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Cosmic Frontier Experiment Status August 25, 2014. COUPP/PICO Operations Summary. Main objective over next 6 months is to continue particulate sampling and understand particulate nucleation of bubbles Water from both PICO-2L and COUPP60 extracted via filter in early July
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COUPP/PICO Operations Summary • Main objective over next 6 months is to continue particulate sampling and understand particulate nucleation of bubbles • Water from both PICO-2L and COUPP60 extracted via filter in early July • Clear evidence for particulates in both, samples sent to PNNL for radioactivity and chemical analysis
COUPP/PICO Operations Summary • Test chamber set up at Fermilab to do spike tests, now running at Lab A • Testing radon emanation sources now • Will do particulate spikes through Aug-Sept
Dark Energy Survey Seeing on Aug. 15 • Season 2 started on August 15, 2014! First few nights had excellent seeing (resolution), setting some records ~0.6 ‘’ • Two large air conditioners installed and started running to control daytime temperatures. This will further improve seeing. • Year 1 data processing is nearly complete. Y1A1 dataset will be released later this Fall. Shortly after that initial public data release will take place. • Serendipitous discovery of superluminous supernova. One of several papers to be submitted this Fall from early DES data. Supernova DES13S2cmm Before SN After SN Subtraction
8/25/2014 Holometer (E-990) Operations Status: • Design beam intensity already achieved with sensitivity to 10-20 m/rtHz disturbance amplitude • Analysis is underway on 30 minute dataset for first graduate student thesis • Focus now on improving operations stability to more easily gather 10’s of hours of data • Stability is most impacted by low frequency external noise. Recent fixes: • Tethered external hut to concrete blocks to reduce wind noise below 5 Hz transmitted into ground motions • Tuned feedback loops to add resonant gain at problematic frequencies and reduce gain elsewhere to maintain phase margin • Installed laser periscope enclosures designed to reduce turbulent flow of air driven by temperature gradients (and hence reduce refraction noise)