Eden McEwen – Page 3 – Extreme Wavefront Control Lab

MagAO-X 24Ab Day 15: Time to roll out

Last time, on extreme.ao: We were still having weather. Your AO operator valiantly tried to lock the loop on a 10th magnitude star through patchy cirrus before our observers took pity and let us switch to something brighter. But finally TO Hernán got the call, stepped outside for some professional cloud watching, and the dome closed at around 11pm. The first shift crew trickled out, the second shift trickled in, and I got caught somewhere in between taking calibrations on our internal source. I took the bright moon walk down the hill, appreciated what I could of the night and the cold before finally heading to bed at 2am.

Magellan Clay is open, but at what cost? — The patchy clouds responsible for our WFS’ variable flux.

Best dark hole of the run. — A moon bow! Just the right thickness of cloud to get a ring of scattered light from the full moon.

The take down crew (Laird, Logan and I) caught up with the returning night shifters (Jared, Joseph, Jay, and Josh) at breakfast. (Am I self-conscious about being the only violation of the first letter name crew segregation? A little.) Turns out we did reopen! Around 3am the clouds cleared enough for us to rush to the transit for Gabriele’s early morning target. Only for wind to spike and seeing go from 0.8 to 1.5as soon after. Just before sunrise, they called it, and started the decabling soon after. Gabriele, though not captured, helped out too. A champion among guest observers. You’re welcome back any time, Gabriele!

Yo who closed last night? - affectionate <3 — DM decabling in the wee hours of the morning.

Night crew, full of orange juice and toast (as per PI procedure), headed for bed while us day crew revved our way up to the mountain. We only realized how much we had to thank the decable crew for when we rolled up to the platform. They had made our jobs a walk in the park. Cables and electronics box already down on the dome floor, the cart ready to go, with the bumpers out of the way, MegaDesk completely dismantled int the control room. They won’t always tell you they love you, but there will be signs.

We still had plenty of work to do to get out of the telescope’s way by noon, when the next night’s instrument would be rolled into our place. Yesterday we met before dinner to go over the procedure, and this morning we expertly executed said procedure. Except a few bolts that felt especially sticky (*COUGH* legs side B outer bolt *COUGH COUGH*), the cart and lifting hardware behaved itself beautifully.

How many pixels would a Laird pic if a Laird pic pixels pick? — At the briefing yesterday, everyone was very briefed on the new lift position.

Do I always hold the cart handles so I never get asked to do the cart bolts? No comment. — I hold the instrument steady as the cart gets assembled.

This is a three person job. Laird to know what to unscrew, Logan to catch what falls, and me to vaguely hold a flashlight in the right direction. — Laird and Logan reattaching the hardware that keeps pur instrument safe from earthquakes.

Juan and his crew helped us go from legs to cart, cart to elevator, elevator to 40ph wind tunnel, to the final tour town the hill. Laird was there to help oversee the careful maneuvers with our precious wheel-bound table of optics. He was also there to document just HOW MUCH WIND we’re talking about.

The wind was so strong it knocked over Laird!

tbt when these mountains were brown like a week a go — Baade, snow capped mountians, an AO instrument on the move.

moments before almost disaster (the electronics rack wheels getting ruck on the ramp) ((they're tiny ok??)) — Movign the electronics rack back to the clean room.

Where were Logan and I? Frantically shuttling computer parts, cables, and all our other bits and bobs out of the telescope and down the hill. We try hard to be polite and get MagAO-X junk out of the control room ASAP. As it happens, ASAP turns out to take 3 car trips of stuff and gets us done just before lunch. And MagAO-X is back where we want it, cozy and protected from the elements in the cleanroom antechamber.

now that's a good wrap job — Everyone is back in the cleanroom, and room temperture.

AND POOF. We’re back! Actually after lunch I fell asleep for an exertion-induced nap, during which Laird, Juan and crew got us back on legs and back in action. The afternoon was full of unwrapping, dusting, power supply ~~cursing~~ musings, and positioning MagAO-X where it will live for the summer before we come back down for 24B.

