Date
Name
Other Observers
Instrument
Hours Observed
Hours Lost
Reason
Observing Program
09/24/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
6
3
Clouds
cery cloudy at beginning of the night, but it cleared up late
09/21/2022
Ken Rumstay
Apollo the cat
CCD camera
10
0
No problems to report
AGN monitoring program Telescope points north of target after slewing, by as much as three arcminutes (amount varies with hour angle).
09/19/2022
James Webb
none
CCD
0
10
Equipment Failure
Blazar Microvariability and star of Star Trek Informed telescope was down , but later on after too late it became available. Could not at that time log in to use it. Should be good now.
09/14/2022
Steve Gillam
Lilyanna Pepe, Jacob Romeo, Laina Talman-Bogusta
Andor Camera
0
7
Equipment Failure
rOAp stars. At the beggining of the night, I could not connect to Telescope computer. I power-cycled it. And it is now working and I can access the TCS. I cannot connect to the Andor camera. I to connect to the guider camera. This failed. I then tried stopping and starting the camera ACE node service. Didn’t fix the connection to the camera. I then tried closing and reselecting the main camera service. The ACE connector client failed. This likely indicates that it cannot connect to the camera. This probably requires a restart of the camera and a full ACE services restart. The failed guide cam together with this failure suggests something systemic is wrong. I power-cycled the camera. This did not restore the connection to the ACE connector client. I then tried to power-cycle the camera computer because the broken ACE connector client remained that way, even after stopping and starting the ACE node service. It appears that the camera computer would not reboot completely as I cannot connect to it.
09/02/2022
Priya Gokuldass
None
CCD
0
5
Equipment Failure
Telescope (camera) is not operational at the moment.
09/01/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
0
11
Equipment Failure
CCD still kaputt
08/31/2022
Priya Gokuldass
None
CCD
0
5
Equipment Failure
Telescope (camera) is not operational at the moment.
08/29/2022
Ross Silver
Dieter Hartmann
CCD
0
10
Equipment Failure
Telescope is not operational at the moment.
08/26/2022
James Webb
Jonathon Barata
CCD
0
8
Connection Issues
Stars f Star Trek, blazar microvariability My home computer with VPM wouldn't connect, it is old and fickle. Couldn't log in. I wasn't sure of the other problems at CTIO were fixed anyway.
08/20/2022
Martha Leake
none
Andor
0
11
Equipment Failure
No camera at present. From Todd on Friday "Fault in camera connection at SARA-CT, ...part being shipped...estimated several days to a week" (paraphrased). No observing tonight. (Weather was also turning cloudy later.)
08/16/2022
Ross Silver
Dieter Hartmann
CCD
0
10
Equipment Failure
I could not observe due to issues with the telescope.
08/17/2022
Yong Sheng
Dieter Hartmann
Andor CCD griz
0
12
Equipment Failure
The Andor camera and the QSI camera are not working
08/15/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
0
8
Equipment Failure
M31. CCD would not download images so restarted everything-- telescope limit warnings began flashing when everything came back up, even though no commands had been sent to the telescope.
08/11/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
7
0
Other
Autofocuser would not operate correctly-- everything else worked well.
08/11/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
0
5
Equipment Failure
Camera would not download images. Cloudy all night so it ended up not being a a usable night anyway.
08/06/2022
Alex
Dieter
CCD
0
10
Humidity
Clemson Blazar Photo-z measurement program. High humidity and clouds so did not observe
08/03/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
11.5
0
No problems to report
Transient night - a quilt of asteroids, a comet, supernovae, planets, and the odd filler galaxy. CCD computer sometimes had such poor connection that VNC went down to "low" screen quality, although Dropbox uploads from it stayed very fast. Focus 125000, guider focus 0. Guiding in some parts of the sky acted as if it had little control authority.
08/01/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
10
1
Clouds
High Cirrus and rather poor seeing, but no technical problems to report. Asteroid photometry
07/26/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
8
3
Clouds
intermittent clouds, not sure how good data will be. Else no problems to report
07/25/2022
Kurtis Williams
none
Andor
0
14
Snow
Observatory closed due to snowstorm and subsequent power failure
07/24/2022
Kurtis Williams
none
Andor
0
14
Snow
Observatory closed due to snowstorm and subsequent power failure
07/19/2022
Priya Gokuldass
None
CCD
0
5
Snow
Didn't observe due to the snow storm on Friday night and power failure.
07/18/2022
Ken Rumstay
None
CCD
0
10
Snow
Unable to observe as a result of Friday's snowstorm.
07/12/2022
William Keel
public event
Andor CCD #2
4
0
No problems to report
Public program: NGC 3132, JWST, Focus 12580.
