Hello, I'd like to remind observers who are scheduled for time adjacent to twilight that the twilight is usable for most instruments, especially spectroscopy of bright objects, narrow-band imaging with SPIcam, or normal observing with GRIM. Evening twilight in particular can be used to focus any instrument, even if science observing can't start until full dark. The telescope may be slewed within a few minutes after sunset, and most instruments can be focused 15 minutes to half an hour after sunset. No-shows are a risk with our mode of remote observing; although they don't occur often, we get one or two per quarter, and we have even more false alarms. If we don't receive any advance email from observers or they don't log in before their scheduled start time, we're often unsure whether to expect a no-show. This can result in wasted time searching for contact information or alternative observing programs. Taking the following steps will help us ensure that observing is as efficient as possible. 1. Include phone numbers in the "contact information" portion of your proposal. This is the first place we look. Home phone numbers are particularly useful, since we might be trying to make contact at night or on a weekend. 2. Send email to techstaff@apo.nmsu.edu in advance of the first night of your run. Even if you have a simple observing setup, a short note 24 hours in advance will let us know that you know you'll be observing. If you have any special requests such as non-standard slits or filters or any change from the instrumentation listed in your proposal, we appreciate a warning several days in advance as well as a short reminder on the day before observing. 3. Start Remark or phone the observatory an hour or so before your scheduled time begins on each night of observing. This will allow you to find out about the weather (the satellite information may be old or non-representative) and the telescope status. In the case of evening twilight or rapid instrument changes, you might be able to start your observations earlier than the schedule says. For some instruments (not all), you may be able to take cals or biases while the previous observer is still working. Ask the observing specialist about these possibilities. These steps can make a big difference in efficiency, and let us know that you take observing with the 3.5m seriously even if you don't have to fly thousands of miles to do it. Russet McMillan APO APO APO APO APO Apache Point Observatory 3.5m APO APO APO APO APO This is message 451 in the apo35-general archive. You can find APO the archive on http://www.astro.princeton.edu/APO/apo35-general/INDEX.html APO To join/leave the list, send mail to apo35-request@astro.princeton.edu APO To post a message, mail it to apo35-general@astro.princeton.edu APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO APO