GeminiFocus April 2015 | Page 17

Contributions by Gemini staff News for Users Get your proposals ready for 2015B as well as ideas for the return of the visiting instrument DSSI (Differential Speckle Survey Instrument) late in Semester 2015B. In addition, the first observations by Korean Principal Investigators with Korea as a limited-term partner have begun, and finally, the Gemini IRAF package will make data reduction easier on several fronts. Semester 2015B Call for Proposals Released The Call for Proposals for 2015B is out, and we welcome proposals from our user community (see link). Besides the standard facility instrument offerings, this call draws attention to the following new and notable capabilities and announcements: • GRACES, the Gemini Remote Access to the CFHT ESPaDOnS Spectrograph (via a fiber feed from Gemini North) will be offered for optical spectroscopy between 400 and 1000 nanometers, with an average resolution of R = ~67,500. This is in a visiting, block-scheduled mode. • The non-redundant mask for the Gemini Planet Imager, is planned to be commissioned and characterized in 2015A, and offered for common use in 2015B. • New Large and Long program proposals will be accepted for observations beginning in 2015B. • The visiting Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) will be available late in Semester 2015B (see details later in this article). • The “Bring One, Get One” program will continue in 2015B. Gemini will subsidize up to US $2000 for the travel expenses of individual undergraduate or graduate students and other early-career observers, when accompanying a senior observer to Gemini North or South. Please see the relevant instrument pages and subsections of the Call for Proposals page linked above for more details. Speckle Imaging Available Late in Semester 2015B! The visiting Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) has become a fixture at Gemini in the middle of each of the previous two years. The instrument, which provides diffraction- April 2015 GeminiFocus 15