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Date
Name
Affiliation
Other Observers
Instrument
Hours Observed
Hours Lost
Reason
Observing Program
05/27/2023
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
Lilly Blanton, Sami Krusza
ARC camera
8
0
No problems to report
M101 supernova and PN central stars.
05/27/2023
Tomomi Otani
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Julia Clark, Lindsay Spence
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Hot subdwarf time series
05/27/2023
Tomomi Otani & team
Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University
Julia Clark, Lindsay Spence
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
N/A
05/26/2023
Tomomi Otani
ERAU
Julia Clark, Lindsay Spence
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Hot subdwarf time series
05/26/2023
TOMOMI
ERAU
Julia Clark, Lindsay Spence
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Hot subdwarf time series
05/24/2023
James Webb
Florida International University
none
Leach CCD
4
0
No problems to report
Observing Program - Monitoring Blazars: PKS 1156+295, and 3C 279. Problems: I couldn't figure out the syntax on how to automatically increment images number in the Leach software on the CCD computer. For the record the syntax is: imagename_{{seq:3}}.fts Turns out the .fts extension was the secret, thanks Brian and Bill. The images came down with 1.4 (lower right hand quadrant missing). I fixed it by going into "full frame" and changing the "readout mode" to amplifier A instead of "quad readout", They seemed to come down complete and normal. Brian said he would look at it this morning.
05/18/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
0
9
Clouds
Apparently this year's monsoon is trying a beta test.
05/17/2023
Gillam
Embry -Riddle Aeronotical University
Divyeshwari Vansadia, Aakasah Thiyagarajan
ARC Camera
0
11
Clouds
Microvaribales
05/16/2023
Stephen Gillam
ERAU
Aakash and Divyeshwari.
Andor Camera
0
12
Clouds
Micro-variable stars.
05/15/2023
Stephen Gillam
ERAU
Divyeshwari and Aakash
Andor Camera
5.5
6.5
Clouds
Micro-variable stars.
05/14/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
none
ccd
7
1
Equipment Failure
filter wheel stuck once
05/09/2023
Matt A Wood
Texas A&M University-Commerce
NA
Leach
2.0
8
Wind
Time series. Wind hit 40 mph so I closed. Checked a couple times later in night and still high so didn't reopen as it was strong and from the south - didn't want to risk the mirror cover petals getting damaged.
05/09/2023
William C. Keel
University of Alabama
none
Andor CCD #2
8.5
0
No problems to report
NGC 4945. Focus 129000, Without guider, 3-5 minute exposures at dec -45 have about 50% success rate in delivering round images using custom track rates. DS9 and MaximDL may have quit updating toward end of last sequence.
05/08/2023
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
3
0
No problems to report
Asteroid.
05/07/2023
Nayra Rodríguez
Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC)
N/A
ARC CCD
5
0
No problems to report
Student research projects on exoplanet transit, 2nd half night.
05/07/2023
Matt Wood
Texas A&M University-Commerce
NA
Leach
4
0
No problems to report
Time series of white dwarf. This was a half night, so IAC observer took over at about 07:00 UT. Best focus early night was 448500
05/03/2023
Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio
Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC)
NA
ARC CCD
0.5
4
Humidity
Exoplanet transit, 2nd half night. Only observed from 7:30 to 8:10 UT. Domes closed due to high humidity and variable conditions. Focus 445000.
05/01/2023
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
2
6
Connection Issues
About two hours after starting, the CCD computer disconnected. I made several attempts to reconnect over the next hour or so but was unable to do so. Tried again a couple of times this morning (the next day) but still am unable to connect. Everything was working fine until this happened.
04/28/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
N/A
ARC CCD
6
0
No problems to report
AGN with extended emission regions. Focus 445000, guide focus -18500. Filter wheel 1 needed INIT after almost every movement to put filters in position.
04/27/2023
Matt A Wood
Texas A&M University-Commerce
NA
Andor
10
0
No problems to report
Time series observations of white dwarf and cataclysmic variable. Focus 450000 at beginning of night, 445000 end of night.
04/26/2023
Matt A Wood
Texas A&M University-Commerce
NA
Andor
10
0
No problems to report
Time series observations of cataclysmic variables. Focus 444000
04/26/2023
Matt A Wood
Texas A&M University-Commerce
NA
Andor
10
0
No problems to report
Time series observations of cataclysmic variables. Focus 443500. No problems.
04/24/2023
james webb
Florida International Universigy
none
Leach CCD
4
0
No problems to report
wasn't able to find guide star, guide stage wouldn't go to east positions, only west. Wasn't able to save images from Telescope CCD control menu, had to use the camera menu on the ccd computer. Not sure what the issue was. But got the images I needed.
04/16/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
none
CCD
8
1.5
Equipment Failure
filter wheel keeps getting stuck when moving from Bessel I to Bessel B - emailed ACE about it.
