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Night Reports 2021
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.
May 2021
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 10 May | 7.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing | T | A T - |
| 9 May | 7.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | Good seeing in photometric conditions. | T | A T - |
| 8 May | 5.0 | 1.6 | 1.0 | High humidity at end of night, Good seeing, photometric. | T | A T - |
| 7 May | 6.7 | 0.0 | 1.0 | Good - average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 6 May | 7.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 5 May | 7.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good to average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 4 May | 7.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric in good seeing conditions. | T | A T - |
| 3 May | 3.0 | 4.9 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, high humidity. Average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 2 May | 2.9 | 5.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing average. High humidity. IO:O offline | T | A T - |
| 1 May | 2.9 | 5.0 | 0.0 | Photometric becoming non-photometric. Seeing average. IO:O shutter stuck open | T | A T - |
April 2021
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 30 Apr | 0.2 | 5.7 | 2.0 | High humidity. Problems starting Alt axis. | T | A T - |
| 29 Apr | 0.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 | High humidity. No observing. | T | A T - |
| 28 Apr | 0.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 | High humidity. No observing. | T | A T - |
| 27 Apr | 6.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | Average seeing, non-photometric. IO:O offline | T | A T - |
| 26 Apr | 7.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | Good seeing, photometric. IO:O offline | T | A T - |
| 25 Apr | 5.8 | 2.0 | 0.3 | Average seeing, non photmetric. IO:O offline | T | A T - |
| 24 Apr | 0.0 | 8.1 | 0.0 | Closed due to high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 23 Apr | 5.9 | 1.2 | 1.0 | Average seeing, non-photometric. IOO offline, Node 36LV issue on startup. | T | A T - |
| 22 Apr | 8.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photomteric, average seeing. IO:O offline | T | A T - |
| 21 Apr | 8.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 20 Apr | 8.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 19 Apr | 8.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 18 Apr | 4.7 | 0.0 | 3.5 | Non-photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline, L2 alert causing closure. | T | A T - |
| 17 Apr | 8.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 16 Apr | 7.0 | 1.4 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. Closed for humidity. Faulty IO:O shutter so taken offline. | T | A T - |
| 15 Apr | 4.4 | 4.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Closed for humidity. | T | A T - |
| 14 Apr | 6.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Closed for humidity. Error with telescope webserver virtual machine. | T | A T - |
| 13 Apr | 0.0 | 8.5 | 0.0 | Closed for high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 12 Apr | 5.6 | 3.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Lots of cloud, closed for high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 11 Apr | 0.0 | 8.6 | 0.0 | High humidity, no observing. | - | - - - |
| 10 Apr | 0.0 | 8.6 | 0.0 | High humidity, no observing. | - | - - - |
| 9 Apr | 6.1 | 2.5 | 0.0 | Cloud at start of night, non-photometric, good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 8 Apr | 0.0 | 8.6 | 0.0 | High humidity, no observing. | - | - - - |
| 7 Apr | 2.7 | 6.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. High humidity and rain at start of night and again early morning through to sunrise. Good-average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 6 Apr | 0.0 | 8.7 | 0.0 | High humidity and some cloud, no observing. | - | - - - |
| 5 Apr | 0.0 | 8.8 | 0.0 | High humidity and some cloud, no observing. | - | - - - |
| 4 Apr | 8.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 3 Apr | 3.7 | 4.7 | 0.4 | Non-photometric. Good seeing. AMN reboot to auto-fix SFP fault. | T | A T - |
| 2 Apr | 8.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Good seeing | T | A T - |
| 1 Apr | 7.9 | 0.9 | 0.0 | Average seeing. Nonphotometric after midnight. | T | A T - |
March 2021
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 31 Mar | 6.4 | 2.5 | 0.0 | Average seeing. Photometric. | T | A T - |
| 30 Mar | 6.5 | 2.4 | 0.0 | Photometric, very poor seeing and humidity later in night. | T | A T - |
| 29 Mar | 9.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 28 Mar | 0.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 | Bad weather, high humidity and low temperatures. | - | - - - |
| 27 Mar | 0.0 | 9.1 | 0.0 | High humidity, low temperatures and some high calima. | - | - - - |
| 26 Mar | 0.0 | 9.1 | 0.0 | Bad weather (high humidity, low temperatures and calima at the start of night). | - | - - - |
| 25 Mar | 0.0 | 9.1 | 0.0 | High levels of Calima. | - | - - - |
| 24 Mar | 0.0 | 9.2 | 0.0 | High levels of Calima. | - | - - - |
| 23 Mar | 9.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 22 Mar | 9.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 21 Mar | 9.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 20 Mar | 9.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 19 Mar | 9.05 | 0.0 | 0.25 | Photometric with good seeing. IO:O shutter failure - instrument offline. | T | A T - |
| 18 Mar | 8.8 | 0.0 | 0.5 | Photometric with good seeing. Node reboot. | T | A T - |
| 17 Mar | 9.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 16 Mar | 9.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 15 Mar | 9.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric with average/good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 14 Mar | 8.0 | 1.4 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing good. | T | A T - |
| 13 Mar | 8.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing average. | T | A T - |
| 12 Mar | 6.6 | 2.9 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing average. High cloud. | T | A T - |
| 11 Mar | 7.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing going from poor to good. | T | A T - |
| 10 Mar | 9.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing varying average/poor | T | A T - |
| 9 Mar | 5.2 | 0.0 | 4.4 | Photometric. Seeing average. Phase2 database fault in morning. | T | A T - |
| 8 Mar | 1.0 | 8.6 | 0.0 | Photometric. Seeing average. Closed due to high due to high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 7 Mar | 0.0 | 9.6 | 0.0 | Closed all night due to high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 6 Mar | 0.0 | 9.7 | 0.0 | Closed all night due to high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 5 Mar | 0.0 | 9.7 | 0.0 | Closed all night due to high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 4 Mar | 0.0 | 9.7 | 0.0 | Closed all night due to high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 3 Mar | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average to good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 2 Mar | 9.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Engineering tests on Moptop during evening twighlight. | T | A T - |
