So far, Laird and Sebastiaan have been doing an excellent job directing the in-person crew and we’ve made great progress towards the many tasks that needed to be done before the start of the big move on Wednesday.
Here, we see a lot of the team watching and learning during Tuesday morning’s initial alignment procedures as we prepare to install all the fancy new Lyot and focal plane masks brought down from Tucson.
The first optomechanical task of the day was to install the special masks for the new self-coherent camera. Check out the pinhole on the very upper edge of the mask when held up to Eden’s computer screen! That little pinhole, we’ve since learned, is the key for fancy new speckle-nulling strategies, like Coherent Differential Imaging. Sebastiaan’s and Parker’s faces says it all
… and after a bit of alignment work from the team, the mask is aligned!
Here is the result: there are fringes on the camsci images indicating that light from the pinhole is interfering with the light that transmits through the Lyot stop. Neat! If I were a quasistatic speckle I’d sure be sweating right now.
We broke for lunch and afterwards, it was time to finish up other miscellaneous tasks such as some interior cable organization, reconfiguring the power pathways for the Zaber stages, and squashing some LED lights inside the instrument.
We were initially just assigned the Suzuki for Clay observers “Lil Red” for our daily needs but we quickly realized that our transportation needs weren’t being met. After an email or two, we got permission to use one of the Suzuki Jimnys a.k.a. one of the super cool, white Jurassic Park-looking cars. Score!
One of the smaller tasks of the day was installing a small cable tray inside MagAO-X to help tidy up some of the pico motor cabling we had installed last month during the engineering run. These plastic trays required some slight modifications, which required a trip to the machine shop in the ASB. It’s not often any of us find our way in here, so it was cool to see…!
We had some time after dinner to enjoy the fading of the evening sunlight. some of us drove, some walked, and one of us ran.
From the Rocky Theme Song. We were attempting to do some vizzy spotting on the north slope of the telescope summit with P. Johnson who suddenly looked like he saw a ghost after looking at his phone. We asked what was wrong since this caught all of our attention and he, with a slight mumble of “Jared wants me…!”, ran off into the setting sun. So, when you’re checking out the telescope summit and you get a Slack message from Jared saying it’s time to Zoom, you best start zooming son.
“ Trying hard now It’s so hard now Trying hard now
Getting strong now Won’t be long now Getting strong now
Gonna fly now Flying high now Gonna fly, fly, fly… “
I think we spent at least a couple of minutes talking to a Parker-shaped cloud before we realized what happened. Dude is fast, man.
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.
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.
big stretchone of these laptops is not like the others
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!
if you don’t have a store bought neck pillow, homemade is fineclassic
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.
can’t quite reach north enough meeting MagAO-X for the first time IRLin the evenings, we face east to drink tea
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:
Hey there, here is Elena from Leiden. I am new to MagAO-X but jumped right in to write this first blog post of the run. But what do I know? This is my first observation run, first time in Chile, first time many things. I don’t even work in Arizona, what is this mess?! Well, as an outsider, I want to document my experience of fitting into the team with a quick tutorial on how to speed up the process, as a reference for newcomers of the future. You will thank me later. There are only two important points to remember. Careful, the second is utterly complex!
Write your first blog post. You are not really part of the team until you write your first blog post. Don’t be shy – you know, that chaotic energy you hold inside after 30+ hours of travel? Let it out and write your masterpiece.
Stick the MagAO-X sticker on your laptop.
Do you think point 2 is easy? Then you haven’t done it extreme.
Me applying the MagAO-X sticker on my laptop
Wear shoe protection. That’s not enough, you need to use that… thingie… yes, that thing against electrostatic shocks, you don’t want to get hurt! Close the strap around your foot and the thread goes inside your sock. Good. If you have voluminous hair, tie them before you wear the hair net. You don’t want hairs stuck under the sticker. Also wear a coat, face mask, and gloves. No fingerprints allowed!!! Here you go. Now you can carefully apply the sticker on your laptop and… Welcome to the MagAO-X team.
And now, let me briefly explain the magical journey Sebastiaan and I went through to travel from the old continent, and specifically the land of tulips and sea level, to sunny, caliente, mountainous Chile. The journey actually started off great, if we don’t count the fact that I forgot the charger for my camera at home, and Sebastiaan, having forgotten of the existence of the Sun after 5 months in the Netherlands, didn’t pack his sunglasses.
This is not even nearly as dramatic as finding your way through Madrid’s airport. Fortunately, Sebastiaan already holds a PhD or we would still be stuck there. Here you have practical pictures displaying the madness of this airport:
We landed (green arrow). We proceeded to (blue path) walk, then get two different buses, walk again, take a small shuttle metro, walk again, to finally get to our new gate (red arrow). Before you ask it, yes, it is the same airport, not two different ones.
