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
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