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 several current and proposed Gemini instruments.
Australian-built instruments in service at Gemini
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NIFS
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.
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GSAOI
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 was delayed until the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system with its powerful 50 W sodium laser was ready. On-sky commissioning of GSAOI began in early-2011, and a call for System Verification observations is expected early in 2012. 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.
GSAOI attached to the Cassegrain instrument cluster beneath the
primary mirror of the Gemini South telescope, in the centre of this
image. To its right the large blue box houses the Canopus optical
bench which does the actual image compensation using deformable
mirrors. The large silver container jutting out from the telescope
mount at far left contains the 50 W sodium laser whose beam is then
relayed by mirrors to a small launch telescope above the secondary
mirror, and 90 km up excites sodium atoms and creates 5 artifical
guide stars. Image credit: Stuart Ryder.
Future Australian-built instruments for Gemini
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WFMOS
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.
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GNOSIS
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 has allowed 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.
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GHOS
The AAO, in collaboration with RSAA and KiwiStar Optics in New Zealand has been awarded a Concept Design Study by the Gemini Observatory for the Gemini High-resolution Optical Spectrograph (GHOS). The AAO consortium is proposing a bench-mounted, fibre-fed design that capitalises on their experience with the CYCLOPS lenslet array and fibre feed for the UCLES instrument on the AAT, as well as development of the HERMES multi-object high-resolution spectrograph for the AAT, for which the optics are being supplied by KiwiStar. The Concept Design Study is due to be completed by mid-2012, and if selected as the winning design then commissioning of GHOS on Gemini South is anticipated in 2015.
Australian Gemini Office, ausgo -@- aao.gov.au
The Australian Gemini Office (AusGO) is operated by the Australian
Astronomical Observatory (