It was faster to fly from Amsterdam to Madrid.
Exit is down apparently…
From Madrid to Santiago? Both our heroes slept through the entire flight so we have no recollection of this part of history.
After stopping at Pollo Stop for a nice chicken wrap – that they had to make twice, as they had put cheese in the Sebastiaan’s “sin queso” wrap – we got on our last flight. This was so short it didn’t even feel like flying. I must say tho, I would have preferred another 10 hours of travel by plane rather than the last 2 hours of drive. Fellow car-sick people will understand me. Those were the 2 worst hours of the journey out of a total of 32.
Song of the day? Heard it on the radio in the car driving up the mountains as I was trying to keep Pollo Stop safe where it was supposed to remain: Inside my body. It’s I will survive but in Spanish. A nice tune to celebrate getting to LCO safe and sound.
Celia Cruz – Yo Vivire’
People have told me I have now the power to decide rules for the next blog posts. Since it is late, I am tired, I love singing, and I depleted all my imagination to write this blog post, I will stick to: Every blog post needs to contain at least two sentences that are lyrics from songs. Put them between “” and write at the end the songs where they come from. I said two but the more you manage to use, the more pleased we will all be.
Since I am generous, I will give you an alternative. Instead of two lyrics, you can use one quote from a South American writer or poet that links to the events of the day. Sorry, I know this is difficult, but this is my only chance to show off my literary culture. Here my sist Isabel is explaining perfectly how tired you can get when traveling to LCO with an excellent simile.
“I was so drained I felt as if I were staring through a telescope at the light of a star dead for a million years.”
See what I did there? Heh, heh, heh. I hereby present to you a recap of the 2024 NYRIA workshop at UC San Diego–Josh style.
Day 0: Arrival
I arrived in San Diego with multiple hours to kill before my hotel check-in time. After acquiring recommendations from family members, I made my way over to the “Gaslight Quarter” (as it turns out, this is actually the Gaslamp District). I then walked into Petco Park–home of the San Diego Padres baseball team.
Despite its name, Petco Park contained no pets.
I was a bit surprised that the stadium gates were left open to the public, but I suppose the Padres team is used to letting people walk all over them.
After reaching the hotel, my roommate Gustavo and I ran to a nearby Starbucks for some last minute presentation edits/homework assignment submissions.
This late night work session was sponsored by Starbucks.
Day 1: Intros + Tours + Beach Day
On my walk to the workshop, I briefly considered dropping everything to join Saturnia, Emperor of Moths, in their rock band but I thought better of it.
A band of moths.
Maybe next time.
In the opening session, we were treated to a great presentation from Professor Quinn Konopacky on the history of UCSD. Quinn also provided us with a brief update on the status of the Gemini Planet Imager.
Unfortunately, the GPI wavefront sensor is in Indiana at the moment.
We then introduced ourselves via some stylish slides.
Jonas wins for best use of photoshop while Weerapot wins for best use of the International Space Station as a green screen.
Jonas rides an ELT-themed bicycle.
Weerapot joins us from the ISS.
We next went on lab tours, seeing many a detector and dilution fridge.
Detecting a detector with my detector (say this 3 times fast).
This fridge cools things down to millikelvin temperatures.
An old planetarium. Perhaps we can get one for the office?
Following the lab tours, it was time to kayak. Along the way, Olivier’s RTC software made an appearance.
Putting the AO in San Diego.
I have no pictures from kayaking but perhaps that is for the best. Aditya and I managed to crash into every kayak on the high seas at least once. However, we did see some seals, sea lions, and orange fish (garibaldi) so the excursion was very much worth it.
We concluded the day with pizza and smores on the beach (photos courtesy of Weerapot). Unfortunately, no green flash was spotted this time around.
Beaches are best enjoyed with pizzas, smores, and sunsets.
Day 2: Time to Get Down to Business
Day 2 began with a series of talks on instrumentation.
Christian giving a talk on EPRV.
During the lunchbreak, Professor Adam Burgasser led a DEI workshop on adopting a growth mindset. One of the prompts was ‘Your instrument was awarded $30 million…’
Here at MagAO-X, we are always employing a growth mindset.
The afternoon session featured more exciting talks. My roommate, Dr. Gustavo Ramos, fresh off of a PhD thesis defense, gave a great talk on his star recognition algorithm.
I recognize at least one star in this image.
Some additional highlights from the talk session:
I promoted Laird’s postdoc position……and preached the good word of iEFC.Jayke told us about post-processing of Keck NIRC2 coronagraph images.Dr. Briley Lewis told us about direct imaging of solar system objects.
Upon returning to my hotel, I was greeted by an ominous warning on the microwave.
This signage could have prevented many fire alarms in undergraduate dorms.
