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Greetings from the 3^rd and final night of the GMT phasing experiment, and also the final night of the 2015B AO run!   We are in the process of designing a sensor that will be used to phase the segments of the Giant Magellan Telescope.  The GMT will have  seven 8.4m diameter primary mirrors and seven 1m secondary mirrors.  Each of those pairs must have the same separation to within 50nm!   Our team from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has built an experiment uses the MagAO system to simulate what the GMT sensor will see.  Over the past three nights we’ve taken a bunch of data that will allow us to verify our design for the GMT.

One of the pleasures of coming to Las Campanas is getting to see a variety of wildlife that we don’t get to see back home and this trip was no different.  Here’s some photos I’ve taken over the years – all these critters have made an appearance on this trip.  The computers up here are named after them – well except for the crawly one.

Here’s some of the regulars up here, the burros.

The vizcachas love to hang out under the eaves of the astronomer support building, or to watch the sunset.  We see them when we walk up to the telescope in the evening.  Regulars to this blog know Vizzy as the MagAO mascot.

We saw this guy a few years back hanging out in the Clay Telescope control room.  One of the local staff declared it harmless, but on the other hand he didn’t volunteer to remove it from the premises…  Tonight we saw one on the road as we walked up after dinner.

 

The guanacos are my favorites.  I’ve only seen them at a distance on this trip, but a few months back I got a nice view of this family near the mountain hotel.

Still on the list of critters to capture “on film” is the Andean condor.  Haven’t seen one yet this trip.  Well that’s it for the fauna tour.  It’s been a productive but very busy visit to Las Campanas.  Both our crew from Cambridge and the MagAO masters will be here another day to pack up before we all take the bus to Santiago on Monday.

One other note:  two evenings ago several members of our group saw their first green flash!  Others who were not outside remain skeptical.  No luck last night. Maybe tomorrow.

And the song of the day, continuing on yesterdays “night” theme, is Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain.  This seems appropriate since the purpose of this trip was preparing for the Giant Magellan Telescope, which will go on Las Campanas Peak, currently a very bald mountain.

 

It is a thrill to be here at LCO and in particular at the Magellan Clay. Being that it is my first time visiting a major ground based telescope facility nearly every experience is a new one for me, from the endless mountain vistas, to the occasionally spotted wildlife, to the sheer size and complexity of the instrumentation. I have spent my career thus far producing space based optical telescopes, and since I recently had the privilege of joining SAO to work on GMT programs I am now transitioning my mindset to the challenges of looking out into space from earth, rather than the other way around.

My name is Dan Catropa and I am the new guy; I have only been at SAO for two months so having the pleasure of making this trip is truly an unexpected and wonderful experience. It has been educational observing the observers observe, despite the hours that astronomers keep. The talent required to not only understand the astronomy and physics of our universe, but also conceptualize, design, build, test, operate, and maintain the critically important hardware systems that enable the pursuit of science and discovery, is impressive and inspiring.

Ok, enough kissing up to my new colleagues.

Part of why we are here is to prove out a novel method which will ultimately be used to measure segment piston between adjacent primary mirror segments for the GMT. Without going into too much detail which is better left to the technical papers written by the folks responsible for conceptualizing the technology, I will simply show you this picture of the prototype instrument on the NASE and the crisp fringes it acquired, made possible by the prolific resident MagAO system. (Quiz: What Star Wars spacecraft does the AGWS Phasing prototype resemble in this picture?)

A highlight of my visit was seeing the Magellan primary from a unique perspective as we were setting up on the telescope. I am up on the lift. Brian McLeod is on the platform probably wondering when I was planning on coming down. Newby.

On the lighter side of things, today’s sunset was spectacular. The fabled green flash appeared as the sun fully disappeared over the mountain horizon. There were several witnesses in case this tale needs corroboration, however nobody was able to take a picture since it happened so fast. So that means two things – 1) those who didn’t see it may still not believe it happened, and 2) you will have to be patient and see it for yourself someday. The twilight sky that succeeded the epic sunset was not disappointing either, so at least I can show you that, as if you haven’t seen it before (again…I am new around these parts…although I hope those much more experienced are still in awe of this remarkable daily phenomena). (Note: this is an iPhone picture of the display on my camera since I don’t have my cable to transfer the pics…hence the not so great image. Use your imagination to further resolve the detail).

Something else that probably gets old for locals but still must be somewhat attention-grabbing is the wildlife. On my short trip I have seen viscachas, wanacos, donkeys, and turkey vultures, all of which are shown below with the exception of the viscachas who evaded my camera lens (or maybe it was just my sleep deprived sluggish reflexes).

