Gallery

Local Volume Mapper (LVM) Early science preparation and commissioning workshop Oct 22, 2022, IWH, Heidelberg, Germany Dairies: My visit was funded by the DFG program 'The Milky Way System' and CATA.

Beautiful Heidelberg and LVM's first glimpse, before commissioning to Las Campanas Observatory (LCO); below:

My first Observation run at the Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) Magellan/Baade/ FIRE on January 8, 2023. I observed the local galaxy analogs of high red shift galaxies to understand the Interstellar medium and nature of ionization fraction of high redshift galaxies. These local analogs resemble similar ionization fraction and star-forming properties as in early universe. We successfully observed 6 objects in a night, thanks to the excellent weather conditions. :)

The observatory, accommodation and food was great too!  :D
In summary, it was a wonderful experience.

Second visit to the LCO : May 29, 2023 : Although, going to the observatory always makes me feel most alive, my recent five day visit to the Las Campanas Observatory to help with Instrumentation as a part of the LVM commissioning team, was a great learning experience.

It was my first time handling cryostats, LN2 system and spectrographs; amazing opportunity and one of the best experiences of my career till date. I learnt about importance of processes like purging gas in supply lines, filling LN2, dipstick tests and calibrating cryostats, which are essential for spectrographs, to keep them cool, and in turn for the telescope to function well.