Day 3: Talks + Tacos
The morning session was filled with additional instrumentation presentations. Here are a few more highlights:
Chanisa developed a spectrograph for atmospheric + astronomical applications in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Peyton is characterizing detectors for the Keck SCALES instrument.
Mariam works on an RV spectrograph located in the Canary Islands.
Haffert et al. (2019) count: 2
A fan favorite amongst professors whose names start with “Laird” and end with “Close.”
We were treated to a great career panel during our lunch break, featuring Professor Steph Sallum (she’s a Steward alum!) from UC Irvine, Professor Shelley Wright from UCSD, and Dr. Marie Ygouf from NASA JPL.
We then gathered outside for a group photo followed by tacos.
The sun was in my eyes, so I could not see anything.
Clarissa takes a selfie for the late arrivals table.
The gang’s all here.
Day 4: Field Trip
Thursday featured a field trip to the Palomar Observatory, sponsored by Oreos and Jersey Mike’s.
I’m growing tired of typing, so here are the sparknotes:
The Palomar telescope dome (this telescope is an old soul).The Palomar AO system.The telescope itself was too large to fit into my camera FOV.The PARVI instrument housed within a very professional Styrofoam enclosure.Photographic plate images from Palomar (photo courtesy of Weerapot).Ben telling us about his solar tracker for PARVI.An ABSOLUTE UNIT of a pine cone.
Day 5: More Talks, More Tacos + Closing + Green Things
Day 5 is dedicated to the color green. Thus, I present some green things:
1.) Philz Coffee
The mint leaves from my Philz Iced Mint Mojito.
2.) Our hackathon final project presentations (the prompt was to build a green telescope).
Edoardo presents the S.A.L.A.D. telescope. What is greener than salad? Nothing.Tania presents Ice-T.Our fantastic logo (courtesy of Dr. Mark Cunningham).
3.) Dr. Saavi Perera’s closing remarks (not green, but we’ll let it slide)
4.) The green scarecrow hats from Tacos El Gordo
A final acknowledgement goes to Danny for his great stand-up comedy throughout the workshop (not pictured because I was too busy laughing of course).
The 2024 NYRIA workshop was a great success. Perhaps we can hold a future workshop in Tucson?
We’re on our way home, leaving behind a fixed, upgraded, and working MagAO-X. Ready to go for 2024B.
A Goodbye
While we were there they had just finished stripping parts from the famous “NAS” from the venerable MagAO. They loaded it up to take it down the hill to the bodega, where it will be taken apart and scrapped.
Thanks for all the memories.
The NAS was never uselessSome mechanico humor
A See You Later
Been seeing this flashback inducing metro-blue forecast for a couple days:
And it was rolling in as we loaded up the van:
But MagAO-X is safe in the cleanroom, waiting its next shot at the telescope.
See you later
Mysteries For Next Time
The current drama (for us, anyway) is that they have (again) done away with the agua con gas. It does produce a lot of plastic waste, but it was maybe the most discussed amenity by members of the MagAO-X traveling circus.
It appears that the solution is these “soda guns”. But none of use were brave enough to try them out. So next time then.
What will happen next?
The other mystery involves the goat herd that was roaming, and shitting, all over the mountain. First, a reminder that goats are cute
yes, that’s someone’s room.
So either the goats have a dog, or this dog has goats.
Walking up the dog gave me a good barking, and then herded the goats away from me.
Now we have questions about this dog’s life.
The dog was always with the goatsAnd if you got too close would come over to let you know that the goats are off limitsNot unfriendly, tail wagging and a good-natured ears-up lookuntil you made the wrong move
So here’s the question: how does the dog stay alive? We hear that maybe there is a camp nearby. But how does it work? Does the dog herd the goats there once a day? Or does the dog have to wait until the goats decide to go back? Is there a signal?
Walk, not Run
It was a gorgeous day in Santiago. Jay and I took our time and just walked from place to place. It’s the little things.
The succulent wall was as stunning as ever — it always looks extra special when the sun is out.
Lab Rules
For the last god damn time, bring a god damn flashlight when you go to an observatory. We work in the dark. It’s what we do. Your cell phone does not count. When everyone has to share the PI’s flashlight . . .
And a new one. And it’s kind of a big deal, because in over a decade we’ve never had a rule about the blog rules other than whoever posts the first post of a run gets to set them. But from now on, your rules must not set a limit on the number of days in the run. In hind sight it’s just a classic Murphy’s Law blunder. (TBC, I liked these rules, it was fun to look up songs by decades — I was surprised by where a few landed. I just didn’t think about the ramifications until the day we started rescheduling flights and I remembered the ? in the rules . . .)
So here’s a song from the 2020’s. Hoping our last flight to Tuscon goes through because if it doesn’t I don’t know what we’ll do — other than blame the blog rules.
