Gemini Short Surveys
Gemini staff would like to thank all of our
user communities for the 694 replies to the
Phase I, Phase II, End of Semester, and Phase
III surveys over the year 2019. Such a massive
response rate is invaluable to ensure we give
useful support and deliver good quality data.
Every response is compiled and all com-
ments read and reported, in an anonymous
form, to all the Gemini staff. The most recur-
rent problems are identified and escalated
to make sure they are addressed as soon as
possible. For example:
1. Many people report that they are strongly
irritated by the “Observations” and “Band
3” sections in PIT (more precisely, the
way targets are entered, and requested
time is defined). We took note of those
comments, and used them to define the
requirements for the new software tool
that will handle Gemini proposals. Known
as the new OCS Upgrades Program, this
tool is expected to be completed in 2023.
On the other hand, a certain number of
problems met by the proposers can be
avoided by following this tutorial.
2. A significant fraction of PIs who need fur-
ther work on Phase IIs report that defining
the observing sequences is too complex
and often confusing. The biggest issues
happen when an important modifica-
tion needs to be made, like changing the
choice of grating or the observing mode.
Once again we will use these comments
to determine how the future Phase II soft-
ware will work. Meanwhile, we strongly
recommend PIs contact their contact sci-
entist (you can find their email in the Ob-
serving Tool) or to send a helpdesk ticket.
3. We look for systematic complaints from
PIs of programs using a given instrument
or in a certain Band. This information
helps greatly to determine the semester’s
schedule efficiently, make decisions on
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GeminiFocus
the number of future allocated programs,
and manage blocks of scheduled instru-
ments (such as GPI, GRACES, or GSAOI).
We are very pleased by the high satisfaction
rate we are getting from the majority of our
users, and by the warm comments of appre-
ciation on the quality of our support work.
This motivates us to continue to find creative
ways to improve our work, and collaborate
with the researchers that depend on Gemini
for their science. We hope to continue to sat-
isfy the scientific needs of the researchers of
the Gemini community, and to fix the issues
that are an obstacle to our common success.
Registration Open for 2020
Gemini Science Meeting in
Seoul
Registration is now open for the Gemini Ob-
servatory 20th Anniversary Science Meeting,
to be held in Seoul, Korea, June 21-25, 2020.
Early registration at a discounted rate is avail-
able until February 28th. See the meeting
website to register and submit your abstract!
OCTOBER 2019
Maunakea Access and Gemini
North Shutdown
On July 15th, protesters blocked the Mau-
nakea Access Road in an effort to prevent
Thirty Meter Telescope construction equip-
ment from moving to the Maunakea Astron-
omy Precinct. This action quickly precipitat-
ed a protracted stoppage of all observing
atop Maunakea, as observatories assessed
the safety and reliability of access to the
summit. By August 12th, we had received as-
surances of support from Law Enforcement
and statements from the protestors of their
intent to allow access for staff of the exist-
ing observatories. Combined with some im-
January 2020 / 2019 Year in Review