07/09/2022
Yong Sheng
Dieter Hartmann
CT griz
1
11
Humidity
Program: Clemson University blazar study Problems: the humidity > 80%. Can't observe at all. But I took bias and darks since they can be done with dome closed
07/07/2022
Kent Montgomery
Mamosa Mohoto
CCD
0
8
Clouds
Asteroid Photometry
07/05/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
5
7
Clouds
Galaxies, comet. Increasing cirrus wiped out later part of the night. Focus 126700. Connection was slow, but Dropbox uploads from the CCD computer were extraordinarily slow (especially when trying to do multiple files - makes me wonder about a browser version issue). I could usually only get a single file at a time uploaded without a timeout.
07/03/2022
Robert Berrington
none
arc
12
0
No problems to report
Short period variable stars.
06/29/2022
Núria Torres-Albà
Dieter Hartmann
SARA CT
11
0
No problems to report
Clemson University high-z blazar observations. No problems to report.
06/29/2022
Kent Montgomery
Mamosa Mohoto
CCD
7
1
Equipment Failure
For the second night in a row the declination limit came on at the beginning of the night so the telescope would not slew in declination. The problem was resolved by a text to Todd and someone from ACE logging in to override it. This needs to be fixed whether mechanical or software related because I expect it will continue to happen every night.
06/28/2022
Kent Montgomery
Mamosa Mohoto
CCD
7.5
1.5
Software/Control PC Issues
At the beginning of the night the telescope wouldn't slew in declination. The north limit had been triggered even though the telescope was at a declination of -3 degrees. After a call to Todd, Brian got on and overrode the limit switch so we could observe the rest of the night. Thanks to both of them.
06/26/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
0
11
Clouds
clouds, never opened
06/25/2022
Martha Leake
none
Andor
6
6
Clouds
Asteroids and galaxy. Connection problem with SARA telescope solved by Todd (thank you). Completed biases and darks while waiting for cirrostratus clouds and began at 11 pm. Filter menu is touchy, but I believe it is correct. Moving to stow position was slow at the lock stage. Vicuna forecast "soggier" than conditions at CTIO.
06/23/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
0
11
Clouds
clouds, never opened
06/21/2022
Alex
Dieter
Andor CCD
0
11
Humidity
Clemson Blazar Photo-z measurement program. Bad weather. Humidity, clouds, and snow throughout the night
06/20/2022
Robert Berrington
none
arc
2
10
Clouds
Short Period variable star program. Lost several hours due to clouds.
06/19/2022
Robert Berrington
none
arc
0
12
Clouds
Short period variable stars. Lost evening due to high clouds.
06/17/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
3
7
Clouds
Asteroids.
06/15/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
7
0
No problems to report
Asteroid, Novae
06/13/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
1
10
Clouds
Asteroid. No mechanical issues, but clouds the whole night so no data.
06/12/2022
Xianming Han
Josh Wanninger
CCD
9
2.5
Clouds
eclipsing binary
06/11/2022
Xianming Han
Josh Wanninger
CCD
11
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary
06/10/2022
Xianming Han
Josh Wanninger
CCD
11
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary
06/09/2022
Xianming Han
Josh Wanninger
CCD
10
0.5
Equipment Failure
telescope could not slew properly. ACE helped found a temporary fix.
06/09/2022
Stephen Levine
N/A
Andor Camera
0
10
Equipment Failure
Outer Solar System astrometry program. Telescope locked a Dec limit on first slew. I thought it was reasonably above the nominal pointing limits, but apparently not. I would have expected a possible E limit, if anything. Once the Dec limit was set, it would not unset. The telescope was mobile in E/W, but no N/S motion. Dec is at about -00:12. If you bring up the hand paddle and try a manual move, the direction of the button push changes the Dec limit to that direction (ie, push S button, the read back registers Dec Limit S). Closed up.
06/07/2022
Otani
Julia Clark, Adrian Moraga
Andor CCD
6
4
Software/Control PC Issues
Student observation. Photometry time series. The telescope control panel showed the DEC reached both the N and S limit and stopped slewing. The touch panel did not work. We rebooted the ACE and rebooted the telescope PC. When I had the similar issue before, I was suggested to move the telescope to -4h and -89 degrees, then move it over to +4 and -75 degrees. We tried that too but nothing worked, so we ended the observation.
06/06/2022
Otani
Adrian Moraga, Julia Clark
CCD
9
1
Software/Control PC Issues
Hot subdwarf photometry time series. CCD camera disconnected once. The regular procedure fixed the issue.
