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2014 Annual Progress Report and 2015 Program Plan of the Gemini Observatory

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2014 Annual Progress Report and 2015 Program Plan of the Gemini Observatory 2014 Annual Progress Report and 2015 Program Plan of the Gemini Observatory Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. Table&of&Contents& 1 Executive Summary ......................................................................................... 1! 2 Introduction and Overview .............................................................................. 3! 3 Science Highlights ........................................................................................... 4! 3.1! First Science Results from GPI ......................................................................... 4! 3.2! A Planet Far from Its Host Star ......................................................................... 4! 3.3! Extreme Volcanoes on Io .................................................................................. 5! 3.4! The Origin of an Ultracompact Dwarf Galaxy and Its Black Hole .................. 6! 3.5! Galaxy-Wide Outflows Are Common Among Quasars ................................... 7! 4 Operations ........................................................................................................ 8! 4.1! Gemini Publications and User Relations ......................................................... 8! 4.2! Operations Summary ......................................................................................... 9! 4.3! Instrumentation .................................................................................................. 9! 4.4! Data Reduction and Software ......................................................................... 11! 4.5! User Support ..................................................................................................... 12! 4.6! New Observing Modes ..................................................................................... 12! 4.7! Telescopes and Enclosures ............................................................................ 13! 4.8! Storage and Archiving ..................................................................................... 14! 4.9! Operations Metrics ........................................................................................... 15! 4.10! Transition Program ........................................................................................ 19! 4.11! Administration and Facilities ........................................................................ 23! 4.12! Safety ............................................................................................................... 24! 5 Instrumentation and Facility Development ................................................. 24! 5.1! GPI ..................................................................................................................... 24! 5.2! GMOS CCD Upgrade ........................................................................................ 25! 5.3! GHOST ............................................................................................................... 25! 5.4! Gen4#3 .............................................................................................................. 26! 5.5! GRACES ............................................................................................................ 26! 5.6! AO and Other Facility Upgrades ..................................................................... 26! 6 Public Outreach and Broadening Participation .......................................... 28! 6.1! Expanding on a Legacy of Local Community Outreach Programming ...... 28! 6.2! Beyond Local Outreach ................................................................................... 29! 6.3! Broadening Participation and Workforce Development .............................. 30! 7 Administration and Finance .......................................................................... 31! 7.1! Finance .............................................................................................................. 31! 7.2! Organization and Staffing ................................................................................ 32! 7.3! Budget ............................................................................................................... 33! 8 2015 Program Plan ......................................................................................... 36! 8.1! Overview of 2015 .............................................................................................. 36! 8.2! Science and Engineering Operations in 2015 ............................................... 38! 8.3! Transition Program in 2015 ............................................................................. 40! 8.4! Instrumentation and Facility Development in 2015 ...................................... 41! i 8.5! Administration and Facilities and Safety in 2015 .......................................... 43! 8.6! Public Information and Outreach in 2015 ...................................................... 43! 8.7! Gemini External Relations in 2015 ................................................................. 45! Appendix A. Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................... 46! Appendix B. Publications by Staff .................................................................. 47! B.1 Staff Refereed Publications ............................................................................... 48! B.2 Non-Refereed Staff Publications ....................................................................... 54! Appendix C. Publications by Users ................................................................ 60! Appendix D. Science Programs 2013B and 2014A ........................................ 85! Appendix E. Research Staff Effort .................................................................. 96! Appendix F. Organizational Chart ................................................................... 98! Appendix G. Report Requirements ................................................................. 99! Appendix H. 2014Q3 Financial Report .......................................................... 101! Appendix I. Completion of 2014 Program Plan ............................................ 101! & ii 1 Executive Summary The Gemini Observatory consists of twin 8-meter diameter optical/infrared telescopes located on two of the best observing sites on the planet. Locations in the northern and southern hemispheres (Hawai‘i and Chile) provide access to the entire sky. A range of instrumentation provides imaging and spectroscopic capabilities, with enhancements from adaptive optics and specialized instrumentation. The vast majority of activity within the Observatory is dedicated to maintaining and supporting operations on behalf of the international scientific community of the Gemini Partnership. The Observatory’s goal is to enable their scientific progress, as they address problems on all scales of the universe, from the nearby objects in the Solar System to the largest cosmological structures. Gemini continues to improve its offerings as an efficient and nimble observatory that can respond to users’ needs. A second pillar of the Observatory is the development of instrumentation and the facilities. These development projects provide novel capabilities for users, through new facility instruments and upgrades to existing ones, on both small and large scales. A third area of continuing attention in 2014 is the Transition Program, which implements fundamental changes to the Observatory that are required for sustainable and worthwhile operation at a significantly reduced budget. The effect of this activity is evident in the users’ science achievements. We note some of the outstanding results to give a flavor of the range of astronomical interest and use of Gemini. One highlight is the scientific use of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), a world- leading “extreme” adaptive optics instrument, which has enabled sensitive measurements of extrasolar planets. Other common themes in this year’s science highlights are planetary science and the use of adaptive optics. Overall, the rate of peer- reviewed publication based on observations at Gemini continues to increase, and adaptive optics results appear more frequently. Gemini began offering several new modes for proposing and observing in 2014. Large and Long Programs enable substantial scientific investigations, which exceed the previous limitations of individual Partners. The international community is encouraged to conduct their own observations on site, and a novel system of “priority visitor” observing supports these visits while mitigating against potential weather loss. Gemini also continues to support “queue” observations, which staff execute, according to user choice, which maintains access to the time domain and the rarest observing conditions as needed. The instrument complement at Gemini North was stable and supplemented with visitor instruments, which were popular among the user community. In addition to the introduction of GPI, the offerings at Gemini South were improved with new detectors in the workhorse optical imager and multi-object spectrograph. This upgrade improved performance, especially increasing sensitivity at red wavelengths. Work on the facility near-infrared imager and spectrograph at Gemini South corrected an outstanding image quality problem, and we continued to offer the unique multi-conjugate adaptive optics system with near-infrared imaging. 1 We completed all the high priority goals for the year within the Development Department. These included commissioning
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