Gemini News Archive
Massive Cluster Galaxies Move in Unexpected Ways
Web Feature | 2018 May 3
Astronomers using data from GMOS-North and GMOS-South) measured the motions of stars within a sample of BCGs and found the stellar motions inconsistent with these galaxies’ solitary cousins.
What Do Uranus’s Cloud Tops Have in Common With Rotten Eggs?
Press Release | 2018 April 23
Based on sensitive spectroscopic observations with the Gemini North telescope, astronomers uncovered the noxious gas swirling high in Uranus’s cloud tops.
Dark Matter is a No Show in Ghostly Galaxy
Press Release | 2018 March 28
Astronomers using data from the Gemini and W. M. Keck Observatories in Hawai‘i have encountered a galaxy that appears to have almost no dark matter. “...This is a game changer,” according to Principal Investigator Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University.
Shining Light on Dim Galactic Neighbors
Web Feature | 2018 February 19
The researchers exposed the identities of three ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates using the Gemini South telescope. They reports that the objects appear to be loose clusters of stars, not dwarf galaxies as some had previously believed.
Game Over for Supernovae Hide & Seek
Web Feature | 2018 January 12
A research team, using the Gemini South telescope, concludes that the majority of core collapse supernovae, exploding in luminous infrared galaxies, have previously not been found due to dust obscuration and poor spatial resolution.
The Birth of Massive Stars Around an Unlikely Galaxy
Web Feature | 2017 December 18
Using the Gemini South telescope, researchers extracted spectra from extremely faint optical sources which they determined are nurseries of massive stars around an elliptical galaxy.
Supermassive Black Hole is Ahead of its Time
Press Release | 2017 December 6
Observations reveal the mass of earliest known supermassive black hole which radiates from an era in the universe only 690 million years after the Big Bang. Researchers, using unique spectroscopic data from Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) on Gemini North determined its mass at a whopping 800 million times the mass of our Sun.
Gemini Observations Show Distant Black Hole Pair is “Photobombing” Culprit
Web Feature | 2017 November 29
Gemini observations played a critical role inidentifing an object which appears to be “photobombing” the Andromeda Galaxy. Rather than being a binary star system within the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy, the object is really a distant galaxy containing a supermassive black hole binary.
First Known Interstellar Visitor is an “Oddball”
Press Release | 2017 November 20
After the object was discovered by Pan-STARRS1 on Haleakala, both Gemini telescopes observed ‘Oumuamua for three nights as it quickly dimmed from view. Researchers found that despite its interstellar origin, the object is similar in composition to some objects in our Solar System but its shape is unlike anything found around our Sun.
Gemini Observatory Confirms Spiral Nature of Extremely Distant Lensed Galaxy
Press Release | 2017 November 3
Gemini North’s NIFS has confirmed the spiral nature of the most distant known spiral galaxy (A1689B11) by far through gravitational lensing.
Astronomers Feast on First Light From Gravitational Wave Event
Press Release | 2017 October 16
Gemini Observatory "pulled all of the stops" to bring a gravitational wave source into focus and capture early optical and infrared light from the merger of two neutron stars.
The Galactic Center’s Mysterious Quintuplet Stars Unmasked
Web Feature | 2017 September 22
Gemini astronomer Tom Geballe describes his recent infrared spectroscopic observations of a mysterious quintuplet of stars. Each of these stars is embedded in its own cocoon of dust in a cluster of massive stars near the center of the Milky Way.
Rocky Planet Engulfment Explains Stellar Odd Couple
Web Feature | 2017 September 11
Astronomers using the Gemini Observatory and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope have discovered remarkable differences in the abundance of heavier elements and the Lithium content in a binary star pair.
The Little Star That Survived a Supernova
Press Release | 2017 August 17
GRACES observes a fast-moving object that is likely a white dwarf star expelled from a supernova explosion and sent hurtling through our galactic neighborhood.
Gemini Confirms a New Class of Variable Stars
Web Feature | 2017 August 2
Gemini confirms a new class of variable stars called Blue Large-Amplitude Pulsators. They are significantly bluer than main sequence stars of the same luminosity demonstrating that they are relatively hot.
Gemini Confirms Super-distant, Superluminous Supernova
Web Feature | 2017 July 20
Spectroscopy using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope in Chile verifies the extreme distance of one of the most distant superluminous supernovae ever studied.
Striking Gemini Images Point Juno Spacecraft Toward Discovery
Press Release | 2017 June 30
Detailed Gemini Observatory images peel back Jupiter’s atmospheric layers to support the NASA/JPL Juno spacecraft in its quest to understand the giant planet’s atmosphere.
Korean Astronomers Dissect a Fragmented Asteroid
Web Feature | 2017 June 27
A team of Korean astronomers uses imaging from GMOS on Gemini North to characterize the rotation of active asteroid P/2010 A2’s largest fragment. The observations show that this faint and tiny asteroid, which underwent a mass ejection episode, is slowly rotating.
A Partly-cloudy Exoplanet
Web Feature | 2017 June 6
The first exoplanet discovered using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) is a young, cool object between 2–10 Jupiter masses. Research hints that the formation of this exoplanet is likely due to the collapse of icy disk materials followed by the accretion of a thick gas atmosphere.
Gemini Observatory Astronomer Meg Schwamb to be Awarded Sagan Medal
Press Release | 2017 June 2
Gemini Observatory astronomer Meg Schwamb is this year’s recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science. Schwamb is being honored for the creation and development of new tools and venues to facilitate planetary science communication.