Two professors power posing, you better feel reasured of the future of AO. — MagAO-X positioned in the cleanroom to maximize 1) sharable space with other isntruments and 2) sticker visibility.

What does it take to get MagAO-X cleanroom ready? A lot of organizing, reshuffling, and repeating steps we did on the telescope platform. There were a few special quirks with the new placement in the cleanroom and making sure everything got the power it needed.

A timelapse by Jay of Laird floating the table. Watch that control loop work!

Two lamps were moved, but not harmed, for the making of this new inferior workstation. — The mega desk downgrade, in which Joseph talks sense into AOC.

Some of the crew (Jared Jay Josh – J^3) will be staying an extra day to make sure everything is in good condition for our summer remote ops. As for the rest of us, this is our last night at LCO for the 24A runs! For the special occasion, we made sure that we took a last sunset as a team, with a special surprise for Jared.

I think the glasses look most natural on Jared, don't you? — The largest sunset group photo. See reflections for a captured Josh.

The glasses looked so good, how could we not take a few extra shots?

Best 15 minutes of the day? Finding out there was pizza for dinner, eating pizza, thinking fondly of the pizza, and getting a second serving of pizza. But of course, the pizza tastes better with the laughs shared at dinner with our AO family.

Song of the Day

Today’s song brought to you by the bitter sweet of leaving the mountain after a hard run.

Head in the Clouds by The Beths

MagAO-X 2024Ab Day 9: “I don’t think you want that data”

Thank you for tuning in for “Eden’s screenshots of the firewalled LCO weather page.”

I spy with my little eye Kian's new slack-moji — Bright eyed enthusiam coming to you straight from the AO operator desk.

I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that we are open! The bad news? The seeing is just on the edge of usable. And by “on the edge” I mean we’re getting something on the science cameras… but it’s the kind of data we dread to process. What a tease.

On top of that, the wind is whistling something fierce. Like living next door to a two-note pan-piper. Every 5 minutes, Maggie-O-X will announce that we’ve hit our wind limit, just for the wind to slink back down again. Like a threat that it could shut this whole operation down, clouds or not. We thank Carla for being a merciful TO, and we are planning on allocating portions of our empanada orders tomorrow to her, accordingly.

"Does ANYONE want this 6.5m telescope?" — Seeing and wind plots at the time of reporting.

Did I forget to mention that I have worse news? In a novel first for this team, we are expecting rain. Yes, in the Atacama Desert, that gets an average rainfall of 15 mm a year. We found it, folks. The one day of rain a year. Stay tuned for the MagAO-X raincoat wrappings.

The first time I have seen precipitation on the LCO meteoblue weather page.

Weather like this could really get you down, but luckily we have a great team that keeps even these kinds of days full of laughs and good stories. Our night started with high hopes. Since the sky was clear and the winds were low, the walk to the telescopes was appealing for the first time in a week. Some of the team caught a crisp green flash on their way up.

As an early-shifter, I’m headed to bed, but I know the control room is staying merry with Alycia wisdom, Jared sea stories, Joseph whimsy, and Josh punchlines that are actually just events from his life. All as it should be.

more of these please. — A beautiful, cloudless sunset.

No one told you, but this is the MagAO-X uniform — Logan breaking in new hiking shoes

it's liek that optical illusion, can you tell which way we're standing? — Logan breaking in new hiking shoes

Best 15 minutes of the day? Filling out the night lunch for 4 whole empanadas. Just like the boss ordered.

Overheard at LCO

“I struggled with the scissors unit in kindergarten”
won most improved on MagAO-X scissor duty

“As long as I’m not playing a sport I won’t get injured”
“Why would you say something like that”
someone who could definitely get injured in offseason

“I will be Clay’s Gollum”
someone with career ambitions

“Keep the icc data away from the tea.”
“How about you keep the tea away from the icc data.”
not all of us have Sebastiaan level tea charisma

“I wasn’t allowed near the model trains because I kept wanting to touch them”
still let near our picomotors as a trust exercise

Song of the day

This one isn’t my pick. It’s Clay’s.

Danny Boy – Sinéad O’Connor

MagAO-X 2024Ab Day 3: And the band comes marching in

can you guess who got picked for a customs declaration? — We made it!

