First light at Gemini North

NEWS A t a ceremony in Hawaii on 25–26 June, the Gemini North 8.1 metre telescope on Mauna Kea was formally inaugurated – the first stage of the Gemini project to build similar telescopes in north and south hemispheres. Gemini North should start to produce scientific results in about a year, with Gemini South, in Cerro Pachon, starting work a year after that. Spectacular images showing the power of the new telescope and its adaptive optics include this image of planetary nebula BD+303639 in the near infrared. Hydrogen ejected by a red giant now glows as a result of ultraviolet radiation from the core of the star. This is a colour composite infrared image using adaptive optics on the Gemini North telescope. The stellar images show remarkable resolution of 0.083 arcseconds FWHM, which approaches the theoretical limit for an 8 metre telescope and is equivalent to resolving a pair of car headlights 2000 miles away. " Gemini's innovative optics and thermal controls give these telescopes a significant edge in studying the universe using infrared light, " said Matt Mountain, director of the international project. " The results we've seen today give us confidence that the risks we've taken will pay off for ground-based astronomers by providing extremely sharp images. This will allow us to look back in time to the most distant galaxies and even detect the trembling of individual molecules around newly forming stellar systems. " This image was taken using the University of Hawaii's Adaptive Optics system called Hokupa'a. With such adaptive optics, Gemini should produce sharper images than the Hubble Space Telescope. n 1993 a group of us on Council moved to consider the role and impact of the RAS. Top of our list of recommendations was rebirth of the in-house journal. Astronomy &Geophyics resulted. And it resulted largely through Althea Wilkinson; she guided the process from the initial brainstorming meetings through to realization of the first issue of A&G in Feb-ruary 1997. She guided us through stormy or potentially stormy matters, all resolved through her firm and quiet diplomacy. She naturally took the chair of the first Editorial Board. The success of the journal – indeed its very existence – owes much to her. I wish to thank her for this, one of her many achievements in and for the astronomy community. As I take the chair of the Editorial Board on from Althea, I do …