I have gathered my first set of data and created a few plots.  The first plot that I experimented with is the output flux (in electron) and the input line flux (in ergs/sec/cm^2):

The next plot is detected x-value versus input x-value:

The following plot is detected y-value versus input y-value, notice that this one is very similar to the previous plot because the detection parameters for both the x and y values are the same in the detection algorithm:

This final plot is detected z (redshift) versus input z:

Notice that this final plot has a much thinner line than the previous two.  This is due to the fact we only accept an x or y value that is within plus or minus 0.25 arcseconds, and we only accept redshift (z) values that are within plus or minus 0.01 arcseconds.  More plots should come up in the following week with more intuitive and helpful data.

We were able to find the bug and the reason for the bus errors.  In our python file that distributes random sources to our frame, we discovered a breakdown in the if statement that would cause bus failures and further problems.

We fixed this issue: the bitwise '&' operator in python versus the boolean 'and' operator.  This is a small fix, but a necessary one that helps with fresh eyes to our code.

On Thursday and Friday of this week, Dustin and I ran some tests to make sure we weren't getting any more bus errors on Maverick and tried to make sure that we weren't having any code issues with the cure repository.  Further results to be found next week.

We had our first meeting as a whole group today.  Over the course of a couple of weeks, Dustin has been able to debug the makerand_z_flux.py file, so we are no longer getting bus errors on Maverick.  I have been helping him test the scripts and make sure they run to completion without the issue of running into our memory usage limits.  This is a step to start generating plots and analyzing the data we find in the blank images that we create.

If you want to know more background of the HETDEX project, just click on the hyperlinked text.  This will give you a more detailed outline of the conceptual tasks at hand for the project and will ease you into astrophysics better that I can describe.

After my first week in training, I have really enjoyed being in Austin.  The research I will be conducting will be with Dr. Karl Gebhardt, Emily McClinden, and Dustin Davis in the Astrophysics department.  We will be primarily testing the robustness of the detection algorithm for the HETDEX unit and we will be creating plots based on the data we find in order to determine the best parameters we need to use to maximize detection of the point sources we provide to the data frame.

The main goal of this project is to test theories regarding dark energy, the force that drives our universe to expand faster and faster as it ages.  By observing this data, we can determine which theories on dark energy can be thrown out and which ones can be seen as plausible.  Our task is to narrow down these theories and gain a better understanding of this force which dominates our universe.

Austin is a beautiful city and we had the pleasure of visiting the state capital today!