The 12 Days of Solstice – Day 5: Celebrating the Fast Turnaround Program

Welcome to Gemini’s 12 Days of Solstice! This is a joyous countdown to the longest, or shortest (depending on which hemisphere you live in) day of the year! Visit our blog each day from December 11 – December 22 for Gemini-themed crafts, cartoons, playlists, videos and much, much more.

Today we celebrate Gemini’s Fast Turnaround Program. The Fast Turnaround Program is a monthly call for a  short amount of Gemini observing time outside of our regular semesterly call for proposals. It enables astronomers with access to Gemini to ask for observing time during the current semester with  data obtained for accepted proposals within 4 months after the submission deadline. Approximately 10% of the time at both Gemini North and South is currently available for the program (~20 hours per month between both sites). Fast Turnaround is good for a project idea that only needs a few hours, pilot/feasibility studies, following up on unusual/unexpected astronomical events, requesting a few observations to complete an observing program, and much more. You can learn more about the Gemini’s Fast Turnaround program here.

We’ve designed a sticker we’ll be handing out at the American Astronomical Society’s 231st meeting in January. Here’s a sneak peak of the design we came up with to help promote this great program