05/31/2022
Yong Sheng
Scott Joffre, Dieter Hartmann
CT griz
1
9
Clouds
Too cloudy. Only took bias and darks.
05/08/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Noticed that I forgot to send a report for this night, sorry
05/28/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
0
11
Clouds
clouds, never opened
05/27/2022
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
10
0
No problems to report
PN central stars
05/26/2022
Xianming Han
Josh Wanninger
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary
05/24/2022
Ken Rumstay
None
CCD camera
11
0
No problems to report
AGN photometry. Increasing clouds towards dawn.
05/23/2022
James Webb
none
CCD
0
10
Other
Observing Star Trek stars in southern hemisphere and blazar microvariability. Computer with VPN wouldn't boot so I couldn't log onto the telescope. Put the night up for grabs but don't think anyone took it.
05/21/2022
Gary Henson
Rutherford
Andor CCD
7.5
0
No problems to report
Asteroid Light Curve At end of run, with telescope at ~35 deg altitude to NW, oscillation in Dec tracking occurred. Turned tracking off/back on and was stable after that until target down to ~30 deg in altitude.
05/20/2022
Ken Rumstay
None
CCD camera
1
10
Clouds
Complete cloud cover at start of night. Observed MCG 06-30-15 during a partial opening*, then closed dome when clouds rolled in again. *I'm n ot confident the images are usable.
05/17/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Asteroid.
05/16/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Asteroid. No problems.
05/15/2022
Nayra Rodriguez Eugenio
Irene Puerto
Andor CCD
5
0
No problems to report
Crater timings during lunar eclipse
05/14/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Asteroid. No problems.
05/12/2022
Ross Silver
Dieter, Yong
CCD
10
1
Clouds
Observing photometric redshift of blazars
05/07/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
0
11
Clouds
Clouds --never opened
05/06/2022
Walter Van Hamme
Samec
CCD
null
0
No problems to report
Observations of interacting eclipsing binaries, ASASSN-V J113943.95-611732.1 and GSC 5149.2845.
05/04/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
10.5
0.5
Software/Control PC Issues
There seems to be a light on in the dome. I do not know where to switch it off. The image -D-drive on the camera PC is full. I did not receive a warning it just wrote empty files to disk. They of course displayed normally in DS9 and it took me a while to notice the problem. I was able to clear some old files from a colleague.
05/03/2022
Watanabe
N.Rimbert
CCD
6
0
No problems to report
Blazars
05/02/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
9.5
0
Software/Control PC Issues
AGN, SN, nebulae. Guider corrections were not being received by telescope control (numbers appear on CCD computer but all zeros on telescope computer). Focus 126300, guider focus 9000.
04/26/2022
Stephen Levine
N/A
Andor Camera
5
0
No problems to report
Outer solar system astrometry.
04/27/2022
Stephen Levine
N/A
Andor camera
5
0
No problems to report
Outer solar system astrometry.
04/25/2022
Stephen Levine
N/A
Andor Camera
5
0
No problems to report
Outer solar system astrometry.
04/22/2022
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
10
0
Other
A lot of E-W telescope motion/drifting throughout the night. Also one case of large N-S oscillations for about 20 minutes at Azimuth 77 degrees and Altitude 48 degrees. Also, the guider was not sending corrections to the telescope.
04/17/2022
Ted von Hippel
Alondra Valentin-Torres, Ryan Bowen
imaging
8
0
No problems to report
student projects
04/21/2022
Yong Sheng
Dieter Hartmann
CT griz
11
0
No problems to report
Clemson University blazar study. The night went pretty smoothly, no issue to report
04/13/2022
Todd Hillwig
None.
Andor CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Student Projects for the first half of the night, PN central star observations the second half.
04/10/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
0
11
Equipment Failure
Asteroid. When I first logged on, the CCD camera would not respond to commands-- actually, it would appear that it was working, but not actually take any images. After four restarts of the CCD computer it begin operating correctly. I restarted the telescope computer along-side the CCD computer and when it came back up, many of the control windows were blank. Several restarts later, the controls were all back and everything except one thing appeared to function-- that one thing was the telescope pointing. The telescope would accept commands to slew to a particular area, but would not actually slew to the new location-- it stayed where it was, with "slewing" never disappearing from the control window. The hand paddle would not move the telescope either. Several more restarts had no effect so I closed up.
04/08/2022
Van Hamme
Samec
CCD
11
1
Equipment Failure
Drive problems on first start up. ACE rapidly fixed them. 625 observations on 2 interacting binaries. Beautiful night. No airmass issues.
04/08/2022
Van Hamme
Samec
CCD
12
null
Equipment Failure
Drive problems fixed rapidly by ACE. All went well afterwards, some 634 observations of 2 interacting binaries. No airmass problems.
