Blog – Page 146 – Extreme Wavefront Control Lab

The MagAO project’s first on-sky results!

The MagAO project put together an instrument on a shoestring budget from borrowed parts, to observe one of Nature’s most beautiful spectacles:

The solar eclipse!

We built a pinhole camera using an obsolete cable bulkhead, an authentic piece of MagAO hardware. We call it the MagAO Solar Eclipse Viewer. You can see the cable bulkhead below, in this photo of the PI and Instrument Scientist who did all the planning, design, and prep work with the hardware.

Proud designers and creators — Dr. Katie Morzinski, PI and Jared Males, Instrument Scientist

The instrument passed internal Feasibility (FDR)/Conceptual (CoDR), Preliminary (PDR), and Critical Design Reviews (CDR) this afternoon. There was no Pre-Ship Review (PSR) because we hand-carried the instrument from the Aux building to the dining hall. Integration and Testing (I&T) was completed in the afternoon at the Aux building by the PI and Instrument Scientist.

The commissioning and observing run began immediately after everyone finished eating a delicious dinner together in the LCO dining room.

Software and operations were provided by Tyson Hare. He first upgraded the detector from a wall to a sheet of paper, and then commissioned the instrument outside…

Tyson and the MagAO Solar Eclipse Viewer — Commissioning the MagAO Solar Eclipse Viewer

…then took it inside to the LCO dining room, where the curtains could be drawn to reduce the ambient “dome” light.

Tyson operating the detector — Optimization of the MagAO Solar Eclpse Viewer

Here is Tyson operating the MagAO Solar Eclipse Viewer detector:

For Tyson's mom — Tyson Hare operating the detector

Laird Close operated the pinhole camera:

For Laird's family — Dr. Laird Close, camera operator

We simulated the eclipse with a 100-peso coin, to test our optical design and alignment:

100 peso simulation — Simulation of the solar eclipse, on a shoestring budget

A lot of the LCO staff and other LCO observers joined in on the fun!

First light in the LCO Dining Room — LCO enjoying the solar eclipse

Here we show the entire instrument and overlay the light path:

Pinhole cameras invert the image — Light path of the MagAO Solar Eclipse Viewer

It was only a grazing or nibbler eclipse at LCO, and here are some of the best images we got:

: Solar eclipse images

Jared at left — Eclipse through welding glasses

It was a lot of fun, and we hope you enjoyed the first on-sky results by the MagAO project!

: The MagAO Solar Eclipse Viewer

MagAO Commissioning Day 1: Left-Handed Vulture Droppings

We had an exciting day on the MagAO project here at Las Campanas Observatory. There were bugs, birds, left-handed translations, a handoff, some solidified N2, and the sun got a little fainter too.

Today was the crew changeover. See Katies’s post about how the next Turno was shown the workings of Clio’s dewar and LN2 refilling procedure.

The big excitement for the day was the solar eclipse. See this post for more on MagAO’s first on-sky results.

We got a little done on the NAS today too. Alan did a bunch of guider testing, and has declared victory. Jared and Katie tested the bayside stage motors, our very powerful X-Y-Z translation motors which move the entire W-Unit to align and focus. These weren’t tested last night since we like to be careful and make sure we don’t destroy the project (as a general rule). We tested their movement in 3 axes to verify that everything works smoothly and that no hoses or cables are pinched. Now, in optics the Z-axis is traditionally along the optical axis, and positive in the direction of motion of photons. Katie noticed that our X and Y axes then follow the “left-hand rule” for their coordinates, and was inspired to pose for a picture. This is Katie’s way of saying, politely, that we do things a little backwards at Arizona.

for those of you who haven't taken vector calculus recently, this is not a gang sign — Katie demonstrates the "left-hand rule" for the coordinate system of the X, Y, Z Bayside stages.

After getting the stages up and running, we could then align the system. This means using the stages to get our artificial star on the optical axis of the W-unit. With a pyramid AO system, we always feel good when we get a nice set of 4 round pupil images.

It works! It still works! — Our pyramid wavefront sensor pupils at left, and the VisAO spot on the left.

A happy AO operator is a good AO operator. — Here Jared is showing some relief that everything turned back on.

There have been a few animal sightings. She’s the only one on the project to date, but Katie has seen a bunch of bugs. It is spring, so maybe they are coming out. We also saw a turkey vulture circling the summit. Nobody got a good pic, but there was unambiguous evidence of its passage.

I hope Alan can find that windex — Our various mothers are going to be disappointed.

Quotes of the Day:
While discussing VisAO’s tiny field of view:
Matt Walker: “it would take a long time to do a sky survey with an 8 arcsecond field of view”
Alan Uomoto: “well, that depends, do you want to do it at 20 milliarcseconds?”
(good comeback Alan)

Tyson Hare: “Look how easy it is to entertain a room full of nerds.” (during the eclipse)

After the eclipse, we were treated to yet one more amazing LCO sunset.

We are on our way. — The Magellan 6.5m telescopes at sunset. Clay at left, Baade on the right.

Clio handover

Tuesdays are when LCO staff swap shifts. A meeting is held with all technical staff, who share information in order for the handover to go smoothly. This afternoon, the instrument staff who are keeping Clio cool met to show each other how it works.

Clio handover 2 - Mauricio Navarrete, Jorge Bravo, Gabriel Martin, and Alan Uomoto

Clio handover 3 - Victor Meriño, Jorge Bravo, Gabriel Martin, Emilio Cerda, and Mauricio Navarrete

Clio handover 4 - Gabriel Martin, Jorge Bravo, Mauricio Navarrete, and Alan Uomoto

First MagAO arrivals

Alan, Jared, and Katie arrived today as the first of the MagAO commissioning team. We stopped at El Pino before heading up to the mountain. Here are Jared and Alan with the eponymous tree:

La Serena is a beautiful beach town, and we couldn’t decide whether it reminds us of San Diego, Santa Cruz, or San Francisco. You decide:

And here’s a picture for our various mothers and other followers who are fans of the many gorgeous flowers that are in bloom in late Spring in Chile:

Finally, we made it up to Las Campanas Observatory. We saw our old friend Vizzy. We also saw the sunset when we went up to visit our telescope, the 6.5-m Magellan Clay:

We went up and powered up all the motors and computers, and everything is working fine! Clio is cooled and doing great. Tomorrow we will attend the LCO turnover meeting, meet the staff, check up on our instruments and stages, and get prepped for the arrival of the PI.

Turno

Manny and Richard are on their way home. Clio2 survived shipping, and is ready for MagAO to send it some flat wavefronts.

it fits — The electronics rack for Clio2 fits, and doesn't vibrate (too much).

The last thing the guys did was train the LCO staff on how to keep Clio cold.

theory — Manny Montoya briefing the LCO crew on Clio2 operations.

practice — Some hands on training. The blue gloves keep your fingertips attached to your fingers - LN2 is cold!

The next MagAO detachment leaves Tucson today. We’re on our way.