Last night was the first night after the summer shutdown and despite the forecast we were open for most of the night! We’re using MIRAC as the PSF viewer and found the first star pretty fast!
We aligned the pupil, tested the rotational centering, tried the -300mm and -250mm lenses in front of the VisWFS and decided to go with the -250mm lens. Then we took mlats and then many iterations of CACAO testing. Rebooting RC3 and taking care of some of the over zealous logging seemed to help with issues of the CCID-75 seeming to pause or hang. The low is around 60deg F and the ASM sometimes gets close to overheating, so we take a short break and allow it to cool down. The night ended with a hot ASM at the first twilight.
The song of the night is “Peaches” by The Presidents of the United States of America:
Caught the 0830 transport down this morning. Irony of ironies, this may have been the most stunningly clear blue Chile-wide sky I’ve ever seen. Caveat: I’m usually coming off a weeks-long night-schedule average 4 or 5 hrs of sleep, so not usually awake for any of this trip.
Not a cloud in the sky at sunrise, but a few on the ground.Last view of the telescopes (until next time)First view of the ocean. About here is where your skin breathes again.The forms must be observed. Even after such a short stay, this is the stuff.The La Serena / Coquimbo shoreline. Should have gone to the beach.The Andes look very imposing when you can see them.Challenge: find Vera C. Rubin!The SCL succulent wall looked gorgeous with all the sunlight.A closeup.
My short visit was a success. Got our cooling system back to nominal, and installed and tested cables for our new cam-yo-fiz.
Clouds aren’t so bad when you’re above themA good lunch to warm up with. It’s cold.Beef meatballs on pasta, and some very garlicy tomatoes and avocado.My PhD project sits forlornly in the parking lot, not even fully covered.Vizzy. What a tail!Time to go to work up there.
I popped down to LCO from Tucson for a quick visit to fix some cooling issues and test some new cables. I left 40 C in Tucson and arrived to 40 F at LCO.
On my flight down I was somewhat surprised to see that Laird was coming with me.
Laird and Shannon were seated in the row in front of me. Who knew.The Starbucks SCL Tradition. I think that’s Yeri.I don’t know what this is about, but I know we’re fans.Santiago is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, but it had just rained when I walked between terminals.The La Serena area is stunningly green.A familiar, but greener, view driving up the coastOur old friend is still here waiting for us. I probably won’t make it up there.The post-sunset sky on my walk down to dinner.
There are blog rules. But since I’m the only one here I’m keeping them to myself. Don’t worry, I’ll follow them.
At risk of not being able to show my face in Eden’s upcoming quals study session, I hereby present to you the Sagan Summer Workshop 2024–a journey through space and time .
But first, here’s a clip of the Journey cover band that blessed my ears on my first night in California.
Journey(?) coming to you live from Burbank, California.
Day 0: PROTO Workshop
We began our week with a professional development workshop where we learned about large-scale mission planning. We also learned to appreciate the full breadth of NASA’s acronyms.
So many missions…so little time.
Day 1: HCIPy Day
It wouldn’t be a direct imaging conference without HCIPy! Sebastiaan masterfully guided the workshop attendees through a tutorial of everyone’s favorite high contrast imaging simulation framework.
Unfortunately, some of us skipped the workshop, thinking that they already knew HCIPy. These individuals in question came to regret their decision while going through the tutorial a few hours later (It was me…I was the ‘some of us’).
Workshop highlights from those who did attend:
Sebastiaan and David twinning with their water bottles.Smile if you like HCIPy!
Day 2: A Disk Enthusiast’s Guide to the Galaxy
Day 2 featured lots of disks. Unfortunately, we were too captivated by the talks to take any photos, so here is a picture of the Philz Iced Mint Mojito (the coffee not the cocktail) that kept me going throughout the week.
I drank this every day of the week.
Day 3: MagAO-X’s Debut!
Day 3 featured a coronagraphic imaging talk from Professor Haffert. It also marked the triumphant debut of MagAO-X at Sagan 2024.
One day, our field will agree on a universal definition for contrast. But today is not that day.
The famous Pi Pup video with MagAO-X (I heard it makes for a great YouTube channel intro)!
Around this time, Pasadena attempted to do its best Tucson impression, becoming unbearably hot. Luckily, we have a former chef to teach us how to make Queen’s Coffee.
Cold brew coffee and lemonade is a real thing, I swear!
But wait? Where is our advisor you ask? Let’s take a look:
Oh…
Day 4: The Imagers Behind Images of Imaged Planets
I would be remiss without showing some exciting, direct imaging results at a high contrast imaging workshop. Our friends in UASAL imaged Eps Ind Ab with James Webb!
Congrats Sai, Justin, and Ewan!!
Sebastiaan directly imaged PDS 70b and c (at one point) with VLT!
This is one of our favorite planetary systems.
I directly imaged this corporate office building with my Samsung Galaxy S9!
At this resolution, we are able to make out the “199 South Los Robles” address in the lower left quadrant.
Day 5: The GMagAO-X Grand Finale
On the final day of the workshop, Jared arrived to give his signature talk on GMagAO-X and it did not disappoint.
The famous waterwheel (featuring Dr. Hedglen and Dr. Kautz).Imaging exoplanets requires high vizzybility.
Following Jared’s talk, the Arizona contingent gathered for a group photo:
Awww…
Finally, we wrapped up the workshop by presenting some of our group projects:
Eden presenting on post-processing of high contrast imaging data.
The ghost of Joseph Long.
The ghosts of Jay Kueny and Jialin Li.
And thus concludes a successful workshop!
Song of the Day:
Gojira made history, becoming the first metal band to perform at an Olympics opening ceremony.
Gojira-Ah! Ca ira! Paris Olympics, 2024 opening ceremony.
