GIRMOS – Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph

The Gemini Infrared Multi-Object Spectrograph (GIRMOS) is a next-generation adaptive-optics-fed infrared spectrograph and imager being developed for the Gemini North 8-metre telescope in Hawaiʻi. Led by the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto, GIRMOS will provide astronomers with a powerful new capability for high-angular-resolution imaging and spectroscopy.

 

GIRMOS will be a major science instrument behind Gemini North’s upcoming adaptive optics system, GNAO (Gemini North Adaptive Optics). By taking advantage of the exceptionally sharp images delivered by GNAO, GIRMOS will enable detailed studies of some of the faintest and most distant objects in the Universe.

 

At the heart of GIRMOS is its ability to perform multiplexed integral-field spectroscopy. Four deployable integral-field spectrographs will allow astronomers to obtain spatially resolved spectra of multiple objects simultaneously. GIRMOS will also include a powerful near-infrared imager, providing both wide-field and high-angular-resolution imaging capabilities.

 

This combination will enable a broad range of science, from understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies across cosmic time to studying star formation, stellar populations, and compact objects within the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.

 

GIRMOS is also an important technical pathfinder for the next generation of Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). These observatories will rely heavily on advanced adaptive optics to achieve their extraordinary spatial resolution. GIRMOS is developing and demonstrating technologies and observing techniques for multi-object adaptive optics and multiplexed, diffraction-limited spectroscopy that can ultimately be applied to instruments on ELT-class telescopes.

 

GIRMOS is a major CFI-funded, Canadian-led collaboration involving the University of Toronto, NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre, Gemini Observatory, University of British Columbia, Université Laval, Saint Mary’s University, York University, University of Victoria, and the Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute. The project brings together expertise in adaptive optics, infrared instrumentation, spectroscopy, calibration, software, and observatory systems.

 

By combining an immediate role as a major new science capability for Gemini North with the development of technologies needed for future Extremely Large Telescopes, GIRMOS bridges the current generation of 8–10 metre observatories and the next generation of ground-based astronomy.