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Gemini's Twin Lights Up in Chile
pyrrho writes: "The southern twin Gemini Observatory in Chile, Gemini South, was dedicated today. This is an exact duplicate of the Gemini North Observatory which recently directly imaged a brown dwarf. These Observatories not only bring in a new era of amazing astronomy, including the possibility of direct imaging of planets, but also represent a step forward in the automation of observatories, being highly remote controllable from around the world if desired, and also highly automated, supporting observation queuing that helps to match particular observations to the best fit seeing conditions. Gemini is an international project, bringing together an unprecidented number of nations for joint research in astronomy. By supplying identical observatories in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Gemini Observatory truly ushers in an era of big telescopes."
ghey ghey poast yo holmes.
with the faggots
with the faggots of slashdot
i shaved my balls this morning
Putting identical telescopes in both hemispheres is an excellent step for science - this will allow quality observations to be made over the entire sky.
The next logical step would be to build 3 or 4 identical scopes in each hemisphere. This would let you observe an object 24hrs a day (with a redundant observatory, perhaps, in case of clouds).
Anyway, all in all, it's very exciting work!
In Soviet Russia, sig types you!
There are also stories here and here. It is my first post and already I am a karma whore.
--Metrollica
"About a month ago, we reached a milestone when both Gemini North and Gemini South made observations at the same time but in parts of the sky inaccessible to each other," said Gemini Director Dr. Matt Mountain. "Today's dedication celebrates a decade of work by hundreds of people to build these two telescopes that have now become one observatory."
The Gemini telescopes are located on both sides of the equator to provide complete sky coverage for astronomers within the seven-country Gemini partnership. The partnership includes the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, with each partner receiving research time in proportion to its level of funding for Gemini.
Today's dedication of the Gemini South telescope brought together over 200 representatives from the Gemini partnership who journeyed up the steep, dusty, dirt road for the ceremony. Included in the ceremony were Chile's President Sr. Ricardo Lagos and speakers from each of the funding agencies that fund the observatory.
Astronomers from around the world have already sampled Gemini's capabilities with discoveries from Gemini North on Mauna Kea. These include surprising conditions surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an active galaxy and the gas and dust encircling stars where early planetary systems might be forming. "With Gemini's fantastic resolution and light gathering power, we are now able to study dusty protoplanetary disks in remarkable detail, to trace the first steps of planetary birth. Our observations at Gemini utilized a technology called adaptive optics that removes distortions caused by turbulence in our atmosphere," reported Dr. Ray Jayawardhana of the University of California, Berkeley at the 199th American Astronomical Society Conference in Washington DC in early January, 2002.
Other early observations from Gemini have revealed the center of our Milky Way galaxy in unprecedented detail, unexpected conditions at the core of a distant active galaxy, the closest brown dwarf (or failed star) ever imaged around a sun-like star, and a spectacular image dubbed "the perfect spiral galaxy". More about these findings and others can be found at the "Press Release" page.
Dramatic early science images from Gemini South, as well as images of the observatory facility and dedication ceremony, are available at the Gemini South Dedication page. Watch this web site for the latest findings from Gemini and additional media resources from Gemini.
The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration that has built two identical 8-meter telescopes. The telescopes are located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii (Gemini North) and Cerro Pachón in central Chile (Gemini South), and hence provide full coverage of both hemispheres of the sky. Both telescopes incorporate new technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors under active control to collect and focus both optical and infrared radiation from space. Both Gemini North and Gemini South have begun science operations.
The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in each partner country with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocates observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Cientifica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), the Australian Research Council (ARC), the Argentinean Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and the Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). The Observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.
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* g o a t s e x * g o a t s e x * g o a t s e x * g g o / \ \ / \ o a \ a t `. : t s` \ s e \ / / \\\ -- \\ : e x \ \/ --~~ ~-- \ x * \ \-~ ~-\ * g \ \Proof of the gay-linux conspiracy!
props to all dead homiez