So after beginning my day with a mutant banana (two bananas nestled inside a single peel – seriously, Brian is my witness) I will leave the observatory in a matter of hours, taking with me new knowledge of the meticulous work required to do astronomy, burned-in images of sunsets and starlight, and a bus ticket from La Serena to Santiago. Referencing Alycia’s post from December 17, I too will have to make my way back by bus due to the airport worker’s strike. I give my thanks to Alycia and Katie for the suggestion to get a Salon Cama ticket; this should make the trip a bit easier. Muchos Gracias to Nelda and Jorge for hooking me up with the last minute travel logistics in the wee hours of the morning.

Speaking of the wee hours of the morning…just like astronomers, the concert goers at Woodstock were up all night too, and they were definitely seeing stars of all sizes and colors.  Ken posted Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” and so I will leave you with a selection from one of my favorite bands of all time, Creedance Clearwater Revival. CCR started their set at Woodstock in the wee hours of the night. They played amongst other great tunes, “Bad Moon Rising” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” which both must resonate with astronomers for obvious reasons. CCR is also one of the most influential protest bands, so this selection is particularly relevant for the current Chilean airline strike. So how about CCR’s cover of “Night Time Is the Right Time”, played at Woodstock at approximately 1AM, which is about the same time I at my “night lunch” tonight. I will be sure to listen to this tune while hopefully passing out in my Solan Cama seat on the bus tomorrow. This one goes out to the nocturnal astronomers of LCO.

 

I am Ken McCracken the mechanical engineer on the AGWS project.  I have been to LCO about ten times since 2008 primarily to support the MMIRS instrument. Other than the 24 hours of travel time it takes to get here I can’t think of a better place to work given the exceptional facility and accommodating staff. I may retract that statement if I get stuck here over Christmas because of the airport worker strike but at the moment I’m being hopeful.

Here is some background on this blog’s title. This past spring we moved MMIRS from LCO to the MMT. Since Mt Hopkins is likely a more humid environment than LCO I was asked to work on a task for the MMIRS instrument that involved adding external surface heaters to the instrument. MMIRS is an LN2-cooled instrument and its surface temperature is typically just below ambient temperature giving it the potential for condensation. The new heaters are intended to raise the surface temperature to the ambient minimizing the condensation potential and the problems condensation can create for electronics and electrical connections.

About the same time I was given this task I saw an ad online for a low-cost IR camera that you could plug into your phone. The FLIR One comes in two versions; android and iphone. Since I am the only one in the group with an android phone this meant that I and I alone could use the new IR camera.  🙂   Yes it will be a very useful tool for this MMIRS task in checking surface heater attachment, power distribution and ultimately the surface temperature, but also by selecting the android version this meant that Derek Kopon could not borrow it for his home improvement projects.  He’d have to hire me as a consultant to evaluate his need for new windows and additional insulation. (See what you get for making my blog user name theCRACKEN!)  So after two or three justification emails to the MMIRS administrator and the PI Brian McLeod the purchase was authorized. The camera was to be delivered in early to mid September – just in time for the planned trip to the MMT to install the heaters.

Unfortunately the camera arrived at the end of November much too late for the MMIRS trip. While the IR camera did not have any planned use for the AGWS Prototype trip I brought it to try it out and it has produced some very cool images I hope you will enjoy. The camera comes with nine different color contrasting schemes to display temperature gradients.

Here is my version of the Clay Telescope in an Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe style:

I think some of the best shots are of the gravel on the ground outside the telescopes:

Here is most of the AGWS / Magellan AO team shot at the NASE in front of the AGWS Prototype and Mag AO (Derek Kopon, Bill Podgorski, Alan Conder, Brian McLeod, Ken McCracken, Dan Catropa, Jared Males, Laird Close):

Here is some of the AGWS / Magellan AO team and telescope personnel in the Clay control room (Brian McLeod, Bill Podgorski, Derek Kopon, Laird Close, Katie Morzinski , Jorge Araya, Povilas Palunas):

Thanks for the opportunity to contribute to your blog. And to get some digs in on Derek.

Ken McCracken

Finally to fulfill my blog music requirement and given last night the selection was “Stardust” by Lester Young I thought of the lyrics in Joni Mitchell’s song “Woodstock”.  “We are stardust, We are golden,…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My name is Alan Conder.  I work at GMTO and this is my first trip to Magellan; in fact, this is my first trip to any observatory.