04/21/2023
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
Public demonstration
ARC camera
3
0.5
Other
Filter wheel did not seem to set properly a few times. Not a real problem since I was just doing a public demo. Quit early since Board meeting in the morning.
04/20/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
7
0
No problems to report
Galaxies with extended AGN-ionized clouds. Focus 399500, guider focus -16500. Focus shifted by 4000 units when moving telescope by 2 hours RA near midnight. Had to change guider setting X Speed from -1 to +1.
04/19/2023
Ken Rumstay
VSU (Emeritus)
None
CCD camera
8
0
No problems to report
AGN observations. Everything worked find until the end, when I tried to observe 3C-390.3, which was near the NCP (HA ~ -4 hours, Dec. = +79 degrees). No stars appeared in the image. I suspect the dome may not have been aligned with the telescope, but it was pretty cloudy towards the north at that time.
04/18/2023
Kurtis Williams
TAMUC
Fangyi Zhu
ARC camera
5
0
No problems to report
White dwarf time series photometry; First training night for Zhu. No problems.
04/17/2023
Matt A Wood
Texas A&M University-Commerce
NA
CCD
11
0
Other
Time series observations of cataclysmic variables. A good night and nice to be "back in the saddle". The only issue was that getting a focus was tedious. I eventually ran to zero and reset the encoder, so my best focus at end of night at 50F/10C was 395000 through the "IR Blocking" filter.
04/15/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
none
CCD
10
0.2
Equipment Failure
eclipsing binary filter wheel stuck
04/14/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
none
CCD
10
0.2
Equipment Failure
eclipsing binary filter wheel stuck
04/13/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
none
CCD
9
1
Equipment Failure
eclipsing binary filter wheel stuck
04/09/2023
Stephen Gillam
ERAU
Jacob Romero, Rhiannon Hicks, Stephen Barnier, Avery Reynolds.
ARC Camera
5
7
Clouds
Micro-variables. At one point, the focus position changed on its own. I had command it to the saved position and stop this command in order to get the spurious motion to stop.
04/07/2023
Michael Fauerbach
FGCU
NA
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
if you change the filters make sure the wheel goes to the correct position. Had it twice go to a different position in the wheel. Else no issues to report.
04/06/2023
Amy Lovell
Agnes Scott College
Oralyn, Yazmin, Daniela, AST200L
ccd
6
0
No problems to report
cluster and eclipsing binary imaging for student projects, a few clouds early on...
04/05/2023
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Exoplanet Transit
03/31/2023
Tomomi Otani
ERAU
None
CCD
6
3
Software/Control PC Issues
Hot subdwarf photometry time series. Both ACE and ACE connect suddenly closed 5 times (both closed simultaneously). They closed when I was not touching anything at least 2 times, but I noticed that they also close when I clicked the "StellaCam 3" tab on "Auxiliary Instruments". The filter wheel did not work well and the camera position moved between two filters at one point. It was fixed when I initialized the filters.
03/30/2023
Amy Lovell
Agnes Scott
AST200L
CCD
.4
8
Clouds
student projects, clouds rolled in early
03/29/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
7.5
0
No problems to report
Ionized clouds around galaxies. Focus 460000, guider focus 0. Large focus jump to 456400 when moving to 3 hours east.
03/26/2023
Nayra Rodríguez
IAC
none
ARC CCD
4.5
0
No problems to report
Student research projects on exoplanet transits, 2nd half night
03/23/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
none
ARC CCD
4.5
0
No problems to report
Emission regions around galaxies. Did some cloud-hopping at start of night. Condensation on CCD window, evaporated over 2 hours with shutter open. Dome azimuth was about 30 degrees off until setting to home. Focus 458000, guider focus 0.
03/23/2023
Martha Leake
Valdosta.State University
Tools class
ARC
0
10,3
Humidity
Corrections to this morning's report. I was able to do biases and darks (without opening the dome, of course). Domes remained closed past sunrise.
03/23/2023
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
Ten students in Tools class for 1.3 hours
ARC camera
0
10.3
Humidity
Domes closed due to high humidity fog. RH began to fall at 5 am EDT but not enough to open domes before 3 MST. Need to return by 10 am. Never opened; did biases and flats with no problems.
03/21/2023
Robert Berrington
Ball State University
none
arc
0
8
Clouds
mountain closed due to clouds. Did not open.
03/20/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
N/A
ARC CCD
0
10
Clouds
The overcast layer was late compared to the forecast, but still arrived before sunset.
03/19/2023
Michael Fauerbach
FGCU
NA
CCD
0
10
Clouds
Domes are CLOSED due to: threatening clouds
03/15/2023
Martha Leake
Valdosta State Unniversity
none
ARC camera
0
9.7
Clouds
Asteroid photometry. Cloudy, rain, expected showers and thunderstorm, more showers and 100 % RH rest of night. Did not access computers; did not open.
