July 2016
2016 . We expect to install the laser on the Gemini South telescope in mid-2017 and start on-sky commissioning . Meanwhile , we ’ re preparing the telescope for the new laser ’ s mounting and cooling systems and negotiating the contract to purchase a similar laser for Gemini North . The timeline is less certain , but we would expect to have the laser on-sky sometime in 2018 .
Coming Soon : Gemini Instrument Upgrade Projects — Request for Proposals
Gemini Observatory is planning to invite the community to participate in the 2016 Request for Proposals ( RfP ) for Instrument Upgrades . This initiative aims to establish annual proposal calls for science-driven upgrades to Gemini ’ s facility instruments , including projects that may rely upon in-kind contributions or telescope time as compensation . This year , Gemini will provide a total budget of 600,000 USD to fund one or more projects . The available budget was developed to fund one small (~ 100,000 USD ) and one medium (~ 500,000 USD ) upgrades , but we are open to the distribution of funds from 0 to the 600,000 USD total available budget .
To encourage a wide variety of participant organizations in this opportunity , Gemini will provide up to one night ( 10 hours ) of observing time per project to be used on demonstrating the scientific potential of the upgraded instrument . The RfP will be released by or in October 2016 and will remain open through the end of the year . Further information and updates can be found here .
January 2017 | 2016 Year in Review
In the 2015 RfP , the total budget was 100,000 USD and the award went to Casey Papovich and his team from Texas A & M University and astronomers from the University of Toronto , Swinburne University of Technology , Leiden University , and Macquaire University . The project will upgrade the near-infrared wide-field imager and multi-object spectrometer FLA- MINGOS-2 ( F-2 ) with two medium-band filters designed to split the 1.9-2.5 micron spectral range for sensitive imaging surveys of very red objects .
After the start of the project , the team completed the design of the filters and finished the specifications in collaboration with Gemini ’ s F-2 team . A TAMU subcontract is now making filters and planning the quality check tests the team will execute in both the laboratory and the Gemini telescope . The aim is to make this new capability available to the community in the second quarter of 2017 , enabling a wide range of potential science from detecting young stellar object candidates in deeply obscured starforming regions , to deep K-band imaging to study the demography of high-redshift massive galaxies .
July 2016
GMOS CCD Update
The GMOS-N CCD upgrade project encountered some technical delays and is now back on track for installation later this year . The reason is because the latest Astronomical Research Camera ( ARC ) controllers ( which are different from those in GMOS-S ) created unexpected technical issues , such as high read-out noise ( RON ).
GeminiFocus
Figure 12 ( left ). Bias image with the new GMOS-N focal plane array while adjusting the vertical clock voltages to optimize the full well .
Figure 13 ( right ). Sum of 10 acquisitions from GMOS-S to reveal the very low level pattern .
51