I came to Magellan to participate with the team from SAO to field the GMT prototype phasing camera.   In addition, I arrived a week early to test a new laser scintillometer at cerro Las Campanas.  We plan to use this device to measure the Cn2 of the surface layer at the GMT site.

I was asked to write a post to this blog describing my experiences as a neophyte at Las Campanas.  So OK.  I’ll do it.  My story will be brief and is intended to poke fun of my niave expectations about coming to LCO.  And as I make fun of myself, I want to be clear that my experiences have been fantastic.  And that everything I was told was absolutely true.

To start, I was told to expect the nights at the telescope to be cold and to come prepared.  So I went to REI and bought warm clothing that would protect me on Mt. Everest.

This is me, trying on the warm clothing I had just bought for this experience.

I was told the LCO lodge was in the Andes foothills, with beautiful views, and that in fact there was a hot tub.  So I imagined something like the Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont.  OK, may be a little more quiant.

It is true, there “was” a hot tub.  I was a little concerned that there would actually be a hot tub.

I was told that the skies were almost never cloudy.

I was told that MagAO had its own console in the control room.    This is what I imagined.

I was told that the wildlife was very different.  I tried to photograph wildlife, but it was difficult.  However, I was eventually able to photograph an ass.

I was told that the night skies are spectacular.  And, the night skies are spectacular.  I couldn’t even imagine until I saw for myself.  A couple of photographs with a commercial Nikon camera.

And of course we did work.  Here are some photographs of my colleagues at work.  Notice that you don’t see me in any of the photographs.

Starting with the work at cerro Las Campanas.

And the work to field the GMT prototype phasing camera.

This is me after about 1 ½ weeks at LCO.  A little more facial hair than when I arrived, but no worse for wear and with a soul that has been rejuvenated by the experience.

And finally, the song.  Yesterdays blog featured the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. And I thought of the tenor sax legend and the Prez of Jazz, Lester Young.  The song, “Stardust.”

 

 

 

Labor rights in Chile come up quite a bit at the Observatory. At Magellan, we usually have three telescope operators between the two telescopes so that they can switch off and thereby not work too more than 11.25 hours continuously. This week, Jorge is stuck with us all night though because Mauricio is on vacation. Luckily it’s summer here, and the nights are short. We have been working about 10 hr this week, from the time we open the dome to the time we close it (well, when I say “we open” I really mean “Jorge opens”). Labor laws also make it hard (impossible?) to hire employees who work at night sometimes and during the day at other times, such as, for example, a person who could do AO operation during AO runs and other technical jobs at other times.

Chilean labor rights don’t extend to University of Arizona employees (i.e., Jared and Katie), alas for them. They get to be those night AO operators here (though perhaps they work at night back in AZ too). Again, it’s not so bad this time of year, and they seem pretty cheerful despite the “Day 30” title of this post. Last June was a different story. To quote Katie, “If you’re doing 80+ hr of real work, you will absolutely burn out in 6.5 weeks. See 2015A.”

Labor relations have been on my mind today because the Chilean airport workers are going on strike tomorrow and Friday, just in time for me to try to get home. Laird Close arrived today and said the airport was a zoo. Lan Chile has cancelled its flights from La Serena to Santiago (and vice versa) tomorrow. Luckily, I asked the helpful staff at Las Campanas to book me a bus ticket. So even though I now have to leave the mountain at 8 AM after finishing observing at 6 AM, I should get to Santiago in time for my flight to Estados Unidos. And I’m looking forward to sleeping in my Salon Cama seat (fully reclining, like business class) for a blissful 6 hr.

Even more luckily, the air traffic controllers are not striking, so the international flight seems likely to go (though the fact that the American Airlines representative I talked to today claimed there were no disruptions at all just led me to think AA is clueless more than it led me to think the situation is fine).

Meanwhile, today’s been a good day. It was sunny, and this lizard and I both enjoyed that:

I also saw two guanacos, thanks to Katie who alerted me to their presence down the hill north of Magellan. It turns out they make a really interesting sound calling to each other. Listen carefully to hear one calling to the other (and look carefully to see one running).

This guanaco is also running — running MagAO that is!

And of course, sunny means clear!

The Devil is still the NE winds, which briefly caused me to have to abandon one of my northern targets, but only briefly. Ah, LCO, here between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

Wait, I hear a song coming on. Last night, Jared used “The Devil went down to Georgia,” which brings me back to Ella Fitzgerald, First Lady of Jazz, and one of my favorite artists to listen to while observing, relaxing, stretching after a workout, flying, and probably (we’ll find out tomorrow) taking a 6 hr bus ride.