Markus Kissler-Patig
Director’s Message
Welcome to Gemini!
My first 100 days as director have elapsed in no time. In these last months of 2012, the Observatory is even busier than usual as we prepare to enter a new era. Indeed, the partnership with
the United Kingdom officially ended in December, and the next couple of years will serve to
transition into a new partnership with the U.S. (now a 65 percent partner), Canada (19 percent),
Brazil (7 percent), Australia (6 percent) and Argentina (3 percent), in addition to our hosts Chile
and Hawai‘i.
Some of the changes foreseen over the next couple of years will directly affect our users. With a
reduced budget, the Observatory simply won’t be able to deliver the same services that we have
in the past. However, some of the planned changes are very likely to enhance the Observatory’s
scientific productivity by opening some new opportunities for users.
Indeed, we’ve already asked some queue observers to participate in our new “eavesdropping”
program: When opting in, the nighttime observer at the telescope contacts the user while his
or her observations are being conducted. With the help of a Skype® connection and a link to the
archive, users can then assist in their queue observations, provide advice during the acquisition
phase, and give immediate feedback on the acquired data.
Eavesdropping, together with the initiative to move nighttime operations to our base facilities
(see also GeminiFocus, June 2011, page 4) constituted the pillars for implementing fully remote
operations that will become available to users by the end of the transition phase in 2015. By then,
users will be able to conduct classical observations from remote locations in their home countries.
Visiting Instrument Program
Another aspect of the new operation scheme is the revival of a vigorous visiting instrument program. As the number of facility-class instruments stabilizes at Gemini, the goal of the Observatory
December2012
GeminiFocus
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