03/11/2023
Stephen D. Gillam
ERAU
Stephen Barnier
ARC Camera
0
12
Equipment Failure
Micro-variables. The dome shutters would not open and the dome would not rotate. The upper and lower shutter status indicators, and the dome azimuth status were blank. We stopped and restarted the ACE node service and then power-cycled the telescope and camera computers, and power-cycled the ACE control cabinet. All to no avail. We took 120s exposures at the zenith and got images that contained just the bias level. This confirmed that the dome was closed.
03/10/2023
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Spectrograph
0
6
Clouds
Cloud bands, variable humidity, sky conditions never consistent.
03/09/2023
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
4
0
No problems to report
Variable star.
03/06/2023
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Spectrograph
0
8
Clouds
Cloudy all night, some rain in the morning. Mountain closed to observing all night.
03/04/2023
Amy Lovell
Agnes Scott College
AST200L students
CCD
7
0
No problems to report
student imaging projects, steady focus, great night
03/03/2023
Priya Gokuldass
Florida Tech
None
CCD
3
6
Clouds
ULGRB host galaxies observation.
03/02/2023
Vero Petit
University of Delaware
Judi Provencal, students
spectrograph
0
n/a
Humidity
Did not open, the humidity was high. We used the opportunity to show students how to use the spectrograph.
03/01/2023
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
Tools class til 10 pm
CCD
0
9
Wind
Not opening tonight. Winds up to 66 mph, humidity at 100%, blowing snow in weather predictions and domes now closed because of threatening clouds. We will not attempt to open or connect. Thursday looks similar on KPNO/Sells predictions (20% chance of more snow showers before 9 am). Leaving campus (9:15 MST).
02/28/2023
Gary Henson
ETSU
Rutherford
Andor CCD
0
8
Clouds
Exoplanet transit light curve. CCD cooler functioning, no equipment problems but clouds increasing at sunset and didn't clear until last few hours of night after transit ended.
02/28/2023
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
none
Arc CCD
0
10
Equipment Failure
Wrote off the night when I never got a response about the cooler. The fix by Brian late that night did not get through in the thread of emails, so I was never aware in time that the cooler of the ccd had been turned back on. Only after Bob Berrington forwarded an email to my gmail account did I see that it was turned back on.
02/26/2023
Robert Berrington
Ball State University
none
arc
0
12
Equipment Failure
The CCD camera appears to have warmed to 13 C despite the set point for the cooler being set to -110 C. All breakers on the switches are set as expected, but the camera was showing a strong gradient in the bias frames that ranged from ~2000 at low row numbers to 65535 (saturated) at 1500+ row numbers. This of course rendered the camera useless. I did not open because of the nonfunctional camera.
02/24/2023
Tomomi Otani
ERAU
Erin Abraham
CCD
0
8
Equipment Failure
Public Outreach. We noticed that the camera cooler is not working. We reboot the systems but it did not help. Weather is not good anyway so we ended the observation.
02/23/2023
Kurtis Williams
TAMUC
Fangyi Zhu
ARC
0
11
Snow
Didn't open dome due to ice
02/20/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
0
10
Clouds
I had in mind looking at clouds around distant AGN rather than quite so locally.
02/19/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
none
CCD
0
10
Clouds
did not open
02/18/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
Kaylee Tenbarge
CCD
1
9
Clouds
eclipsing binary
02/17/2023
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
Eric Reed
CCD
0
10
Clouds
none. never opened
02/16/2023
Xianming Han
Butler University
none
CCD
0
10
Other
Ice on dome.
02/15/2023
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
Tools class early
Arc camera
0
7
Snow
"Domes are closed because of Ice on Domes." Did not open. Left at 3 :15 am EST when message above did not change. Skies were clear, but temperatures still cold. Planned asteroid photometry.
02/13/2023
Kurtis Williams
TAMUC
None
CCD
0
11
Clouds
Forecast for clouds and possible winters precip; never opened.
02/12/2023
Kurtis Williams
TAMUC
none
CCD
0
11
Clouds
Weather forecast is for increasing clouds with chance of rain, so staying closed out of caution.
02/11/2023
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
none
ARC camera
11.5
0.5
Other
I had to leave for an appointment at 7:30 am Sunday. No problems tonight, seeing was good early on, but quite variable this morning. Observed asteroids for light curve determinations.G82 is the number for SARA KP telescope in the asteroid finder programs (from Lowell and other observatories and users). Thank you to Ken for leaving such a well organized site!
02/10/2023
Ken Rumstay
VSU (Emeritus)
None
CCD camera
5.5
6
Clouds
AGN observations. No equipment problems; closed up when cloud cover became too thick.
02/08/2023
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
None
ARC camera
0
10
Connection Issues
Had local network issues that didn't get fixed until this morning, so was unable to connect and observe.
02/07/2023
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
Gary Henson
CCD
5
0
No problems to report
Comet, M 31, NGC 1245. No issues at all.
02/05/2023
Priya Gokuldass
Florida Tech
None
CCD
2
6
Clouds
ULGRB host galaxy observation. Cloudy!
