australian astronomy mnrf symposium atnf marsfield, 8 june 2004 gemini overview warrick couch –...

Australian Astronomy MNRF Symposium

ATNF Marsfield, 8 June 2004

Gemini OverviewWarrick Couch – Aus Gemini

Scientist• Gemini instrumentation program – current and near-term

• Future Gemini instrumentation – the Aspen process

• Gemini Science Meeting 2004

• Australian usage of the Gemini telescopes

• Australian scientific output from Gemini



Gemini’s instrumentation program – current and near-term

Mauna Kea

Cerro Pachon

Instrument Instrument SummarySummary

Baseline Modes CommissionedAbout to be Commissioned

Instrument Under Development

GMOSGNIRST-ReCSbHROSNICIFLAMINGOS-2GSAOIGSAO

GMOSNIRIMICHELLEALTAIR+LGSNIFS (V2)

Arriving in 2005!

Current Capabilities Current Capabilities ComparisonComparison

Near Infrared InstrumentsGemin

iNotes VLT Notes Keck Notes Subar

uNotes

NIRI 20”50”

120”

NAOS 60” NIRC2 10”20”40”

IRCS 60”

NIRI R~1000

ISAAC R~500-3000

NIRC2 R~5000

CIAO 20”

GNIRS R~600 to

18000

NAOS R~400-1500

NIRSPEC R~2000-

25000

IRCS R~100-2000

ImagerSpectrometer

Current Capabilities Current Capabilities ComparisonComparison

Mid Infrared InstrumentsGemin

iNotes VLT Notes Keck Notes Subar

uNotes

MICHELLE 15” MIDI Interf. LWS R~100-1400

COMICS 35”

T-ReCS 15” COMICS R~250-8500

MICHELLE R~200-3000

T-ReCS R~100-1000

ImagerSpectrometer

Stop Press: Gem-S now the world’s first 8m telescope with a silvered primary!

Ag

Al

• 4-layer ‘composite’ coating used

• Reflectivity at 880nm measured to be 96.3%

• Emissivity at 3.8m is 1.3%

31 May 2004: M1 on Gem-S successfully coated with silver





Future Gemini instrumentation

- the Aspen process -

“ defining the Gemini partnership’s scientific visions for the latter half of this decade (and beyond) and hence determining the next generation of instruments for its telescopes…”

20042003 2005

Aspen 2003 Aspen 2003 WorkshopWorkshop

Meeting held in June 2003 Attended by ~100

astronomers which represented interests of many more astronomers world wide

Key product of the meeting was a set of fundamental questions in astronomy that would serve as the basis of the scientific strategic plan for the Observatory

MAT

TER

ENERGY

LIFE

20042003 2005

Aspen 2003 Aspen 2003 WorkshopWorkshop

Matter How do galaxies form? What is the nature of dark

matter on galactic scales? What is the relationship

between super massive black holes and galaxies?

Energy What is dark energy? How did the cosmic “dark age”

end? Life

How common are extrasolar planets, including earth-like planets?

How do star and planetary systems form?

How do stars process elements into the chemical building blocks of life?

20042003 2005

Gemini Science Gemini Science Committee 2003 Committee 2003 MeetingMeeting

List of potential new instruments needed to address science questions posed at Aspen was discussed at the October 2003 GSC meeting Merged with rough cost

estimates and an upper envelope for the total budget

Prioritized list was defined Recommended 2 instruments

carried forward via design studies and 2 carried forward via feasibility studies Design studies lead to

construction contracts Feasibility studies lead to

design studies

New Instruments Extreme AO Coronagraph High Resolution NIR Spectrometer Wide Field Fiber-Fed Optical

Spectrometer GLAO NIR Imager GLAO NIR Spectrometer Optical IFU Spectrometer Optical High Resolution

Spectrometer High Resolution MIR Spectrometer MCAO fed NIR MOS Wide Field Optical MOS AO-fed NIR Spectrometer

New Facilities GLAO System including Adaptive

Secondary f/6 Telescope Configuration (1

telescope)

20042003 2005

2003 Gemini Board 2003 Gemini Board MeetingMeeting

GSC recommendations endorsed 3-stage development program

proposed/endorsed by the Board Begin design studies for an

Extreme Adaptive Optics Coronagraph (ExAOC) and High Resolution Near Infrared Spectrometer (HRNIRS)

Begin feasibility studies for a Wide Field Optical Fiber-fed MOS (WFMOS) and Ground Layer Adaptive Optics (GLAO) system

Examine options for pursuing science goals identified in Aspen via modifications to existing/planned instruments and/or visitor instruments

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

20,000,000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

~$64M

$

Near Term Instrument Near Term Instrument Development TimelineDevelopment Timeline

Issued Announcements of Opportunity for new Aspen instruments in December 2003

Triggered broad response within our instrumentation community

From Gemini’s Web Page

20042003 2005


“Scientific Horizons at the Gemini Observatory” completed Encapsulates the scientific

aspirations of our community and, through its completion, closes a key “chapter” in the Aspen Process

