As obvious by the cover image of this issue
of GeminiFocus, the weather for the eclipse
was picture-perfect!
Strategic Science Plans
In May, Gemini North welcomed its own set of
VIPs at the Gemini Board and Science & Tech-
nology Advisory Committee (STAC) meetings,
led by new Board Chair Todd Boroson of Las
Cumbres Observatory and new STAC Chair
Elliot Horsch of Southern Connecticut State
University. During that week, the Gemini gov-
ernance endorsed the Strategic Scientific Plan
for Gemini Observatory. This ~30 page plan (led
by Gemini Chief Scientist John Blakeslee) ex-
pands upon the Beyond 2021: A Strategic Vision
for Gemini Observatory document approved
by the Gemini Board in May 2017. The plan
lays out the path for Gemini’s scientific devel-
opment through the 2020s to ensure Gemini
“best serves its international user community
by remaining at the forefront of astronomical
research throughout the coming decade.”
With the advent of exciting new facilities —
such as the LSST, James Webb Space Telescope,
Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, and the
extremely large telescopes, as well as contin-
ued observations from Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory and Atacama
Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array — Gem-
ini Observatory must carefully set priorities to
maximize our ability to explore the new dis-
coveries to come.
The plan maps out three broad areas for Gem-
ini future scientific activities: (1) preservation
of Gemini’s current facilities and strengths;
(2) development of instrumentation and soft-
ware systems to enable new capabilities that
build on those strengths; and (3) strategic in-
vestment in visiting instrumentation.
The first Strategic Scientific Plan objective
states Gemini’s continued commitment to
providing a diverse set of proposal opportu-
2
GeminiFocus
nities, observing modes, and instrumental
capabilities to our diverse international user
community. In particular, we envision science
programs, led by individual Principal Inves-
tigators (PIs) and awarded through the peer-
review process, that continue to determine
Gemini’s observational program. This peer-
review process will guide the time allocated to
transient and non-transient science programs.
Additionally, we recognize that the Gemini Ob-
servatory telescopes will be celebrating their
20th year anniversaries in 2020. Continued
efficient and productive science operations
require a dedicated commitment to ongoing
maintenance, upgrades, and improvements
to the telescopes, instruments, and infrastruc-
ture. A critical element of this plan is already
underway in the form of updates to the suite
of operations software for observation prepa-
ration software and execution, known as the
Observatory Control System. In particular, the
updated software platform will further enable
Gemini’s transient follow-up programs, as well
as overall improved efficiency of operations
and scheduling. Another exciting opportunity
is Gemini’s development (in collaboration with
the Giant Magellan Telescope) of a new mirror
coating recipe that would greatly enhance
ultraviolet reflectivity while maintaining high
reflectivity at wavelengths >400 nanometers.
Over the next decade, Gemini Observatory
will be building on its capabilities in agile
operations and adaptive optics in order to
provide our users with improved science op-
portunities for time-domain and high spatial
resolution studies. The science cases support-
ed by the Gemini in the Era of Multi-Messenger
Astronomy (GEMMA) award to build a multi-
conjugate adaptive optics system at Gemini
North are described in our Astro2020 white
paper “Probing the Time Domain with High
Spatial Resolution” (viewable here), and span
topics from stellar evolution to distant Uni-
verse cosmology.
July 2019