The Gemini South day crew is working tirelessly to get the telescope back on sky, after the intense 6.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the area of La Serena, Chile on Saturday night, January 19th.
Most major systems have checked out, and the hydraulic bearing system is currently being assessed with a goal of being back on sky by the end of this week.
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.
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:
The US Government is facing a potential shutdown on December 21st. Gemini is well-prepared for this possibility despite our primary funding from the National Science Foundation. Regardless of the outcome, Gemini Observatory will operate as normal.
The Gemini 2019A observing programs have now been announced. Notification emails to successful PIs were sent today, December 21 2018. Please check the schedules page for more information. Note that the new Observing Tool must be used to access and update 19A programs.
GMMPS 1.5.1 was released on December 19, 2018 with bug fixes and installation improvements. Mask designs are compatible with v1.4.5. Changes since v1.4.5 are:
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.
The 2019A Gemini Observing Tool is now available for download. This update is required to access the Gemini Observing Databases.
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:
The new 2019A Observing Tool should be available on Wednesday, December 12 and will be required to access the observing databases.
We are pleased to inform you that Gemini North now again accepts Fast Turnaround proposals utilizing the laser.
The newest version of the PIT (released today) is necessary for the proposals.
At this point in time the Gemini South Laser is not available through Fast Turnaround