June 13, 2023
Image of Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy

Gemini North Back On Sky With Dazzling Image of Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy 

Gemini North, part of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, is back to observing the night sky following an accident with its primary mirror in late 2022. The telescope’s debut observation captured the supernova dubbed SN 2023ixf, which was discovered on 19 May 2023 by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki. This dazzling point of light, the closest supernova seen […]
April 6, 2023
Artist’s Impression of a Pair of Quasars at ‘Cosmic Noon’

Colliding Quasars Set to Trigger Energetic Star Formation 

Astronomers using the Gemini North and Keck telescopes, on Maunakea, have discovered two Quasars that are on the verge of merging to produce a giant elliptical galaxy. These quasars are thought to have formed when the Universe was a mere 3 billion years old. Seeing two such quasars in the process of merging is rare, let alone catching them in […]
January 4, 2023

Surprise Kilonova Explosion Upends our Understanding of Gamma-ray Bursts

Fillowup observations of an explosive collision involving neutron stars by two Maunakea observatories reveals that a so-called “long gamma-ray burst” (originally detected from an observatory in Earth orbit) upends our understanding of the origin of these extraordinary events. Read more, in the W.M.Keck Observatory and International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab press releases.