02/02/2023
Amy Lovell
Agnes Scott
AST200L students
CCD
6
0
No problems to report
Student projects and finding the comet. Focus wandered quite a bit, ended at 463000
02/01/2023
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
None
Andor CCD
0
10
Humidity
No observing, high humidity and variable conditions.
01/30/2023
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Spectrograph
3
5
Humidity
Spectroscopy of Massive Stars, Humidity hovering near closing limit early evening, finally inched up to limit closing all domes a few hours after twilight.
01/25/2023
james webb
Florida International universoty
none
CCD
5
0
No problems to report
Blazars, AO 0235+164, and 0716+71
01/23/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
0.5
12
Clouds
Weather socked in - just had time for a set of sky flats after filters were cleaned.
01/21/2023
Martha A. Leake
Valdosta State University
none
Arc camera
12,4 hours
0
No problems to report
Asteroid light curves and Comet E3 pictures. The KPNO domes were open, but temperatures near 32 F-34F; low humidity and clear skies. Productive night. Had to stop and restart slew to zenith park but no problems after that. The bright stars in my asteroid field left ghost streaks on the longer darks. Red message on my first (old) computer that Windows 10 was required; so I switched to Ken's computer. CCD Temperature sometimes displayed as 1000C, rather than -109 C; common glitch in display. A good night!
01/21/2023
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
N/A
ARC
9
2
Humidity
EBs; ACE was not working properly on either machine or up when I logged in, so both were rebooted and then seemed fine. The CCD pc had several pages of browser tabs with login failures, the usual SARA login/pw weren't working as they did on the tele pc. Tele seemed to have trouble slewing to first target, was hanging and had to be told twice. Weather station didn't seem to be working.
01/19/2023
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
N/A
ARC
0
11
Humidity
Eclipsing binary
01/16/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
0
13
Clouds
If I may quote the 4-meter operator's status for the night, "high humidity high winds dripping domes threatening clouds rain snow fog dangerous conditions".
01/15/2023
Priya Gokuldass
Florida Tech
None
CCD
0
8
Humidity
Ultra Long GRB host galaxies observation. 80% chances of rain and high humidity.
01/14/2023
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
none
ARC CCD
11
0
No problems to report
Eclipsing binary stars. Thin clouds most of the night and focus was off for R filter, ended with 473539 by end of the night, never better than 2.4".
01/12/2023
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Spectrograph
6
0
Other
Test of spectrograph observations and performance after long shutdown due to fire. Details in saratech server email. Formal re-opening of observatory to regular operations after June 2022 fire. Noted debris over ccd dewar window and attempted to dislodge or at least describe behavior.
01/10/2023
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
2.5
10
Clouds
Played cloud hopscotch for a test drive on long exposures. Focus 446500, guide focus 0. It's baaaaaack!
12/17/2022
Martha Leake
Valdosta.State University
none
Arc
0
13
Other
SARA 0.9-m still not in service because of the Contreras fire on the mountain. Conditions tonight look cloudy. Asteroid light curve observations will be tried when the telescope and computers and other facilities are operational.
12/13/2022
Ken Rumstay
VSU (Emeritus)
None
CCD camera
0
12
Other
Telescope still out of commission due to the Contreras fire in June. Even if that weren't the case. the Kitt Peak Site Weather Information website reports: "Domes are CLOSED due to: high humidity, dripping domes, threatening clouds, ice on domes" It's nice to see that website up and running again!
10/07/2022
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
none
Arc
0
10
Other
Still not ready for observing due to Contreras fire damage to KPNO
10/05/2022
Priya Gokuldass
Florida Tech
None
CCD
0
10
Other
Observatory still closed due to Contreras fire.
10/04/2022
Ken Rumstay
VSU (Emeritus)
None
CCD camera
0
11
Other
KPNO still closed after Contreras fire in June.
09/16/2022
Ken Rumstay
VSU (Emeritus)
NOne
CCD canera
0
10
Other
Observatory still closed after the Contreras fire in June.
07/08/2022
Martha A. Leake
Valdosta. State University
none
Andor
0
9
Equipment Failure
Damage from Contreras fire; not connecting.
07/02/2022
Priya Gokuldass
Florida Tech
None
CCD
0
10
Other
Still closed due to Contreras fire
06/29/2022
Kurtis Williams
TAMUC
None
None
0
8
Other
Ongoing closure due to Contreras fire
06/25/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
N/A
N/A
0
7
Other
Observatory closed due to Contreras fire and power loss.
06/20/2022
Robert Berrington
Ball State University
none
arc
0
10
Other
lost due to closure for mountain fire and power loss.
06/19/2022
Roebrt Berrington
Ball State University
none
arc
0
10
Other
lost due to closure for mountain fire and power loss.
06/22/2022
Kurtis Williams
TAMU-C
none
ARC
0
9
Other
Closure due to Contreras fire (night originally assigned to ERAU in exchange for my 6/23 night)
06/21/2022
Kurtis Williams
TAMU-C
none
ARC Camera
0
9
Other
Closure due to Contreras Fire
06/13/2022
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
5
0
No problems to report
Asteroid.
