Gemini News Archive
Uncovering a Missing Link Between Dwarf Galaxies and Globular Clusters
Web Feature | 2007 August 17
Deep Gemini imaging of the cluster of galaxies Hydra I at a distance of 176 million light-years has revealed an abundance of massive luminous metal-rich globular clusters that appears to impersonate ultra-compact dwarf galaxies.
Frenetic growth of supermassive black holes in the early universe
Web Feature | 2007 July 31
The six distant quasars a team observed are at redshifts ranging between z = 5.8 to 6.3 and correspond to a period when the universe was only about one billion years old. Using GNIRS at Gemini South and NIRI at Gemini North, the team found these very young quasars to be already super-enriched in heavy elements.
Charon: An Ice Machine in the Ultimate Deep Freeze
Press Release | 2007 July 17
NIRI observations with AO showed evidence of frigid geysers spewing material up through cracks in the crust of Pluto's companion Charon and recoating parts of its surface in ice crystals.
Young Stars Swim in Pools of Molecular Hydrogen
Web Feature | 2007 June 27
During a search for hydrogen emission in the disks of young stars, UK astronomers have discovered a massive layer of hot gas around a low-mass M3-type star in the 6 million-year-old Eta Chamaeleontis cluster.
Astronomers Converge in Brazil for 2007 Gemini Science Meeting
Web Feature | 2007 June 18
Amidst the stunning beauty of the Foz do Iguaçu park and waterfalls in Brazil, more than 130 astronomers and staff from the seven-country Gemini partnership converged during the week of June 11th, 2007.
Discovery Narrows the Gap Between Planets and Brown Dwarfs
Press Release | 2007 May 30
The coolest-known star-like object, called ULAS J0034-00 and located in the constellation Cetus, has a record-setting surface temperature of 600-700 K, cooler than any known solitary brown dwarf.
Distant and Massive Galaxy Cluster Revealed in Gemini Deep Deep Survey Field
Web Feature | 2007 May 25
Deep HST and Spitzer imaging of a passively evolving galaxy identified in the Gemini Deep Deep Survey (GDDS) has led to the detection of a very compact cluster of massive red galaxies at a redshift of z =1.51.
GNIRS Recovery
Web Feature | 2007 May 15
For some unknown reason the GNIRS temperature controller failed, resulting in temperatures near 200° C for an undetermined period of time. After the initial inspection, it was obvious that some components were damaged, but many were clearly fine.
Most Massive Galaxies have Surprisingly Diverse Origins
Web Feature | 2007 May 14
An Australian team used the Gemini South Telescope to find that the most massive galaxies evolve through a variety of mechanisms which are dependent on the mass of their cluster environment.
Are Short Gamma-ray Bursts Cosmic Tricksters?
Web Feature | 2007 April 18
Analysis of nine short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed with Gemini, Magellan, and the Hubble Space Telescope reveals that the progenitors of these GRBs may reside in faint host galaxies at redshifts of z = 1.1 and beyond.
Featherweight Celestial Pair Has Uncertain Future Together
Press Release | 2007 April 4
Astronomers have serendipitously discovered a record-breaking pair of low-mass objects with an extreme orbital separation. The petite objects, each of which has a mass less than 100 times that of Jupiter, are separated by more than 5,000 times the distance between the Sun and Earth
The Delicate Trails of Star Birth
Press Release | 2007 March 22
An image released today by the Gemini Observatory brings into focus a new and remarkably detailed view of supersonic "bullets" of gas and the wakes created as they pierce through clouds of molecular hydrogen in the Orion Nebula.
Giant Interstellar Jet Stream Revealed by TEXES
Web Feature | 2007 March 2
The instrument TEXES on Gemini North mapped the star-forming region IRS2 located deep within the molecular cloud associated with the giant H II region W51.
Comet McNaught Captured from Cerro Pachon
Web Feature | 2007 January 19
Gemini South telescope on the night of January 18th captured this image of Comet McNaught in the twilight sky. Surprising even veteran comet researchers, McNaught has become the brightest comet visible in over 40 years.
Tightening the (Asteroid) Belt around Zeta Leporis
Web Feature | 2007 January 19
New mid-infrared images of the Zeta Leporis circumstellar disk obtained with T-ReCS on Gemini South have for the first time revealed what researchers are calling an "exo-asteroid belt" around another star.
Some Rare Abnormal Stars may have White Dwarf Parents to Blame
Press Release | 2007 January 8
Astronomers have announced the discovery of huge quantities of an unusual variety of oxygen in two very rare types of stars, suggesting that the origin of these oddball stars may lie in the physics behind the mergers of white dwarf star pairs.
Small Warm Doughnut Feeds Theories of Extragalactic Black Holes
Press Release | 2007 January 8
An international team of astronomers used a novel approach to peer deeply into the energetic core of the nearby galaxy Centaurus A and set stringent constraints on its size and characteristics, indicating that it is likely quite petite and clumpy.
Gemini Welcomes the New Year with "Wide Eyes"
Web Feature | 2006 December 19
The images were obtained as part of a program to capture a time-lapse sequence of the Gemini telescopes in operation during the course of one night.
Nature's Tiniest Stellar Twins
Web Feature | 2006 December 15
A team of US astronomers has just released the results of a search for low-mass brown dwarf or planetary companions around young early-type M dwarf stars within 20 parsecs of the Sun.
Near Infrared Spectra Constrain an Extraordinary Pair of Cosmic Dwarves
Web Feature | 2006 December 12
An extremely rare stellar system composed of a white dwarf and brown dwarf pair, WD 0137-349 is the only known close, detached binary system with a white dwarf and a confirmed substellar companion.
