Science Operations Announcements

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)

Announcement of Opportunity for new Large and Long Programs

December 14th, 2018

Gemini Observatory announces an opportunity for New Large and Long Programs.  Eligible PIs are invited to propose scientific investigations to begin observation in 2019B semester. Letters of Intent are required to be submitted no later than February 4, 2019 with complete proposals due April 1, 2019.  Details on large programs, the proposal process, and specifics on the 2019 call for proposals are available on the Large and Long Program webpages

Observing databases offline Dec 11

December 7th, 2018

The Gemini observing databases will be offline for several hours on Tuesday, December 11 while we perform software updates.

During this time the following services will be unavailable:

  • Observing Tool synchronizations, file transfers, and non-sidereal target queries
  • Phase I Tool guide star probability queries

The new 2019A Observing Tool should be available on Wednesday, December 12 and will be required to access the observing databases.

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