06/12/2022
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
Josh Wanninger
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary
06/09/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
N/A
ARC CCD
0
5
Clouds
Clouds
06/08/2022
Robert Berrington
Ball State University
none
arc
0
8
Clouds
Short period variable star program. Clouds did not open.
06/07/2022
Kurtis Williams
TAMU-C
REU Students
ACE CCD
7.5
0
No problems to report
White dwarf time series photometry. IR Blocking filter. Filter/Dewar had a hair or fiber that moved across field of view in three "jumps" in first hour of night - didn't affect our data - hurrah for point sources. Focus changed significantly over hour starting about 11pm MST - no sudden change in mountain weather at the time. Seeing was moderate, around 2.5" most of the night.
06/04/2022
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
Scheel, Pavasars, Burbridge, Bakke
ARC CCD
10
0
No problems to report
PN Central Stars. Based on evening flats it appears that the dewar window has a LOT of dust. The images are pretty well saturated with donuts due to dust.
06/04/2022
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
Will Bakke, Brook Burbridge, Emily Pavasars, Lane Scheel
ARC CCD
5
4
Other
Dust closure for first four hours. Rest of the night was clear, no problems. Observed PN central stars for variability.
06/02/2022
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
Josh Wanninger
CCD
8
0
Other
A line of shadow showed up since 2 nights ago (since night of June 1). It appears a wire (or something like that) fell onto the camera.
06/01/2022
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
Josh Wanninger
CCD
7.5
0.5
Equipment Failure
eclipsing binary filter wheel stuck once
05/31/2022
Xianming Han
Butler Univ
Josh Wanninger
CCD
8
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binary
05/30/2022
Ken Rumstay
VSU
None
CCD camera
9
0
No problems to report
AGN program One minor annoyance: I'm not sure why, but I was unable to change the sizes of any of the windows on the camera computer display.
05/29/2022
Robert Berrington
Ball State University
none
arc
7
0
Other
Short period variable stars I was unsuccessful in getting the guider to successfully follow a star. In fact it appears to drive the star off the field rather than follow it.
05/27/2022
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
none
ARC camera
8.5
0
No problems to report
Asteroids. Clouds at sunset continued then cleared somewhat.
05/24/2022
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
Nicolette Terracciano
ARC CCD
8.5
0
No problems to report
Eclipsing binaries. Thin clouds throughout the night and poor seeing with best focus around 2.5 arcsec. Forgot to turn autodome on for flats, but does that matter for zenith park? Dome was around 90 degrees and later when I closed I parked again at zenith and dome moved to 89ish, so I suppose no obstruction for earlier flats.
05/20/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
N/A
ARC CCD
0
5
Wind
Dome was not opened due to high winds and a report of dust/smoke in the air from the 4m telescope.
05/14/2022
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
0
8
Equipment Failure
Could not detect stars in images. Checked to see if the spectrograph was in the way-- it wasn't-- not sure at all what the issue was-- closed up after trying for a couple of hours.
05/11/2022
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
4
3
Clouds
Asteroids. Cirrus clouds at first but cleared after local midnight. No issues with the telescope or CCD.
05/09/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
N/A
ARC CCD & Spectrograph
6.5
0
No problems to report
Galaxy monitoring and spectroscopy practice.
05/08/2022
Roebrt Berrington
Ball State University
none
ARC
7
0
No problems to report
Short period variable stars
05/05/2022
Ken Rumstay
VSU (Emeritus)
Max the Cat
CCD camera
8
1
No problems to report
AGN Monitoring. First hour lost to stupidity. Observing went swimmingly once Todd reminded me to move the spectrograph out of the way.
05/02/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Finished merger sample of Dead Quasar Survey. Oddity: TEL computer RAdmin connection froze often, and mostly when the CCD was reading out, requiring making a new connection. Focus 438200, guider focus -1600.
05/01/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
2 cats
ARC CCD
2.5
6
Other
Closed due to dust/smoke per 4m operator (Ken Rumstay pointed that out - at sunset a couple of domes including WIYN were open so I was lulled). Dead quasar survey. Focus=439500, guider focus 0.
04/30/2022
Stephen Gillam
ERAU
None
ARC Camera
10
0
No problems to report
rOAp stars. Note: The CCD isn't quite lined up with the cardinal directions. N is to the right and W is up on images. There is a slight rotation of the CCD wrt the cardinal directions.
04/24/2022
Martha A. Leake
Valdosta State University
none
ARC camera
9
1.5
Other
Asteroid observations, no problems to report. Another event causes the 1.5 h hours lost. Smoke was not an issue.
04/23/2022
Van Hamme
FIU
Samec
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Observations of interacting binaries. GSC 30151656 and NSVS 10803881.
