JULY 2018
Figure 8.
Laser testing by Gemini
optical engineer Tom
Schneider conducted in
the Pier Lab “Laser Safe
Zone.”
Gemini North TOPTICA Upgrade
Moves Forward
On October 26, 2017, the TOPTICA Photo-
tronics AG laser had its first night of com-
missioning (and successful science runs)
at Gemini South. Since then, laser prepara-
tions and testing for the Gemini North laser
upgrade have been completed at the Level
1 Pier Lab. Following this accomplishment,
considerable work was performed to add
the optical bench, or beam injection mod-
ule, to the Gemini North Electronic System
TOPTICA (GNEST) — home to both the laser
head and optical bench; support electronics
have also been added and tested (Figures 8
and 9 on this page; Figure 10 on next).
On June 1st, the laser assembly was moved
from the Level 1 Pier Lab to Level 5; and
there it will remain as we continue to pre-
pare the telescope for this addition, as ad-
ditional components are required before
we can mount the laser on the telescope.
To date, we have removed the old LMCT la-
ser, restored the telescope to pre-laser con-
dition, and added our in-house designed
heat exchanger and laser interlock system.
The software group is also working hard to
develop the software interfaces that will be
used to run the new laser. We expect con-
tinued preparation on the telescope this
month and next.
SCORPIO: OCTOCAM’s
New Name
OCTOCAM, Gemini’s new workhorse imager
and spectrograph that will fulfill the needs
of a large number of research areas in the
January 2019 / 2018 Year in Review
Figure 9.
Gemini science
operations specialist
Christy Cunningham
assisting with
GNEST Assembly in
the Pier Lab.
Credit: Photos on
this page and next
by Jeff Donahue
2020s, has a new name: SCORPIO, which
stands for Spectrograph and Camera for Ob-
servations of Rapid Phenomena in the Infra-
red and Optical. In the words of project Prin-
cipal Investigator Massimo Robberto, “This
new name captures the capabilities of the
innovative and powerful future Instrument,
operating over a very broad wavelength
range from the visible to near-infrared light.”
The instrument also features both imaging
and spectroscopic capabilities, as well as
fast readout modes.
Scorpio is Latin for “scorpion,” a primar-
ily nocturnal invertebrate, which, like the
number of channels (wavelength windows)
available on the instrument, has eight legs.
Scorpio is also the eighth sign of the zodiac,
represented in the night sky by Scorpius the
GeminiFocus
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