Jared Males – Page 3 – Extreme Wavefront Control Lab

I heard you missed me

It’s been a busy month in the eXtreme Wavefront Control Lab. The main event was the return of MagAO-X after a long wait for a ride on the mountain without us. Everyone’s favorite ExAO instrument finally showed up right at the beginning of May, which of course meant that we broke out the hard hats and steel toes.

the voice of MagAO-X only follows the rules she wants to — Everyone is always happy to be here.

steering dollies is a 2 person job — This is the box with the AO Operations Computer (AOC).

The day of the main event started at 0600 when we started working with the mirror lab crew to crane our shipping boxes open. But first we needed the stuff that makes astronomy go:

a culinary triumph — Jay brought coffee and bagels

so many bolts — The box must first be unbolted

the Tucson sun motivates you, but was still drinking coffee at this point — We got the lid off and before the first rays of sunshine peaked over the loading dock wall.

as astronomers we know how to work with gravity — Then we moved on to the electronics rack.

also possibly not trained enough — Not everybody was awake enough for power tool operation.

MagAO-X has been down below since October, so of course the lab had to be reorganized. You could barely tell that MagAO-X used to live there full time!

it's important to walk your HEPA blower and let it stretch it's trunk — This is the HEPA blower we use to apply positive pressure to keep the dust out-ish.

but why is it different every time? — One must first tear one’s lab apart before one can put it back together. Our clean room has to be partially disassembled to fit a crane into the lab to finish unloading MagAO-X.

10 seconds later everyone passed out from Windex fumes — A “clean” room doesn’t stay very clean when it just sits on the floor for 6 months.

Maybe the biggest excitement of the whole thing was evidence that we had water leak in to the box. It must have been rained on (we always blame Miami), and we saw water spots on the mylar blanket and some rust on the shipping frame. So we were super anxious until we finally got to unwrap the instrument in the clean clean room:

Regarding the circle, I wouldn’t worry about that little circle.

Once back in the lab, safe and sound, we began the long process of unpacking.

just in case you never thought of this, don't touch the optics — All the things are shrouded in plastic bags to keep them dust free. We call this step “de-baggie-ing”

The iPIAA looks kinda impressive don't you think? — It’s a lot of bags

with so many things that can go right, most will — Bag free. But does it work?

For me, the shipment isn’t over until we actually cable the 2040 actuator deformable mirror (I’ll let you work out how many wires it takes to move 2040 actuators . . .) and show that it has survived the trip.

There's only $1M on the line if you slip. So don't fucking slip. — Eden is tightening down a bolt to press the connectors together. It’s a good workout and low stress.

Thanks to the excellent touch of Eden and Sebastiaan we got all the connections made on the first try and sat down and closed the loop.

except for vignettes. — This is when I start sleeping again.

We were gone long enough that the university’s IT department didn’t recognize us:

you'd think research computing would be a core competency of a research university . . . — Our computers are . . . complicated. When they draw up rules for campus computing systems they just don’t think about 2 kHz real-time control of turbulence and TB/day data rates.

Here is MagAO-X, Phase I, all set up and cabled back in its Tucson home.

But now the fun begins! We’re taking the next year off from the telescope to do some major upgrades, and long overdue repairs. Today we started tearing our MagAO-X apart. The first thing to go is the Pyramid Wavefront Sensor detector, which is on its way back to France for a timing board replacement and to get some (possibly) more sensitive operating modes installed.

MagAO-X is now finally a real instrument: it's got glycol on it. — Our venerable OCAM-2K EMCCD. This is a key part of what makes MagAO-X go and go fast. But it needs some TLC. Before shipping it, we of course have to drain the glycol from it.

When we head back to LCO for April (or so) 2024 we’ll have 1000 more actuators, new coronagraphs, new LOWFSs, and waaaaaay more software. Maybe fewer github issues too.

Going back into hardware mode is both exciting and a little terrifying. The XWCL will have to stay focused on the tasks at hand and be ready to deal with all the sh$t that won’t work the first time and go about figuring it out. But remember: “having more things just means more things can go right”.

