Contributions by Gemini staff
News for Users
Figure 1.
Point-spread-function
plot of F-2 imaging
as measured relative
to the center of the
optical axis before
(blue) and after
(orange) reversal of
lens mentioned in text.
News for Users is a fresh feature in GeminiFocus that brings our
user community the latest news briefs and updates from Gemini’s
operations and instrument development programs. This installment
highlights several significant announcements regarding instrument
development at Gemini South, as well as the way Gemini users will
interact with the National Gemini Offices in the future, and more.
FLAMINGOS-2
Developments
Although FLAMINGOS-2 (F-2) was
successfully recommissioned in
late 2013, the optical system had
significant problems. An intensive
series of consultations, modeling,
and investigations determined that
the problem was an inverted lens
in the camera barrel. This required
removal from the telescope and remedial work in April 2014. The problem was rectified in this work, and
the instrument has returned to the
telescope. The image quality is now
excellent across the entire field-ofview (Figure 1).
Spectroscopic performance has
benefited somewhat from the
change, but spectral resolution
12
GeminiFocus
July 2014