2016B Engineering Only

Just a quick reminder for MagAO users who may be considering submitting a telescope proposal in the near future: MagAO will not be available for general use in the 2016B semester. The system will be on the telescope during the semester, but for engineering work only. This work includes recalibration, and installation of the MagAO-2K upgrades: more modes controlled, faster speed (up to 2000 Hz), and installation and commissioning of a new detector for Clio.

2016A Day 22: Keep On Turning

Our last day at LCO (this time) was a critter filled day.

A Chilean rose tarantula was trying to snuggle with Laird in his bed. Laird said no. When last seen, the spider was headed towards Katie’s room, but then it disappeared.
A culebra de cola larga crossing the road. Don’t worry, they’re only moderately venomous.
On our last day we saw our first clean room vizzy. It’s not like we haven’t spent any time there.

The Guanaco herd, complete with youngun, made an appearance. The pictures didn’t turn out though.

Today we packed up a lot of stuff.

After all these years and stressful times, my advisor and I still enjoy bonding over packing and sorting.

Some things were more carefully packed than others.

I hope everybody reads the sign.

So long LCO. See you next time.

Don’t worry vizzy. This isn’t our last sunset at LCO. I promise.

Made of Silver. Once.

2016A Day 16: My World Is A Flood

But I haven’t become one with the mud yet.

A hawk taunting me with speckles I could be filtering away
The Soar

We’re really enjoying the close proximity of raptors right now. They love the low-turbulence ground layer at LCO as much as we do, and it’s fun to watch.

The Magellan Hawk
Time for work

This song has been on the blog before. Then it was in reference to 40 days spent at LCO. Today, it is about something else.