CALL FOR ASSISTANCE ------------------- Please call someone whenever you have problems at Jelm. Do not hesitate to avail yourselves of the assistance of: - Pierce 742-2286 (home) 766-6102 (work) - Berrington 742-6893 (home) 766-4366 (work) 703-963-8052 (cell) - Weger 742-4600 (home) 766-6196 (work) - Dale 742-3533 (home) 766-5143 (work) Everyone involved with WIRO, from Rich Coley to the university president, are very keen on making Wyoming's investment successful. Now I doubt President Dubois wants to get a call at 3:00 am concerning the lower windscreen, but the people listed above would rather you call them than lose a good night. LEARN TO HATE THE IDEA OF LOSING PHOTONS ---------------------------------------- Photometric nights are precious at Jelm, so please turn yourselves into rabid photon beasts whenever they occur. Protect clear nights! If problems arise, the adrenaline should be kicking in -- call an expert for help! The beauty of getting an early start is that you're more likely to resolve technical issues before astronomical twilight. Likewise, a wise astronomer once remarked, "A closed shutter collects no photons." Maximize your time at the scope by minimizing wasted time between exposures. Drinks and snacks are a good way to stay alert during the wee hours of the night. The main European observatory, ESO, used to have a tradition of shutting down the entire observatory for a midnight meal. While this may be an extreme example, the point is that you should endeavor to work your gastronomic requirements around the observing and not vice versa. If there are multiple people at the telescope, it should be easy to cook and eat in shifts. One can also sup early or nibble throughout the night. The objective is to always maximize the number and quality of photons hitting the detector. Stay up until at least 3:00 am on cloudy evenings (2:00 am summer). Nighttime clouds frequently dissipate, so staying up occasionally rewards you with hours of useful time. And unless it is the last night of your run, staying up late ensures that you will remain night-adapted for ensuing nights. Take data in mildly non-photometric conditions. We can always calibrate the data in a future photometric period. There are only so many photometric nights available each year at Jelm, so we should be determined to take data whenever possible. Every two hours save http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/satellite/latest_US_wv.jpg. We can write these water vapor maps with the data from that night. Back up your data (to CD, tape, disk) each and every night. This is an obvious statement, but you don't want to experience the pain of losing a photometric night due to negligence. MAKE YOUR STAY AT THE TELESCOPE EFFICIENT ----------------------------------------- Focus early, focus late, focus often. Acquiring sharp images is an important component of our survey. One should always check the FWHM of field stars in each image (and enter that information into our archive file). One should always refocus when changing filters. Remember to be consistent with the "direction" of your focus increments (to avoid backlash/hysteresis effects). If at all possible, stay on the mountaintop during the days of an extended run. Commuting back and forth between Laramie and Jelm each day subtracts two hours that could otherwise be used for work or leisure (in addition to the additional gas and wear & tear on the vehicles). IRAF is available on multiple control room computers, so it is a good idea to get a head start on processing the data before you venture back to Laramie. Processing/analyzing the data ASAP also promotes higher quality data, because it allows us to catch and rectify any latent problems. Internet availability has also made the control room a useful workplace. Waiting for clouds to clear is the perfect opportunity to work on previous nights' data. GENERAL PRECAUTIONS ------------------- It is an observatory requirement that at least two people observe together at the telescope. Drinking lots of water can help prevent altitude-related conditions. Learn what is expected of you in case of fire. Familiarize yourself with the location and use of first aid equipment. Remember to bring a flashlight with you outside, including any late night drives down the mountain. Water has to be hauled up to the mountaintop, so please be parsimonious with your water usage. For example, try to limit yourself to showering every other day. However, we don't expect you to wash dishes with Mu Bootes' tongue!