ASTR 106 observation summary, 12 December 2021, DMW

The weather was clear at sunset, with west winds 5-15 mph, 35.4 F. Barometer 30.14 and rising. The GOES Band 7 image is the clearest I've seen in ages; I can see all the Finger Lakes in the dark. A slightly gibbous moon is visible in video camera 2 while pointing at the target. The seeing was 2.7 arcsec: better than the forecast but still not great.

We observed the host star of our target exoplanet, HAT-P-53, but the planet does not transit til about this time tomorrow night. Tonight's purpose is to show that the orbital period can't be one day or shorter.

We started observing about half an hour after sunset, before the sky got dark. This increased the uncertainties noticeably in the first 4-5 frames. We used 3 minute exposures and no autoguiding, as last week with TrES -5, because: started observations in twilight; strong moonlight; and the forecast calls for the wind to be picking up as we go along. Our back was to the wind most of the time though.

Around Frame 42 the telescope began jumping N-S during exposures, no doubt because the wind was beginning to push substantially on the telescope cover, rattling it around pretty well. Closed up at 7:50 after frame 47.