Gemini Observatory
The Gemini Observatory consists of a pair of 8.1-meter telescopes located atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii (North) and Cerro Pachon, Chile (South). The observatory is operated by a partnership between the US, UK, Canada, Chile, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina. These telescopes are optimized for infrared observing, and we exploit this particularly with the use of the two mid-infrared cameras, Michelle at Gemini North and T-ReCS (Thermal Region Camera & Spectometer) at Gemini South. T-ReCS (PI: Charles Telesco) was designed and built at the University of Florida as a facility instrument for Gemini South. My dissertation is based entirely on data obtained at the Gemini telescopes with these two instruments. Part of this data set was obtained in classical mode, in which the observer is present at the telescope for the night of observing, but the majority was obtained in queue mode, in which the staff astronomers execute the pre-defined observations when the sky conditions are appropriate. At present, Gemini operates primarily in queue mode.