On this day in space: Jan. 18, 2002: Gemini South Observatory opens in Chile

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On Jan. 18, 2002, the National Science Foundation formally opened the Gemini South telescope in Chile.

On Jan. 18, 2002, the National Science Foundation formally opened the Gemini South telescope in Chile. This became the second telescope to make up the Gemini Observatory. Its twin telescope, Gemini North, is located in Hawaii.

The Gemini South Observatory in Chile. (Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Paredes)

The Gemini South telescope saw its first light in 1998, but it wasn't formally opened for observations until 2002.

Since then, astronomers have used these telescopes to study supernovas, black holes, exoplanets and more.

On This Day in Space: See our full 365-day video archive!

Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos. 

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