The Gemini Partnership is particularly indebted to the Aspen group chairs, who worked tirelessly, in close collaboration with Gemini, to produce this document

20042003 2005


Proposals submitted to Gemini and reviewed by Source Selection Board (SSB)

SSB scored proposals and recommended which teams should be funded to carry forward studies for the ExAOC, HRNIRS, WFMOS, and GLAO

In the process of putting 8 teams under contract now…

20042003 2005

Including one led by AAO to do GWFMOS feasibility study


All design and feasibility studies due end of January 2005 Design studies will be reviewed by expert

panels that will recommend a down-select to a single team to go forward with ExAOC and HRNIRS

Feasibility studies will be reviewed though no competitive down-select process required

Entire process enters a “built in hold” state to assess options and determine which, if any, of the instruments should be pursued via follow-on contracts

20042003 2005

High Resolution NIR High Resolution NIR SpectrometerSpectrometer

Design Requirements Single-slit cross-dispersed mode

0.2 arcsec spatial sampling Slit length ~3 arcsec One-shot wavelength coverage as

large as possible Spectral resolution R~70,000

Absorption cell for precision radial velocity measurements

Multi-object MCAO-fed spectrometer Spatial sampling 0.05 arcsec 2 arcmin field of view Spectral resolution R~30,000 Multiplex gain of 15-30

Wavelength range 1.1 to 5 m Built in wave front sensor Pipeline processing

Tinney to Chair SWG

Wide Field Fiber Fed Wide Field Fiber Fed Optical Multi-Object Optical Multi-Object SpectrometerSpectrometer

Design Requirements Wide field of view 1.5 deg

Multiplex gain of 4000-5000 Wavelength coverage 0.39 to

1.0 m Spectral resolution R~1000 to

30,000 “Slit lengths” (fiber footprint)

of ~1 arcsec One-shot wavelength

coverage of 0.4 m Prime focus fiber feed to

individual spectrographs Pipeline processing

Boyle & Freeman on SWG; Colless a liason



Gemini Science Meeting 200423-26 May, Vancouver

•Aim: to showcase the scientific results obtained with Gemini in its first 4 years of operation + to foster scientific collaboration throughout the partnership

•Format:3-day meeting with 60 talks + 21 poster papers presented (with sessions covering complete range of astrophysical areas)

•Additional meetings held in conjunction: Gemini “Users”, “NGO” and “PIO” meetings

•Participation: 130 astronomers from all of the partner countries (9 from Australia)



Australian participation in GemSci2004

A. Melatos (UMelb)

M. Whiting (UNSW)

P. Francis (RSAA)

S. Ryder (AAO)

R. Wayth (UMelb)

•5 talks in the science meeting; Croom/Boyle “QSO host” study also featured as a talk (by D. Schade, Ca)

•2 poster papers in the science meeting (by Da Costa and Pracy/Couch)

•1 invited talk at the Users’ meeting (P. McGregor – NIFS & GSAOI)

•2 reps at the NGO meeting (Ryder & Whiting)



Australian Usage of the Gemini Telescopes

…as measured through the submission of proposals to the Australian Time Assignment Committee (ATAC), which allocates Australia’s share of time on the Gemini telescopes.

0

50

100

150

01A 01B 02A 02B 03A 03B 04A 04B

hour

s

0

50

100

150

200

250

01B 02A 02B 03A 03B 04A 04B

0

1

2

3

01A 01B 02A 02B 03A 03B 04A 04B

over

-su

b f

acto

r

0

1

2

3

4

5

01B 02A 02B 03A 03B 04A 04B

Gemini North Gemini South

availreq

Time available/requested: the 1st four years



RSAA37%

UNSW19%

Melb12%

Swinb12%

AAO8%

Syd8%

UQ3%

Other1%

Demand by institution (proposal nos.)



Australian publications from Gemini Publications per country of first author

1

3

10

1

4

1 1

6

3

18

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Belgium Brazil Canada France Gemini Germany Korea UK UofH USA

Country

Nu

mb

er

of

Pu

bli

ca

tio

ns

Dec 2003



Australian publications from Gemini

But runs at last on the board in 2004:

•Croom et al. 2004, “Gemini imaging of QSO host galaxies at z~2”, Ap.J., 606, 126.

•Melatos et al. 2004, “Rapid variability of subarcsecond shock structure in the Crab Nebula”, Ap.J. (submitted).

•Forbes et al. 2004, “Gemini/GMOS photometry of globular clusters in the Virgo galaxy NGC4649”, MNRAS (submitted).

+Stanway, Glazebrook,…..Boyle, Colless, Couch et al. 2004, “Three Ly emitters at z~6: Early Gemini/GMOS data from the GLARE project”, Ap.J., 604, L13.



