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26 April 2001: Infrared astronomy pioneer Dr. Fred Gillett died Sunday, April 22, 2001 at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle at the age of 64, following a months-long battle with a rare bone marrow disorder.

19 March 2001: A consortium led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University and Yale University has been selected to assume operational responsibility for the historic 0.9-meter (36-inch) telescope at the National Science Foundation's Kitt Peak National Observatory.

15 February 2001: Catherine (Caty) Pilachowski, a scientific staff member at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, AZ, has been elected as the new president of the American Astronomical Society.

20 March 2000: After traveling in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, through the Panama Canal and up a steep, narrow mountain road to a remote peak in Chile, one of the world's largest astronomical telescope mirrors arrived safely at the Gemini South Observatory on March 17th, 2000. The mirror, which can collect more light than two million human eyes, is the heart of the Gemini South Telescope on Cerro Pachón, a mountain in central Chile. The telescope will soon join its identical twin, on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, to provide extremely high-resolution images of the universe.

21 September 1999: Students in Susie Townsend's multi-age classroom at Miles Exploratory Learning Center, 1400 E. Broadway Blvd., will work with local astronomers and noted authors Joni Chancer and Gina Rester-Zodrow this Friday, September 24, at 10:00 am. Students will safely observe the Sun and then interpret their observations through art and writing invitations. Townsend's class will be studying the Sun and its impact on Earth throughout the school year using a multi-disciplinary, inquiry approach to learning. The Sun is entering the peak of an 11-year cycle of activity, making this a particularly exciting time to investigate solar behavior.

30 July 1999: The National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) is a partner in a multi-institutional center involved in the rapidly developing field of adaptive optics, which promises to revolutionize astronomy and vision science.

31 May 1999: Dr. John W. (Jack) Harvey, astronomer at the National Science Foundations National Solar Observatory (NSO) at Kitt Peak, Arizona, has been awarded the prestigious George Ellery Hale Prize by the American Astronomical Society in recognition of his "outstanding contributions to the field of solar astronomy over an extended period of time".

31 May 1999: The National Science Foundation's National Solar Observatory is preparing for the upcoming solar maximum with SOLIS, a new suite of ground-based solar telescopes that will increase our understanding of solar activity and its effect on Earth's climate and atmosphere.

15 April 1999: The Gemini Observatory has received $600,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support a significant expansion of the internet connection speed between its Mauna Kea observatory, its Hilo headquarters in University Park, and the rest of the world. By coordinating the Gemini grant with a similar but different NSF grant recently made to the University of Hawaii's (UH) Information Technology Services, all of the Big Island observatories and UH-Hilo will share in the benefits of this much improved connection.

23 December 1998: Over the past two weeks, the Gemini North telescope near the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea has succeeded in accomplishing several key steps in the completion of this state-of-the-art 8-meter telescope facility.

18 November 1998: On November 18, 1998, the Gemini Observatory Northern Operations Center at the University of Hawaii's University Park will be officially dedicated and blessed. This new 17,000+ square foot facility is the first permanent home for the Gemini Observatory's scientific, technical and administrative staff. The building will also contain the Observatory's remote access control center, instrument labs, meeting & conference facilities and will serve as a hub for Gemini's world-wide communication network that connects the seven countries participating in the Gemini Project. The building's lobby has been designed to greet visitors with exhibits that will interpret Gemini research for the public and display current scientific research done at the observatory.

24 September 1998: October of 1998 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), the first astronomy observatory in the U.S. available to all qualified astronomers regardless of institutional affiliation. Kitt Peak today is home to the world's largest collection of optical telescopes, under skies which continue to be some of the finest in the world for astronomical observations. Historical images and information on the excellence of scientific research at Kitt Peak can be found through a link on the KPNO Home Page at http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/.

22 September 1998: The National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak announces the 19th Annual International Workshop to take place in Sunspot, New Mexico, from September 28 to October 2, 1998. Titled "High Resolution Solar Physics: Theory, Observations, and Techniques", this year's workshop features the most recent high spatial and temporal resolution observations of the solar atmosphere. About 75 scientists are expected to attend, nearly half from outside the US. Contact information is listed below for media representatives interested in attending the workshop.

21 September 1998: The National Science Foundation will honor Dr. Richard B. Dunn on September 30, 1998, by renaming the Vacuum Tower Telescope of the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico, as the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope, after its creator. This recognizes Dunns long and distinguished career and his contributions to the world's most advanced solar instrumentation, which have greatly increased our understanding of the physics of the Sun. The rededication ceremony to mark this important event will be held at the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, and will be the centerpiece of a workshop on High Resolution Solar Physics, also dedicated to Dr. Dunn in recognition of his lifetime contributions to solar research. Scientists from all corners of the world, including Austria, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Siberia, Spain, and Sweden will attend the festivities.

3 August 1998: "Gemini Observatory Update", to appear in Hilo's Tribune Herald, Friday August 7th.

29 June 1998: Measuring over 26 feet across, the largest single-piece telescope mirror ever to travel to Mauna Kea arrived safely at its final destination, 13,780 feet above sea level, on Sunday, June 28th. Weighing in at over 25 US tons and encased in a 20-ton steel crate, the mirror took three days to travel from Kawaihae Harbor to the Gemini Observatory site. As one of the widest loads ever transported to the summit, the 28 foot-wide crate required road improvements and even temporary removal of road signs before the mirror could make the final 65-mile journey to its home on the top of Hawai'i.

17 June 1998: Samuel Barden, National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) , has been awarded the 1998 Maria and Eric Muhlmann Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific . The Muhlmann Award is given for innovative advances in astronomical instrumentation, software, or observational infrastructure that enable significant astronomical discoveries. The award to Dr. Barden recognizes his pioneering use of optical fibers with astronomical spectrometers.

13 April 1998: The Sunspot Astronomy and Visitor Center was formally dedicated on April 13, 1998. The Visitor Center is located at the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico. The list of 150 attendees ranged from Rudy Cook, the first observer at the location in 1947, to U.S. Representative Joseph Skeen and included most of the persons responsible for the successful completion of the Visitor Center.

26 February 1998: The National Solar Observatory (NSO) announces the start of SOLIS, a state-of-the-art project to investigate space weather and further our understanding of how changes in the Sun affect the Earth's climate and atmosphere. Can we learn to predict when giant explosions will occur on the Sun? Prediction is important because these explosions, which are called "flares" and "coronal mass ejections", propel high-speed particles toward Earth, disrupting radio communication and causing spectacular auroral displays. Understanding and predicting solar activity such as flares is a major goal of SOLIS. The six-million dollar SOLIS project is funded by the National Science Foundation.

18 February 1998: AURA announced today that final polishing of the primary mirror for the northern hemisphere Gemini 8-Meter Telescope has achieved remarkable results. According to Larry Stepp, Gemini Optics Manager, "This mirror is the best mirror of its size ever polished." The Gemini 8-Meter Telescopes Project is an international partnership among the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil to build two state-of-the-art 8-meter telescopes--one on Mauna Kea, Hawaii; the other on Cerro Pachon, Chile.