GeMS was the first laser-assisted Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system to operate in the sky, and for over a decade it has been used with the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) to deliver wide-field AO-corrected data to the observatory scientific community. An effort is underway to improve GeMS in several aspects, making it a more reliable system to operate and with the ultimate goal to turn it into a broader AO facility, capable of also feeding other instruments. Its current status of operations and development plans, as well as the ongoing work on non-common path aberrations calibrations, a necessary step for its integration with Flamingos-2 operations, are addressed here.
Flamingos-2 (F2), mounted on the Gemini South telescope, offers imaging, long-slit and multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) across various near-infrared bands. When paired with GeMS, the Gemini Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system, it creates a remarkable astronomical tool in the Southern hemisphere. The feasibility study indicates that the on-sky field of view (FoV) encompasses a 2.37 arcmin diameter. Preliminary GeMS+F2 long-slit tests achieved a spatial profile full width at half maximum (FWHM) better than 0.3 arcsec (1.9 pixels) under 0.85 arcsec seeing conditions. The instrument’s long-slit covers 1.6 arcmin in the sky. MOS masks are capable of accommodating up to 48 slits in sparse fields and around 80 targets in crowded or extended fields. Anticipated background issues are minimal in the J and H bands, while comprehensive testing is essential to evaluate thermal background in the K band. Incorporating GeMS alongside F2 significantly improves spectral resolution by at least a factor of two, particularly at spectral range edges. Finally, a noteworthy outcome of the study reveals that F2 with GeMS in non-LGS mode produces a “super-seeing” mode with enhanced image quality by a factor of 2 or more.
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