Let’s continue in the spirit of the blog post of yesterday with the introduction of another new member of the MagAO-X team. Last fall I finished my PhD at Leiden University in the Netherlands and I was lucky enough to get a fellowship to work at the University of Arizona. Now I do have to say that preparing for an emigration while finishing your PhD can be quite stressful. Luckily that is all done now so I could focus on settling in Tucson.
Settling in Tucson actually went a lot smoother than expected. We were a nervous about finding housing, because the housing market in the Netherlands is really in a tight spot at the moment. But it was really easy to find nice houses and apartments. Within two weeks of us arriving in Tucson we already found our current house. I would give the advice to everyone that is moving to Tucson to take an hotel / Air B&B / motel for a week or two so you can have a look at apartments and houses. You do not have to be afraid that you will not find something. After we signed the lease we needed a couple weeks to get all the standard things up and running (utilities and bank accounts etc.).
After settling in I could finally focus on working on/with MagAO-X! During my PhD in Leiden I worked most of my time on adaptive optics and high-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanets (some shameless advertisement of my thesis: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/research/research-output/science/high-resolution-integral-field-spectroscopy-of-exoplanets ). In my remaining 2.5 years ( it has already been half a year since I left the Netherlands ?! ), I will add spectroscopic capabilities to MagAO-X. The idea is that spectroscopy can be used to increase the detection sensitivity to baby planets and to characterize the atmospheres of older more mature planets. The first case is something I have shown in an article that was published last year where we used spectroscopy to discover a second baby planet around the young star PDS 70! This was picked up by over two hundred of media articles( see for example an article by Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/science/growing-alien-worlds-spotted-planet-nursery-young-star ). My favorite article is one from a Russian website (https://www.vladtime.ru/nauka/kosmologiya/723795), where they discuss the process of cosmic IVF that aliens could use to make new planets.
Figure 1. An artist impression of cosmic IVF from vladtime.ru.
The possibility of life in outer space is something that fascinates us tremendously since people thought that other planets are in fact like Earth, a physical 3D spherical clump of matter instead of just something that brightens the sky at night. The next generation of giant telescopes will enable us for the first time to search for bio-signatures on planets around other stars than our own. The technology that MagAO-X is developing will enable such observations and I am glad that I can be part of the team to do this. While we are out trying to search for life on other planets, we should not forget that life on earth is also important and we all should contribute by staying home. And maybe that is also a place where you can find life.
Figure 2. A small bird nest in our backyard, with two baby birds.
Staying at home in Tucson is not bad. We have a nice spacious garden, which would not be possible in the Netherlands, and the weather is currently great (a good 25 to 30 degrees Celsius, I am not sure if I will ever get used to Fahrenheit). So we are enjoying our time at home, sitting on our patio looking at all the birds flying by and enjoying the nice weather while it lasts (I wonder whether our weak Dutch skin can handle the Tucson summer).
The song of the day has been inspired by the alien artist impression. The composition feels like a shot out of an alien boy band to me. Therefore, to keep some kind of connection to the blog post I have selected an iconic music video from the 90’s.
Greetings blog world. You haven’t heard from me yet, because this is my first post here on the XWCL blog! First let me introduce myself. I joined the group last fall as a new 1st year graduate student at Steward Observatory at Univ of Arizona in Tucson. I came from the glorious University of Texas at Austin, where I worked with a group there studying directly-imaged low mass companions to young stars with the Keck telescope. So joining the MagAO-X team was a no-brainer. I plan to continue to study how stars and planets form with MagAO-X and MagAO-classic for my PhD work. You can see my science at my website www.loganpearcescience.com
Outside of science, I chose to come to Arizona because I knew I would love living in Tucson. I am a non-traditional student, I am returning to school following a career as a public school science teacher, and another as an officer in the US Navy (our illustrious leader and I have that in common). So in addition to the great food scene, numerous parks (national and otherwise) to explore, and craft beer scene, Tucson was appealing because I could afford to buy a house and live a more “adult” life than is stereotypical for a grad student.
Persian Gulf 2007. I am on the deck of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), behind me is USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), and USS Nimitz (CVN-68) behind her.
