GeminiFocus 2018 Year in Review | Page 56

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