Nov. 2, 2015

After 18 days of hard work during the recent scheduled maintenance shutdown, the Gemini South telescope is back on the sky! During maintenance, which took place October 13th - 30th, the 8.1-meter primary mirror received a fresh multi-layer protected silver coating - a key task for the shutdown.

Image:
(Left)/strong> Gemini South optical engineers inspect the primary mirror after 7-hour coating process.
(Right) The 8.1 meter primary mirror suspended on the 4th floor, before descending to the stripping/coating area on the first floor of the observatory building.