And well things currently being what they are, I’m getting to spend a lot of quality time with the new house these days. As Jared said yesterday, we’ve officially begun a stay-at-home order in Arizona as of last night, but I’ve been effectively quarantined, working from home and only going out for groceries and exercise, for 18 days as of today. So I thought I’d share a bit of what being a grad student looks like, at least for me, right now.
First of all, I want to acknowledge my incredibly privileged position. I have a steady job with guaranteed income for at least two more years (I’m on a fellowship), I have stable housing and am in no danger of not being able to pay my mortgage, and I don’t have to put myself at risk of exposure to COVID-19 as part of my job like healthcare professionals, janitorial staff, and grocery store workers do. I am incredibly grateful to have these privileges, and am glad to do my part to help keep everyone safe by essentially doing nothing. It gets tedious and sometimes I get sad, but it helps me to remember that my staying home is an essential part of keeping everyone safe, and to remind myself how much worse some folks have it, and how incredibly brave our front line actors are in these strange times.
What’s more, transitioning to working from home was pretty easy for me. I don’t really work in the lab on campus, my science is basically entirely done from my laptop. And switching to classes via zoom was pretty smooth as well. It took some adjustment, but things are basically proceeding as before, only minus the social interaction and with the addition of existential dread.
An orbital dynamics class via zoom
When I first arrived at Steward Observatory in August, I had to move into a temporary office for 8 weeks while they did maintenance in my wing. Then I was able to move into my actual office for a few months and get settled in. Now, I’m in a brand new office, otherwise known as my dining room. Here, let me give you a brief tour:
An incredibly well organized and effective office.
Zoom has been huge, also Slack and WhatsApp, for keeping some semblance of social interaction. I will be joining a zoom game night with other grad students tonight.
So, in summary, while no one has any idea what the world will look like in a few months, technology has enabled me to keep going more or less as before, with the exception of no MagAO-X run to look forward to next month, and missing vital social interaction. I won’t claim that it hasn’t been hard, but I’m well aware of how much worse it could be. If you’re struggling with uncertainty in these times, with your mental well being from isolation, with being productive with your children at home, or with fear of exposure to the virus from your job, please know that I’m thinking of you, I’m wishing you the best, I’m hoping you are able to stay safe and well. And we’ll get through this together, while we’re apart.
My song(s) of the day comes from something helping me stay sane in these times, as well as be productive on my newfound cross-stitching habit: Star Trek. Star Trek has practically raised me from an early age (and probably was a non-trivial factor in my decision to join the Navy…), and it has some of the most iconic classic theme songs ever made. Much as Jared studied iterations of Jolene yesterday, I would like to offer my reflections on a Star Trek theme. I’ll go chronologically.
Of course everyone knows the classic original. It’s identifiable almost from the very first note:
Plus that classic monologue. I’ve never loved the original series much (despite trying to forgive it as a product of its time, I just can’t stand the misogyny), but you can’t deny the impact on culture.
Next of course is the show that defined my childhood, and the one I’m currently cross-stitching to, Star Trek: The Next Generation. A theme every bit as iconic, dare I say more-so, than the original:
I mean come on. Who won’t be stirred by that? Plus look at all the exoplanet love.
And now we come to the most important entry. The absolute pinnacle of everything Star Trek. A show ahead of its time, that pioneered the story arc and paved the way for the golden age of television we’re living in now*. A show from the 90’s that is every bit as good as it ever was to modern watchers. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
It’s not your parent’s Star Trek. It’s dark, actions have consequences (unlike the very episodic TNG). Every character, even the side characters, are deep, rich, and have long character arcs that grow and change over the run of the show. Some of the most compelling characters, like Nog or Damar, start out as throw aways or comic relief, and end up with some of the most powerful transformations. And Major Kira was definitely an early feminist icon for me. And Captain Sisko had moral grey areas unlike Picard. I could write a thesis on this show. I watched it as a kid, and now I’ve watched it all the way through twice as an adult. Proud to report, it holds up.
