A Gemini Sky
			
		
		
			Credit:  
Gemini Observatory, 
Peter Michaud & Kirk Pu'uohau-Pummill
		
		
			Where will Gemini take us tonight?
It is dusk and Gemini North, 
one of the largest telescopes on 
planet Earth, 
prepares to peer into the distant universe.  
Gemini's flexible 8.1-mirror 
has taken already effectively taken humanity to 
distant stars, 
nebulas, 
galaxies, and 
quasars, telling us about the geometry, 
composition, and evolution of our universe.
The above picture is actually a composite of over 
40 images taken while the Gemini dome rotated, 
later adding an image of the star field taken 
from the same location.
The Gemini dome is not transparent -- it only appears so 
because it rotated during the exposures of this image.
The constellations of 
Scorpius and Sagittarius can be seen above the dome, as well as the 
sweeping band of our 
Milky Way Galaxy,
including the direction toward the 
Galactic center.
Gemini North's twin, 
Gemini South, 
resides in Cerro Pachn, 
Chile. 
This night, 2003 August 19, 
Gemini North 
took us only into the outer 
Solar System, 
observing 
Pluto 
in an effort to better determine the composition of its 
thin atmosphere.