Author: Parker Johnson

Today was dedicated to removing MagAO-X from the platform and safely returning it to the cleanroom. It feels like just yesterday we were taking it out of the cleanroom, but time sure flies by when you are surrounded by great company and beautiful mountains. However, Elena and Sebastiaan started their journey back to Leiden around lunch. For the rest of us, it is just another day in paradise.

The day crew started bright and early after breakfast to get the instrument prepped for transport. This included removing earthquake bars, bumpers, geophones, and building the cart.

Once the prep work was done, we proceeded to wrap the world’s most expensive present in saran wrap and two emergency blankets.

After craning MagAO-X off its legs, it made the journey down the elevator and onto the Isuzu.

Following the instrument, legs, and electronics rack making it down the mountain, one last task remained for the day crew. We needed to put everything back on the way it was before the transport. Within a few hours, we completed all tasks prior to our deadline of 4PM, which is when the night crew took over operations.

MagAO-X made it back to the cleanroom in record time, so we took the opportunity to train the kids how to cable the DMs. To be honest, I expected this to be a high stress learning experience, but with the expert guidance from Eden, the process went smoothly and efficiently.

Fast forward many hours and everything was re-cabled and set-up for remote operations. By this point, delusion was setting in and it was time to get some sleep.

Only one thing remained on our checklist at the end of the day and that one thing was some MagAO-X plumbing. Stay tuned for Jay’s overview of the plumbing work.

Song of the Day

Today’s song reminds me to appreciate where we are, what we’re working on, and who we are with.

With us finally getting used to working on the night shift, it sure feels like we have been racking up the overtime hours. However, we still find time to get our daily Vizzy content. I have decided to start this blog post by giving the people what they want…Viscacha’s and behind the scenes footage.

After capturing the cutest photos of those little guys, we continued our content creation with some beautiful photos of Clay. Thank you Jialin for taking this timelapse!

Prior to making our way up the mountain we spent some time pondering the great science advancements we are all going to make.

Alright, now onto the actual science. Tonight was dedicated to Laird and Jialin. The setup went smoothly, and we were quickly ready to start collecting data. The primary science goal for the first half of the night was to search for binary stars and planets in the i and z bands. We began with a target that has been indirectly observed to host a ~5 Jupiter-mass planet. With this data set, we hope Jialin will be able to confirm its existence.

The second half of the night transitioned into H-alpha science targets. This allows us to observe specific emission of ionized hydrogen (around 656nm). This is particularly interesting as it provides valuable insight into accretion activity in binaries or planetary systems.

While we captured some excellent observations, the highlight of the night was pushing the telescope’s limits. As morning approached, we continued observing a target star as it reached an altitude below 23 degrees—remarkably low, considering our telescope operator had previously noted that the scope is not designed to operate below 21 degrees.

Song of the Day

Hello all! I am excited to have received the opportunity to write my first ever blog post and we have had a jam-packed Day 4!

Today was the real deal of installing MagAO-X on the platform. We started the morning by splitting into two crews: one to get the instrument on the platform, and the other to get the computer rack on the platform.

Laird and I tackled many of the hardware tasks, which required us to be in some less than comfortable positions.

This photo not only described our mental state after many hours of installing MagAO-X, but also may cause future nightmares. Thank you Katie.

The greatest cabling team ever assembled, flawlessly carried out the cabling operations with little to no mistakes. Shoutout to the girls!

The computer rack loaded up diligently onto the Isuzu and made it up to the Aux safely!

A great picture after a long successful morning of getting both the instrument and computer on the platform. Laird looking photogenic as always.

One would think this is a staged photoshoot for an ad showing off the latest and greatest tool sets. However, it is just a natural Laird picture.

We headed off to lunch after a satisfying morning of work, only to stumble upon unsatisfied reactions to Joseph pulling out a blob of peaches from a mysterious juice.

Despite everything running smoothly for the most part, Jared’s face talking to Joseph said otherwise. I am not sure the context of this conversation, but it had me slightly worried.

MagAO-X installed on the platform!

After working day and night, we achieved a beautiful PSF of Beta Pic @875nm.

After nearing the 24 hour mark of being awake, I started hearing people singing songs they had stuck in their head. One of which was, “Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know”. This is probably because we’ve had so many Espressos today.

All in all, this was truly a great learning experience for me, and the team as whole. We checked off many of the engineering tasks planned during this first night including star acquisition, testing focal plane masks, calibrating the ADCs, and working on PIAA’s. Oh, and don’t think I forgot the fan favorite… Viscachasssss!!!!!!!!

Song of the Day