Gemini Telescopes Shutdowns Overlap

Gemini North is now in a rescheduled shutdown to repair the bottom shutter, which failed in late July. We had continued to observe with some limitations on the elevation range through the night of August 9. The problem stems from the failure of a drive shaft bearing in one of the two driveboxes, similar to the situation with the Gemini North top shutter in 2014. Because of this the previously-scheduled October shutdown was moved up to address the shutter and to perform the planned work on the Acquisition and Guidance (A&G) system and GMOS-North. We expect to be off-sky until the end of this month. The GRACES run that was scheduled during this time has been re-worked with the Canada-France-Hawai‘i telescope and these programs will be continued when the shutdown is complete. 

The regularly-scheduled Gemini South shutdown will begin on August 16 and continue through the 26th. Maintenance of the A&G system is a primary task, along with work on the GMOS-South on-instrument wavefront sensor and facility maintenance.