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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
But wait? Where is our advisor you ask? Let’s take a look:
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!
Sebastiaan directly imaged PDS 70b and c (at one point) with VLT!
I directly imaged this corporate office building with my Samsung Galaxy S9!
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.
Following Jared’s talk, the Arizona contingent gathered for a group photo:
Finally, we wrapped up the workshop by presenting some of our group projects:
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.