Gemini North Network Service Interruption June 7
The Gemini North network will be offline Saturday, June 7 from 7:00AM - 6:00PM HST.
www.gemini.edu will continue to be available.
The following services will be unavailable:
- Astronomer Helpdesk
- Data Reduction Forum
- Blogs
- Wikis
Gemini’s New Optical Spectrograph Moves Ahead!
A key milestone for the Gemini High-resolution Optical Spectrograph (GHOS) is now complete with final approval of the post-conceptual-design contracts by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Gemini Board, and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).
Electrical Accident at Gemini North Closes Road, Injury Minor
When performing electrical troubleshooting at Gemini North telescope facility on Wednesday, February 26, one of our electrical specialists accidentally contacted a powered circuit and received an electrical shock. He was evacuated and evaluated at the nearest medical facility, and he has been released and advised that he could go back to work.
Gemini North Back On-sky: Dome Repairs Complete
After a very involved repair to a drive unit for the shutter of the Gemini North dome, Gemini North is back on the sky for regular science operations. See more at: www.gemini.edu/node/12160 .
Gemini North Dome Shutter Repair Shutdown UPDATE as of 2/7/14
The repairs to the shutter drive unit on the exterior of the Gemini North dome appear to be reaching the home stretch with a plan to reinstall the repaired drive unit on Monday, February 10th and be back on the sky on February 12th. As always, this is assuming the weather allows the work to progress as planned and no further complications occur.
Gemini North Unavailable Until January 24, 2014
The Gemini North enclosure (left) shown with the crane used for the recent installation of the service platform. This platform will be necessary to make repairs to the failed shutter bearing. Inset shows a closeup of the shutter bearing assembly with the skewed assembly (aqua, at bottom).
US Government Shutdown and Potential Impact on the Gemini Observatory
As the US government goes into its second week of shutdown, Gemini Observatory remains solvent with operational funds secure until at least the end of October. Beyond that timeframe we are actively pursuing, and are confident that we will identify, alternate methods to assure sufficient operational funding to continue all functions of the observatory until the government shutdown is resolved.