04/21/2022
Amy Lovell
Agnes Scott
Alex Yep, AST200L students
CCD + spectrograph demo
4
4
Wind
Training for AST 200L students with CCD, plus demo of spectrograph at the end Closed due to high and increasing winds, but we got most of what we needed ascom guide camera (for spectra) is not seeing the sky consistently, something odd is afoot, one time "move" made the star reappear, but it would disappear again with no explanation
04/18/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
N/A
ARC CCD
4
0
Clouds
Intermittent clouds, but was able to collect some good data.
04/11/2022
Ted von Hippel
ERAU
Leila Alamos, Yaneicy Jimenez
imaging
6
0
No problems to report
variable WD
04/13/2022
Stephen Gillam
ERAU
None
Andor Camera
10
0
No problems to report
rOAp stars.
04/10/2022
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
4
0
No problems to report
Asteroid. No issues.
04/09/2022
Walter VanHamme
FIU
Samec
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
Observations of interacting binaries.
04/08/2022
Ted von Hippel
ERAU
Lelia Alamos, Yaneicy Jimenez
imaging
7
0
No problems to report
Variable white dwarf photometry. The remainder of the night went to Kyle Pellegrin, a PhD student at Clemson for GRB work.
04/07/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
N/A
ARC CCD
3.25
0
Software/Control PC Issues
Had to restart ACE Node service to allow camera to download images to MaximDL. Other than that, everything went well.
04/06/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
N/A
ARC CCD
8
0
No problems to report
Monitoring galaxies for variability; exploring drizzle and lucky imaging.
04/05/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Finished [O III] images for dead quasar survey merger phase. After moving to my third target and taking a test exposure, I watched as the focus readout shifted spontaneously by +35000 units. The actual focus did not change. Testing binning 2x2 during guiding worked well, speeding up the start of guiding. One long exposure wiped out by fast RA oscillations near 345W +41.
04/04/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
9
0
No problems to report
Dead quasar survey. Focus 395500, guider focus 0.
04/03/2022
Keefe Kamp
Florida Tech
Gokuldass, Tobolski
CCD/Spec
2
8
Clouds
Be Spectra and Tess Photometric follow-up planned however clouds appeared to come in because the CCD image began to look smeared and darker closed up after that
04/02/2022
Zorayda Martinez
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Kurtis Williams
Andor
7
0
No problems to report
white dwarf time series
04/01/2022
Zorayda Martinez
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Kurtis Williams
Andor
7
0.5
Other
white dwarf time series, time lost due to forgetting to click autosave
03/25/2022
XIANMING HAN
Butler University
none
CCD
80
1.5
Equipment Failure
filter wheel stuck
03/31/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARCC CD
9.5
0
No problems to report
Dead quasar survey, When connecting in afternoon, connector client would not start. Brian Brondel had a look and found something messed up in the Windows registry. CCD focus 394000, guide focus=0.
03/27/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARCCCD
8.5
1
Clouds
Dead quasar survey. Focus 394000. Guide focus -18000; had to change X rate in guide settings from 1 to -1, and reconnect QSI guide canera from MaxIm.
03/23/2022
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
Nicolette Terracciano
ARC CCD
7.5
.5
Software/Control PC Issues
Eclipsing binary. We had some problem getting our target at a low altitude, possibly too low for dropout, but after homing the dome and moving the scope to confirm it was looking through the slit and going back to the target things were fine except for the beginning of a Bessel R and I sequence that got stuck trying to move the filter wheel to I, so I INIT wheel 1 after pausing the sequence and then restarting; things went smoothly for the rest of the night.
03/21/2022
Nayra Rodríguez Eugenio
IAC
none
none
0
5
Clouds
Clouds and humidity > 80% for the entire second half of the night. I didn't even connect to the telescope
03/19/2022
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
4
6
Clouds
Asteroid. High cirrus clouds-- sky became washed out once the moon came up.
03/11/2022
Ted von Hippel
ERAU
Leila Alamos, Yaneicy Jimenez, Kathryn Closius
imaging
9
0
No problems to report
Student programs on variable white dwarf and reflection nebula.
03/12/2022
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
Logan Spooner
ARC camera
9
1
Other
No problems to report. Much time spent finding best focus (several times). No slips in focus noted. Needed to close up for 7:30 am commitment. Will transmit data shortly. Also, will stow telescope in 0 HA and -30 degree Dec position.
03/08/2022
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
None.
ARC camera
9.5
0.5
Other
PN central stars. A few times during the night the tracking could not keep up with the object, creating E-W elongation/trails. This happened mostly in the west, but at intermediate altitudes in the NW. But also happened in the NE with one target.
03/06/2022
Ted von Hippel
ERAU
Leila Alamos, Yaneicy Jimenez
imaging
6
0
No problems to report
One filter reinit required. Some pedagogically useful operator errors from the students. Needed to move the spectrograph out of the way.
03/07/2022
Nayra Rodriguez Eugenio
IAC
none
ARC CCD
4.5
0
No problems to report
Student research projects on exoplanet transits, 2nd half night.