04/07/2022
Ken Rumstay
None
CCD
5
2
Connection Issues
Was observing from home; my Internet connection failed just before sunset at CTIO. Relocated to the university and resumed observing. All worked fine until about 12:30 am EDT. While slewing to a target the N and W limits turned red, even though the telescope was east of the meridian. I was able to close the mirror covers and the dome, but could not budge the telescope. Restarting ACE and the telescope computer did not help. I've informed Peter Mack and Brian Blondell of the problem.
04/05/2022
Judi Provencal
DAS
Andor
6
0
No problems to report
Observed multiple open clusters and nebulae for DAS members.
04/04/2022
Todd Hillwig
None.
Andor CCD
0
10
Software/Control PC Issues
Camera computer non-responsive. Difficulty contacting telops. They should be on it today.
04/03/2022
Stephen Gillam
Leila Alamos, Lilyanne Pepe
Andor Camera
0
10
Equipment Failure
ROAp stars. The camera computer remained incommunicado. So, we finished up at 8:30 pm.
04/02/2022
Stephen Gillam
Leila Alamos, Kiara Richardson
Andor Camera
2
8
Software/Control PC Issues
ROAp stars. Around midnight, the camera stopped working. We restarted the ACE node service seven times. The camera remained inoperable. Then, the TCS reported that the encoder had failed. We completed the procedure to reset the DIO96 board (Shutting down the Tele. computer and power-cycling the tele computer and ACE control cabinet.) The camera was still not connecting. We then tried to power cycle the camera and the camera computer. using the APC switch rack. The camera computer did not come up again. We were unable to connect to it.
03/25/2022
Xianming Han
none
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary
03/31/2022
Priya Gokuldass
Kamp
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Be stars, Multiplicity survey and TESS follow-up. We had no problem during the hours of observation.
03/25/2022
Walter Van Hamme
sAMEC
ccd
0
10
Connection Issues
Inability to connect since Win10 computers cannot connect to CTIO through VPN at present. We gave time tonight to another observer.
03/24/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
9
0
No problems to report
Merging galaxies. Focus 128300, guider focus 9000. Found telescope in afternoon at west limit 4h49W -15, Backed out with soft paddle. Also indicator said lower dome shutter was open.
03/22/2022
Keefe Kamp
Gokuldass, Fowler, Murphy, Magalon
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Be star observations. The only problem to report was it seemed the RA lock took a while to lock when parking the telescope at the end of the night.
03/22/2022
Nayra Rodríguez
none
ARC CCD
3
0
No problems to report
Student research project on NEO follow-up, 2nd half night (started at 7:00 UT)
03/16/2022
James Webb
Observational astronomy class
CCD
3
6
Clouds
Class project. Took VRI images of the Tarantula nebula for color combining.
03/15/2022
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
6
0
No problems to report
Asteroid. No problems.
03/14/2022
Stephen Levine
None
Andor Camera
9
0
No problems to report
Outer solar system small body occultation.
03/08/2022
Todd Hillwig
None.
Andor CCD
4
0
No problems to report
The night's observers had to call off at the last minute. Used the second half of the night while also observing at SARA-KP.
03/07/2022
Todd Hillwig
None.
Andor CCD
10
0
No problems to report
PN central stars. Some occasional pointing issues. As is typical, when this happens the telescope sets about 10 arcmin too far north.
03/08/2022
Ted von Hippel
none
unused
0
0
Other
Student observer became sick. I offered to give away SARA-CT night only a few hours before it started (unfortunately) and there were no takers.
03/06/2022
Ross Silver
Dieter, Yong
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Photometric redshift of blazars.
03/05/2022
Ted von Hippel
Alondra Valentin-Torres
imaging
2
2
Equipment Failure
Camera was inoperable and rebooting it didn't help. I put out a request for help to SARA-Tech and heard back from Kurtis Williams (thanks!) with a suggestion to reboot the computers. Either he or an anonymous elf logged in and fixed the camera problem (though not by rebooting the computers), though I don't know what the solution was.
03/04/2022
Zorayda Martinez
Kurtis Williams
Andor
7
0
No problems to report
White dwarf photometry, focus: 129999
03/03/2022
Kurtis Williams
none
Andor
9
0.5
Other
White dwarf time series photometry. T=15C, focus=129500 at start of night with sudden change of -1500 in late morning. Seeing was mediocre at start of night (2" across mountain) but improved to 1" after local midnight. Used guider, with generally very good results. Target was at Dec=-10; at HA=-1:30 the telescope moved south by about 1 arcmin over 5 minutes - this motion was too fast for the guider to compensate, and the ACE RA/Dec readout did not register any change in position. At RA=+2h, the reverse happened - telescope moved north by about 1' over 5 minutes without the positional readout changing - lost about 15 minutes each time futzing about, resetting guiding, etc.
