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--- uc:uc20240507_may_7_2024 [2024/05/07 22:27]
nchanove
+++ uc:uc20240507_may_7_2024 [2024/05/08 16:58] (current)
nchanove
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 === Introduction of new 3.5m Observatory Instrument Specialist ===
-Cary Smith, the new 3.5m Observatory Instrument Specialist, started his new position at APO on April 29. Cary has extensive observatory experience, having worked previously at McDonald Observatory and Las Cumbres Observatory (which included a number of different facilities). He has a degree in Physics and has worked in astronomical observatories ever since getting degree. Welcome, Cary! We're delighted to have you on board and we look forward to working with you.
+Cary Smith, the new 3.5m Observatory Instrument Specialist, started his new position at APO on April 29. Cary has extensive observatory experience, having worked previously at McDonald Observatory and Las Cumbres Observatory (which included a number of different facilities). He has a degree in Physics and has worked in astronomical observatories ever since getting his degree. Welcome, Cary! We're delighted to have you on board and we look forward to working with you.
 === User feedback and comments from institutional representatives ===
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   * JHU - nothing to report (sent by email)
   * Seattle - nothing to report
-  * Oklahoma - In April OU had a nice class trip to APO with 13 people. They appreciate the help from the APO staff and the excellent training. **Nancy will send Muk the feedback form to distribute to the students.** (done)
+  * Oklahoma - In April OU had a nice class trip to APO with 13 people. They appreciate the help from the APO staff and the excellent training. **Nancy will send Muk the feedback form to distribute to the students.**
   * Georgia State - nothing to report
   * NAPG - no report
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 === Additional telescope and instrument discussion ===
-Recent fire in Timberon was contained quickly and little smoke came towards APO so we were not affected. Good weather recently. OU class went well, APOLLO team also on site. 1.25" slits arrived on the mountain today - they will be inspected and then installed into KOSMOS. Also APOLLO training for all obs-specs on 4/22
+The recent fire in Timberon was contained quickly and little smoke came towards APO so we were not affected. We've had good weather at the site recently. The OU class visit went well, The APOLLO team was on site in late April for some engineering work. The new 1.25" slits for KOSMOS arrived from UW today; they will be inspected and then installed into KOSMOS. There was an all-hands 3.5m observing specialist training on APOLLO operations on April 22. It went well, and Russet is doing an outstanding job of documenting and distilling the operational instructions for this very complex and idiosyncratic system.
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 === Summer shutdown schedule ===
-Aug 12-26 return to science that night. Instrument servicing throughout the summer but some are used frequently so they will be handled then. Do some of the more critical maintenance items to eliminate moth problems and turn back over to users. Want to give obs-specs some training time coming out of shutdown to get more experience. Not doing second or tertiary
+Summer shutdown is scheduled for August 12-26, inclusive. There will be some instrument servicing done throughout the summer but several of the instruments are used so frequently that they will be handled during the shutdown. The observatory staff will also do the routine and critical maintenance items, such as those to eliminate moth problems, and then turn the telescope back over to the users. We will not be taking the telescope apart this year given that we had the primary mirror realuminized last summer. We plan to give the observing specialists some more training time coming out of shutdown so that they can gain more experience with the shutdown recovery process. We will not be recoating the second or tertiary mirrors this summer but are considering that for next summer.
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 === 2024 Q2 3.5m scheduling ===
-Lot of open time in June - let your users know that there is a dark DD night on June 5. Some slots are short but see the schedule.
+We have a some unassigned time (OPEN or DD01) remaining in Q2, most notably a dark night on June 5. Some of the available slots are short, while others are complete half-nights. Users should follow the usual channels for requesting any of this time (i.e. email Russet, Amanda, Ben, Nancy and their institutional scheduler when submitting requests, and provide a proposal cover page if you don't already have a program scheduled for the current quarter).
-We have a some unassigned time (OPEN or DD02) remaining in Q4. Please follow the usual channels for requesting any of this time (i.e. please email Russet, Amanda, Ben, Nancy and your institutional scheduler when submitting requests, and provide a proposal cover page if you don't already have a program scheduled for the current quarter.
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 === 2024 Q3 3.5m scheduling ===
-Allocation emails went out. Requests are due May 24. Aiming for Q3 schedule to be posted ~ June 10. Reminder to tell us early if planning to bring. - NC contact NAPG about summer visitor.
+The allocation emails went out late last week, and all Q3 requests are due by May 24. We are aiming to have the Q3 schedule posted around June 10. As a reminder, please notify the scheduling team early (before the proposal deadline if possible) if you are planning to bring a group of trainees to the site in Q3. **Nancy will contact NAPG to ask about their summer visit plans.**
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 === 2024 Q2 0.5 scheduling ===
-May 11-16 open and more in early June.
+There is some open ARCSAT time on May 11-16 and more in early June. Please email the scheduling team if you wish to request it.
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-=== Publications update request ===
+=== Annual Request to Update Publication Record ===
-June 30 deadline.
+**Please send Nancy any references for 3.5m-related publications (anything published from Jan 1 2023 to now). The deadline is June 30.** Understanding the scientific usage and impact of the telescope is critical for evaluating future projects, initiatives, instrument concepts, etc., thus we need your help in updating our publication record! We are now participating in a cross-observatory analysis of scientific impact of ground-based telescopes, so it is especially important that we capture all publications resulting from APO observations. Any publications resulting from ARCSAT data are also requested. The listing should include refereed publications and student theses and dissertations (not conference abstracts unless they are peer reviewed) that made use of data acquired with the 3.5m and/or ARCSAT, published from 2023 to the present. If a paper has been submitted to a journal but has not yet completely gone through the review process, please include that as well, with the name of the journal and “submitted.”
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 Open action items from previous meetings:
   * Nancy: get ROM costs for new KOSMOS grisms. UPDATE: We are in the process of putting together some quotes and working with vendors, and will make decisions from there. We will use examples that had been requested by users previously in order to get quotes so we have some idea of what will be possible. STATUS: OPEN.
-  * UC reps: remind your users that observers must respond to reminder emails at least 24 hours in advance.
+  * UC reps: remind your users that observers must respond to reminder emails at least 24 hours in advance. STATUS: CLOSED.
+Open action items from this meeting:
+  * Nancy: send Muk the feedback form to distribute to the students. (done!)
+  * Nancy: contact NAPG to ask about their summer visit plans. (done!)
+  * UC reps: remind your users to review the Q2 schedule and request OPEN/DD time if they can make a good case for it.
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 === All Other Business ===
-Web site work. Shane has created whole separate server, modern front end with database driven apps on the back end. Long road porting everything over.Including some new capabilities (with potential for more) - close enough now so we can provide link to new site so people can check it out at next UC meeting.
+Ben Williams provided an update regarding work being done to develop a new APO web site. Shane has created a whole separate web site with a more modern front end and database-driven apps on the back end. It has been time consuming to port all of the existing web site content over, which was the first step, and then evaluating how to improve the user experience and remove redundant or unnecessary information. We are getting close to the point where we will be ready to seek broader feedback on the new web site from the user community; we are aiming to provide the link to new site at the next Users Committee meeting so people can check it out and provide feedback.
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