SCORPIO : OCTOCAM ’ s New Name
OCTOCAM , Gemini ’ s new workhorse imager and spectrograph , that will fulfill the needs of a large number of research areas in the 2020s , has a new name : SCORPIO , which stands for Spectrograph and Camera for Observations of Rapid Phenomena in the Infrared and Optical . In the words of project Principal Investigator Massimo Robberto , “ This new name captures the capabilities of the innovative and powerful future Instrument , operating over a very broad wavelength range from the visible to near-infrared light .” The instrument also features both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities , as well as fast readout modes .
July 2018
Scorpio is Latin for “ scorpion ,” a primarily nocturnal invertebrate , which , like the number of channels ( wavelength windows ) available on the instrument , has eight legs . Scorpio is also the eighth sign of the zodiac , represented in the night sky by Scorpius the Scorpion — a constellation that , in the winter , passes overhead at the Gemini South telescope facility where it will be used .
This name change coincides with the instrument ’ s development moving into its Critical Design stage in May of this year . The project remains both on budget and on schedule ; it is slated for commissioning in 2022 .
What ’ s New with Visiting Instruments ?
IGRINS , a visiting cross-dispersed immersion grating near-infrared spectrometer provided by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute ( KASI ) and University of Texas Austin ( UT Austin ) has proven extremely popular . This powerful and unique instrument , which can obtain both broad spectral coverage ( from 1.45 to 2.5 microns in a single exposure ) and high spectral resolu-
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Figure 3 . Visiting instrument team members at Gemini . Clockwise from top left .
Brian Chinn ( Gemini ), Lindsey Magill ( Gemini ; in background ), and Mark Everett ( NOAO ) observe with DSSI at Gemini South .
Rachel Matson ( NASA ) installs ‘ Alopeke at Gemini North .
From left to right : Jae-Joon Lee ( KASI ), Heeyoung Oh ( UT Austin ), Pablo Prado ( Gemini ), Hwihyun Kim ( Gemini ), Pablo Candia ( Gemini ), and Kimberly Sokal ( UT Austin ), get first light with IGRINS at the Gemini South Base Facility .
Heeyoung Oh ( UT Austin ; at left ) and Greg Mace ( UT Austin ), perform connectivity tests with IGRINS at Gemini South .
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