He did, indeed, beat us to the domestic terminal — Some of us (one of us) lucked into the customs fastpast lane.

Why use codenames when you can just use what the largebucks in the domestic terminal things you should be called? — The traditional Starbucks renaming: Jren – Eden, Josh – Logan, Maggie – Maggie

Guess who’s made it to Chile? Everyone else! You know it’s almost time to put the instrument on the telescope because the brawn has arrived en masse. We were luckier than last run 5/5 of the expected graduates / Postdocs made it to Santiago unharmed and on time.

Sardines in a can have more space. — Photo evidence of everyone being a good sport after 24 hours of travel.

On our way from the La Serena, we all jammed into the mini van, with just the cubic feet needed to fit all of us and our luggage. It was the hardest jenga our sleep deprived brains could probably have accomplished at that point. Fortunately it was just for the quick jump to the halfway house for astronomers, the Pine on the hill. We had to wait here for a bit before our larger, more official van shepherded us the 2 hours to the telescopes.

thanks to joseph for letting me retake this until I didn't look completely exhausted — Yep, the lounge is still here, and the snacks are revitalizing.

If you could smell this picture, it would smell like pepermint dr bronners — Taking the 2 hours at el Pino for a much needed stretch break.

Meanwhile, our compatriots up the hill were enjoying a luxurious empenada lunch, after a hard mornings work of calibration tests and computer construction. Some of us travelers were lucky enough to be visited by the masked empenada fairy, delivering the delicacy to our unoccupied rooms.

Havve you ever seen a feast so beautiful? — There times when a day shift overlaps with empenada days are few and they are treasured.

The travel crew arrived, some well napped, others full of podcast, to a chilly mountain top that feels a little more like home every time. After some necessary rest and recovery in our rooms, we finally joined the mountain team for a big dinner. We’ll be back to big work tomorrow, but for now we get to rest (on real beds, not half naps van or airplane seats). The clouds weren’t looking promising, but they sure did make for a pretty sunset:

These are the kinds of sunrays we expect in Tucson.

The vote is out, — The only way we could possibly make the new glass stickers more majestic.

The best 15 minutes of the day was getting to see a friendly face from the past! Casey Lam, who was once upon a time a grad student working with Jessica Lu when I was a mere undergrad, just so happened to be the observers before us on Clay. She’s now a postdoc with Carnegie in Pasadena! With the buffer day we need to get the instrument on the telescope, I got to spend a good 15+ minutes catching up before Casey observes her last night and heads back down. Have clear skies and safe travels, Casey!

Live shot of me trying to blow away the clouds for her. — I am very excited I got to see Casey!

Song of the Day

To be completely honest, you’re getting a blog post from a pretty tired kid, just maybe the least tired and least busy. See you tomorrow where we’ll be a little more alive!

Dead Girl Walking – Jensen McRae

MagAO-X 2024Aa Day 22: Home again, but not for long

And no, the solar farms that LOOK like lakes don't count. — First sighting of a large water body since early March.

Like any triumphant victory, the champions must eventually turn homeward. After an amazing few weeks of scientific discoveries, engineering miracles, and accidental binary friends, we packed up our many multi-terabyte hardrives and headed down all 8000 ft back down on our way home.

Both the tree, and the grass, and really anything green in this picture felt novel after the Atacama. — The pine that makes the lodge el Pino.

What does he see? And why does the hallway just end there? — Traveler above a sea of fog, colorized, 2024

Rough stuff when your world class proposed telescope's poster is sun-faded... — A dreamy model GMT, bigger than the ones we have back home.

We had an early morning bus filled with some napping, clear skies and a view of the bay. Post drive we got a quick break at El Pino, enjoyed the sights, touched grass, and confirmed that there was still that weird vizzy people were calling a rabbit. After a brief respite of healthier snacks and preferred beverages, we all packed back in the van and left for the La Serena airport. All except for Josh, who by a cruel twist of fate was the only lab member who got completely rebooked with a separate itinerary back to Tucson. We miss him to this day.

We bring so many grad students so that we have spares for moments like these. — Last known photo of Josh Liberman.

