Katie Twitchell – Page 2 – Extreme Wavefront Control Lab

MagAO-X 2024B Day 1: Bait and Switch

We’re off! The Tucson MagAO-X crew (notably sans PI) set out for our 2024B run at pretty much the crack of dawn on Sunday. Delta Airlines must have heard through the grapevine about Jay and Jared’s intercontinental sprint from last time and opted to intervene—when we booked these flights, the only option from TUS-ATL was taking off bright and early at 7:10 AM. We all found each other at our departure gate (we congre-gate-d? that one’s for you, Josh), redistributed the snack load, and boarded the plane without a hitch.

not pictured: disgruntled expressions before boarding the second time — all smiles before boarding (the first time)

Given that I don’t normally wake up at 5 AM, I was asleep pretty much the second I found my seat. I woke up about an hour later convinced that we must at least be somewhere over Texas, but when I pulled up the window screen I was dismayed to discover we hadn’t moved an inch; perhaps the lack of jet-engine noise and air turbulence was the reason I’d slept so well. From what I gathered from the captain’s announcement (in which I heard an airline pilot say the phrase “this is really embarrassing” for the first time), there had been a minor computer malfunction. Maintenance had been called in to deactivate the broken computer so the backup could be used, but instead they disabled both the broken and the working computer. Oops. This resulted in our sitting on the tarmac for about 2 1/2 hours, de-planing, and then re-boarding before leaving sometime around 10:30 AM. If any of us had wished for a later flight, our wish was certainly granted.

Despite the maintenance difficulties, we arrived at ATL with ample time to grab a smoothie, stretch our legs, and get some homework done. I guess a 6-hour layover really does make you delay-proof.

W311 if I remember from lens design correctly — big stretch

showing off our snacks to the whole airport — big stretch

We boarded our second flight with no issue. However, as a fun little treat and test of our patience, the captain again came over the PA system to let us know that maintenance needed to fix something up before we could take off. Thankfully, this time it only resulted in about 10 minutes of delay, and a (not) short nine hours later we arrived in Santiago!

"sleep royalty" — if you don’t have a store bought neck pillow, homemade is fine

gained a member but lost another — if you don’t have a store bought neck pillow, homemade is fine

We learned a few lessons in the Santiago airport, the chief being that the line to re-check bags with LATAM is fast if you have Delta Status, but if you don’t have status you can skip the long “regular people” line by being declared a “problem” by the airport staff. Not naming names.

An obligatory Starbucks run and a short flight later, we made it to La Serena, traded some Doctor Pepper Zero (a USA special) for some Nespresso at El Pino, and headed up to see our favorite telescopes. At LCO we met up with Sebastiaan and Elena, ate a group dinner, and—of course—watched the sun set.

I'm being bullied for being short — can’t quite reach north enough

nice to meet you, how've you been? — can’t quite reach north enough

or, for those classy enough, coke zero — in the evenings, we face east to drink tea

peep clay at the top — but first, let me take a selfie

Welcome back, everyone.

In honor of our journey, the song of the day is Traveling On by the Decemberists:

MagAO-X 2024Aa Day 8: Pigs in a Duvet

Well, that went fast. Maggie and I are the first team members of the run to embark on the long journey down the mountain and trade the Atacama back for the Sonoran desert. But, before then, we had one last night to make the most of our time here at LCO.

After some daytime calibrations (and some very interesting hot dog-based pastries at dinner), we headed up the mountain for a full night of observing. Per tradition, we officially kicked things off with a sunset photo:

Do not ask where Eden's left hand went. — Isn’t Clay just so pretty?

She's here in spirit — Logan joins us for sunset from La Serena

Logan joins us for sunset from La Serena

Don't worry, her left hand is intact in this photo — Clouds? in MY Atacama Desert? It’s more likely than you think.

Now, don’t get me wrong: the clouds put on a gorgeous show for sunset, but they are not generally harbingers of good astronomy. Nevertheless, we were determined to get as much good science done as we possibly could, and we were pleasantly surprised; clouds passed, and we saw seeing hold steady below 0.5 (and even dip below 0.4) arcseconds for a good portion of the second half of the night.

Maggie, Laird, and Sebastiaan started things off with our dear friend the HDFS, performing some of the first phasing tests on-sky:

Unfortunately, the timing worked out so that Maggie and I will be coming down the mountain at the same time that Logan comes up, so we won’t get the chance to have the whole team here at the same time. Tonight Logan joined via Zoom to observe some of her targets, with a white dwarf companion making a very exciting appearance:

Joseph wants me to say that "Logan is bravely soldiering on from the La Serena ICU" but I'm afraid that might be a little too dramatic for some of our fans — No feet pics, please

When the companion appeared, the students were summoned to the control room by the promise that "Astrophysics is happening!!" — No feet pics, please

As the night went on, Laird and Jialin got their turn to conduct cutting-edge science in the control room. What was going on in the “kids room” downstairs, you might ask? Only the most important of shenanigans:

This much science is exhausting for anyone, especially the PI of the project. Unfortunately for Jared, MaggieO-X saw the opportunity to usurp and seized it:

You heard her. She’s the PI now.

I’m about to follow the PI’s example and try and catch some sleep before Maggie and I head down. But, before I go, I’d like to share a bit of personal news in honor of my last night at LCO:

Soon my excuse of "but I'm just an undergrad" will be a distant memory

And to go with it, the song of the day:

Graduate – Third Eye Blind

MagAO-X 2024Aa Day 3: Lights Out!

I hope you enjoy content from the newbies! It was Josh’s first blog post yesterday, so naturally it was my turn for a blog debut today.

Actual footage of me when my alarm went off this morning

Gary came over again to say good morning (and strut his stuff)

With the loop having been closed at the end of the day yesterday, we were ready to start working with MagAO-X this morning. I had actually never seen someone close the loop before, so I got the chance to watch that for the first time. Maggie and Laird added in the flat-field mask, then tag-teamed with Sebastiaan for some more alignment:

Did you know that you can drastically improve your Hα throughput by playing a friendly game of telephone?

After lunch, some of us absconded to the library to do homework (and procrastinate writing a grant proposal). As I attempted to decipher my metrology assignment, the lights suddenly went out …

uh oh.

Not being too familiar with the way all the computers/electronics work, I wasn’t sure what the exact ramifications of the power outage were—but I did infer that it was, at the very least, wildly inconvenient. We did eventually get everything running again and were able to take some engineering data after dinner:

Only a few of us made it out to watch the sunset, but those of us who did were rewarded with some beautiful views; plus, those of us who were watching closely saw the Sun’s green flash (I swear!).

I've become Eden's #1 photography fan — Some very pink mountains

Laird, Maggie, and I closed out the day by taking a quick look at the stars before heading to bed. I’m already in awe of how many there are, and I’m promised the view is even more spectacular when the Moon isn’t out. I can’t wait.

Song of the day: