In recognition of astronomically significant time intervals

According to Poor Vizzy’s Almanack, every October 14th some nonsense transpires in Tucson, Arizona. Usually having to do with this guy.

This time, he received a surfeit of cupcakes:

Artisanal wrapping paper:

A Starbuck™:

Many happy returns!

Inspirational stickers will be available through the usual channels.

Song of the Day

Well, what’d you expect?

Happy Birthday Swing – Lucky Seven

MagAO-X Takes Montréal Day 5: La conférence d’espionnage

It is extremely illegal to smuggle Andean mammals of the high desert into downtown Montréal, but I have always wanted to try poutine, and MagAO-X already got me as far as Tucson anyway.

At the border, I tried to explain I was going to the SPIE conference but I’m not sure Google Translate was working.

Today, Laird and Lauren both gave their talks, which I’m sure were lovely, but I honestly had trouble staying awake after the long flight from Tucson. Here’s a picture of me trying to pay attention to a conversation between Olivier, Jared, and Laird.

It was worth the price of the ticket just to see all three in person, again. See you in November, señores!

Song of the Day

The Canadian Fish and Wildlife Service is hot on my tail, so I must return to Chile… but I don’t regret a thing.

“Non, je ne regrette rien” — Edith Piaf

MagAO-X 2022A Day 15: Let’s do the time warp again

As a viscacha, I can’t claim to understand what “preparing a talk” or “attending a defense” or “de-bugging” mean (though I have some ideas about de-bugging).

I do know one thing, however, and that is that the chain of blog posts must remain unbroken. It seems like time has gotten away from the human members of this collaboration, so—if nobody else is going to do it—I’m going to have to write one!

It’s very hard to write without thumbs, so I’ll keep it brief.

Here’s a pic of my friend Carlos Culpeo, who has been hired by the MagAO-X team as the mascot of 2022A.

He’s kind of bashful, so please excuse him for not looking at the camera. You can see my apartment at the Magellans in the background at left.

And here’s the song of the day: The Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Orbital Mechanics Trivia

As a viscacha, integral and differential calculus are beyond me. However, it does seem to be spring again here in the southern hemisphere, and my calendar indicates it has been one full year since the last October 14th we saw.

(I’d double-check my facts with some of the cientificos, but I haven’t seen them in a couple years. I hope they’re doing okay.)

This means that the Earth has completed one more turn about the Sun, and the P.I. is a year older and wiser. In celebration of his wisdom, please enjoy P.I. utterances, available where-ever fine quotes are sold.

Song of the day

“Hard to Kill” by Bleached