And then the whirlwind of luggage hauling, TSA searches, elite lounge scouring, airplane sitting, more TSA, and sleep-deprived airport navigation began. Despite the 36 hours in transit, we did make time for the important traditions.

Not all group members were made aware of the "pre-TSA" memo and we regret the omission. — Cervezas and papas fritas pre Las Serena TSA.

He's sure we will show up, any minute now. — Post-TSA Jay, plane watching.

Previous reports were rash, Josh was eventually found. — Inducting the uninitiated into the SCL Terminal E Ruby Tuesdays Pisco sour fanclub.

But just like that, or maybe “after all that”, we finally emerged blinking in the Tucson sun. After clunky suitcases were retrieved, goodbyes were brief. It’s hard to be sentimental on dubious amounts of red-eye sleep and to people you have just spent three weeks secluded mountain top, stepping on their toes.

Telescopes? At MY baggage claim? — One of the many attractions of Chile includes some friends, the Gemini telescope.

But like any epic tale, why not tell it twice? Your favorite AO squad couldn’t resist the encore to such a successful run, and we will be back in May for 24Ab. In the meantime we will be catching up on our sleep debt, hugging our loved ones, and quickly putting in a load of laundry.

Song of the Day:

Sing us out, Piano Man.

Vienna by Billy Joel.

MagAO-X 2024Aa Day 6: The longest day

Do you have what it takes to be the next great AO operator? Well today is the day that tests your mettle. Starting as bright an early as our crane operators will let us, we do a little bit of everything this 24hr shift. We pack, we crane, we unpack, we unwrap, we level, we cable, and at the very end of it all we finally get to do a little bit of why we’re here: astronomy.

At least during cart assmbly, we get to lie on the floor for a bit. — Careful cart alignment requires many positions.

Careful cart alignment requires many positions.

The day started out with the projects greatest fiend, the cart. We build it around the table to help it roll from truck to the telescope. Every time we assemble and disassemble this 200lb or so beast, we grow closer as a team. And perhaps ever more resentful of it. The instrument and legs arrive separately at the telescope, after getting separated at this clean room lifting step. We make sure all these moves are safe by applying tension to big items to make them go slow.

This is a gauranteed upper arm work out — Don’t stop pulling!

Working hard to make sure it doesn't roll down that big hill. — Don’t stop pulling!

The best selfies are always the ones where you stare directly into the sun. — Keeping MagAO-X safe, one arm workout at a time.

Next the PI takes a nice long walk with his million dollar baby up the hill. The rest of us know it’s best to let them have their space.

these are the things that make us nervous. — The not-IZUZU executing the turn

If he can't keep up, they're goign too fast. — The not-IZUZU executing the turn

While the flatbed makes its slow ascent, the rest of the team prepares the platform and tools to make ready for its arrival.

We are all small in Clay's shine. — MagAO-X returns to Clay after almost exactly a year! (2023A finished on March 17th, and we brought it back on March 18th 2024)

They make it look easier than it is. — Wheeling the instrument to the scissor elevator.

their is a lot of waiting on this particular scissor lift. — Going up!

Once the instrument is in the telescope dome, there’s a set of reverse craning and anti-cart activities that need to quickly happen. Good thing we’re getting good at this. As long as we follow Laird’s carefully labeled baggies, we don’t go too wrong.

Laird is smiling because he won't have to see the cart for at least two weeks. — De-carting is at least a 3 person activity.

Juan and the guys went back to get our electronics while Maggie lead the table team in the fine grained work of leveling a two ton floating table. Maggie might just need to be our Laird on the May run, and under her guidance we leveled the table in record time!

"I hate these things" — Using two perpendicular levels to check the table’s inclination.

Maggie has the procedure. And she will check it twice. — Using two perpendicular levels to check the table’s inclination.

The electronics rack gets its ride up, and is placed next to the table, and then we can start recabling all the things we unplugged just last night. It’s a big dejavu moment. By dinner, we have all but one DM connected. (We still eat fast though, because the less on sky time we waste, the better. )

Cabling, but this time, at even more altitude.

