Users Play an Active Role in Instrument Upgrade

FLAMINGOS-2 is ready to receive the new band filters. This photo shows a previous removal of the instrument for regular maintenance work.

The Near-Infrared wide field imager and multi-object spectrometer FLAMINGOS-2 (F-2) will be upgraded with two medium-band filters that will split the 1.9-2.5 micron spectral range for sensitive imaging surveys of very red objects.

The improvement is a result of an invitation to the Gemini’s partner community for small instrument upgrade projects. This initiative aims to establish annual proposal calls for science-driven instrument upgrades – including projects that may rely upon in-kind contributions or telescope observing time as compensation.

Gemini’s Science Group issued the first call for proposals in the fourth quarter of 2015 and the award went to Casey Papovich and his team from Texas A&M University. It also includes astronomers from the University of Toronto, Swinburne University of Technology, Leiden University, and Macquaire University.

The new capabilities will cover a wide range of potential science, from detecting young stellar object candidates in deeply obscured star forming regions, to deep K-band imaging to study the demography of high-redshift massive galaxies. Other enabled science includes taking a census of low-mass stars in very dusty environments.

In addition to funding the design, procurement, and testing of the filters, Gemini has awarded the team with 10 hours of telescope time to demonstrate the scientific benefits of the new capability.

The filters are expected to be available and installed in the second half of 2016 and be offered to our user community in semester 2017A.

With Ruben Díaz.