02/28/2022
Robert Berrington
none
Arc
11
0
No problems to report
short period variable stars.
02/27/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
no problems to report
02/26/2022
Núria Torres-Albà
Yong Sheng, Scott Joffre
SARA CT
8
0
No problems to report
Clemson University observations of high-z blazars
02/25/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
10
0
No problems to report
Galaxies in H-alpha, merging systems. Focus 127200, guide focus 8500.
02/24/2022
Priya Gokul dass
Fowler, Malign
CCD
8.5
3
No problems to report
TESS Follow Up of High Proper Motion Stars. I filter had weird brightness to it (like clouds but the sky was clear).
02/21/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
8.7
0
No problems to report
Galaxies in H-alpha, merging galaxies, 30 Dor. Focus 127500, guider focus 8500. At dec +10, had recurrence of problem where telescope bobs N-S faster than guider could keep up. Shortly afterward, far to SE, focus shifted within a couple of minutes by 1500 units.
02/15/2022
Ted von Hippel
none
imaging
0
0
No problems to report
Tried to give away this half night but there were no takers.
02/14/2022
Kurtis Williams
none
Andor
4.5
1
Other
Time series photometry. Seeing was poor, 3+ arcsec despite clear skies, low wind, and good seeing reported from summit. Lost about 1 hour fiddling with focus and filters trying to see if the seeing was instrumental (it wasn't). Gave up as midnight CDT approached and I decided sleep would be more useful than the data I was collecting.
02/13/2022
Ross Silver
Dieter Hartmann
CCD
8
0.5
Equipment Failure
Photometric redshift of blazars. Telescope stopped tracking for a little bit. Was able to reset and get it working again after losing about 30 minutes of observing time.
02/12/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
got night from Jim Webb, no problems to report
02/10/2022
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
5
0
Other
Taught an evening lab, so lost the first half of the night. The guider stopped working properly about an hour in. The guide star was in the middle of the field, but showed very large x and y corrections, so would wander to the edge of the guide box and bounce around there. Not sure what was wrong. I didn't hit Calibrate, but that seems like it may be the most likely cause.
02/05/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
only minor issue was the second filter wheel seemed to not move to the expected position twice -looked like fingers getting into the images. Hit the Init Filter Wheel button, seemed to fix the issue
02/07/2022
Ted von Hippel
Alondra Valentin-Torres
imaging
3.5
0
No problems to report
SMC observations for student project.
02/06/2022
Keefe Kamp
Gokuldass,Fowler, VanPutten
CCD
10.5
0
No problems to report
TESS Follow Up of High Proper Motion Stars. No problems to report. NOTE: Report by me with date 07 Feb has incorrect date should be for 08 Jan
01/08/2022
Keefe Kamp
None
CCD
0
0
No problems to report
Due to a mistake in scheduling, we missed the night no observing occurred.
02/04/2022
Martha Leake
none
Andor
9
0
No problems to report
Asteroids. Remembered to check Autosave. Good night. Adjusted to objects slightly below and right of center. Seeing good but best focus produced stars 2.5 arcsec or larger.
02/02/2022
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
9
0
Other
There was a jump in best focus values during the night. I could not tell if the best focus actually changed significantly in a short time (unlikely since the temperature changed slowly and steadily), if the focus encoder value changed, or some other issue.
02/01/2022
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
6.5
2
Clouds
asteroids
01/31/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
7.5
1
Clouds
Galaxy mergers, 30 Dor. Tape installed by TELOPS did NOT eliminate stray-light problem. Focus 129400, guider focus 10500. Seeing improved dramatically during the night. Iimage quality (and shape) at best focus varied noticeably with position.
01/27/2022
Ken Rumstay
None
CCD camera
10
0
No problems to report
AGN monitoring program. The telescope slews to points slightly north (by varying amounts) of target.
01/24/2022
Ross Silver
Dieter Hartmann
CCD
4
4
Equipment Failure
Photometric redshift of blazars. The telescope stopped tracking objects and would not move to the input coordinates. It moved to some unrecognizable field. After restarting the system, these issues were still present.
01/21/2022
Stephen Gillam
Alondra Valentin-Torres (ERAU)
Andor camera
11
0
No problems to report
ROAp stars.
01/21/2022
Ted von Hippel
Alondra Valentin-Torres
imaging
2
0
No problems to report
Training for student. Used two hours, then passed telescope to Steve Gillam (ERAU) for his work.