Meanwhile, our astronomer heavy contingent started to make their way out here. Out of three who were supposed to arrive today, only Jay made it, for a various calamitous reasons. Logan got all the way to La Serena, and will be joining us later this week. If all goes well, Jialin will make all the connections she needs and will be here by tomorrow.

Before more misadventures. — Two more of us making it out of Tucson.

Walking into dinner all cool like. — Well look who finally showed up!

We are, in all honesty, running out of tables. — Well look who finally showed up!

Dinner was quick, and we all raced back up the mountain to finish the last little bits. Since it’s our observing night, we finally got to claim the observer-reserved speedy red automatic. Now that all our cars aren’t manual, we aren’t limited by who can drive stick. Happy to report that no one even screamed as I took my first drive up the mountain!

This is entirely a sweet moment. Please don't ruin it. *cough* LOGAN *cough* — Two cozy cleanroom Vizzies we spotted on our way up!

The final mad dash of cabling and clean up wasn’t captured, but rest easy, we once again worked a small miracle and got the instrument science ready on the platform. We even got our first sunset picture on the catwalk with nearly the whole team.

Yes, that is Logan on the iPad. — The first catwalk sunset, nearly everyone made it.

Sponsored by Joseph's iPad — Logan might be in La Serena, but she did not miss the sunset.

Once the sun went down, we finally got to an open dome and down to science.

"Notes on MagAO-X: The control room will be completely overrrun. Keep calm and make sure you have a chair" — The team assembles for the excitement of the system getting online.

First up was commissioning some of the newest of our DM technology. These alignment patterns were made fairly recently by members of the lab to test our DM actuators on the light from the pupil.

Designed by Jay — ‘J test’ aligns our 1k NCPC DM

Designed by Katie. 'It's like tagging our DM!' — ‘J test’ aligns our 1k NCPC DM

After making sure everything was working, we returned to our old friend, pi Pup. This bright double star system is one of our favorites because it’s companion is bright enough to be seen as soon as we close the AO loop.

This kind of performance is the stuff of simulations. — Z band, visible light, closed loop image on sky. The companion is on the left of the image, right next to one of the DM speckles. This image is about 0.74 Strehl.

We were lucky that in our first hours of engineering, we got solid and steady 0.5 arcsecond seeing. We were able to capture some great footage of MagAO-X in action. Below, you can see in real time how turning on the AO system gets us from a blob to a stellar PSF.

The Jared-cam, all four screens of our megadesk, closing the loop on pipup.

In another commissioning victory, we got FDPR working on sky with the NCPC DM. This technique probes phase and amplitude with defocus to reduce our non-common path errors. With our first round of testing, we were able to improve our SR from 0.77 to 0.86 with our rough calculations. (In case these numbers mean nothing to you, we were very pleased with our 0.63 last time, 0.77 got Jared smiling, and 0.86 nearly knocked our stinky socks off.)

"This is not a supported mode of operation!" — FDPR (Focus diversity Phase Retrieval) initial results.

And with those victories, it was on to science. Katie got an hour or so to test ADC algorithms with Sebastiaan, and Jared tested some binning code. Both projects need a little more debugging time, and so we’ll probably revisit them later this week. We got back on sky for Sebastiaan’s target just in time for the seeing to explode.

Good astronomers don't deserve this sort of luck. — We went from a 0.5 as night to a 1.5 as one way too quickly…

Sadly, this weather isn’t the kind our instrument was made to operate in, so in the late hours of our very long day, we gave up on scince targets and I got to sneak in a few more engineering tests. (Things have to be pretty hopeless for the team to let me test optical gain unchecked.) The team trickled down the mountain in twos and threes as we finally ran out of steam from our very big, very hard, way too long day.

But don’t let the ending spoil the fact that we just managed a miracle. We got from a truck to a beautiful, record breaking PSF in less than 24 hours. We have only had one night, and are already proving the robustness of algorithms that we weren’t even sure were going to work on sky. Plus, two new group members, Josh and Katie, survived one of the hardest days we go through. Congratulations team!

Song of the day:

How could I not pick this song for the first night of the run?

First Light – Hozier