ing partners and help us define the vision
and future of the Observatory.”
Gemini Board Chair Rene
Walterbos (left) and KASI
President Hyung Mok
Lee sign the agreement
making Korea a full
participant in Gemini.
Credit: Shari Lifson
Mok Lee, KASI President. “We are more than
happy to share this opportunity with the en-
tire Gemini community.”
Matt Mountain, President of the Association
of Universities for Research in Astronomy
(AURA) that manages Gemini through a coop-
erative agreement with the National Science
Foundation (NSF) commented, “We welcome
KASI as a full participant in Gemini Observa-
tory. KASI’s collaboration with Gemini has al-
ready yielded new scientific discoveries, and
we anticipate exciting new projects to come
from Korea’s full participation.”
“We know that this will be the start of a won-
derful friendship, as well as a fruitful and
long-lasting scientific collaboration,” added
Anne Kinney, Head of the NSF’s Mathemati-
cal and Physical Sciences Division. The NSF
funds approximately 70% of the the Gemini
Observatory along with participants Canada,
Chile, Brazil, and Argentina. “With Korea join-
ing Gemini we will see a fresh new perspec-
tive which I’m certain will result in a flood of
great ideas and insights,” said Kinney.
“In the four years since Korea entered into a
Limited-term partnership with Gemini, we
have developed a very strong bond with our
Korean colleagues,” said Gemini Interim Di-
rector Laura Ferrarese. “I could not be more
pleased to see that bond cemented today.”
Ferrarese continued, “Gemini is only as strong
as its user-base, and we are deeply grateful
for Korea’s willingness to join our long-stand-
40
GeminiFocus
Rene Walterbos, Chair of the Gemini Board
commented, “It is a testimony to the remark-
able staff at Gemini that Korea decided to be-
come a full participant in the twin telescopes.”
Walterbos adds that Korea is a rising star in
astronomy and rapidly establishing a leader-
ship position in many areas of astronomical
research. “I’m looking forward to watching as
Korea’s scientists find new and exciting ways
to use Gemini, contribute to its capabilities,
and further advance Korea to the forefront of
modern astronomy.”
“Another exciting aspect of Korea joining
Gemini is the instrumentation experience
they will bring to our community,” said Scot
Kleinman, Gemini’s Associate Director for De-
velopment. “IGRINS, developed in part by a
team in Korea, has proven to be one of Gem-
ini’s most popular visitor instruments and we
look forward to them bringing a similar instru-
ment specifically for Gemini as part of their
initial contribution to the Observatory.”
KASI started its Limited-term Collaboration
with the Gemini Observatory in October 2014,
which has enabled Korean researchers to ac-
cess the twin Gemini telescopes in Hawai‘i and
Chile starting in 2015. Since then, and up to
2018, the Korean community has carried out
about 100 science programs and published
over 10 papers based on Gemini data, two of
which were featured on the Gemini website.
As mentioned, KASI is also a major partner in
the team that operates the state-of-the-art
near-infrared spectrometer IGRINS jointly de-
veloped by the University of Texas Austin and
KASI. IGRINS was deployed at Gemini South
from March to July 2018 as a visitor instrument,
and established an historically high scientific
demand from the community, rendering it the
most popular science instrument at Gemini
South for that semester.
January 2019 / 2018 Year in Review