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Do You Know What Day It Really Was at the 2.1-m? (1Sep92)
(from KPNO, NOAO Newsletter No. 31, 1 September 1992)

Have you taken a "date critical" observation at the 2.1-m telescope
during the past few years? If so, you should be aware that the
telescope control system (TCS) was supplying the local date (Mountain
Standard Time) between January 1989 and June 1992.  Thus the FITS/IRAF
keyword "DATE-OBS" for observations taken in this time period will be
that of the local date, rather than the UT date that is standard on all
of the other telescopes at KPNO. This keyword was changed on 27 June
1992 to specify the UT date.  (The current draft of the FITS standard
recommends usage of Universal Time in both the `DATE' and `DATE-OBS'
keywords.)

If you were one of the users of the new TCS during its testing phase at
the Coude Feed this spring, your data is similarly affected. However,
after 11 June 1992, FITS and IRAF headers written at the Coude Feed
contain the UT date.

Bob Marshall

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