The GEMMA logo (Figure 1) is taken from
Gemma’s rings, an early astronomical instru-
ment consisting of three rings representing
the celestial equator, declination, and the
meridian. The rings were created by Gem-
ma Frisius, a 16th century Dutch physician,
mathematician, cartographer, philosopher,
and instrument maker.
Figure 1.
The GEMMA logo
incorporates an ancient
astronomical instrument
known as Gemma’s rings.
which will focus on the unique challenges
and opportunities in sharing the complexi-
ties and new scientific horizons presented
by MMA/TDA.
In January 2019 the GEMMA Program Execu-
tion Plan (PEP) is slated for submission to
the NSF and work will ramp up significantly
following its approval. In the meantime the
Gemini user community is encouraged to
provide input into the GEMMA program. The
Time Domain Astronomy Working Group is
being formed in order to advise the Obser-
vatory on the development of the time-do-
main network which will facilitate the execu-
tion of time-domain observations. Secondly,
Gemini is re-establishing an Adaptive Optics
Working Group (AOWG) made up of staff
and engaged members of the Gemini user
community. For more details on getting in-
volved in GEMMA please go to this link.
Figure 2.
SCORPIO team member
Amanda Bayless with an
engineering grade E2V
device in the clean room.
Credit: Stephen Goodsell
42
GeminiFocus
SCORPIO Completes Two Key
Reviews
The Spectrograph and Camera for Observa-
tions of Rapid Phenomena in the Infrared
and Optical (SCORPIO) completed two key
reviews in November 2018. We held an Op-
tical Design Review from November 14-15
at the University of Madrid, Spain, to assess
the design readiness of the instrument’s six
Collimator Units and eight Camera Units. An
assessment panel consisting of external ex-
perts reviewed whether the long-lead opti-
cal components were ready for acquisition;
after the two day detailed review, they con-
cluded the team provided sufficient analysis
to justify the early purchase of the long-lead
opto-mechanical units, believing the risk of
proceeding was small. We expect the SCOR-
PIO team to place contracts for all of these
items in Q1-2019.
We also held a project quarterly progress
review at the Southwest Research
Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio,
Texas, from November 26-28. The
team presented a large amount of
new work and demonstrated solid
progress made since the last proj-
ect review in August. The schedule
to a Q1-2019 Critical Design Re-
view (CDR) remains tight as there
are a number of key analyses on
the final design that only occur late
in the schedule; the team plans to
move these items earlier so we can
proceed on schedule. We will re-as-
January 2019 / 2018 Year in Review