MagAO-X is the coronagraphic extreme adaptive optics system for the 6.5 m Magellan Clay Telescope. We report the results of commissioning the first phase of MagAO-X. Components now available for routine observations include: the >2 kHz high-order control loop consisting of a 97 actuator woofer deformable mirror (DM), a 2040 actuator tweeter DM, and a modulated pyramid wavefront sensor (WFS); classical Lyot coronagraphs with integrated low-order (LO) WFS and control using a third 97-actuator non-common path correcting (NCPC) DM; broad band imaging in g, r, i, and z filters with two EMCCDs; simultaneous differential imaging in H-alpha; and integral field spectroscopy with the VIS-X module. Early science results include the discovery of an H-alpha jet, images of accreting protoplanets at H-alpha, images of young extrasolar giant planets in the optical, discovery of new white dwarf companions, resolved images of evolved stars, and high-contrast images of circumstellar disks in scattered light in g-band (500 nm). We have commenced an upgrade program, called "Phase II", to enable high-contrast observations at the smallest inner working angles possible. These upgrades include a new 952 actuator NCPC DM to enable coronagraphic wavefront control; phase induced amplitude apodization coronagraphs; new fast cameras for LOWFS and Lyot-LOWFS; and real-time computer upgrades. We will report the status of these upgrades and results of first on-sky testing in March-May 2024.
@article{arxiv.2407.13007,
title = {MagAO-X: Commissioning Results and Status of Ongoing Upgrades},
author = {Jared R. Males and Laird M. Close and Sebastiaan Y. Haffert and Maggie Y. Kautz and Jay Kueny and Joseph D. Long and Eden McEwen and Noah Swimmer and John I. Bailey and Warren Foster and Benjamin A. Mazin and Logan Pearce and Joshua Liberman and Katie Twitchell and Alycia J. Weinberger and Olivier Guyon and Alexander D. Hedglen and Avalon McLeod and Roz Roberts and Kyle Van Gorkom and Jialin Li and Isabella Doty and Victor Gasho},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.13007},
year = {2024}
}