03/04/2022
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
Nicolette Terracciano, Jonathon Smith
ARC CCD
2
9
Wind
EB time of minimum, missed b/c we had to close due to high winds (lost 5 hrs and no flats at the end of the night), lost 3 hours at the beginning of night due to threatening clouds (no early flats), lost 1 hr b/c we thought clouds an issue, but the dome was not aligned with the scope (had to home dome, park scope, restart auto dome). Would be nice to have web cams work, but they don't appear to be working. We also had to login to each machine to start and nothing was up and running, which was confusing and couldn't get the telescope machine to initiate ACE at first, so that machine was rebooted. The night will be a complete loss if we don't have someone offer some Bessel R and I flats for us to use.
02/28/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
11
0
No problems to report
Dead quasar survey. Spent an hour chasing focus, discovered it had changed by 110,000 units since my last KP night, then had a couple of hours of the worst seeing I've ever experienced at Kitt Peak. Focus eventually settled to 39250, slid to 385200 later in the night (kind of like airport gates in Airplane). Guide stage still seems stuck at edge of field; focus was -17600. With fixed guider position, trick of binning guide exposures 2x2 in Setup panel (I think I heard that from Kurtis Williams) really helped for faint guide tars.
02/23/2022
Ken Rumstay
VSU
None
CCD camera
0
11
Humidity
AGN's
02/22/2022
Gary Henson
ETSU
None
Spectrograph
0
9
Wind
High humidity off and on but winds at 4m up to 60 mph
02/20/2022
Gary Henson
ETSU
Rutherford
CCD and Spectrograph
0
9
Clouds
Threatening clouds early, clear for a couple hours but more clouds moving in soon after that. Not enough good weather to open.
02/19/2022
Dr. Alexandra Yep
Agnes Scott College
none
Spectrograph
4
0
Software/Control PC Issues
I was trying to do spectroscopy and could not figure out how to get a decent spectrum. I don't know what focus to use or what I'm doing wrong. Besides that though, I think I maybe needed the StellaCam3? Every time I clicked that tab, the whole Ace program crashed. That might be a problem?
02/17/2022
Ted von Hippel
ERAU
Elvis Santana
imaging
6.5
0
No problems to report
Observation (Seyfert type 2 galaxies and quasars) went well. SARA-KP was responsive, imaging went off without a kink, and weather conditions were good.
02/18/2022
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
none
Andor
11.2
0
No problems to report
Asteroid light curve work for three objects and images for a Stars and Galaxies class. All went well but needed to connect to camera computer near start up; used the Ace connector from the start button. Pointing slightly off center. Stowed the telescope.
02/16/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Josh Wanninger
CCD
0
10
Humidity
did not open
02/15/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Kaylee TenBarge
CCD
4
6
Wind
eclipsing binaries
02/14/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Kira Baasch
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binaries
02/13/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Josh Wanninger
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binaries
02/12/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Maya Leonard
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binaries
02/11/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Kaylee TenBarge
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binaries
02/10/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Kira Baasch
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binaries
02/09/2022
Xianming Han
Butler University
Josh Wanninger
CCD
10
0
No problems to report
eclipsing binaries
02/08/2022
Ted von Hippel
ERAU
none
imaging
0
0
Other
Meant to be student observing program for our 1/2 night but student had last minute problems and couldn't show. I put out the offer to SARA-Board then SARA-Tech, but no takers.
02/09/2022
Nayra Rodriguez
IAC
none
ARC CCD
4
0
No problems to report
Student research projects on SNae, 2nd half night
02/05/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
None
ARC CCD & Spectrograph
8.5
0
No problems to report
Images of M31, M82, and spectra of Arcturus and Regulus.
02/04/2022
Gary Henson
ETSU
Rutherford
spectrograph and ccd
6
4
Wind
Monitoring Nova in M31 - Spectroscopy of Massive Stars SE Wind preventing observing target in that direction but targets to west Ok. Filter Wheel 1 requiring initialization, X-stage maybe stuck?
02/03/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
12
0
Equipment Failure
Dead quasar survey. Focus 497600, guider focus 2150. Guider X-stage is stuck, did not move even when commanded to initialize. Also, every move of filter wheel #1 required an INIT command to complete. Filter 2 wheel moves were OK.
02/01/2022
Todd Hillwig
Valparaiso University
None
ARC camera
0
10
Clouds
No observing, clouds.
01/31/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
6
6
Clouds
Dead quasar survey. Focus 501100, guider focus 1150. Good image quality tonight.
01/30/2022
Ken Rumstay
VSU
None
CCD camera
12
0
No problems to report
AGN monitoring program
01/29/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
None
ARC CCD
1
7
Clouds
Began observing M33 until the clouds rolled in for the night.
