later. good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 4 May | 7.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good/average seeing. Error with quicklook data transfer. | T | A T - |
| 3 May | 3.8 | 4.1 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing, rain and wind at start of night. | T | A T - |
| 2 May | 7.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, poor seeing. | T | A T - |
| 1 May | 7.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good seeing. | T | A T - |
April 2020
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 30 Apr | 7.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 29 Apr | 8.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 28 Apr | 7.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | Non-photometric with thin cloud at start of night. | T | A T - |
| 27 Apr | 0.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 | No observing due to bad weather/ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 26 Apr | 4.5 | 3.5 | 0.0 | Photometric. Good seeing. High Humidiy 2nd half of night. | T | A T - |
| 25 Apr | 5.5 | 2.6 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Good seeing. Humidity at end of night. | T | A T - |
| 24 Apr | 8.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 23 Apr | 0.0 | 8.1 | 0.0 | Closed all night due to high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 22 Apr | 2.5 | 5.6 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Good seeing. Cloud in second half of night. | T | A T - |
| 21 Apr | 8.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 20 Apr | 8.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Average-to-good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 19 Apr | 8.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Observed in average seeing in non-photometric conditions. | T | A T - |
| 18 Apr | 0.0 | 8.2 | 0.0 | No observing last night. | T | A T - |
| 17 Apr | 0.0 | 8.3 | 0.0 | No observing due to bad weather. | T | A T - |
| 16 Apr | 0.0 | 8.4 | 0.0 | No observing due to high humidity and low temperatures on site. | T | A T - |
| 15 Apr | 1.0 | 7.4 | 0.0 | Opened at beginning of night until humidity closed the observatory. | T | A T - |
| 14 Apr | 0.0 | 8.5 | 0.0 | Did not open due to bad weather. | T | A T - |
| 13 Apr | 0.0 | 8.5 | 0.0 | Did not open due to bad weather. | T | A T - |
| 12 Apr | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | No observing due to COVID-19 restrictions. | T | A T - |
| 11 Apr | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | No observing due to COVID-19 restrictions. | T | A T - |
| 10 Apr | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | No observing due to COVID-19 restrictions. | T | A T - |
| 9 Apr | 8.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 8 Apr | 7.7 | 0.9 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. High humidity at end of night. IO:I offline. | T | A T - |
| 7 Apr | 7.0 | 1.7 | 0.0 | Non-photometric with good seeing. Some high humidity at the end of the night. | T | A T - |
| 6 Apr | 8.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 5 Apr | 8.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 4 Apr | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | No observing due to COVID-19 restrictions. | - | - - - |
| 3 Apr | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | No observing due to COVID-19 restrictions. | - | - - - |
| 2 Apr | 0.0 | 8.8 | 0.0 | Thick high cloud, only observed during twilight. | T | A T - |
| 1 Apr | 8.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric with good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
March 2020
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 31 Mar | 8.5 | 0.0 | 0.4 | Non-photometric with good seeing. Science fold move failure. | T | A T - |
| 30 Mar | 8.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | Set photometric but some cloud arrived later on in the night. Average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 29 Mar | 0.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | Closed. Ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 28 Mar | 0.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | Closed. Ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 27 Mar | 0.0 | 9.1 | 0.0 | Closed. Ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 26 Mar | 0.0 | 9.1 | 0.0 | Closed. Ice risk. Cloudy. | T | A T - |
| 25 Mar | 0.0 | 9.2 | 0.0 | Closed. Ice risk. Weather monitor offline. | T | A T - |
| 24 Mar | 0.0 | 9.2 | 0.0 | Closed. Ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 23 Mar | 0.0 | 9.2 | 0.0 | Closed. Ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 22 Mar | 0.0 | 9.2 | 0.0 | Closed. Freezing fog. | T | A T - |
| 21 Mar | 2.5 | 6.8 | 0.0 | Photometric, Average Seeing. Closed for high Humidity 2nd part of night. | T | A T - |
| 20 Mar | 9.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Average to Good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 19 Mar | 0.0 | 9.3 | 0.0 | Closed. High Humidity. | T | A T - |
| 18 Mar | 0.0 | 9.3 | 0.0 | Closed. High Humidity. | T | A T - |
| 17 Mar | 9.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 16 Mar | 9.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 15 Mar | 0.0 | 9.4 | 0.0 | Closed all night due to high humidity and wind speed. | T | A T - |
| 14 Mar | 1.2 | 8.2 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/poor seeing. Closed for high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 13 Mar | 3.5 | 6.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Closed for cloud. | T | A T - |
| 12 Mar | 7.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Closed for cloud. | T | A T - |
| 11 Mar | 9.3 | 0.0 | 0.2 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Node reboot. | T | A T - |
| 10 Mar | 6.0 | 3.5 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average/good seeing. Closed for cloud. | T | A T - |
| 9 Mar | 9.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/poor seeing. | T | A T - |
| 8 Mar | 9.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | Non-photometric, poor seeing. Temporary fault with altitude node. | T | A T - |
| 7 Mar | 9.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 6 Mar | 9.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/poor seeing. | T | A T - |
| 5 Mar | 9.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. | T | A T - |
| 4 Mar | 3.5 | 6.2 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, cloud in first half of night. Average/good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 3 Mar | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average/good seeing. FRODOSpec offline. | T | A T - |
| 2 Mar | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. FRODOSpec offline. | T | A T - |
