January 20, 2012 - msnbc.com
Stars viewed by an observatory in South America have just lost their twinkle. Images from this ground-based telescope are brighter and clearer than ever before, thanks to a new instrument on the Gemini South observatory that reduces the blurring, or twinkle, caused by Earth's atmosphere.
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Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Telescope Gets New Gear to Bring Stars Into Focus
January 19, 2012 - Space.com
Stars viewed by an observatory in South America have just lost their twinkle. Images from this ground-based telescope are brighter and clearer than ever before, thanks to a new instrument on the Gemini South observatory that reduces the blurring, or twinkle, caused by Earth's atmosphere.
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Stars viewed by an observatory in South America have just lost their twinkle. Images from this ground-based telescope are brighter and clearer than ever before, thanks to a new instrument on the Gemini South observatory that reduces the blurring, or twinkle, caused by Earth's atmosphere.
...
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Gemini Adaptive Optics System Revolutionizes Astrophotography
January 9, 2012 - Universe Today
When it comes to astrophotography, most of us would think that space-based telescopes like the Hubble are the epitome of imagining. However, there’s something new to be said about being “grounded”. On December 16, 2011, the Gemini South telescope in Chile revealed its first wide-field, ultra-sharp image… the product of a decade of hard work. By employing a new generation of adaptive optics (AO), the scope produced an incredible look into the densely concentrated globular cluster, NGC 288, and captured stars at close to the theoretical resolution limit of Gemini’s massive 8-meter mirror.
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Gemini Observatory's revolutionary instrument propels astronomical imaging to new extremes
January 6, 2012 - Astronomy.com
On December 16, 2011, a decade of hard work culminated at the Gemini South telescope in Chile when a next-generation adaptive optics (AO) system produced its first ultra-sharp wide-field image. The first target image showed a portion of a dense cluster of stars called NGC 288. This first-light image reveals details at nearly the theoretical limit of Gemini’s 8-meter mirror over an unprecedented large patch of the night sky.
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On December 16, 2011, a decade of hard work culminated at the Gemini South telescope in Chile when a next-generation adaptive optics (AO) system produced its first ultra-sharp wide-field image. The first target image showed a portion of a dense cluster of stars called NGC 288. This first-light image reveals details at nearly the theoretical limit of Gemini’s 8-meter mirror over an unprecedented large patch of the night sky.
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Gemini’s twin telescopes reboot
January 18, 2012 - Nature
The Gemini Observatory’s star has been slow to rise. The publicly funded observatory boasts two of the world’s largest telescopes, and offers a rare opportunity to watch both the northern and southern skies from sites in Hawaii and in Chile. Yet it has lagged in terms of scientific productivity since it opened in 2000, and millions of dollars have been spent on overambitious, highly specialized instruments that were ultimately cancelled. “It felt like a child who had gone astray,” says Frederic Chaffee, who witnessed Gemini’s struggles while director of the rival Keck Observatory on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea. “It was frustrating to watch.”
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The Gemini Observatory’s star has been slow to rise. The publicly funded observatory boasts two of the world’s largest telescopes, and offers a rare opportunity to watch both the northern and southern skies from sites in Hawaii and in Chile. Yet it has lagged in terms of scientific productivity since it opened in 2000, and millions of dollars have been spent on overambitious, highly specialized instruments that were ultimately cancelled. “It felt like a child who had gone astray,” says Frederic Chaffee, who witnessed Gemini’s struggles while director of the rival Keck Observatory on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea. “It was frustrating to watch.”
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Monday, January 9, 2012
La nuova era dell’ottica adattiva
January 9, 2012 - Media.INAF (Italy)
Per l’ ottica adattiva si apre un nuovo capitolo. Meno di un mese fa, dopo un decennio di intensi lavori, sono infatti iniziate al Gemini South Telescope in Cile le prime osservazioni ufficiali con un nuovo sistema, denominato Gemini Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS), capace di ampliare notevolmente risoluzione e campo di vista delle immagini ottenute con questa tecnica. I primi test erano cominciati all’inizio dell’anno scorso, e ora ecco arrivare i risultati sperati, come si vede dall’immagine a lato, nella quale l’ammasso globulare NGC 288 rivela dettagli prima non visibili da terra.
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Per l’ ottica adattiva si apre un nuovo capitolo. Meno di un mese fa, dopo un decennio di intensi lavori, sono infatti iniziate al Gemini South Telescope in Cile le prime osservazioni ufficiali con un nuovo sistema, denominato Gemini Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS), capace di ampliare notevolmente risoluzione e campo di vista delle immagini ottenute con questa tecnica. I primi test erano cominciati all’inizio dell’anno scorso, e ora ecco arrivare i risultati sperati, come si vede dall’immagine a lato, nella quale l’ammasso globulare NGC 288 rivela dettagli prima non visibili da terra.
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Our Picks of Best Space and Astronomy Images from 2011
December 28, 2011 - Universe Today
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A gorgeous new look at the “Southern Cliff” in the Lagoon Nebula from the Gemini South Observatory.
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Are We Trading Away the Education of Future Astronomers?
December 23, 2011 - ScienceBlogs
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Right now, there are a number of ground-based astronomy projects currently underway that are doing some truly amazing things. The image above, of the distant cluster Abell 3827, was taken by the ground-based Gemini Observatory, where it was discovered that this galactic giant has the mass of 30 trillion Suns, making it the largest galaxy in our local Universe (i.e., within 1.5 billion light-years).
The twin Gemini Observatories -- one in Hawaii, above, and the other in Chile -- are two of the largest, most advanced astronomical facilities in the world. Getting observing time on Gemini, as you can well imagine, is extraordinarily competitive, as there's competition not just among extragalactic astronomers, but among those who study stars and nebulae within our own galaxy. With the Gemini telescope and its adaptive optics technology, incredible detail of young stars within a spectacular nebula -- like the Orion Nebula -- can be imaged like never before.
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Right now, there are a number of ground-based astronomy projects currently underway that are doing some truly amazing things. The image above, of the distant cluster Abell 3827, was taken by the ground-based Gemini Observatory, where it was discovered that this galactic giant has the mass of 30 trillion Suns, making it the largest galaxy in our local Universe (i.e., within 1.5 billion light-years).
The twin Gemini Observatories -- one in Hawaii, above, and the other in Chile -- are two of the largest, most advanced astronomical facilities in the world. Getting observing time on Gemini, as you can well imagine, is extraordinarily competitive, as there's competition not just among extragalactic astronomers, but among those who study stars and nebulae within our own galaxy. With the Gemini telescope and its adaptive optics technology, incredible detail of young stars within a spectacular nebula -- like the Orion Nebula -- can be imaged like never before.
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Gemini Observatory's Revolutionary Instrument Propels Astronomical Imaging to New Extremes
January 5, 2012 - SpaceRef
On December 16, 2011, a decade of hard work culminated at the Gemini South telescope in Chile, when a next-generation adaptive optics (AO) system produced its first ultra-sharp wide field image. The first target image showed a portion of a dense cluster of stars called NGC 288. This first light image reveals details at nearly the theoretical limit of Gemini's large 8-meter mirror over an unprecedented large patch of the night sky.
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