Contributions by Gemini staff
On the Horizon
Instrument development at Gemini continues. Users may have access
to GRACES as early as 2015B, proposals for the next facility instrument
are being evaluated, and the GHOST project successfully passed its
Preliminary Design Stage Review.
GRACES: Gemini User Access to High-resolution
Optical Spectroscopy Nears
After successful testing, Gemini and CFHT have now agreed on a way to offer GRACES (Gemini
Remote Access to CFHT ESPaDOnS Spectrograph) to Gemini users in regularly scheduled
blocks of time starting as early as 2015B. Meanwhile, some additional work will further im-
Figure 1.
Comparison of a onehour exposure on the
star Feige 66 observed
with GRACES (black),
Keck’s High Resolution
Echelle Spectrometer
(HIRES; red), and ESO’s
Ultraviolet and Visual
Echelle Spectrograph
(UVES; blue). All the
spectra are binned into
their resolution element
for fair comparisons.
Figure credits: AndréNicolas Chené, Scott
Dahm (Keck), and
Isabelle Percheron (ESO).
January 2015
GeminiFocus 15