| 1 Mar | 8.8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric with average seeing. Some high humidity early on. FRODOspec offline. | T | A T - |
February 2020
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 29 Feb | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average/good seeing. FRODOspec offline. | T | A T - |
| 28 Feb | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 27 Feb | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 26 Feb | 9.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 25 Feb | 0.0 | 9.9 | 0.0 | Closed due to high calima. | T | A T - |
| 24 Feb | 0.0 | 9.9 | 0.0 | Closed due to high calima. | T | A T - |
| 23 Feb | 0.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 | Closed due to calima. | T | A T - |
| 22 Feb | 2.5 | 7.5 | 0.0 | Variable seeing at beginning of night followed by high calima. | T | A T - |
| 21 Feb | 0.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 | Closed due to risk of ice. | T | A T - |
| 20 Feb | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 19 Feb | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average seeing. No IO:I. | T | A T - |
| 18 Feb | 10.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good to average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 17 Feb | 10.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 16 Feb | 10.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Average seeing | T | A T - |
| 15 Feb | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 | Non-photometric. Average seeing | T | A T - |
| 14 Feb | 4.0 | 6.1 | 0.0 | High dust levels delay startup to 03:00. Non-photometric, good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 13 Feb | 8.8 | 0.4 | 1.0 | Photometric until thin cloud at 04:00. Good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 12 Feb | 4.7 | 5.5 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Thin high cloud. | T | A T - |
| 11 Feb | 9.7 | 0.0 | 0.5 | Non-photometric, average to poor seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 10 Feb | 9.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | Photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 9 Feb | 9.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Closed for high humidity around mid-night. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 8 Feb | 7.0 | 3.0 | 0.3 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Closed for high humidity in the early morning hours. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 7 Feb | 10.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 6 Feb | 8.3 | 0.0 | 2.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Lost time in resetting the altitude control. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 5 Feb | 9.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Lost time in resetting the altitude control. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 4 Feb | 5.0 | 5.4 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, poor seeing. Closed for half the night due to calima. | T | A T - |
| 3 Feb | 8.0 | 2.4 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, poor seeing. Half the night closed for high level cloud. | T | A T - |
| 2 Feb | 10.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, with variable seeing. | T | A T - |
| 1 Feb | 10.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/poor seeing. | T | A T - |
January 2020
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 31 Jan | 0,0 | 10.5 | 0.0 | No observing, high calima. | - | - - - |
| 30 Jan | 10.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 29 Jan | 10.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photoemtric, good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 28 Jan | 10.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, lots of thin high cloud. Variable seeing. | T | A T - |
| 27 Jan | 10.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 26 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | Closed for ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 25 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | Closed for ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 24 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | High humidity and ice risk. Closed all night. | T | A T - |
| 23 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | High humidity and low temperatures; closed all night. | T | A T - |
| 22 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | High humidity and low temperatures; closed all night. | T | A T - |
| 21 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | High humidity and low temperatures; closed all night. | T | A T - |
| 20 Jan | 10.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 19 Jan | 4.5 | 6.2 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Closed for cloud. | T | A T - |
| 18 Jan | 10.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 17 Jan | 10.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | Photometric, poor seeing. Cass torque caused node reboots. | T | A T - |
| 16 Jan | 10.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, good seeing | T | A T - |
| 15 Jan | 10.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 14 Jan | 10.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | Non-photometric, average seeing. RINGO3 offline. Cass torque caused node reboot. | T | A T - |
| 13 Jan | 7.5 | 1.9 | 1.3 | Non-photometric, poor seeing. IOO back online. MOPTOP on telescope. | T | A T - |
| 12 Jan | 9.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. IO:I exposure failures. | T | A T - |
| 11 Jan | 10.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. Manual observing conducted at start of night. | T | A T - |
| 10 Jan | 10.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. Manual observing conducted throughout night. | T | A T - |
| 9 Jan | 8.3 | 0.0 | 2.5 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. DSWE sensor triggering closures. Manual observing conducted on site after 2am. | T | A T - |
| 8 Jan | 3.0 | 7.8 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. High humidity focing closing during the night. | T | A T - |
| 7 Jan | 5.5 | 5.3 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. High Humidity during night. | T | A T - |
| 6 Jan | 4.0 | 6.8 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. High Humidity during night. | T | A T - |
| 5 Jan | 10.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. Humidity at end of night. | T | A T - |
| 4 Jan | 10.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 3 Jan | 10.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing, IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 2 Jan | 10.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing, IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 1 Jan | 10.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing, IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