01/17/2022
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
8.5
0
No problems to report
JWST light curve (it's a technosignature). Focus 128500, guider focus 8400.
01/15/2022
James Webb
none
CCD
0
10
Connection Issues
I couldn't go in to observe and my laptop at home doesn't have VNC on it. I tried to give it away, but no takers.
01/16/2022
Todd Hillwig
None.
Andor CCD
7
1.5
Humidity
PN central star monitoring. Humidity rose at end of night and had to close for the last hour and a half.
01/10/2022
Alex McDaniel
Dieter
Andor CCD
5
4
Clouds
Clemson blazer redshift study. Had some clouds for about half the night after midnight, otherwise ok.
01/04/2022
Yong Sheng
Dieter Hartmann
CT griz
9
0
No problems to report
Clemson blazer redshift study. The night went well, no problem to report.
01/03/2022
William Keel
2 cats
Andor CCD #2
8
0
No problems to report
Merging galaxies, Comet Leonard, 30 Dor, JWST. Focus 127200, gudie focus 0. After working fine for the last couple of weeks, solar-syste rates acted almost random near 0h, dec=0. Some exposures were at sidereal rates, others wandered in both coordinates. Focus changed a lot at end night; in some parts of the sky best images were still elongated E-W.
12/29/2021
Van Hamme, Walter
Samec
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Observations of GSC 7093 0006 and 75170134.
12/30/2021
Van Hamme, Walter
Samec
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Observations of GSC 7093 0006 and 75170134.
12/28/2021
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
8
0
No problems to report
Merging galaxies, 30 Dor, JWST, comet Leonard. The mirror acts a bit pinched - for the last couple of nights, when in sharpest focus, images are elongated E-W. Focus 127800, guide focus 0.
12/27/2021
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
8
0
No problems to report
Merging galaxies, 30 Dor, JWST
12/26/2021
William Keel
1 cat
Andor CCD #2
0
8
Clouds
Cloudy
12/25/2021
William Keel
2 cats
Andor CCD #2
3
0
No problems to report
Following JWST outbound.
12/23/2021
Yong Sheng
Dieter Hartmann
CT-griz
9
0
No problems to report
The night went smoothly, weather is good and no issue happens.
12/22/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
4
0
No problems to report
Standard stars.
12/20/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
7
0
No problems to report
Exoplanet.
11/28/2021
Van Hamme
Samec
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Observing and analysis of Light Curves of GSC75170234.
12/14/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
7
0
No problems to report
Exoplanet.
12/11/2021
Ross Silver
Scott, Dieter
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Photometric redshift of blazars.
12/10/2021
William Keel
3 cats
Andor CCD #2
8.5
0
No problems to report
30 Dor, merging galaxies. Focus 127000, guide focus 0. Seeing very poor at start of night, and focus shifted a lot later on.
12/03/2021
Nuria Torres-Albà
Scott, Dieter
SARA CT
7
0
No problems to report
Clemson University observations of high-z blazars No problems to report
12/02/2021
William Keel
AY203 coass
Andor CCD #2
8
0
No problems to report
Galaxies and H II regions. Focus 127200, guider focus 0.
11/29/2021
Tom Rutherford
Gary Henson
CCD
6
0
No problems to report
Asteroid light curve.
11/27/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
7
0
No problems to report
Exoplanet transit.
11/26/2021
Todd Hillwig
None.
Andor CCD
8
0
No problems to report
PN central star monitoring.
11/23/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
6
0
No problems to report
Standard Stars.
11/20/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Exoplanet. No issues.
11/22/2021
Priya Gokuldass
Kamp
ccd
2
8
Clouds
TESS follow up observations. No new issues to report.
11/21/2021
Paulina Karczmarek
None
Andor CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Observing program: absolute photometry in Sloan bands for local comparison stars of bright variables (Cepheids, RR Lyrae).
11/18/2021
Ross Silver
Dieter, Yong, Isaiah
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Obtaining photometric redshift of blazars.
11/15/2021
Paulina Karczmarek
None
Andor CCD
8
0
Equipment Failure
Observing program: absolute photometry in Sloan bands for local comparison stars of bright variables (Cepheids, RR Lyrae). Dropout shutter would not open entirely and indicated "opening" all the time. I don't know if this is a software problem or actual problem with the shutter engine.
11/17/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
7
0.5
Software/Control PC Issues
Asteroid Photometry. Lower shutter gave no indication that it was open so I kept it closed (which meant that I could not reach one of my low targets). Could not access the telescope computer when I first logged in, but cycling the APC power rack brought it back up. All worked fine after that.
