3.
Immediate data reduction: All visitors
can ask to extend their stay and work on
data reduction while in the proximity of
experienced Gemini staff. Especially for
new users working with the Gemini data
reduction package this can provide a great
head-start.
4. Impact Gemini’s performance: We learn a
lot from our users, and we welcome your
feedback. Most of the time this feedback
arrives by e-mail, but during a visit you will
have the opportunity to voice your opin-
Jonathan Ruel
captures a
photograph of the
SOAR telescope
from Gemini South
at sunset as part of
his visit which he
describes in the box
at right.
ions or concerns in person. Your voice will
be heard and may have an important impact on how we can better serve the user
community and ensure that we acquire the
best data possible for everyone. Your presence can make a difference on Gemini’s
performance and the data you and your
colleagues get in the future.
5. Share your knowledge: Finally, during
your stay, you’ll have the opportunity to
present your Gemini results (or other work)
in front of an appreciative audience during
a science colloquium. We hold these colloquia at the base facilities and most are
well-attended by Gemini staff, other local
astronomers, and visiting
scientists. It’s a great venue for meeting new colleagues, obtaining instant
feedback on your research,
and inspiring discussion
and thought.
Testimonial
Jonathan Ruel, Ryan Foley, Brian Stalder, and Saku Vrtilek visited Gemini South twice in 2011 to kick
off their large program to study galaxy clusters using the the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph
(Principal Investigator (PI) and Jonathan’s advisor Christopher Stubbs). Jonathan writes:
“Visiting the Gemini offices and then the telescope has made me a better and happier queue observer.
The ways are hard to quantify but getting to experience the entire life cycle of the observations brought
all the pieces of the mosaic together.
As the Gemini OT is concerned, I benefit generally from having observed so that I have the entire
observing process and procedures in mind, and I would say that it is especially true for the details
peripheral to the main science observations, that is the observation setup (slit mask alignment) and then
the calibrations, as well as understanding where the overheads come from.
Above all things, I enjoyed very much meeting with the staff; beyond just putting faces on names that
I had seen in e-mails, in discussing their roles that pertain to reviewing the slit masks, scheduling, and
observing, I got to see them as team members concerned with the science, rather than an abstract
approval step, and our interactions have been more focused and efficient as a result. Even though he
was not there in person, the same goes with my NGO contact scientist. We had a few technical problems
and he was helping alongside the Gemini staff with OT changes pretty much in real time, which was an
enlightening departure from the usual.”
40
GeminiFocus
June2012