Ever since the MagAO-X team left the mountain, we have not had a sunset view nor the company of Maggie-OX in the control room. Well folks, that changes today. Our long time collaborator and primo disk observer, Alycia, has made her journey up the mountain tops today. She shared some familiar views of the sunset and wild life up at ~8000 feet.
Thanks to Alycia, we also got a sneak peak at the new setup in the LCO control room and the snacks she brought for her observing nights. Meanwhile in the ROC, the voice of MagAO-X has returned with a small tweak. The first shifters (Tiffany, Jay, and Katie) and Jared agreed upon the name of Magnus (or would Magnux be better???). We are still figuring out our feelings towards Magnus…
“Hey Magnus, can you come see me after this shift?”
The team worked hard to image some GEOs and moons around asteroids in the newly set up mood light. The moons Aegis and Gorgoneion might have been spotted around its host, the main-belt asteroid (93) Minerva. Who knows? Maybe after some post processing, some undiscovered moons will become visible.
The first half night seeing was decent with some dramatic spikes, likely from the higher winds. As the observer of the second half, I was hoping the seeing stays where it is with slightly less winds. The sky did let me have my way for a few hours, so I got to challenge the AO operators with some faint targets.
Unfortunately, the wispy clouds began to roll in a few minutes before the transit of my second target, a V=13.3 star. Our dedicated AO operator of the night, Eden, fought to keep the loop closed. Even with a low loop speed and modes applied, the loop opened once every 1-2 minutes. More attempts were made in hopes that the clouds would clear, but alas, the observer called it a night an hour before sunset.
Color of the Day:
Can you tell the difference between the Day 15 red?
This is the color of a hardworking tweeter actuators.