ing (once the summit road
became accessible (Figures
10 and 11).
Since we now operate in Base
Facility Operations mode, we
have learned to use our cam-
eras to assess the situation
with the dome and shutter. In
doing so, we have detected
some limitations; for instance,
we have recognized that an
in-situ inspection is manda-
tory after any severe weather
event.
Figure 10.
Gemini South telescope
winter landscape.
Figure 11.
Gemini South day-crew
member Claudio Araya,
who helped clear snow and
ice from the dome.
Also, despite several power
cuts during this period, our
systems responded very well.
To further optimize our op-
erations and reduce fuel consumption, we
have now enabled remote switching back
to commercial power, once normal power
is restored. This avoids running the genera-
tor for unnecessary periods once commercial
power is available but access to the summit
is not an option.
Figure 12 shows the weather losses at Gem-
ini South over the period 2008-2016. The
relatively reproducible year-to-year varia-
tion in weather loss (at least until 2014)
is why we started, a year or two ago at an
international Time Allocation Committee
meeting, to reduce the amount of sched-
ulable time in the winter and increase the
available time in the summer.
Astroconda Now Recommended
for Gemini Users
Following some significant Image Reduction
and Analysis Facility (IRAF) integration and
testing work on Gemini’s data processing
software, we now recommend that all new
installations be performed using Astroconda,
in place of Ureka; see instructions and further
information here.
New Version of GMMPS
Released
The recent release of the Gemini MOS Mask
Preparation Software (GMMPS) version 1.4.5,
offers full support for the new Gemini Multi-
Object Spectrograph Hamamatsu detector
array at Gemini North (GMOS-N), as well as
support for FLAMINGOS-2 (F-2) at Gemini
South. Commissioning for the MOS mode of
F-2 is scheduled to commence in July 2017,
boosting Gemini’s strength in the area of
near-infrared spectroscopy.
The new version of GMMPS is a major im-
provement over its predecessor. Driven by
the need to accommodate the new GMOS-
N detectors, and in particular F-2, the source
code was overhauled in many ways to make
it more instrument-independent and modu-
lar. These changes come with greater stability,
internal consistency checks, many bug fixes,
and new features including the following:
• Safe placement and proper motion check
of acquisition stars;
• No more external band-shuffling files;
Figure 12.
Blue bars show the
percentage of time
rendered unobservable
by weather, for Gemini
South over the period
2008-2016. The orange
trace shows the
average per month over
that same period.
70
GeminiFocus
January 2018 / 2017 Year in Review