Gemini North Hosts Col-OSSOS Observers

Wes Fraser (middle – Queen's University Belfast), Michele Bannister (right – Queen's University Belfast), and J.J. Kavelaars (left – National Research Council of Canada-Herzberg and University of Victoria).

Visiting observers from the Large and Long program Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS) recently energized the Gemini North Control Room in Hilo! The program, led by Wes Fraser (see photo), aims to study the composition and surface properties of the sea of icy planetesimals orbiting beyond Neptune. The team obtained optical and near-infrared photometry with GMOS-N and NIRI to help to constrain the evolution of the giant planets and probe the conditions of the Solar System's early planet-forming disk. Since 2014B, Fraser and his team have observed at Gemini North each semester to observe as priority visitors and execute their Col-OSSOS observations as weather permits. 2017B marks the final semester of the Large and Long program which has already revealed new insights into Neptune's migration, see press release.