MagAO-eXtreme Posts

We’re all here to figure out puzzles like “Do rocky exoplanets have the same composition as Earth?”, “Do all protoplanets produce Halpha emission as they accrete?”, and “Can our AO system reach the contrast necessary to image low mass planets in reflected light?” It turns out, we also have a lot of puzzles to solve that ...

Today’s blog post is going to highlight my raison d’être for working with MagAO-X: its new polarimeter! Polarimetric differential imaging The MagAO-X polarimeter was initially installed in spring of 2025, consisting of a rotating half-wave plate (HWP) and polarizing beamsplitter cube (PBS). The combination of these two optics enables MagAO-X to measure the angle of linear polarization ...

Today people discovered I am just an average girl who loves astrology. No offense, but why having to choose between astronomy and astrology when – guess what – you can have both? Not only that, but I like to entertain myself in a variety of spiritual practices, for example, I am currently charging my tarot ...

As we enter the final month of the year, I would like to share my Astronomy: Wrapped with you all. You deployed six monitors with one viscacha background! It takes real vizzion to do something like that. This year you experienced five Empanada Sundays! (That means up to 20 empanadas, at maximum order size!) You hung out with Dr. Alycia ...

We’ve really settled into a rhythm here on the mountain top. While our individual wake-up times vary, we all mosey on down to the lodge for dinner at around 6:30. After an unfailingly excellent meal (and perhaps a cup of tea), the first shift of AO operators make their way up to the summit and ...

Tonight started with Katie, Tiffany, and Josh as our dedicated graduate student MagAO-X operators. They were tasked with assisting Logan with her observing program in the first half of the night. While the conditions started out rough, they stabilized after an hour or two on sky. When 1:30AM approached, it was time to switch to ...

If there ever was a day to wake up for lunch, Sunday is that day. While we all placed our much anticipated empanada night lunch orders, nothing beats the pastry goodies paired with the lunchtime soup choices. Empenada de mariscos e Caldillo de Congrio. Though delicious, the prize lunch came at the cost of some significant ...

You wouldn’t guess it but it was already our third night at the telescope. Which means it was also my third day (night) here at Las Campanas Observatory. I arrived as an extremely fresh (and hopeful) astronomer on our first observing day. It was quite though to go through an almost 30hr journey to immediately ...

Greetings again from MagAO-X-ville! Us astronomers are equal parts wildlife and planet photographers, although today involved a strong emphasis on the former. Enjoying the beautiful sun over the Atacama and the lack of 2-legged individuals, the burros seized their opportunity to reclaim the mountain (one might call it a burrocracy). Many a burro photo was captured ...

Hi, Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to my first blog post and first time in Chile! Not long after a long travel, we woke up and were immediately put to work. There were a lot of things to be done on Thanksgiving, and gifts to be unwrapped. The gift! (Credit: Miles Lucas) Of course before opening the the gift, ...