
The International Gemini Observatory is operated by @NSF @NOIRLabAstro. Para español siga a @NOIRLabAstroES. Exploring the Universe, sharing its wonders.
Joined April 2012
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Say it 3 times: Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse.
Astronomers using @Geminiobs North found a hidden companion star orbiting inside Betelgeuse’s atmosphere, the first close-in companion ever seen around a supergiant star.
🔗 noirlab.edu/public/news/noir…
📷GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
🌌 What happens at @GeminiObs North after dark?
This timelapse gives you a glimpse of a night of observing at Gemini North, located on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi.
🎥 Sean Goebel/International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
One Gemini South wasn’t quite enough for this sunset ✨
Thanks to a perfectly still patch of water on Cerro Pachón in Chile, the telescope appears to have a twin reflected beneath it.
Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/C. Corco
Cause baby, you're a firework 🎤🎆
This is Pa 30, an explosive cloud of gas and dust bursting from a central hot blue star. Astronomers say it’s the likely remnant of a supernova that people on Earth saw in the year 1181.
📸 International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Let’s go, airglow! 🧡
An orange glow hangs over Gemini North on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi. It’s airglow — light from atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Orion and Sirius shine beyond.
📸 International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinský
🌌 What’s it like to be a telescope working the night shift?
This timelapse from the @Geminiobs South telescope in Chile follows several hours of observations as the GMOS System sends its laser into the sky.
📹: @Geminiobs /NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Paredes
What’s it like to drive up Cerro Pachón in Chile after the July storm? 🚙❄️
There’s still a little snow on the mountain, making for some spectacular views along the way.
This footage was taken in September 2026.
📹 NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/C. Corco
POV: You’re at @GeminiObs South and decide to look up
Gemini South beneath the Milky Way, with our galaxy's center glowing overhead. 🌌
📷: International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab/AURA/Kwon O Chul
The Anglerfish Cluster 🦑✨ This galaxy cluster is so massive that its gravity warps space-time, turning it into a natural cosmic lens. Hubble saw only part of it, @GeminiObs North revealed the rest.
📸: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
A team of astronomers have discovered the most distant proto-supercluster ever found 🤯
Known as COSMOS-z3.1-A, this enormous ancestor to a “cluster of clusters” of galaxies has a mass equivalent to about 5,000 Milky Ways.
🔗 noirlab.edu/public/news/noir…
📷CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA
If you want to bake a cake, you might have to crack a few… comets? 🥚
The shattered remains of comet C/2025 K1 as seen by @GeminiObs North
📸 @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Bolin, J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, T.A. Rector, M. Zamani
B. Bolin, C. Ingebretsen, M. MacGregor
Six Hawaiʻi Island students helped bring a new Gemini North image to life!
They selected the interacting galaxies NGC 7253, and gave this Hawaiian name:
✨ Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola,
“The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life”
📷@GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
☀️ Sun: Throws a 4.5 billion-year party.
☄️Comet 3I/ATLAS: Gatecrashes at 153k mph.
This Gemini South image gives us a rare glimpse into an ancient, alien star system.
📷 International @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Bolin, J. Miller, M. Rodriguez, T.A. Rector and M. Zamani
Space invaders? 🛸
Nope. Gemini South’s laser system is creating a 5-star constellation 90 km up to fight its worst enemy: atmospheric turbulence. These "stars" let the telescope correct blurring in real-time.
📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/AURA/NSF/M. Paredes
Last week, this Gemini South image was selected as @SpaceDotCom's Space Photo of the Day! 🔭 bit.ly/4fisphG
Gemini South is 1/2 of the International @GeminiObs, supported in part by @NSF & operated by NSF NOIRLab.
📸International @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek
Gemini Observatory retweeted
Severe Storms Impacting AURA/NOIRLab Operations in Chile
Chile has been impacted by an exceptionally powerful storm with heavy precipitation and widespread flooding affecting the communities where many of our colleagues live.
The Milky Way intertwines with interstellar dust to create a brilliant bridge of light. On the left is Gemini North, 1/2 of the International @GeminiObs. On the right, the lava from the Kīlauea volcano glows orange.
📷@GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Chu
The “Once in a Rubin Gem” Director's Discretionary Time program is LIVE! This initiative has a zero-proprietary period and focuses on exciting & unexpected discoveries by NSF–DOE @VRubinObs's Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
Submit observing requests ➡️ bit.ly/4b2bGwL
The @GeminiObs 2026B observing programs and schedule have been announced. Note that the latest version of the Observing Tool is required to access and update 2026B programs. For more information ➡️ bit.ly/4wky8t6
I know this corner of the Earth, smiles at me 🎶 🌎
The 8.1-meter Gemini North telescope at the summit of Maunakea, Hawai‘i, is seen here in a long exposure at night. Behind the telescope the usual star trails can be seen.
Credit: @GeminiObs /NOIRLab/NSF/AURA


















