Ryan Hamilton

Head of Instrumentation at @LowellObs and veteran flier on @SOFIAtelescope. Never got over Macho Grande. Tweets are my own, especially the ones with bad words.

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

I wonder what I was talking about at this exact moment. The size of a fish I once caught? https://t.co/MfjzIUTig3

[SOFIA Telescope @SOFIAtelescope]

Instrument scientist Ryan Hamilton reviews the HAWC instrument's capabilities with guests from @Caltech in the lab. https://t.co/Q9f60JP1i4

[Matt Hartman @ShorealoneFilms]

PHOTOS:
For the last time the World Famous @NASA @SOFIAtelescope departs @NASAArmstrong for her final resting place at @pimaairfans Museum #avgeek #SOFIA 12-13-22

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

Random question because I'm considering a crazy thing @tekwendell (or @Level1Techs), can your KVMs be remotely switched if you're not in front of the keyboard but in a VNC or RDP session?

[NASA Ames @NASAAmes]

This isn't just a plane. It's so much more.

The world’s largest flying observatory is entering retirement. Learn about the legacy of our SOFIA mission: https://t.co/WXUpj0UF9A

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

The rest of the takeoff songs that series:

Flight 294: Bill Halley and His Comets' version of "Shake, Rattle and Roll"

Flight 295: Star Wars Theme (it was Star Wars day after all)

HAWC+ came off the telescope on May 6 after many sleepless nights by all.

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

Tonight's final science flight of @SOFIAtelescope just took off with my former friend HAWC+. I have lots of feels so I'll dig through pictures over the next hour or so and post some fun ones of those crazy days. @ADSBexchange has the best real-time track: https://t.co/j1IRAvulQa

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

And whooooo boy what a first flight for HAWC+ that was. The instrument was heavily impacted by aircraft vibrations, which were a real problem for a far-IR instrument running at a cool 0.2 Kelvin. We ended up ending the flight early because the instrument warmed up too soon.

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

It's been a very active monsoon season - it was foggy a few days ago which was a bit unusual, and I was able to catch lots and lots of misty mountains on the drive back from the telescope the last few days.

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

And ta-da, a mirror is born! The mirror is on the bottom, reflecting the top of the chamber. It'll sit in the chamber and slowly warm back up to ambient temps over the weekend, and the chamber will be opened up on Monday to look at witness samples coated along with the mirror.

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

Today was day 12 of the @LowellObs Discovery Telescope summer maintenance period and it was a biggie - the 4.3 meter diameter primary mirror was recoated with aluminum! I was able to snag some pretty neat pictures so I'll try to explain the process.

[Ryan Hamilton @AstroBokonon]

This is just before the coating was complete - since it's a mirror at this point, I was able to look down to get a great view of the concentric rings of coating filaments. The thing in the center is an actual/regular lightbulb. Look at those filaments glow!