Gemini observatory
The Gemini Observatory operates two large mirror telescopes with 8.1 m primary mirror diameter for observations in visible and infrared light in the northern and southern hemispheres of the earth .
The Gemini Observatory is an international joint project with contributions from the USA ( National Science Foundation (NSF) via NOAO , share 69.84% as of 2018), Canada (National Research Council NRC, 19.88% as of 2018) and smaller participations Chile (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Cientifica y Tecnológica CONICYT), Argentina (Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Inovación Productiva) and Brazil (Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação). The UK and Australia used to be involved as well, but have withdrawn from the Gemini Observatory.
In order to be able to observe both the north and the south skies, two telescopes of the 8 m class were built. The northern telescope is part of the Mauna Kea Observatory on the island of Hawaii (coordinates: 19 ° 49 ′ N , 155 ° 28 ′ W ), the southern one on Cerro Pachón in Chile (coordinates: 30 ° 14 ′ S , 70 ° 44 ′ W ). The telescopes went into scientific operation in 2000 (Gemini-Nord) and 2002 (Gemini-Süd). The headquarters are in Hilo on the grounds of the University of Hawaii . The telescopes are available to astronomers from the participating countries in proportion to the respective financial contributions.
literature
- Michael J. West: A Gentle Rain of Starlight: The Story of Astronomy on Mauna Kea , Island Heritage Pub, 2005, ISBN 0-93154-899-3 .
Web links
- Gemini Homepage (English)
Map with all coordinates: