lower than that of its Lockheed Martin Coher-
ent Technologies predecessor, the return flux
has been very sufficient to keep stable closed
loop operation (even during low sodium
season). We also achieved unprecedented
performance during our first science run at
sub-80-milliarcsecond-level performance in
the J-band.
Figure 15.
Optical layout for
IGRINS. All parts
shown are within the
cryogenic part of the
instrument. For Gemini,
the five optical elements
between the dewar
window and the slit were
exchanged.
sition camera; and it took them only three
nights out of five to validate the laser’s per-
formance; during the tests, the laser did not
suffer any faults, and its output power was
very stable at 22 watts.
Since the commissioning, we have had two
very successful science runs, during which
the laser remained very stable with no faults
occurring. Even with its power being much
Figure 16.
The IGRINS team (left to
right respectively, back
row: Gregory Mace, Jae
Sok Oh, Chan Park; front
row: Heeyoung Oh and
Kimberley (Sokal). Mace
shot this “selfie” in the
IGRINS lab at UT Austin in
February 2018. The new
input optics for IGRINS
at Gemini are shown in
the background after
installation.
2018A Brings Outstanding
Near-IR Spectroscopy to
Gemini South
Through the Visiting Instrument Program,
Gemini users have access to a powerful new
capability for the 2018A semester: the broad-
band, high-spectral-resolution Immersion
GRating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS; Fig-
ures 15-20). IGRINS is a collaboration of the
University of Texas and the Korea Astrono-
my and Space Science Institute (KASI). This
cross-dispersed near-IR spectrometer has a
resolving power of R = 45,000 covering the
H and K windows (from 1.45 to 2.5 microns,
respectively) in a single exposure.
IGRINS has a strong track record of diverse
and innovative science results, having spent
over 350 nights at the 2.7-meter Harlan J.
Smith Telescope at McDonald Observa-
tory in Texas, and 200 nights at Lowell Ob-
servatory’s 3.5-meter Discovery Channel
Telescope in Arizona. Recent results span
a range of topics including cold molecu-
lar clouds, diffuse interstellar bands, T Tauri
stars, systems containing multiple stars
and/or planets, and even microquasars. The
response to IGRINS at Gemini has been ex-
Credit: Gregory Mace, UT
Austin
Figure 17.
IGRINS team members
Kimberley Sokal (left)
and Ricardo Lopez at
UT Austin packing the
instrument for shipping.
Credit: Gregory Mace,
UT Austin
54
The TOPTICA laser has considerably lessened
our daytime work to prepare for a laser night,
requiring only that we turn the key on a few
hours before the night, and the Gemini Multi-
conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS) is
ready to operate. The GeMS team looks for-
ward to more regular laser windows now to
operate GeMS at its best.
GeminiFocus
January 2019 / 2018 Year in Review