The theme itself is pretty standard fair for a Star Trek show, nothing too unique to say about it. The song is lovely and the imagery serves as nice establishing shots for the show.
*(no joke – it was one of the first shows of the 90s to incorporate the story arc, and was criticized at the time, and made the networks really nervous. But because of it they were able to tell richer stories and characters than TNG or Voyager. Look it up!)
Next we come to Star Trek: Voyager. It’s a fine intro I guess.
Voyager is trash. I said what I said.
Next up is the most controversial entry in the bunch: Star Trek: Enterprise. Whoa boy did this theme get the fandom’s panties all in a bunch. First of all, it has lyrics. And, *dumb* lyrics at that. Then the imagery behind the song was such a huge departure from tradition, some folks lost their minds. Enterprise is widely regarded as the black sheep of the Star Trek family, and honestly this theme song is a big part of it.
Hot take: I actually rather like Enterprise. I even kinda like this silly theme song. Yes, it’s quite cheesy. But I find it charming anyway. Same with the show. It is *far* from perfect, but it’s got its charms, and it’s better than Voyager. The show is about the first USS Enterprise starship, and it’s trying to be about voyage and discovery venturing into the unknown, and theme was meant reflect that.
Next is Star Trek: Discovery. It has a lovely theme. I love the call back to the original theme, with the modern imagery.
The theme really reflects the show. It is set right before the events of the original series, and includes some TOS characters like Captain Pike and Spock, and we even see an updated original USS Enterprise bridge in the 2nd season. The theme does a nice job of incorporating those elements, and set the stage for the show, classic but updated. It’s lovely.
And finally, Star Trek: Picard, who’s first season just wrapped up last week. This is a lovely lovely intro theme, and sets a very nice mood for this show. There are notes calling back to the themes of both TNG and Discovery (which is on the same network), something that is continued in the music of the show. Whenever Picard does something very Picard-like, we hear themes we recognize from TNG or TNG movies. It’s lovely, and the show is lovely. It’s not perfect, but it makes me very happy.
That’s it for Star Trek show themes, but there is so much more that could be said. I could write another essay on music from the movies. Hmm, perhaps for my next blog post. Seeing as we have some time on our hands now….
Since most of the MagAO-X team resides in Tucson, home of the University of Arizona and Steward Observatory, we are about to come under a stay-at-home policy starting tomorrow, 3/31, at 5 pm MST. This removes all doubt: there will be no MagAO-X run in 2020A. We are on the telescope schedule for May 3-10; to make this, we need to ship next week. And despite all the hard work we’ve put in since returning from our last run, we have a metric sh&*%t ton of work to do before we can be ready to ship. Because we have all been working from home out of prudence for the last couple of weeks, and now we are working from home under orders, there is no way we’ll get it done. Further complications include: LCO is shutdown until 27 April at the earliest; political unrest has started up again and is expected to increase; and we couldn’t fly to Santiago even if the ExAO system made it. Granted there is a lot of time between now and May 3rd, but our decision horizon is much shorter given the vagaries of international cargo shipping in the best of times. [note for completeness: that we do have a poorly developed backup plan to drive ourselves in a U-Haul. A ferry is involved.]
To say it clearly: MagAO-X 2020A is canceled.
We are now planning a late 2020B run, Nov or Dec. So start your telescope proposals.
So here’s the thing. Astronomy is not currently urgent. We astronomers/astrophysicists/optical-scientists don’t have a lot to add to the current goings on. But, (1): we shouldn’t let that cause us to relax. Apropos:
Astronomy can be urgent . . .
And (2): astronomy is still important. As a for instance: we are now all likely paying close attention to how dependent we are on the transportation of resources from point A to B. Now just consider how much of a role GPS plays in this. Sure, that’s based on 400 to 100 year old Astronomy — but it is a key example of what Astronomizing produces. It’s also an excellent illustration of the acute differences between urgent and important. Which are sometimes the same, but often not.
Now to the point: this is the first post of our 2020A stay-at-home blog series. The rules are as usual: the title must start as this post’s does, and there must be a song of the day. I’m expecting the grad students to self organize from here on out, with the option to recruit faculty, post-docs (at any institution), etc., to help share the load. We’re all in this together, and this run will last as long as it takes.
