Managing Under a Six-Nation Partnership

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Gemini Observatory
soon to be Five

• Managing Under a Six-Nation Partnership

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Two telescopes, one observatory
Gemini South Cerro Pachon, Chile
Gemini North Mauna Kea, Hawaii
Gemini Observatory, constructed 1999-2000,
consists of twin 8.1-m infrared-optimized
telescopes with exquisite optics located on two
of the best sites for observing the universe.
Together these telescopes access the entire sky.
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The Partnership

• Partner countries and their current shares are
  listed in the table below.
• The UK have announced their decision to withdraw
  at the end of 2012.
• As a result, and with changes in Australian and
  Brazilian involvement, revenues will decline and
  shares will transition as ( are OM/Instr, in M)

Partner 2010 ( ) Post-2012
U.S 50.1 15.9M/3.2M 66.3
U.K. 22.7 7.6M/0.4M 0.0
Canada 15.0 4.8M/0.5M 18.9
Australia 6.2 2.0M/0.3M 5.0
Brazil 5.0 0.8M/0.0M 6.6
Argentina 2.4 0.8M/0.3M 3.1
Total 100 31.9M/4.7M 100 24.3M/???
-24

• The increased share for the U.S. amounts to about
  50 nights/yr for the general astronomical
  community on the two telescopes combined.

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Gemini Management
NSF serves as the executive agency for the
international partnership
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Management Roles Responsibilities

• Partners
• Funding Agencies
• Signatories to the Agreement
• Appoint members to the Board
• Determine new partners
• Board
• Supervisory and regulatory body
  established in
  the Gemini International Agreement
• Composed of Agency officials and science
  community representatives
• Sets budget, approves key personnel and major
  contracts, etc.
• Determines action in event of default or
  withdrawal
• Chile and Hawaii vote on scientific issues
  relevant to their tenant telescope

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Management Roles Responsibilities (cont)

• NSF
• Executive Agency - on behalf of partner
  agencies
• Board member Ulvestad Program Officer
  Schmidt (Foltz)
• Arranges for Managing Organization (currently
  AURA)
• Handles all fiscal matters
• Provides technical and managerial oversight in
  consultation with Board
• Conducts and coordinates reviews
• Provides Secretariat to the Board (Pentecost)
• AURA, Inc.
• Chosen as current Managing Organization by NSF,
  with approval of the Gemini Board.
• Operates Gemini under separate Cooperative
  Agreement.
• Negotiates with host countries, employs legal
  counsel, enters into contracts, manages the
  project, assumes fiduciary responsibility
• Advised by AURA Observatory Council Gemini
  (AOCG)

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Management Roles Responsibilities (cont)

• Gemini International Observatory
• Advised by Gemini Science Committee
• Operations Working Group, AO Working Group
• Convenes International Telescope Allocation
  Committee (ITAC)
• National Gemini Offices (NGOs)
• National portals to Gemini
• Provide information to national users process
  proposals convene national TAC etc.
• Funded by partners
• The U.S. NGO is the NOAO Gemini Science Center
  (Tucson)
• Advised by National Science Advisory Committee

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Highlights The First Directly-Imaged Planet
around a Sun-like Star

• Gemini AO image of 1RXS J160929.1-210524 and its
  8 Jupiter-mass companion (in red circle).
  Picture is a composite of J-, H, and K-band
  near-IR images. Obtained with the ALTAIR
  laser/natural guide star system and Near-Infrared
  Imager (NIRI) on the Gemini North telescope.
  Note 1 arcsec scale at bottom left.

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Highlights MCAO Constellation GeMS
50-watt laser (above) is projected as a 5-spot
constellation covering 1 sq. arcmin by GeMS to
illuminate the sodium layer 90 km above Cerro
Pachon, Jan. 22, 2011.
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The Queue is the Default Operations Mode

• Successful execution of the Gemini queue
  requires
• Detailed planning on a variety of timescales
  (months to minutes).
• Observers adept in the use of all mounted (up to
  5!) instruments.
• All potential instruments ready and calibrated.
• Real-time data QA/QC by Gemini staff.
• The queue provides increased flexibility and
  observing efficiency, albeit at a cost.

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Delivering on Commitments Observing Efficiency

• Primary sources of lost time are weather,
  fault, shutdown, engineering, commissioning.

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Challenges - I

• Management and governance complexity
• International partnership demands a more
  active role
  than traditional for NSF
• Local politics and economies, variation in
  Chilean peso
  exchange rate
• Transition to reduced budget post-UK withdrawal
• New AURA proposal for management of Gemini
  Observatory 2012-2015 was submitted Jan. 31, and
  will be reviewed with site visit Mar. 21-24.
• Essential aspect of transition is 24 budget
  reduction, including 32 FTEs
• Elements of proposed transition
• Maintain high-quality instrumentation, queue
  operations, remote observing
• Improve interface to user community
• Reduce engineering, limit instrument complement,
  implement software queue, reduce travel, migrate
  queue observing to non-scientific staff.

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Challenges - II

• Responding to Astro2010
• Support from national communities
• Proposal process
• Instrumentation
• Instrumentation
• First science observations with GNIRS
• Commissioning of GeMS MCAO system
• Pre-ship testing of GPI
• Problems with Flamingos 2
• Renewing efforts to obtain high-resolution
  optical spectrograph
• Relationship to NOAO other partner facilities.
  Concepts being considered by international Tiger
  Team of Gemini Board members, being led by AST
  Director J. Ulvestad

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Supplementary Slides
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Delivering on Commitments Program Completion

• Completion rates have increased since 2004
  (grey vs. other colors), but large proposal
  development effort causes continued proposer
  frustration, particularly for Band 3 programs.