Science Operations Announcements

Gemini South Back On Sky

January 25th, 2019

Gemini is happy to announce that Gemini South went back on sky the night of Jan 24, after the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the Southern operations area on Jan 19.
Gemini South Engineering Operations successfully adjusted the hydraulic bearing system, recovered the elevation encoder and delivered the telescope to resume operations.
The telescope behaved normally and science observations resumed even though the weather did not coopoerate with great conditions.

Earthquake in La Serena

January 21st, 2019

Saturday there was a 6.7 magnitude earthquake 15km from Coquimbo, Chile. Observing at Gemini South is cancelled until further notice. Initial inspection of the Gemini South telescope shows no critical issues and staff are going through checks to ensure all is working correctly before releasing for operations again. Any needed repair work will begin on Monday.

GN ODB offline Jan 9 - POSTPONED

January 7th, 2019

This work has been postponed. The Gemini North observing database should be accessible to all users.


The Gemini North observing database will be offline on Wednesday January 9 from approximately 10am - 2pm HST for hardware maintenance.

During this time the following services will be unavailable:

  • Phase I Tool guide star probability queries
  • Observing Tool synchronizations and file transfers (Gemini North programs only)
  • Observing Tool non-sidereal target queries (Gemini North programs only)

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