It’s also a time of change in our group. Alex (v2), Joseph, and Avalon have all defended; and Warren is gearing up for his defense in a few weeks. If you’ve been following this blog you know they have all been crucial to the success of MagAO-x and been on many an adventure. The rest of us are now scrambling to scoop up all of their knowledge and make sure we can keep it going without them. We’re also going to miss them!

if only LCO would serve beer all of our sunset photos would be this fun — Here’s a bunch of the XWCL at the usual Friday afternoon spot, celebrating Avalon’s defense, and maybe showing some relief that MagAO-X made it home too.

The song of the day is “Guess Who’s Back” by BEGINNERS & Night Panda. It is, as the kids say, a banger.

Stay tuned for an action packed summer full of travel and conferences, new hardware, probably some more glycol spills, and all of our usual shenanigans.

MagAO-X 2023A Day 24: Homeward Bound

Well that was better. After our December run (trucking strike followed by extremely bad luck with the spatial power spectrum) we were all holding our breath for this run. This time, we got a good week in the cleanroom to tune MagAO-X up, and Cerro Manqui cooperated — delivering 0.27″ seeing at one point. As documented in previous posts, we got a huge amount of work done. We also detected a whole bunch of planets.

MagAO-X Phase 1 commissioning is now complete. XKID was the last thing on the official list, but we also got to the point where we can confidently act like a real instrument. We can point at a star, lock the high-order loop, align a coronagraph, lock the low-order loop, and start taking data, and do it all night long. We can target hop efficiently (for Alycia anyway). We’re achieving contrasts with “e-6” in them, and we are working within 2 lambda/D of stars (though not yet at the same time).

Don’t worry though, the excitement will continue. Everybody says the X in MagAO-X stands for eXtreme. But it really means eXperimental. Kinda like the the Billy o’ Tea, we’re never going to be done commissioning — because we don’t know what we don’t know and are still figuring out what works. The only way to find out is to keep coming back for more.

Here’s a viscacha doing an impression of the current state of the MagAO-X instrument and its keepers:

Despite their internet reputation, vizzies can move when they want to! — We’re all starting to blue shift.

After breakfast today we finished packing up. That meant putting the front door on the big box which holds the optical table, and then loading our electronics into its box and doing the always exciting dance with gravity to get it into the shipping position.

This is not in the procedure. — Smooth Criminal.

To be fair, Sebastiaan's feet are an essential part of our packing toolkit. — Apparently $1M worth of electronics being on a forklift isn’t as interesting as Sebastiaan’s footwear.

I was given permission to post a pic of myself “being PI”:

seriously, htf did you get it off? — Look, if I bust out the label maker it was for a damn good reason and I f-ing meant it. T.B.C. the problem was bad threads on that lifting eye which make it extremely difficult to remove. To quote a wise man, “I’m not even mad…“

After the exciting crane ops, the more tedious stuff has to get done. Applying shipping labels (which involves cleaning first) and bolting down various lifting fixtures we don’t want the shippers to use in transit (our entering assumption: if they can find a way to destroy it, they’ll do it).

we get dirty — Joseph cleans a spot for a new shipping label while I idiot proof some lifting fixtures that are for us only.

It has Mom and Dad's phone number on it. — Eden attaching MagAO-X’s home address in case it gets lost and forgets.

After a quick tidy-up in the clean room, we’re finally bound for home.

LCO is an amazing place, with the best seeing in the world (… most of the time), gorgeous sunsets, comfy beds and great food, an awesome crew, and it somehow doubles as a zoo.

trust is, it's dogs — A pack of wild dogs ranged over the observatory this morning. I’ve seen a solitary dog run by up here before, but not a whole pack.

last time I'll see you friend — Right before I left an agave in our yard started to put up a stalk. I’m excited to get home to see how it’s going — even though it’s a bitter sweet display.

rare for viscachas. not grad students. see below. — The internet knows this as “the spirit animal” pose. In my experience it’s actually kinda rare.

Laird hit the road after lunch:

see you when I see you — Packing done, time to go.

it helps if you pay attention, just sayin' — Jay and Jialin are home. But studying needed to get studied even in the UA club in Houston.

In faculty circles this is known as "the viscacha pose" — Post-packing malaise.

Our last sunset for 2023A — 2023 in total — was as amazing as always:

Clay and Baade look like they're crouching, waiting to spring into action when the sun gets down. — We’ll be back — wait until you see what’s next.

my favorite meal of the day — One last breakfast.

