GeminiFocus July, 2015 | Page 18

Contributions by Gemini staff On the Horizon As Gemini Observatory’s remote access to the Canada-FranceHawai’i Telescope’s high-resolution spectrograph (ESPaDOnS) nears scheduled operations, four independent instrument feasibility studies — to help Gemini determine the requirements for its next new generation instrument after GHOST — are approaching the deadline for final drafts of their study reports; summaries of each instrument study are provided here. GRACES: Gearing Up for Operations The Gemini Remote Access to CFHT’s ESPaDOnS Spectrograph (GRACES) is ready for its first scheduled observing runs in 2015B. In the past quarter, the team made several improvements that make GRACES both more efficient and easier to operate. To improve ef- July 2015 GeminiFocus Figure 1. Comparison of the GRACES sensitivity as measured for the 2-fiber spectroscopic mode in May 2014 (dashed line) and in June 2015 (solid line). The sensitivity is defined as the magnitude of an object that would provide a signal-to-noise ratio of 1 after an hour of integration time. This figure illustrates GRACES performances improvements in the red part of the spectrum. 16