Gemini e-Newscast #19 -- September 1, 2009

Gemini reaches out to Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Members of the Gemini Public Information and Outreach team and the Argentina National Gemini Office visited Easter Island (Rapa Nui) as part of the International Year of Astronomy. About a third of the island's entire population participated in the week's events, which included planetarium shows and workshops. The island is appropriately located almost equidistant from the Gemini North and South telescopes, 3,700 km from continental Chile.
See http://www.gemini.edu/node/11321 for more information.

Laser Service Enclosure installed on Gemini South

The 5100-kg laser service enclosure (LSE) was installed on the Gemini South telescope. The LSE will house and protect the laser for the Gemini Multi-conjugate adaptive optics System (GeMS).

FLAMINGOS-2 on the flexure rig

The near-infrared multi-object spectrograph FLAMINGOS-2 has been reassembled on Cerro Pachón. It is currently undergoing flexure tests in the laboratory. FLAMINGOS-2 will be offered for community use after these and on-sky acceptance tests are successfully completed.