I have yet to really adapt to March being Fall — Venus is still with us. Her friends have moved on after the spectacular “winter” display.

I brought up The Wellerman during our last-night-that-wouldn’t-end because I’ve been listening to Colm McGuinness a lot since my last “end of run” post. I think I gave Eden the wrong impression though: I wasn’t aware of whatever happened on Tik-Tok vis-a-vis sea shanties and t.b.h. am not at all disappointed that she wasn’t either.

Being even more honest, and probably ironic, I don’t actually like sea shanties as a genre. Mainly because it’s usually done in that comedic irish pub style where for some reason someone hiccups during each verse. But the songs are actually working songs, sung to pass the time or keep the beat during dangerous and hard work, far and long from home with only the hostile sea for company. (let’s leave aside that few of the songs we’re talking about here are actually shanties . . . )

I “discovered” Colm McGuinness last December because of his My Mother Told Me. Which is not a shanty, but I have to say Colm seems to get it the way I get it: these are songs that deserve a little bit of epic flare. Examples: Roll Boys Roll and Santiana. [Dude also does an amazing Jolene, background here].

Before going further, note that this all fits in my series of “music I rocked to with Ben” b/c I recently got into sea-oriented music when he sent this with the assertion that they are what we (including two other friends from high school) would look like if we decided to start a sea shanty band. YMMV. (longer story includes that Home Free recently played in Brookings South Dakota, the official hometown of MagAO).

Anyway, the song of the day is a ballad about the journey home from a long and arduous adventure at sea. I love this job, and we’re doing something amazing as a team. I think we’re on the road to achieving our very lofty goals. But every time we do this thing we do at LCO, I have to acknowledge that “it’s a damn tough life, full of toil and strife, we AOistas undergo…”

Colm McGuinness “Old Maui”

Thank god, we’re homeward bound.

MagAO-X 2023A Day 21: The Wind Down

Whelp, it’s getting to be that time. The sun is rising as I type, and it’s officially the 16th. Tonight is our last night on the Clay for 2023A, and tomorrow morning we tear it all apart, box it up, and GTFO.

Another night of awesome seeing let us all catch up on some coding and analysis.

chicken nugget — Several coronagraphs where harmed in the making of this image (or at least made to deliver).
And note that none of us were the ones actually studying.

still not tamed — The cleanroom Viznitches were there to say hi as I walked up.

I get a strong Lynx and Ginger vibe here. — Uno Dos

The conclusion of my concert story, which started with the surprise KoRn and went though an awful Marilyn Manson performance, is the band we actually went to see: Danzig. It was every bit as good as one could hope. We were right in front for the whole show. At one point Glenn Danzig reached out and clasped Ben’s hand – legendary. Here is Danzig’s iconic “Mother”:

Danzig “Mother”. Sorry if you have to “Watch on YouTube”

MagAO-X 2023A Day 15: I do love fig newtons

Just before sunset tonight we held an “enstickening” ceremony to officially add XKID as part of MagAO-X. We’re happy to have the whole XKID team become part of the MagAO-X traveling circus.

Precious commodities those stickers — Noah peeling the 2023A mission sticker, designed (as always) by Joseph.

Jared: "This isn't going to cause rapid metal fatigue and cause XKID to explode is it?" Ben: "yeah, maybe a 7 percent chance"

or Ben is done with our blog shit — In which neither Ben nor I seemed to realize a photo was being taken

can't believe this is our first team sunset selfie — Our usual sunset party on the catwalk.

We then had another great LCO night of low winds, slow jet stream, and great seeing. The big engineering achievement of tonight was finally getting the infamous low-order wavefront sensing loop working with all of its modes on the light rejected by a coronagraph. Amazingly, this happened on Avalon’s last night at LCO for 2023A.

which one is the star and which one is the reference? — Miss LOWFS and her loop

We also welcomed Alycia to the party. As usual, she came well supplied with AO operator food (pringles and wasabi peas of course).

You can tell it’s going well when screensavers turn on.

so good we stopped paying attention — Screen saver on the coronagraph operator’s workstations!

The night was briefly in danger of being lost due to another tarantula incursion, which trapped our TO Carla on the wrong side of the staircase to the control room. It turned into an excellent opportunity for training and personal growth as Eden was the only human left to run the entire observatory.

it's not torture if your advisor thinks it's good for you — Eden holding down the fort while Shelob toyed with the rest of us.

o elbereth! gilthoniel! — my hand for scale

The obligatory viscacha pics:

I think the cleanroom viscachas are getting sick of the paparazzi — Our Fiz the Viz getting ready for sunet

that stripe tho — Contemplating the universe.

