From the Classroom to the Control Room:

A TeachAstro Night on the Gemini North Telescope

Join Shadow the Scientists as the observing team uses the Gemini North telescope located near the summit of Maunakea and conducts observations remotely from the control room at the Hilo base facility. The night crew will be joined in the control room by local STEM teachers and other educational professionals as part of the TeachAstro initiative.

As opposed to “classical” observing nights that have been featured in many of the previous StS sessions, Gemini Observatory utilizes queue observing mode, in which Gemini staff take observations on behalf of science teams from all over the world. On any given night, Gemini staff determine the conditions on the ground and in the sky and the scientific priorities and choose from a pool of scientific programs to observe. This means anything could be observed on any night!

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Pollard

For this Shadow the Scientists experience, the observing team may use the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS), Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS), and the extreme precision radial velocity spectrograph MAROON-X, which will give participants a glimpse into how astronomers collect data across multiple wavelengths.

Come along for this cosmic adventure as we explore the universe and share its wonders!