Making the Most of Poor Weather Nights

Thick clouds captured by Gemini North’s cloud cameras

Clouds and poor seeing can frustrate any astronomer on a classical observing night. One of the main strengths of Gemini's queue observing is that your program is observed in the conditions it requires. While the worry of bad weather nights may not be as much of an issue for Gemini users, thick cloud and poor seeing still strike from time-to-time on Maunakea and Cerro Pachón. There are times during these less-than-ideal conditions when there are simply no targets in the regular queue programs to observe. However, even in the worst conditions, Gemini makes the most of the night by observing Band 4 or Poor Weather proposals (if available). Band 4 programs can be submitted at any time during the semester and are most welcome during periods of bad weather (please read the following story in this e-Newscast!). If you have a science case with bright targets that can handle CC (Cloud Cover)=70%, 80% or "Any" and IQ (Image Quality)="Any" and WV (Water Vapor)="Any" (no restriction on SB (Sky Background)) or CC="Any" and WV="Any" (no restriction on IQ and SB) then consider submitting a Band 4/Poor Weather program today. More details on the proposal submission process can be found at this link.