|
|
|
|
Gemini e-Newscast December 2020
|
|
|
|
Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/D. Munizaga
|
|
|
Starting in mid-October 2020, science operations conducted with limited staff were re-established at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) in Arizona and at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), Gemini South, and SOAR facilities in Chile after their suspension on 18 March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, since mid-May 2020, the Gemini North telescope has conducted observations from Maunakea. For more details, read the full announcement here.
|
|
|
|
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Jen Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin
|
|
|
An international team of astronomers using Gemini North’s GNIRS instrument have discovered that CK Vulpeculae, first seen as a bright new star in 1670, is approximately five times farther away than previously thought. This makes the 1670 explosion of CK Vulpeculae much more energetic than past estimates and puts it into a mysterious class of objects that are too bright to be members of the well-understood type of explosions known as novae, but too faint to be supernovae. The team was led by Dipankar Banerjee of Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad, India, Tom Geballe of Gemini Observatory, and Nye Evans of Keele University in the United Kingdom. “The key to our discovery was the GNIRS measurements obtained at the outer edges of the nebula,” elaborated Geballe. “The signature of redshifted and blueshifted iron atoms detected there shows that the nebula is expanding much more rapidly than previous observations had suggested.” Read more here.
|
|
Gemini and NOIRLab @ AAS 237
|
|
Gemini will have a strong presence at the upcoming virtual AAS 237 meeting as one of the NOIRLab programs. A complete list of all Gemini activities can be found at www.gemini.edu/aas. Once again this year, Gemini will be offering personalized help to the AAS meeting participants. If you have Gemini data, an active observing program, or even just an idea of a project, you can book an appointment in advance by email to SUS_inquiries@gemini.edu.
With the exception of Thursday, 14 January 2021, there will be DRAGONS demonstrations everyday at 4:10pm EST at the NOIRLab virtual booth!
The Gemini Card Game is going virtual! Demonstrations and play sessions are planned regularly throughout the week. Experience the complex decisions required to run a world class observatory and the excitement of contributing to a team as you provide researchers with their precious data while expanding our knowledge of the Universe. Come take a break with us in our virtual booth! For more information on the game, visit www.gemini.edu/GCG.
|
|
Winter Virtual AAS 237 Meeting Event: Extragalactic Astronomy with Gemini Large and Long Programs
|
|
|
The US NGO (@usngo), in collaboration with Gemini Observatory, will host a Science Splinter Session at the 237th AAS Meeting on extragalactic astronomy with the Gemini Large and Long programs (LLPs). The Session is scheduled for Wednesday, 13 January 2021 from 12:00-1:30 pm EST. Students are welcome as well as all interested present and future Gemini users. The event will showcase mature and productive Gemini LLP programs in the science area of extragalactic astronomy. Additional talks will focus on instruments and data platforms that are important for future Gemini LLPs.
|
|
December Fast Turnaround Call for Both Gemini North and South
|
|
|
Both Gemini North and South continue to accept Fast Turnaround (FT) proposals! The next deadline is at 23:59 Hawai‘i Standard Time on 31 December 2020. Successful proposals from this cycle will stay active in the Queue from February 2021 until April 2021. Please check the telescope schedule for Gemini North and South later this month for the 2021A semester. The FT program has been used to conduct pilot studies, complete the observations for existing data sets, follow up newly discovered objects, and much more. Proposing teams are notified of the decisions typically within a few weeks of the deadline, and data for successful programs can be obtained as early as a week or two after that. For more details, please check the FT Call for Proposals page here: http://www.gemini.edu/observing/phase-i/ft/ft-cfp. More updates will be provided on the FT News page.
|
|
Large and Long Program Call for Letters of Intent
|
|
The Call for Letters of Intent to propose for 2021 Gemini Large and Long Programs has been announced on the Gemini web pages:
https://www.gemini.edu/news/science-operations-announcements/2021-llp-call-proposals
PIs from the participating partners (US and Canada) are invited to submit letters of intent by 8 February 2021. Full proposals are due in April. Please note that this call is for poor seeing, Band 2 LLPs only due to earlier, continuing commitments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
