Scot Kleinman
with contributions by Bernadette Rodgers, Benoit Neichel, Rodrigo Carrasco, Andre-Nicolas Chene, Chad Trujillo,
Percy Gomez, Stephen Goodsell, Fredrik Rantakyro, Eric Tollestrup, Maxime Boccas, and Peter Michaud
Instrument Development:
2013 Review
2013 was an exceptional year for instrumentation at Gemini, with a suite
of new instruments and events at Gemini South, including the highly
successful Gemini South Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS)
combined with the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI), and the
arrival, integration, first light, and start of commissioning of the Gemini
Planet Imager (GPI). In parallel, we continue to look to the future in order
to develop the capabilities of both Gemini telescopes and support the
diverse needs of our user community.
Rapid progress in a host of new instrumentation initiatives at Gemini occurred throughout
2013. Most of these reached fruition at Gemini South, with the most tangible being queue
science with GeMS/GSAOI, FLAMINGOS-2, and first light for GPI.
At Gemini North, the fiber-fed, shared use of CFHT’s ESPaDOnS instrument through the
GRACES project points to a good collaborative effort that is trailblazing the astronomical use
of long fibers and furthering Gemini’s North’s exciting future on Mauna Kea.
The following brief summaries provide a taste of what the present and future holds for Gemini
instrumentation. Watch for further details in future issues of GeminiFocus and on the Gemini
website at: http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/future-instrumentation
FLAMINGOS-2: On Sky, Doing Science
“Gemini Observatory’s latest tool for astronomers, a second-generation infrared instrument
called FLAMINGOS-2 (F2), has ‘traveled a long road’ to begin science observations for the
Gemini scientific community.” So begins the August 2013 press release (www.gemini. edu/
node/12047), showcasing several spectacular F2 on-sky commissioning images and presenting an update on progress (FIgure 1). Since then, science observations have begun!
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GeminiFocus
January2014