11/16/2021
Albert, Icarus
none
n/a
0
6
Connection Issues
Could not connect to telescope camera
10/30/2021
Albert, Icarus
Emmett Dalton
Bessel IRVB filters
6
0
No problems to report
data collection
11/13/2021
Gillam
Lilyanne Pepe, Aakash Thiyagarajan
Andor Camera
11
0
Equipment Failure
telescope control system indicated the dropout door hadn't opened all the way. We operated with that door closed. rOAp stars
11/12/2021
Keefe Kamp
Van Putten, Corcoan
CCD
7
1
Equipment Failure
Dec and RA limits triggered at login (Cardinal directions displayed in limit boxes). Had to have Peter fix it. Dropout would not detect open however would be open. Note on notepad discusses how to open. Other than that no other problem occurred. TESS Follow up observations done.
11/11/2021
Emmett Dalton
CCD
1
4
Equipment Failure
Dropout shutter still not opening but was able to take a few images up high above it.
11/09/2021
Yong Sheng
Dieter Hartmann
CT griz
9
0
Equipment Failure
There is a problem with the limit switch on the dropout. Brian said that he will send someone to check it out.
11/02/2021
Tomomi Otani
Johnathan Hodge
Andor CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Hot Subdwarf photometry observation for time series. Everything was working well tonight.
11/01/2021
William Keel
2 cats
Andor CCD #2
3
5
Clouds
NGC 1531, dodging clouds. Focus 128300, guider focus 8400. Very poor seeing early in night.
10/31/2021
Tomomi Otani
none
Andor CCD
7
0
Clouds
Hot subdwarf photometry time series. When I slew the telescope, the RA did not move. If I click the "slew" button again, it started moving with no problem.
10/30/2021
Tomomi Otani
Johnathan Hodge
Andor CCD
8
2
Equipment Failure
When we logged into the telescope control screen at the beginning of the night, we saw DEC limit (we saw all "N", "S", "W", "E") and could not slew the telescope. We also could not slew telescope using the pad. However, the airmass was 1.4. Peter helped me to fixed it. Peter said that it happened due to Loose wire on the telescope, or faulty tilt sensor, or something like that.
10/29/2021
Paulina Karczmarek
None
Andor CCD
7
1
Clouds
Thin clouds for majority of the night, so backup targets observed. Thick clouds in the last 2h of the night hindered observations of even backup targets.
10/27/2021
Tomomi Otani
Johnathan Hodge
Andor CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Hot subdwarf photometry observation. No problems to report.
10/26/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
8
1
Software/Control PC Issues
Standard stars, variable star. No issues other than one I caused by closing the wrong window-- a full restart fixed it.
10/24/2021
XIANMING HAN
none
CCD
7.5
0
Other
eclipsing binary. The telescope was parked beyond the west limit from previous day, and I could not move it back. Peter from ACE helped moving the telescope back to operation range. The CCD camera was also way out of focus such that no stars were visible initially and got me confused for awhile, but I was able to realize the problem and fixed the focus.
10/26/2021
Tomomi Otani
None
Andor CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Hot Subdwarf photometry time series. No problem to report. Focus 129000 (no filter). CCD temperature: -55 C
10/23/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
6
2
Software/Control PC Issues
Exoplanet. Image downloads were VERY slow (several minutes for each bias frame). Rebooted the CCD computer and it worked after that. The CCD sequence control on the telescope computer failed to work so rebooted the telescope computer as well-- took several tries to get it back up and running.
10/22/2021
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Testing new Andor CCD. PN central stars.
10/21/2021
Keefe Kamp
Gokuldass, Norton
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
TESS Follow-up Observations. Was able to connect this time with Ubuntu. No new problems to report
10/20/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Exoplanet Transit, variable star
10/19/2021
Keefe Kamp
Gokuldass, Norton
CCD
9
1
Software/Control PC Issues
TESS follow-up observations. Could not connect to VPN from Ubuntu but from Mac worked. Ace froze when abort was pressed. Simple closing and reopening ACE fixed it. Weird banding artifact present in observations strongest in B caused low SNR.
10/18/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
No problems-- all went well.
10/16/2021
Gergely Hajdu
Paulina Karczmarek
Andor camera
8
0
No problems to report
Observing program: absolute photometry in Sloan bands for local comparison stars of bright variables (Cepheids, RR Lyrae). Problems: sometimes offsets as large as RA -60, DEC -150 were necessary to move the fields to the desired position.
