Nightlog Summary | Gemini North

The observing team at Gemini keeps a detailed log of each night's science observing, also noting weather issues, technical faults and any time spent in planned engineering. It is read by Gemini staff early each morning. A summary of the night is written at the end of observing and included at the top of each night log. That summary is posted here, unedited, to give interested users a feel for what we're doing.

UT DATE	NIGHT PLAN	NIGHT SUMMARY
Jul 15, 2021	The plan is to observe some high priority GMOS, GNIRS, NIRI and GRACES observations, including an rToO at the beginning of the night. The forecast is for clear skies with good seeing progressing to moderate/poor throughout the night.	While the early ToO and some high priority NIRI, GNIRS and GRACES programs were able to be observed in the first half of the night, increasing winds and dry conditions made for a large blowing dust hazard that forced us to close up for the second half.
Jul 14, 2021	The plan is to continue the GRACES run, observing high priority 2 fibre GRACES targets in addtion to some GMOS and GNIRS targets in good weather. The forecast is for clear skies and good seeing.	Seeing was a bit unstable in the first half of the night, with some thin cirrus, but conditions improved toward the end of the night. There were some time consuming faults that delayed the start of observing, but once fixed, Band 1 and 2 GRACES, GMOS and NIRI were observed.
Jul 13, 2021	The plan for the night is to continue the GRACES run and observe some high priority Band 1, calibrations, and some LGS engineering testing. The forecast is for moderate cloud cover at the beginning of the night, improving towards the end of the night with good seeing.	The clouds were much better than forecast and good seeing persisted throughout the night. High priority GMOS, GNIRS, NIRI and GRACES programs were observed. An LGS engineering task was attempted but not entirely successful.There were 7 faults, but none resulted in time loss.
Jul 12, 2021	The plan for the night is to continue observing high priority time constrained observations in addition to the continuation of the GRACES run. The weekend forecast shows a great deal of clouds and moderate seeing.	Clouds were present all night, and a fault in twilight pushed back the start of an early target. Some of a high priority NIRI observation and Band 3 GRACES were observed in the beginning of the night, but the rest of the night was lost to low thick clouds and virga.
Jul 11, 2021	The plan is to observe high priority NIRI, GNIRS and GRACES Band 1 and Band 2 programs. The forecast is for worsening cloud cover throughout the night, with good seeing.	IQ20/70 persisted throughout the night, but moderate to heavy cloud cover was present the last half of the night, clearing up just before sunrise. Unfortunately the heavy cloud cover resulted in a large amount of weather loss, but some Band 1,2 and 3 NIRI, GNIRS and GRACES data was still able to be obtained.
Jul 10, 2021	With major telescope fixes achieved, we expect a regular full night of multi-instrument queue observing (GMOS, NIRI, GNIRS, GRACES). Forecast is for excellent seeing with thickening clouds. Many high priority ToOs and programs in the queue.	Successful night of observing with the regular expected faults leading to little time loss. Band 1-3 targets were observed including rToOs and GRACES programs. Clouds throughout the night with clear patches and had overall excellent seeing.
Jul 09, 2021	SCS/CEM testing is ongoing into the evening but looks promising to recover. High priority observations in most queue plan variants. Forecast is for dry and stable conditions with excellent seeing.	Opened up shortly after sunset and were able to get part of a high priority ToO and a couple of hours of band 2 in between SCS faults. Ultimately we could not recover shortly after midnight and called the night.


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UT DATE

NIGHT PLAN

NIGHT SUMMARY

Jul 15, 2021

The plan is to observe some high priority GMOS, GNIRS, NIRI and GRACES observations, including an rToO at the beginning of the night. The forecast is for clear skies with good seeing progressing to moderate/poor throughout the night.

While the early ToO and some high priority NIRI, GNIRS and GRACES programs were able to be observed in the first half of the night, increasing winds and dry conditions made for a large blowing dust hazard that forced us to close up for the second half.

Jul 14, 2021

The plan is to continue the GRACES run, observing high priority 2 fibre GRACES targets in addtion to some GMOS and GNIRS targets in good weather. The forecast is for clear skies and good seeing.

Seeing was a bit unstable in the first half of the night, with some thin cirrus, but conditions improved toward the end of the night. There were some time consuming faults that delayed the start of observing, but once fixed, Band 1 and 2 GRACES, GMOS and NIRI were observed.

Jul 13, 2021

The plan for the night is to continue the GRACES run and observe some high priority Band 1, calibrations, and some LGS engineering testing. The forecast is for moderate cloud cover at the beginning of the night, improving towards the end of the night with good seeing.

The clouds were much better than forecast and good seeing persisted throughout the night. High priority GMOS, GNIRS, NIRI and GRACES programs were observed. An LGS engineering task was attempted but not entirely successful.There were 7 faults, but none resulted in time loss.

Jul 12, 2021

The plan for the night is to continue observing high priority time constrained observations in addition to the continuation of the GRACES run. The weekend forecast shows a great deal of clouds and moderate seeing.

Clouds were present all night, and a fault in twilight pushed back the start of an early target. Some of a high priority NIRI observation and Band 3 GRACES were observed in the beginning of the night, but the rest of the night was lost to low thick clouds and virga.

Jul 11, 2021

The plan is to observe high priority NIRI, GNIRS and GRACES Band 1 and Band 2 programs. The forecast is for worsening cloud cover throughout the night, with good seeing.

IQ20/70 persisted throughout the night, but moderate to heavy cloud cover was present the last half of the night, clearing up just before sunrise. Unfortunately the heavy cloud cover resulted in a large amount of weather loss, but some Band 1,2 and 3 NIRI, GNIRS and GRACES data was still able to be obtained.

Jul 10, 2021

With major telescope fixes achieved, we expect a regular full night of multi-instrument queue observing (GMOS, NIRI, GNIRS, GRACES). Forecast is for excellent seeing with thickening clouds. Many high priority ToOs and programs in the queue.

Successful night of observing with the regular expected faults leading to little time loss. Band 1-3 targets were observed including rToOs and GRACES programs. Clouds throughout the night with clear patches and had overall excellent seeing.

Jul 09, 2021

SCS/CEM testing is ongoing into the evening but looks promising to recover. High priority observations in most queue plan variants. Forecast is for dry and stable conditions with excellent seeing.

Opened up shortly after sunset and were able to get part of a high priority ToO and a couple of hours of band 2 in between SCS faults. Ultimately we could not recover shortly after midnight and called the night.

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