01/26/2022
Nayra Rodriguez Eugenio
IAC
Sandra Benitez
ARC CCD
5
0
No problems to report
Student research projects on NEO follow-up and exoplanet transit, 2nd half night
01/26/2022
Ted von Hippel
ERAU
Lauren Ashworth, Elvis Santana
imagining
2.5
0
Other
Student training. Some slight clouds but no real issues. We had the first 1/2 night, but used only the first 2.5 hours for student training.
01/25/2022
Jim Webb
Florida International University
Luna (cat)
CCD0
0
10
Other
COVID illness
01/25/2022
James Webb
florida International University
Luna (cat)
CCD
0
10
Other
Blazars, Didn't observe due to COVID illness
01/23/2022
Kyle Pellegrin
Clemson University
none
ARC CCD
0
7
Humidity
Humidity kept slowly rising towards limit, so I did not open the dome.
01/20/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
6.5
0
No problems to report
Dead quasar survey. merging galaxies. Focus 499000, guider focus 750. Focus slipped twice while tracking one object across meridian.
01/19/2022
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
Nicollette Terracciano, Patrick Noble
ARC
0
11
Humidity
Eclipsing binaries. Wheel one got caught moving and I had to INIT it to stop and go to Bessel R after it "home" stopped at Bessel I.
01/17/2022
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Andor CCD
4
4
Clouds
M31 H-alpha nova monitoring
01/11/2022
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Spectrograph
0
8
Clouds
High thin and thick clouds all night with bright moon, never opened.
01/10/2022
William Keel
University of Alabama
3 cats
ARC CCD
12.5
0
No problems to report
Dead quasar survey, Focus 494500, guider focus 0. It took INIT to get filter wheel 1 to properly position filters most of the time.
01/08/2022
James Webb
Florida International University
none
CCD
0
10
Clouds
Blazar micro variability
01/07/2022
Walter Van Hamme
FIU
Samec
CCD
6
4
Equipment Failure
I had problems on this run. First the focus was far off. After I achieved focus, the pointing was moving to other positions so badly that I would lose the variable and/or check stars and I had to repoint. Next the sequencer started failing. I was given help on all of these but the sequencer was my downfall. I usually take several hundred BVRI observations and I need the sequencer to work. I would have observed for the entire 10 or more hours. But the system was apparently shut down by ACE for repairs.
01/06/2022
Martha Leake
Valdosta State University
none
ARC camera
13
0
No problems to report
Asteroid light curves, a comet, and gathering images for classes that begin Monday. No problems--just the SARA Observatory computer. Good night.
01/05/2022
Todd Vaccaro
Ball State University
Aaron Brown-O'dell
ARC CCD
11
0
Other
Eclipsing binaries. Using Wheel 2 for R and I at the beginning of night for one system I noticed that while focused for R it looked poorly focused (much larger FWHM) for I, might they not be parafocal? Wheel 1 was on empty all night. I switched to R and V for the second target, which seemed focused to begin with, but then stars became crescent-like and moving the focus down 3k or so made for a better focus where FWHM got as good as 2".
01/04/2022
Stephen Gillam
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Lilyanne Pepe, Chloe Nelson, Aakash Thiyagarajan
Leach Camera
14
0
No problems to report
At the beginning of the night, there was some slight star trailing once the telescope azimuth moved below about 35 degrees. roAp stars
01/03/2022
Stephan Gillam
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Lilyanne Pepe
Leach Camera
14
0
No problems to report
Slight star trailing appeared in images taken when the telescope azimuth was below roughly 40 degrees. roAp stars
01/02/2022
Stephen Gillam
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Lilyanne Pepe, Aakash Thiyagarajan
ARC Camera
14
0
No problems to report
Bright blotch with sharp edge that appeared to evaporate as we took flat fields. Humidity was around 1% all night. roAp stars & sparse clusters
12/30/2021
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Spectrograph
0
9
Humidity
Clouds, Rain, High humidity with winter storm, never opened.
12/28/2021
Van Hamme/Samec
FIU
none
Andor CCD
0
10
Clouds
Winter Storm activity, never opened.
12/27/2021
Van Hamme/Samec
FIU
none
Andor CCD
0
10
Humidity
Early Clouds, High Humidity, High Winds, mountain remained closed all night with touch and go weather.
12/26/2021
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
Spectrograph
0
8
Clouds
Partly Cloudy skies most of night, no ACE backup with poor weather forecast so didn't open.
12/25/2021
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
none
0
0
Other
Observatory Holiday Closure
12/24/2021
Gary Henson
ETSU
none
none
0
0
Other
Observatory Holiday Closure
12/23/2021
Tom Rutherford
ETSU
None
CCD
0
4
Equipment Failure
Shutter appears to still be an issue-- all images looked like biases.
12/22/2021
William Keel
University of Alabama
1 cat part-time
ARC CCD
0
13
Equipment Failure
Tried test images at sunset; only got bias pattern. Checked filter wheels, spectrograph pickoff, dome position, all OK. Brian Brondel connected and did a bunch of wizard incantations, and concluded the CCD shutter has probably failed. ACE will take a spare to the mountain tomorrow.
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