The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini North Telescope is located on Hawaii's Mauna Kea as part of the international community of observatories that have been built to take advantage of the superb atmospheric conditions on this long dormant volcano that rises almost 14,000' into the dry, stable air of the Pacific. The Gemini Observatory consists of twin 8-meter optical/infrared telescopes located on two of the best sites on our planet for observing the universe. Together these telescopes, Gemini North & Gemini South, can access the entire sky.
 

Photo: Gemini North at sunset.

Gemini North is the first leg of Around the World in 80 Telescopes tour: Click to play; click  (lower right) to view video full screen Next stop: Subaru Telescope (end stop: Shanghai Radio)

The Gemini Observatory's international headquarters is located in Hilo, Hawaii at the University of Hawaii at Hilo's University Park. Built by an international partnership of seven nations, Gemini North is the first of two 8-meter telescopes that together can explore the entire northern and southern skies in optical and infrared light. Its twin, Gemini South, is under construction on Cerro Pachón in northern Chile. They are expected to obtain unprecedented optical and infrared views of stars, galaxies, and the most distant outposts of the known universe.

The Gemini Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the Australian Research Council (Australia), Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (Brazil), and Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (Argentina)

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