Telescopes collect light from objects far out in space, and bring it to a focus. This light must then be analysed by sophisticated instruments. Australia is a world leader in designing and building astronomical instrumentation, and we are currently involved in three Gemini instruments.
Australian-built instruments in service at Gemini
- The Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) was built by the Research School of Astronomy and
Astrophysics at the Australian National University in conjunction
with Auspace Ltd. NIFS was
commissioned on the Gemini North telescope in Oct/Nov of 2005, and has
been available to the community since Semester 2006B. NIFS enables
three-dimensional imaging spectroscopy at a resolution ~5000 from 0.95
to 2.4 microns by slicing up a 3" x 3" field of view into 0.1" pixels,
and can be used with the adaptive optics system ALTAIR in
both natural and laser guide star modes.
NIFS attached to the Cassegrain instrument cluster beneath the
primary mirror of the Gemini North telescope. The gold hexagonal
structure is the cryostat that keeps the NIFS instument cold to make
it more sensitive to infrared (heat) radiation from space. The blue
boxes contain the control electronics. Image credit: RSAA.
- The Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) was also built by the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University. GSAOI was shipped to Gemini South in Oct 2006, but commissioning has been delayed until the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system is ready, sometime in 2010. GSAOI is a 16 million pixel infrared camera which can image a patch of sky 80" in diameter, after distortions introduced by the atmosphere are corrected by the MCAO system using three natural guide stars and five artificial laser guide stars.
Future Australian-built instruments for Gemini
In June 2003, representatives from all the Gemini partner nations convened in Aspen, Colorado to define the observations and capabilities that would be required to answer the most fundamental questions in astronomy in the subsequent decade. Australia presented its own set of key science drivers at the Aspen meeting, most of which were ultimately incorporated in the final Aspen report, entitled Scientific Horizons at the Gemini Observatory: Exploring a Universe of Matter, Energy and Life.
The Gemini Science Committee and Board subsequently ranked an optical Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph as one of the highest priorities for meeting the goals of the Aspen report. A consortium led by the Australian Astronomical Observatory carried out a Conceptual Design Study for WFMOS in 2008/09, to be mounted on the Japanese Subaru 8.2m telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Unfortunately the Gemini Board was forced to cancel the WFMOS project in May 2009 due to a funding shortfall.
The AAO, in collaboration with Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn at the University of Sydney, is also investigating an OH-suppressing fibre feed called "GNOSIS" for the refurbished GNIRS near-infrared spectrograph on Gemini North. An ARC LIEF grant in 2009 will allow an H-band prototype to be installed on the IRIS2 instrument on the AAT, with the eventual goal of OH-suppression across the entire J+H bands with GNOSIS on GNIRS.
Australian Gemini Office, ausgo -@- aao.gov.au
The Australian Gemini Office (AusGO) is operated by the
Australian Astronomical Observatory (