GeminiFocus 2018 Year in Review | Page 74

October 2018 Joanna Thomas-Osip Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory 2018 Conference a Success! The July 2018 Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory meeting on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf celebrated many milestones, shared exciting science, and looked at future strategies for the Observatory. In July over 100 participants gathered in San Francisco, California, to share their recent success- es with Gemini. There was a lot to celebrate, including our new partnership with the Republic of Korea (see article on page 39). With the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) coming to a close, we also enjoyed a full session on results from the survey and a discussion of the future evolution of the instrument. Other exciting scientific results reported (the confer- ence proceedings are available online) included details about ‘Oumuamua —the first known interstellar asteroid — and the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave detec- tion from a neutron star merger. In addition to sessions on new instrumentation (both facility and visiting), we discussed synergies with other observatories, such as the Large Synoptic Sur- vey Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, as well as a strategic plan for Gemini as we move forward into the era of multi-messenger astronomy and transient follow-ups. Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory 2018 conference participants. Credit: All photos in this article by Shari Lifson 72 Extracurricular activities included a tutorial on GMOS IFU data reduction, “Under the Hood” talks on the practical aspects related to running a Large and Long Program, and a Speed Col- laboration workshop. The Gemini User’s Committee also held its annual meeting in conjunc- tion with this conference. Joanna Thomas-Osip is the Head of the Science User Support Department at Gemini. She can be reached at: [email protected] GeminiFocus January 2019 / 2018 Year in Review