I started my long story about that one concert I went to that time. The surprise first opener was KoЯN. The expected 2nd opener was Marilyn Manson. And oh my gosh was it bad. We hung out at the front rail for a couple of songs, and all I can say is that it was weird. Maybe if this run goes on for long enough I’ll get to the fun kinda crazy, like seeing Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails tackle his keyboard player and then throw the remains of that keyboard at a different keyboard player. But this was the . . . not fun kind of crazy. Everybody in the place ended up sitting down at the back of the concert hall, like we were trying to get away from Manson and his . . . weirdness and bad music. Just awful.

But later on, I came to like at least one Marilyn Manson song, because of The Matrix. I guess this qualifies as a sea story, so there I was, in Nuclear Power School, studying all of my ass off. I didn’t have a TV, and was really only in my apartment for a few hours a night. So I had never heard anything about The Matrix. One Friday night a few shipmates and I decided to ditch the books and go to a movie, and one of them was really excited about this movie I had never heard of. Having seen no previews, not even a poster, I sat down having absolutely no idea what was about to happen. I think it’s rare experience to take something like that in with no preconceptions. Mind blown.

So anyway, this is on The Matrix sound track and I probably saw it live but have blocked it out:

Marilyn Manson Rock is dead. Yeah, it was a really f-ing weird concert.

MagAO-X 2023A Day 6: Got The Life

I’m a C++ programmer, which means I’ve been here for a week. Consequences include I’m doing laundry already, and I have no idea what day of the week it is (that might be a memory leak joke).

Sebastiaan and Warren arrived today, and immediately started tearing the instrument apart (as expected).

The XKID crew warmed it up today to inspect some things on the inside, which gave us an opportunity to go visit and see the guts up close.

you can tell b/c cell phones were allowed near it to take pictures — The view down the pipe at the actual super conducting microwave kinetic inductance detector at the heart of XKID. Because it was at room temperature, it was neither microwaving, kineticing, nor inducting at this time.

dance with the one that brung ya — Noah Swimmer likes to dance with his PhD project.

professing — Ben explains it all to Laird, Joseph, and Avalon, while Noah and Jeb (he’s back there) work.

We’ve been seeing these Neotropical Stick Grasshoppers a bunch. This one was flexing for me after lunch:

it's an alien probe sent to keep an eye on MagAO-X's progress is what it is — It’s a grasshopper?

The machine shop sink outside the cleanroom has been decorated:

maybe needs some water — Not as desolate as you’d expect

I think one of our cleanroom friends overdid the sun bathing today, and was a little out of it at sunset.

just look at the tiny little paw — sleepy viz

look at him! just look at him — oh, yawn, are you taking my,yawn, picture? (I didn’t observe actual viz yawn)

As in all things in life, there are ways to separate the people who have really made it. The signs are there if you look:

Hi Johanna! You got your own locker at LCO!!!! — How to know that one is a Certified Big Deal.

Now find Proxima -- remember what it's Proxima to. — Alpha Cen-rise. The Southern Cross is 60% up and 25% over. Follow the short arm down to the first star, then go one more.

So you could title my series of songs “concerts I went to with my best friend Ben.” Here we switch from country to hard rock and metal, and this will be the first in a sub-series about a specific show. We went to a concert in Omaha to see a band (coming up, no spoilers here), for which there were two openers. The first opener was a total surprise, that no one there had ever heard of (we didn’t even know there was going to be a first opener). I’m not trying to be that guy, you know, cool before it was cool.

They come out, and I’m grumpy “who the F is this?” And then Ben looks at me and says “are they . . . do they have … bagpipes?”. And then it was on, into the mosh pit we went. The band was KoRn (I can’t do the R right here). Awesome show. Ben still has a dollar bill signed by Jonathan Davis in the CD case he bought that night. KoRn got huge shortly after and we get to say we saw them when.

So here’s my favorite KoRn song:

Got The Life by Korn

Update: I am a big enough deal that I travel with my own personal tech support. Thanks to Joseph I can now write KoЯN.