Figure 1.
The dome repair team,
just before lifting the
repaired gearbox back
into position.
a single program or extend over two to six
semesters, or both.
ings. Program approvals will be announced
along with the usual semester schedule.
We are happy to report that our users have
submitted over 40 letters of intent by the
February 3rd deadline. The proposal teams
include over 500 astronomers from all Gemini partner countries and beyond. Principal Investigators from all four participating
countries (United States, Canada, Australia,
and Argentina) intend to lead programs.
For more information on the program and
how it will work, see:
The proposals are scheduled for review by
a specific Large Program Time Allocation
Committee at the end of April. This committee will also make science-based recommendations to the Gemini Director. Approved
programs will be merged into the semester
plan at the International TAC meeting. We
look forward to this first exercise that will be
a regular annual opportunity.
With the encouragement of the Users’ Committee and STAC, a forum for users engaged
in reduction of Gemini data is now live and
very active. It’s located at: http://drforum.
gemini.edu/.
In the longer term, Gemini will post an annual
announcement of opportunity for these programs in December, with letters of intent due
in early February, and final proposals closing
at the end of March each year. The TAC meetings will generally precede the NTAC meet-
April 2014
http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/observinggemini/observing-modes/large-and-longprograms
New Data Reduction User Forum
The forum is intended to be an on-line discussion site “for Gemini users, by Gemini users,” where people can drop useful scripts,
discuss issues relating to data reduction as
applied to Gemini data sets, and more. The
usefulness of a forum like this depends on
the number of people getting involved and
staying involved. To help promote that goal,
the Gemini Director put up some discretionary observing time (as a prize) to go to the
GeminiFocus
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