| 1 Mar | 0.0 | 9.8 | 0.0 | Closed due to ice risk on Rams | T | A T - |
February 2021
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 28 Feb | 0.0 | 9.8 | 0.0 | Closed due to ice risk. | T | A T - |
| 27 Feb | 0.0 | 9.8 | 0.0 | Sub zero temperature and high humidity. | T | A T - |
| 26 Feb | 5.6 | 4.3 | 0.0 | Good / average seeing in photometric conditions. | T | A T - |
| 25 Feb | 9.5 | 0.1 | 0.3 | Poor to average seeing in spectrometric conditions. | T | A T - |
| 24 Feb | 0.0 | 9.9 | 0.0 | Closed for night due to high humidity on site. | T | A T - |
| 23 Feb | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Good to average seeing in photometric conditions. | T | A T - |
| 22 Feb | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Average seeing in mixed conditions. | T | A T - |
| 21 Feb | 0.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 | Closed for high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 20 Feb | 0.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 | Closed for high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 19 Feb | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average/poor seeing. Observations taken in manual at start of night to test new instrument. | T | A T - |
| 18 Feb | 4.6 | 5.5 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average/good seeing. Closed for cloud. | T | A T - |
| 17 Feb | 10.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average/poor seeing. Azm node reboot at start of night. | T | A T - |
| 16 Feb | 9.6 | 0.0 | 0.5 | Non-photometric, average seeing. Node reboot due to science fold failure. Possible presence of calima during the night. | T | A T - |
| 15 Feb | 10.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 14 Feb | 10.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric; average-poor seeing. | T | A T - |
| 13 Feb | 10.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric; average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 12 Feb | 10.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric; good-average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 11 Feb | 10.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric; good-average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 10 Feb | 0.0 | 10.2 | 0.0 | No observing; ice on external enclosure mechanisms. | - | - - - |
| 9 Feb | 0.0 | 10.3 | 0.0 | No observing; ice on external enclosure mechanisms. | - | - - - |
| 8 Feb | 0.0 | 10.3 | 0.0 | No observing; ice on external enclosure mechanisms. | - | - - - |
| 7 Feb | 0.0 | 10.3 | 0.0 | No observing; closed due to ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 6 Feb | 0.0 | 10.3 | 0.0 | Snow | - | - - - |
| 5 Feb | 0.0 | 10.4 | 0.0 | Snow | - | - - - |
| 4 Feb | 0.0 | 10.4 | 0.0 | Snow | - | - - - |
| 3 Feb | 1.4 | 9.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, good seeing. Closed by humidity. | T | A T - |
| 2 Feb | 10.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. Good seeing. | T | A T - |
| 1 Feb | 9.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Average seeing. Brief cloud closure. | T | A T - |
January 2021
| Date | Hours Used | Comment | SkyCam | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observing | Weather | Technical | ZP Plot | Movie | ||
| 31 Jan | 10.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 30 Jan | 10.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | Photometric, average seeing. AMN failure. | T | A T - |
| 29 Jan | 10.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, good/average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 28 Jan | 10.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric, good/average seeing. Moptop configuration errors. | T | A T - |
| 27 Jan | 10.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. IO:O offline. | T | A T - |
| 26 Jan | 10.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Photometric. IO:O offline, Raptor engineering work first part of the night. | T | A T - |
| 25 Jan | 10.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric, average seeing. | T | A T - |
| 24 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | No observing; ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 23 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | No observing; ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 22 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | No observing; ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 21 Jan | 0.0 | 10.6 | 0.0 | No observing; ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 20 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 19 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 18 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 17 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; Ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 16 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; Ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 15 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; Ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 14 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; Ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 13 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; Ice risk. | - | - - - |
| 12 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; closed due to ice risk and high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 11 Jan | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.0 | No observing; closed due to ice risk and high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 10 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing; closed due to ice risk and high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 9 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing; closed due to ice risk and high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 8 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing; closed due to high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 7 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing; closed for high humidity and wind. | - | - - - |
| 6 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing; closed for high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 5 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing; closed for high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 4 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing; closed for high humidity. | - | - - - |
| 3 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing. Cloud, high humidity | - | - - - |
| 2 Jan | 0.0 | 10.8 | 0.0 | No observing. Cloud. | - | - - - |
| 1 Jan | 10.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Non-photometric. Seeing average. | T | A T - |
