Figure 7 . Members of the ‘ Alopeke team work with Gemini engineers on Maunakea . Photo credit : Joy Pollard
Figure 8 . This image shows some steps in the process of Speckle Image reconstruction using Fourier transform techniques . Left : A single 50 millisecond speckle image of a star . Middle : a conventional image typical of a groundbased telescope . Right : A reconstructed image revealing the star is really a close binary pair . The boxes are
~ 1 arcsecond on a side . Video credit : Elliott Horch
Figure 9 . Artist ’ s impression of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanetary system showing three Earthsized planets in orbit around the low-mass star . Observations characterizing this system were made using DSSI on Gemini South last year .
Credit : Robert Hurt / JPL / Caltech
Electron Multiplying CCD cameras , and both speckle and wide-field imaging capabilities with standard Sloan Digital Sky Survey filters . One of the unique features of DSSI is its robust and compact design , and ‘ Alopeke will take full advantage of this .
‘ Alopeke will be permanently mounted on Gemini North in a location that does not interfere with the standard instrument ports — so users can operate it in visitor mode ( when time is allocated through the Time Allocation Committee ) without the additional overhead of mounting and then removing the instrument . This innovative placement will permit us to offer ‘ Alopeke at each Call for Proposals . It will be remotely operable
from the Hilo Base Facility . The instrument team will make the observations and provide their standard pipeline-reduced data products to Principal Investigators . We will make the data available ( after the standard proprietary period ) via the Gemini Science Archive ( in a reduced-effort mode ).
In addition to other types of science , speckle observations are viewed as a critical part of the exoplanet validation process , providing essentially the only method to validate small , rocky planets . ‘ Alopeke will be ideal for characterizing a system of low mass planets , such as that orbiting the late M-type star , TRAPPIST-1 . Previous observations of that star , which is only about 8 % the mass of our Sun , showed variations in the flux which suggested the presence of several Earth-sized planets . The situation could be much more complicated than that , however , if TRAPPIST-1 were part of a binary or multiple star system . The resolution afforded by DSSI on Gemini South allowed astronomers to see closer to TRAPPIST-1 than the orbit of Mercury to the Sun , and effectively ruled out the existence of any stellar or substellar companion .
We expect ‘ Alopeke to have even better performance than DSSI . It will be mounted on the Gemini North telescope permanently and will be available for continued observations of this sort in the future .
— Alison Peck and Steve B . Howell
18 GeminiFocus July 2017
from the Hilo Base Facility. The instrument
team will make the observations and pro-
vide their standard pipeline-reduced data
products to Principal Investigators. We will
make the data available (after the standard
proprietary period) via the Gemini Science
Archive (in a reduced-effort mode).
Figure 7.
Members of the ‘Alopeke
team work with Gemini
engineers on Maunakea.
Photo credit: Joy Pollard
Figure 8.
This image shows some
steps in the process
of Speckle Image
reconstruction using
Fourier transform
techniques. Left: A single
50 millisecond speckle
image of a star. Middle:
a conventional image
typical of a ground-
based telescope. Right: A
reconstructed image
revealing the star is
really a close binary
pair. The boxes are
~ 1 arcsecond on a side.
Video credit:
Elliott Horch
Electron Multiplying CCD cameras, and both
speckle and wide-field imaging capabili-
ties with standard Sloan Digital Sky Survey
filters. One of the unique features of DSSI is
its robust and compact design, and ‘Alopeke
will take full advantage of this.
‘Alopeke will be permanently mounted on
Gemini North in a location that does not in-
terfere with the standard instrument ports
— so users can operate it in visitor mode
(when time is allocated through the Time Al-
location Committee) without the additional
overhead of mounting and then removing
the instrument. This innovative placement
will permit us to offer ‘Alopeke at each Call
for Proposals. It will be remotely operable
In addition to other types of science, speck-
le observations are viewed as a critical
part of the exoplanet validation process,
providing essentially the only method to
validate small, rocky planets. ‘Alopeke will
be ideal for characterizing a system of low
mass planets, such as that orbiting the late
M-type star, TRAPPIST-1. Previous observa-
tions of that star, which is only about 8% the
mass of our Sun, showed variations in the
flux which suggested the presence of sev-
eral Earth-sized planets. The situation could
be much more complicated than that, how-
ever, if TRAPPIST-1 were part of a binary or
multiple star system. The reso WFff&BЦVB'E54vV֖6WFvVB7G&ЦW'2F6VR66W"FE$5BFFP&&BbW&7W'FFR7VBVffV7FfVǐ'VVBWBFRW7FV6Rb7FV""7V"Ч7FV"6vRWV7B( VRFfRWfV&WGFW"W"Цf&6RFE54@v&RVFVBFPvV֖'FFVW66PW&VFǒBv&Pf&Rf"6F[email protected]'6W'fF2bF26'@FRgWGW&RfwW&R'F7N( 2&W76bFRE$5BWWF'77FVЧ6vrF&VRV'FЧ6VBWG2&&@&VBFRr707F"'6W'fF06&7FW&rF077FVvW&RFPW6rE54vV֖搥6WF7BV"7&VFC&&W'BW'B6FV6( BƗ6V6B7FWfR"vVf"&Rf&FFRvV֖搥f6Fr7G'VVB&w&v@6&ƗFW2FWV7B6֖r6VW7FW'2"rR6'&rW"7G'VVBFvV֖VâvV֖fvV֖VGPvV֖f7W0Vǒ#p