MagAO-eXtreme Posts

Ninety minutes west of Santiago lies the fantastical, ebullient town on Valparaíso. Known as “Valpo” to the locals, it offers endless labyrinths of hidden staircases, harbor views and consistently interesting street art. Though well ensconced in long-haul South American itineraries, it is not well-known to most traveling astronomers despite its easy access from the Santiago ...

We were waiting eagerly on any news about the arrival of MagAO-X while the trucker strike continued. The first good news we got was that MagAO-X was cleared through customs and we got visuals. MagAO-X somewhere around Santiago. People with keen eyes might see that certain Tip-N-Tell’s are not attached anymore. The Tip-N-Tell’s are used to ...

There seems to be a rule that no matter how early we ship MagAO-X, it won’t get to the Santiago airport until I do. This trip followed that rule. The instrument has now cleared customs and is scheduled to make the journey to LCO tomorrow. However, it could have been on its way as ...

Well, @warrenbfoster still owes us vacation photos from Valparaiso, but who knows what his internet situation is. Someone’s still gotta write the Day 0 blog post, though. Hello again, LSC hardstand. Compared to last time this trip didn’t have many surprises. We did learn several things, though: When there’s a choice of LATAM and Delta for the 10-hour ...

What’s on more wheels than it should be, has three bulk bags of desiccant for a carry on, and is heading for a South American Vacation??? Only our favorite high contrast imaging system! The team has spent the last week in booties and safety boots making sure that the instrument gets to Chile as cozy ...

According to Poor Vizzy’s Almanack, every October 14th some nonsense transpires in Tucson, Arizona. Usually having to do with this guy. This time, he received a surfeit of cupcakes: Artisanal wrapping paper: A Starbuck™: Many happy returns! Inspirational stickers will be available through the usual channels. Song of the Day Well, what’d you expect? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laPhvAZ_2m4 Happy Birthday Swing – Lucky Seven

Summer school posts were delayed due to blog server space, but we’re back with recap blogs! It’s summer camp season. The older you get, the harder it gets to secure a summer full of bunk-bed living, bug spray, buffet lunches, and late night card games. The folks at Santa Cruz gave us a pretty wonderful approximation, ...

I think I speak for all three of us MagAO-Xians that went to the AO workshop last week when I say that it was a blast! Between the beautiful campus at UCSC, fun hands on activities, and friendly participants there was always something to focus on (heh). Unfortunately it was probably the diverse group of ...

I am generally horrible at finishing things, and there were so many stories to tell about good times in Santa Cruz that I never finished my blog post. I started writing during the first night of the workshop, but didn’t return to tell the stories of renting a bike and spending afternoons enjoying rides in ...

It is extremely illegal to smuggle Andean mammals of the high desert into downtown Montréal, but I have always wanted to try poutine, and MagAO-X already got me as far as Tucson anyway. At the border, I tried to explain I was going to the SPIE conference but I’m not sure Google Translate was working. Today, Laird ...