1 Director’s Message
Jennifer Lotz
4 A Hunt for WEIRD Planets
Frédérique Baron, Étienne Artigau, and David Lafrenière
8 GeMS Delivers the Sharpest View of the Visible Light from Distant Galaxies
Mark Lacy, Kristina Nyland, and Susan Ridgway
12 Understanding the Emission of OH Megamaser Galaxies
Hekatelyne Carpes and Rogemar A. Riffel
17 Classifying Ultra-faint Satellite Systems in the Milky Way’s Halo
Blair Conn and Helmut Jerjen
22 Science Highlights
John Blakeslee
39 Korea Becomes a Full Participant in Gemini
Gemini Press Release
41 On the Horizon
Gemini Staff Contributions
56 News for Users
Gemini Staff Contributions
72 Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory 2018 Conference a Success!
Joanna Thomas-Osip
75 AstroDay Hawai‘i 2018
Janice Harvey
78 Public Outreach Efforts Soar in Hawai‘i and Chile
Janice Harvey and Manuel Paredes
ON THE COVER: GeminiFocus January 2019 / 2018 Year in Review
On-sky commissioning
of the new Gemini
North TOPTICA laser
guide star system on
October 1, 2018. GeminiFocus is a quarterly publication
of the Gemini Observatory
670 N. A‘ohoku Place, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720, USA
Phone: (808) 974-2500 / Fax: (808) 974-2589
Online viewing address:
http://www.gemini.edu/node/27
Credit: Gemini
Observatory/NSF/AURA
image by Jason Chu
Editor: Peter Michaud / Assoc. Editor: Stephen James O’Meara
Designer: Eve Furchgott/Blue Heron Multimedia
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed
in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the National Science Foundation or the Gemini Partnership.
ii
GeminiFocus
January 2019 / 2018 Year in Review