Back in the bad old days of the Long Runs, Alan Uomoto once remarked about our blog “The videos are a nice touch … although I admit I wasn’t able to tease out the blogger’s mental state as readily as I thought I might.” Let’s see what he can do with this.
When Dolly Parton sings her famous song “Jolene”, it sounds almost gleeful, despite the lyrics. To wit:
Basically, Dolly wins in the end and you can tell. Now Miley (Dolly’s goddaughter) delivers it in a more moving tone, sad, but not hopeless:
You don’t really know how it ends though. Any case, this is all really just an excuse to post some rock. If you’ve read this post on this blog for this long, it’s a solid chance that you’re a nerd. So you might claim to not know who the White Stripes are, but you are probably wrong. Just listen to the first 5 seconds of this and get back to me. (come on . . . that’s likely the most recognizable guitar riff of the last 30 years)
The ‘Stripes version of Jolene is completely different.
Jack White’s version is that of a woman who has already lost. And it rocks (yeah).
But wait! Shouldn’t we be giving a message of hope, not despair? In these trying times? Well . . . actually. The thing you should notice most about the White Stripes is how there are 2 microphones. And when the shit hits the fan, Jack always turns and he and Meg rock through it together. It’s an awesome performance style, and it’s what we all need to do.
Appendix: I struggled with which version to post, and ended up with my overall favorite performance. This next one falls under our we have standards mantra, in that I think it’s the best guitar performance of the three:
And this one is the classic. It’s the most heartfelt vocal performance:
Ok grad students. I know how much free time you have on your hands. Don’t let me down.
Happy new year from MagAO-X! The instrument is back in the lab, and today we opened the panels for the first time to find that no optics have been damaged! “Another happy landing,” as Obi-Wan would say.
On January 10, MagAO-X arrived at the University of Arizona. Southwest Rigging used the forklift to bring the boxes down to the Steward Observatory loading dock.
Southwest Rigging unloading MagAO-X from the truck.Jared pointing at stuff to look cool.Bringing MagAO-X down to the loading dock. Jared not leaving its side. Sebastian trailing behind.All boxes were stored safely inside!
Eventually we managed to unpack MagAO-X and the electronics rack. We brought them up to the lab, rebuilt the clean room, and today we opened it up!
MagAO-X sitting safely in the clean room, ready to be unwrapped.Welcome back!
We are just about ready to cable up the instrument and turn everything on. Over the next two months, we will do a lot of software testing and install a few new components into the system. By April 10, MagAO-X will ship back to Chile and we will return to the desert for the next telescope run on May 3 – 10.
The last three of us are on our way back to Tucson. We love being at LCO, but after spending most of two months there it’s a great feeling to be going home.
In case you missed it, MagAO-X works! We can close the loop on sky with real starlight propagating through real turbulence. Laird, Olivier, and I first started developing the concept of MagAO-X in early 2015, and many people have contributed along the way. I’d like to especially acknowledge the awesome contributions of the “army of grad students” [not my words] that really made MagAO-X come together over the last 4 years. Great job team.
We are all super thrilled to finally see our hard work pay off. Here’s to many more successful MagAO-X runs at LCO!
To my knowledge the tradition has not yet been upheld on this run. So here it is.
Hi Mom.
Our driver made sure to point out the locals on the way down.
Owl sighting
La Serena looks, to us passers-though, like it’s more or less normal. That may not be 100% true, but it’s nice to see some familiar characters.
The street performers are back.
Way back in 2012 an intrepid, fresh-faced crew of AOistas stopped at the SCL Holiday Inn for Pisco Sours after a long run at LCO. Laird, Alex, and I recreated that photo at the very same table. A few things have changed (though I still have never seen a pirate mine).
A tradition too
The big caveat is that the run isn’t quite over, at least not for me. MagAO-X itself isn’t on the way yet, but will be following us in the next week or so. I won’t be able to completely relax until it’s safely back the in lab at Steward Observatory. Hopefully fewer delays than the trip down, and we’ll be back to work after the New Year.
