Instrumentation Development Updates
With so much attention given to System Verification of GeMS during the past
quarter (see article starting on page 14) other milestones deserve attention.
Learn about the significant progress with FLAMINGOS-2, the Gemini Planet
Imager, and GRACES, which illustrate the excitement ahead as our instruments
provide the tools our users have requested and need.
FLAMINGOS-2
FLAMINGOS-2 (F2) moved another step
closer to its final round of commissioning
observations when it was moved from the
Gemini South summit instrument lab onto
port 5 of the Instrument Support Structure
(ISS) on June 11, 2013. F2 is slated to begin
obtaining data in “shared-risk” mode in August of this year. For the past month-and-ahalf, F2 underwent work on the summit of
Cerro Pachón to address repeatability problems with the multi-object spectroscopy
wheel mechanism. This and other systems
checked out successfully, leading to the installation of F2 on the telescope as seen in
the accompanying image (Figure 1).
As this issue goes to press, we have nearly
completed the late June commissioning
run with success in testing imaging (see
Figure 2) and low-resolution, long-slit spectroscopy. In addition, we plan to complete
the fine-tuning of the F2 on-instrument
Figure 1:
Senior Mechanical
Group Leader Gabriel
Perez (left), and Optical
Technician Claudio
Araya (right) on the
Instrument Platform
Lift, installing F2.
July2013
GeminiFocus
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