10/16/2021
Keefe Kamp
Gokuldass
CCD
9
0
No problems to report
TESS Follow up Observations of B stars and High Proper motion stars
10/14/2021
William Keel
AY203 class, 2 cats
Andor CCD #2
10
0
No problems to report
Class nebulae, cool galaxies. Seeing very good 2nd half of night. Focus 126300 (1000 higher for [O III\ 5007 filter). Guider focus 9900. Telescope did bob N-S around declinations -10 to -20.
10/13/2021
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
8
2
Clouds
Clouds started rolling in towards moring.
10/12/2021
William Keel
2 cats, Astro 203 lab class
New Andor CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Class demo nebulae, galaxies in BVR and H-alpha. Focus 125700, 5007 filter focus 1000 smaller. Guide focus 8400. Stray light is still there, with guider in extreme positions as well as center. Some targets took two presses of the GO button to complete a slew.
10/09/2021
Carlos Zuluaga
S. Levine
Andor Camera
3
0
No problems to report
Outer Solar System astrometry.
10/10/2021
Ted von Hippel
Giovanni Bacon, Jack Wood
imaging
4
0
No problems to report
Student observing for a class. They needed only the first 1/2 of the night and when I put out a call for users for the 2nd 1/2 of the night (admittedly with very little notice), there were no takers.
10/08/2021
Martha Leake
Logan Spooner
ARC camera
10.25
0
Other
Student projects, asteroid lightcurves and studies in parallax. Weather generally good. Images occasionally oscillated up and down close to transit. Confused by start time. Some oscillation of tracking errors during multiple exposures.
10/07/2021
Ken Rumstay
None
CCD camera
1
9
Humidity
AGN monitoring program. Everything worked fine for about an hour, long enough to get bias, flat, and dark images. When slewing to my first target, the telescope stopped, and the TOS indicated that it had reached the S and W limits. It was actually pointed northeast of the zenith. Peter was able to get the telescope moving again, but by then clouds had rolled in and the humidity climbed to over 80%. I gave up after midnight EDT. Previous observers reported similar limit issues in August. Observers should note that the problem may recur.
10/05/2021
Michael Fauerbach
NA
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Asteroid phptometry
10/04/2021
Ken Watanabe
Nicolas RImbert
CCD
5
0
No problems to report
Stars tend to have triangle shape. Blazars.
10/02/2021
Stephen Levine
C. Zuluaga, A. Bosh
Andor Camera
4
0
No problems to report
Outer solar system astrometry. No issues. The Andor camera worked well.
10/01/2021
XIANMING HAN
Sera Shaughnessy
CCD
7
3
Equipment Failure
eclipsing binary and asteroid Camera computer was not reachable initially. ACE (and possibly others) helped recover the computer.
09/05/2021
XIANMING HAN
none
CCD
4
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary, sharing the night
09/04/2021
XIANMING HAN
none
CCD
4.5
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary, sharing the night
09/01/2021
XIANMING HAN
none
CCD
5
5
Clouds
eclipsing binary
09/29/2021
Walter Van Hamme
Samec
24" scope, CCD
0
11
Clouds
Observations and analysis of eclipsing binaries.
09/28/2021
Walter Van Hamme
samec
24", CCD
10
0
Clouds
Light curve observations and analysis of GSC75170134. I complete curve single coverage.
09/27/2021
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
6
0
No problems to report
PN central stars.
09/26/2021
Keefe Kamp
Gokuldass
CCD
6
4
Software/Control PC Issues
B star observations with CCD. Data stopped being saved properly because the disk became full.
09/25/2021
Paulina Karczmarek
none
Andor CCD
10
0.5
Software/Control PC Issues
"Classical Cepheids in the SDSS photometric system". The directory with data is virtually full, and that means that new exposures are not being saved, instead a 1KB file is created with no content. Deletion of a directory with our previously collected data solved the problem for now.
09/22/2021
Judi Provencal
none
Andor
5
0
No problems to report
Imaging for observational astronomy class
09/21/2021
Tom Rutherford
None
CCD
6
0
No problems to report
Asteroid. No issues at all.
07/20/2021
Paulina Karczmarek
Gergely Hajdu
Andor CCD
10
0
Clouds
"Classical Cepheids in the SDSS photometric system", thin clouds the whole night.
08/25/2021
Paulina Karczmarek
none
Andor CCD
10.5
0
No problems to report
"Classical Cepheids in the SDSS photometric system"
09/17/2021
Paulina Karczmarek
none
Andor CCD
5.5
4.5
Clouds
"Classical Cepheids in the SDSS photometric system", clouds starting the middle of the night prevented further observations.
09/14/2021
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
6
0
No problems to report
PN central stars
09/13/2021
Todd Hillwig
None
Andor CCD
6
0
No problems to report
central stars of planetary nebulae.