HPF Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) Blankets The Habitable Zone Planet Finder 2014-09-29 | A video of the Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) blanket layout and fabrication for the Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) spectrograph. MLI blankets are blankets made out of multiple alternating thin sheets of A) a highly reflective material - in our case we use 6 micron thick aluminized Mylar (looks a lot like aluminum foil but more durable) - and B) a netted spacer material - Tulle in our case (commonly used to make bridal veils). These types of blankets are widely used as thermal control elements for vacuum applications where radiation losses need to be minimized. Satellites (and the HPF!) are there a great example.You can read more about these subsystems on our blog:http://hpf.psu.edu/2014/09/29/mli-blankets/Researchers:- Eric- Guðmundur (Gummi)- Fred- GuillermoVideo: Gummi KMusic: "Airglow" by Stellardrone - check out his music here: http://stellardrone.bandcamp.com
Cryostat Cleaning: Eric and the Pressure Washer The Habitable Zone Planet Finder 2015-03-26 | Nooks and crannies in the HPF cryostat needed to be blasted out. But all that pressurized water has to go somewhere!
Polar Aligning the CDK24 telescope at Penn State The Habitable Zone Planet Finder 2015-03-24 | A few months ago the department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at Penn State invested in a new Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope from Planewave Instruments (website: http://planewave.com/). It is now up and running, and pointing and tracking very well.The telescope will mainly be used for outreach opportunities, and also for research for astronomy majors. We are looking forward to see if we can detect planetary transits with it.This video shows a timelapse sequence when taking exposures for the Polar Alignment step. Read more about the installation here: http://gummiks.github.io/2015/03/09/cdk24Further Description:The telescope sits on a German Equatorial mount, and when the polar axis of the telescope is aligned with Earth's rotational axis the telescope can easily compensate for the rotation of the Earth — by needing to track in only one axis. We can align the two axis with help from sophisticated star-matching software (see PlaneWave's website above), by taking a set of exposures of known locations in the sky. The software then tells us how far we are off, and how much we have to tweak the alignment of the axis. Pretty neat stuff!Song: "Messier 42" by Stellardrone. License: Creative Commons.Check his website here: stellardrone.bandcamp.com
The HPF Enclosure Installation The Habitable Zone Planet Finder 2014-11-18 | A few members of the HPF team took a trip to McDonald Observatory to install the HPF thermal enclosure in the Spectrograph Room of the 11m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). The enclosure is a passive but important part of the HPF environmental control system. The temperature in the HET Spectrograph Room is controlled to +-0.3°C, but the enclosure serves to reduce temperature fluctuation frequency and amplitude by a factor of 5-10. This will be empirically tested out by monitoring the temperatures in 6 different locations around and within the HPF enclosure, and Calibration enclosure.HPF Team Members:- Eric- Fred- Guðmundur (Gummi)Video: Gummi KMusic: "In Time" by Stellardrone - check out his music here:http://stellardrone.bandcamp.com
HPF Subsystem Assembly The Habitable Zone Planet Finder 2014-08-07 | Timelapse sequences of the clean room fabrication of some of the subsystems of the Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) instrument. First, the Aluminum Heater Panels, which will be hooked up to a feedback control loop responsible for actively keeping HPF at 180K at McDonald Observatory. Second, the Copper Thermal Straps, which will be hooked up to a liquid nitrogen tank to cool the vacuum chamber down to the ballpark operating temperatures (165K-175K). You can read more about these subsystems on our blog:http://hpf.psu.edu/2014/06/17/hpf-keeping-it-cool/ and http://hpf.psu.edu/2014/05/28/cryostat-design/HPF Team members:- Eric Levi- Guðmundur KáriVideo: Gummi KMusic: "Comet Halley" by Stellardrone - check out his music here: http://stellardrone.bandcamp.com
Astrofest 2014 - Penn State The Habitable Zone Planet Finder 2014-07-21 | Some timelapses from Astrofest 2014, an annual festival of Astronomy and Astrophysics held at Davey Lab, Penn State University, where students, faculty, and friends gave talks, presentations, planetarium shows, and various other hands-on activities and demonstrations. Read more about it here: http://hpf.psu.edu/2014/07/21/astrofest-2014/Song: "Intro" by Zero-Project. License: Creative Commons.Check website here: http://www.zero-project.gr/
