A More Reliable Laser
The laser currently used in Gemini South
is a 50 Watt (W) sodium laser created by
non-linearly combining two infrared beams
inside a crystal. Since its infancy, the laser
has required a well-qualified technician to
perform the necessary (and precise) optical
alignments. After the unfortunate passing of
our colleague, and friend, Vincent Fesquet
— who was the laser specialist at Gemini
South and the keystone of the laser’s maintenance — Gemini has committed a huge effort to maintain the laser. This commitment
included four external contractors, and utilized help from Gemini North staff. This has
allowed sustained operations, but at a level
that is somewhat disappointing. To date we
have not been able to maintain a laser output higher than 35 W, even requiring the
cancellation of two runs over the past year.
The goal now is for Gemini to replace the existing laser with a more sustainable upgrade.
A dedicated team is overseeing a feasibility study to consider replacing the current
GeMS laser with a more reliable version using the most recent technologies (see details on page 30).
Gaetano Sivo is an adaptive optics science fellow at Gemini South. He can be reached at:
[email protected]
Vincent Garrel is an adaptive optics and GeMS
instrument scientist at Gemini South. He can be
reached at: [email protected]
Rodrigo Carrasco is an assistant astronomer at
Gemini South. He can be reached at:
[email protected]
Markus Hartung is an adaptive optics scientist at
Gemini South. He can be reached at:
[email protected]
Eduardo Marin is a science operations specialist
at Gemini South. He can be reached at:
[email protected]
Vanessa Montes is an electronics engineer and
GeMS Instrument Manager at Gemini South. She
can be reached at: [email protected]
Chad Trujillo is a tenured astronomer and the
Head of Adaptive Optics. He can be reached at:
[email protected]
Despite the challenges presented in this article, the GeMS system has already produced
some exciting science (see, for example, the
feature article in this issue starting on page
16, and the Science Highlight about Galactic globular cluster NGC 1851 on page 24).
This bodes well for the system’s future potential, especially with the improvements
described here.
January 2016
2015 Year in Review
GeminiFocus
49