Program status No. of programs % of programs

Fully completed 12 21

Partially completed 20 35

No data obtained – weather/position in queue

11 19

No data obtained – telescope/inst problems

14 25

Total 57 100

● Completion rate of Australian Gemini queue programs:

● Average time request/allocation is small: 8.25hrs

Two factors to ponder:

Schedule for instruments coming on-line until 2006Gemini North Gemini South

02

03

04

05

06

Hokupa’a-36,OSCIR, NIRI

GMOS-N

MICHELLE

ALTAIR(NGS), (NIFS)

ALTAIR (LGS)

AcqCam, Flamingos-1

Phoenix

CIRPASS

GMOS-S, T-ReCSb-HROSGNIRS, Hokupa’a-85

NICI

GSAO (NGS), GSAO-ImagerFlamingos-2GSAO (LGS), MCAO

Functionality at different wavelengths

UV-Optical Near-IR Mid-IR

Gemini-North

GMOS– l/slit, MOS, IFU spectrograph & imager

Hokupa’a – Adaptive Optics (AO) imager

OSCIR – imager & low resoln spectrograph

NIRI – imager & low-resoln spectrograph

Michelle – imager & low/ med resoln spectrograph

Gemini-SouthAcqCam – CCD camera for BVRI imaging

Flamingos-I – long-slit, MOS spectrograph & imager

Phoenix – high resoln spectrograph

CIRPASS – IFU spect’graph

Australian Membership of the International Gemini Partnership

ARC Review of LIEF support, Sydney Univ, 20 March 2003

Scientific usage by Australian researchers



Institution No. of researchers No. of proposals % of proposals

ANU 13.5 25.5 40

UNSW 6 12 19

Swinburne 5 7 10

AAO 4 4 6

USyd 3 4 6

UMelb 2.5 9 14

Macquarie 2 1 2

Monash 1 0 0

UQld 0.5 1 2

ATNF 0.5 0.5 1

Total 38 64 100

Australian demand for Gemini (2001 - 2003) :



Gemini-North Gemini-South Both telescopes

No. of proposals received

45 19 64

Time requested (hrs)

356 131 487

Time available (hrs)

184 92 276

Oversubscription factor

1.93 1.43 1.76

No. of proposals allocated time

29 17 46

Australian demand for Gemini (2001 - 2003) :



Science area Number of proposals % of proposals

Cosmology, high-redshift galaxies

24 37

Extragalactic astronomy

20 31

Stellar properties & evolution

8 13

Star formation 6 9

Active galactic nuclei

5 8

Pulsars/neutron stars

1 2

Australian Gemini proposals according to science area:



Country No. of institutions No. of researchers

USA 22 41

UK 8 21

Canada 4 5

Germany 3 6

France 2 2

Chile 1 7

Gemini Obs. 1 2

Italy 1 1

Belgium 1 1

Netherlands 1 1

Japan 1 1

Argentina 1 1

International links and collaborations:



Australian management structure



Key elements of Australian management structure

Gemini Board Member

Gemini Steering Committee

Gemini Science Advisory Committee

Gemini Scientist & Gemini Office

•Appointed by Australian Government; 3 year term

•Attend IGP Board meetings and represent the interests of the ARC and Australian users

•chair the Australian Gemini Steering Committee

Dr Gary Da Costa (ANU)

•Appointed by Australian Government; comprises 9 members

•Advise the Australian Government on all matters relating to Australian membership of the IGP

•Oversee the operation of the Australian Gemini Office

•Appoint the Australian Gemini Scientist and the Gemini Science Advisory Committee

•Advise the Australian Gemini Scientist on all matters relating to the scientific exploitation of Gemini be Australian users

•Comprises 13 members, 10 of which are selected to be broadly representative of the entire spectrum of Australian scientific and instrumental interests in Gemini

•Liaise with and be the main point of contact with the IGP and other National Gemini Offices on all scientific, operational, instrument matters

•Promote, foster and support the use of Gemini facilities by Australian researchers.

Prof. Warrick Couch (UNSW)



In addition, there is…..

Australian Time Assignment Committee

(ATAC)

•Officially formed by DEST

•Peer reviews applications from Australian astronomers for time on the Gemini telescopes (as well as the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope)

•Makes recommendations for allocations of time to the Gemini ITAC



Australian Gemini Office/Scientist responsibilities in more detail….

•Support Australian proposal submission (Phase I) process, including technical assessment of all proposals

•Support Australian observers through observation definition (Phase II) process

•Support Gemini Help Desk, responding to all queries from Australian users

These tasks currently ‘distributed’ across institutions in Sydney (UNSW, USyd, AAO)

and likely to be spread more widely as number of Gemini instruments/users

increases



•Maintain a national Gemini website with up to date information on all relevant Gemini activities; maintain a mirror site for the IGP web pages (UNSW/ANU)

•Promote Gemini capabilities within Australia (UNSW/ATNF/AAO)

•Provide Australian representation in all scientific, operational, and engineering/instrumentation IGP activities (UNSW, UMelb, ANU)

Australian Gemini Office/Scientist responsibilities in more detail….

australian astronomy mnrf symposium atnf marsfield, 8 june 2004 gemini overview warrick couch –...

Documents

gemini slide

telescope slide

imagerspectrometer slide

nearterm slide

gemini science committee

observatory slide

generation of instruments

gsc meeting