Gemini Observatory

The International Gemini Observatory is operated by @NSF @NOIRLabAstro. Para español siga a @NOIRLabAstroES. Exploring the Universe, sharing its wonders.

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

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.
🔗 https://t.co/8PUn3aS4Fj
📷GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

Rise and shine, Maunakea 🌄✨ This timelapse captures the first light of day washing over the summit of Maunakea, where some of the world’s most advanced telescopes spend their nights exploring the Universe.

📸 International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/S. Goebel

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

🌌🔶 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

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

🪐 Astronomers found the strongest evidence yet that some exoplanets may have magnetic fields.
Using @Geminiobs North and ESO’s Very Large Telescope, researchers measured winds on 7 ultra-hot giant exoplanets 🔭

🔗https://t.co/n3v0pYgkDv

📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

The constellation Gemini is the namesake of the International @GeminiObs, operated by NSF NOIRLab. These twin telescopes in Hawai‘i and Chile give astronomers access to the entire sky.

#GeminiSeason

📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/AURA/NSF/A. Hara

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

🛠️❄️ Every couple of years, Flamingos-2 comes down for a little maintenance break.

This instrument at the Gemini South telescope is spending a few weeks in the lab for the replacement of its cryocoolers and checks on components.

📷 @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/S. Olivares

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

AstroDay 2026 took over Hilo 🌌✨

Families, students, and astronomy fans gathered at Prince Kuhio Mall with the Maunakea Observatories and local STEM organizations for a day full of space activities, art, and cosmic curiosity.

📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

👀 This image of the week looks like it was taken through a piece of glass, but it was not!

Those glowing vertical streaks in the top right are light pillars, captured by a CloudCam at the @Geminiobs North Telescope.

📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Pollard

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

Two telescopes, one mission to explore the sky. From Hawai‘i to Chile, the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab, can see almost the entire sky.

📷 International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Kwon O Chul (Gemini South, on left) P. Horálek (Gemini North)

[US National Gemini Office @usngo]

🌋 Watch the latest Kīlauea eruption (Episode 45) captured last week by one of the @GeminiObs summit cameras on Maunakea!

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

A rose… in space? 🌹
This is NGC 2040, located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellation of Dorado in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This image was captured by the @Geminiobs South telescope, operated by NSF NOIRLab.

📷:International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

Earlier this month, the Merrie Monarch Festival brought the city of Hilo to life, celebrating hula, culture and tradition.

@GeminiObs joined in the celebration along w/the @MaunakeaObs and marched in the Merrie Monarch Parade through downtown Hilo.

📷 K.Usuda-Sato and L. Lozi

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

We found this in the family album 🥹

In January 1998, the Gemini South telescope was just steel and scaffolding on Cerro Pachón in Chile. Gemini South is one half of the International @GeminiObs, operated by NSF NOIRLab.

📷: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Sebring (SOAR)

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

Breakthrough alert! 😲🚨

Researchers just found the first direct evidence that exoplanets inherit rocky-element ratios from their host stars.The data comes from @Geminiobs South, and confirms astrobiologists' long-term suspicions about planet formation.

https://t.co/HLah9aetSa

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

When the night sky steals the spotlight 🌌✨

In this image, the Milky Way stretches across the sky above Gemini South telescope, perched on Cerro Pachón. That bright, glowing core? It’s the heart of our galaxy.

📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

In this timelapse video, @Geminiobs North creates artificial guide stars above Earth. By tracking how those stars shimmer, the telescope’s adaptive optics system adjusts its mirrors to cancel it out in real time.

🎥: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Matsopoulos

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

@NOIRLabAstro @VRubinObs Amazing! 🥳

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

We’ve got #Olympics spirit at Gemini North, where snow and ice briefly closed the observatory this past week. This 📷 from Maunakea in Hawai’i was taken from the neighboring Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. #MilanoCortina2026

📷 Canada France Hawaii Telescope Corporation

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

Our 22nd Journey Through the Universe Week was a whirlwind of fun! 🤩🔭Mahalo to our 60+ Journey Educators and mahalo nui loa to our 100+ Hilo-Waiākea teachers who invited us into their classrooms 😍

🔗 https://t.co/VByLrSKiXX
📸 @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J.Pollard

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) breaking apart! ☄️

On 11 November and 6 December 2025, the comet soared in the skies above Maunakea, Hawai‘i, where Gemini North captured it in action!

📷 @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Bolin
Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, T.A. Rector, M. Zamani

[Gemini Observatory @GeminiObs]

For planetary systems, the excitement doesn’t end after they’re formed! Gemini South, ½ of @GeminiObs, just discovered a cloud of metallic winds orbiting a mystery object the size of multiple Jupiters. 🤔

🔗 https://t.co/DZl39A72EI
📸 @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva