Talk to focus on Gemini twins

The Universe Tonight — an astronomical monthly event at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo — will focus on the Gemini twins of Hawaii and Chile at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 7, in the center planetarium.

Astronomer Michael Hoenig will introduce the audience to the Gemini Observatories — one right up the hill on Mauna Kea, and the other in the southern hemisphere — and discuss how the two observatories work together to study the entire night sky above both of Earth’s hemispheres.

Are you curious about the observatories on top of Mauna Kea? Come join us as Dr. Michael Hoenig discusses the Gemini Observatory. If you didn’t know, there are actually two Gemini Observatories, one located in the northern hemisphere, here in Hawaii and one in the southern hemisphere located in Chile. Learn how the two observatories work together and are able to study the entire night sky. In addition, Dr. Hoenig will go into details of the Gemini Observatory’s mirrors that provide superior performance, not just at optical wavelengths but also infrared wavelengths. He will also discuss the observatory’s technologies, such as adaptive optics and laser guide stars, which can be used for cutting-edge science. Finally, you will get to take a look into the future of the Gemini Observatory, a discussion you won’t want to miss out on!

Hoenig has been a Data Analysis Specialist at Gemini Observatory since 2008. He did his undergraduate degree in Astrophysics at the University of Sussex (England) in the mid-1990s, and then went on to do a Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, which he completed in 2004. His thesis centered around the construction of a wide field infrared camera called CIRSI, which he used to search for distant galaxy clusters. This meant he ended up going on a number of observing trips to Mauna Kea and the Canary Islands.

After his Ph.D., he worked in translation and publishing for a few years. He is thrilled to be back in astronomy and back in Hawaii.