N159W GeMS/GSAOI Image
Gemini South GeMS/GSAOI near-infrared image of the N159W field in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Color composite image by Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage.
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Legacy Images
Star-Birth “Fireworks”
This Gemini North telescope image reveals no less than six gas jets emerging at supersonic speeds from the reddish Herbig-Haro 24 (HH 24) complex — a small cluster of young stars embedded in a molecular cloud some 1,300 light years distant in the constellation Orion. It is the most detailed image ever obtained from the ground of this remarkable region, which contains the highest concentration of jets known anywhere. One jet is highly disturbed, suggesting that the source may be a close binary whose orbit perturbs the jet body.
Galaxy Group VV 166
Gemini Legacy image of the galaxy group VV 166, obtained using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS), at the Gemini North telescope located on Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i. In this image, north is up, east left, and the field of view is 5.2 x 5.2 arcminutes. Composite color image produced by Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage. Image credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA
Orion "Bullets with GeMS
This image, obtained during the late commissioning phase of the GeMS adaptive optics system, with the Gemini South AO Imager (GSAOI) on the night of December 28, 2012, reveals exquisite details in the outskirts of the Orion Nebula. The large adaptive optics field-of-view (85 arcseconds across) demonstrates the system's extreme resolution and uniform correction across the entire field. The three filters used for this composite color image include [Fe II], H2, and, K(short)-continuum (2.093 microns) for blue, orange, and white layers respectively.
NGC 660
This image of the ring galaxy NGC 660, obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Fredrick C. Gillett Gemini North telescope was obtained in August of 2012. The image is made from three images taken through g, r, i, and hydrogen alpha filters and assigned the colors of blue, green, orange and red respectively in this color composite image. The field of view is 9.3x5.6 arcminutes and it is oriented 8 degrees clockwise from north at right and east up. The total exposure (integration) time is 1,620 seconds for all filters.
Complex Planetary Nebula Sh2-71
Gemini Legacy image of the complex planetary nebula Sh2-71 as imaged by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on Gemini North on Mauna Kea in Hawai‘i. The long-assumed central star is the brightest star near the center, but some astronomers wonder if the much dimmer and bluer star (just to the right and down a bit) might be the parent of this beautiful object.
k61 Planetary Nebula
Gemini Observatory image of Kronberger 61 showing the ionized shell of expelled gas resembling a soccer ball. The light of the nebula is primarily due to ionized oxygen (oxygen-III) emission and its central star can be seen as the slightly bluer star very close to the center of the nebula. The field of view is 2.2 x 3.4 arcminutes with north up (rotated 22 degrees west of north). Image processing by Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage.
M8 Lagoon Nebula
A portion of the Lagoon nebula imaged by Argentinean astronomers Julia Arias and Rodolfo Barbá using the Gemini South telescope with the Gemini Multiple-Object Spectrograph.
Dancing Galaxies NGC 6872 & IC 4970
Image of NGC 6872 (left) and companion galaxy IC 4970 (right) locked in a tango as the two galaxies gravitationally interact. The galaxies lie about 200 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Pavo (the Peacock). Minimum Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA/Australian Gemini Office. Full Credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA/Australian Gemini Office, Sydney Girls High School Astronomy Club, Travis Rector (University of Alaska, Anchorage), and Ángel López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory/Macquarie University).
Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313
The starburst galaxy NGC 1313, as imaged by the Gemini South 8-meter telescope in Chile using narrow-band filters in the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph.